best buddies

They begged for the privilege

of sharing a room last night.

They were given the you-only-have-one-shot-at-this talk

by Mommy and Daddy.

{It was already getting late

and we were not in the mood for any monkey business}

And they proved to us that they could do it.

We love that they are such good buddies.

Pairs of brothers and pairs of sisters get a lot of good press...

but we think their brother/sister bond is extra special too.

"You don't choose your family. 

They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

Desmond Tutu

a picture is worth a thousand words

It's easy for me to gravitate towards the "perfect" picture when posting to my blogs, but sometimes the picture that tells the story is much more fun.

I love both of these pictures, but only one tells the real story.

Picture A gives you the impression that Ella is 100% ready to ride a two wheeler and that the sun always shines in Tylerville.

Picture B tells the true story. Our spunky little blondie still has a ways to go and makes Daddy more than a little bit nervous.

Which one do you think should make it to our picture blog??

frivolous favorites.

These things make me happy. Not my-life-is-complete happy
(I save that for the alliterative threesome faith, family & friendship), but my-life-is-easier-and-pretty-much more-fun happy.

Matrix sleek.look iron smoother | try it, you'll be sold.

Lands' End Kids bathing suits | they dry super fast. and they're cute. and they're on sale right now.

Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai with Blueberry | delicious and somehow you can convince yourself that they're healthy
(look for 'em at Costco).

Method all-purpose cleaner, cucumber | I have a case of serious Method love, but I think this is my favorite.

thirty-one's large utility tote | best. bag. ever.

Ocean Potion sunscreen | best smelling, least greasy sunscreen
out there. hands down.

Honda Odyssey | today I realized that not only do I tolerate my minivan, I actually prefer it...I maybe even like it.
Making peace with your minivan...priceless.

Pinterest | so many lovely ideas. so terribly addicting.

What are your current frivolous favorites?

the adventure continues...

Thanks to Groupon

...and girlfriends

another adventure 

(and workout) 

is in the books.

{Week 34 & going strong}

Wolf Lake '11

Last week we spent a wonderfully relaxing back-to-the-basics sort of vacation with dear friends at a cottage on Wolf Lake in Muskegon. With three little kids, it's been a while since a vacation has actually felt, you know, like a vacation.

The week was Michigan summer and cottage living at its very best. The days were gloriously uneventful. We were in our bathing suits all day long, barefoot, dirty, HOT and happy. We swam, fished, tubed, played, explored, shared, snacked, laughed and napped.

It's always good to be home (and enjoying our AC) but this vacation will always hold extra special memories for us. Feeling very thankful for family, friends and simple pleasures.

baby love

This baby loves me.

Like really, really loves me.

Like wants-to-climb-back-into-my-womb loves me.

She loves her Daddy too. And her nana's and her auntie's and her big brother and sister.

And she really loves her blankie.

But somehow Mommy still holds the biggest part of her heart.

There are these moments throughout the day when she pulls on my legs, holds her brown little arms up (while stomping her little feet), and cries her little uh-uh-uh cry.

Sometimes I'm trying to make dinner. Sometimes I'm trying to help her brother and sister. And sometimes I would just like a minute or two to use both of my arms at the same time to do something other than holding her.

And then I remember.

It won't always be like this. 

She won't always be little. 

She won't always want me to hold her, to snuggle her, to kiss her fat little cheeks.

Someday those baby hand dimples will be gone. Someday she'll learn to use her words. Someday she won't need me like she needs me now. 

Someday she will grow up and leave the nest and create a life of her own.

And when that someday comes,

I know I will want nothing more than to hold her.

As of Late: July

Lately I've been working through the *new* Martha Challenges from 31 Days to Clean with a couple of friends. We're working on building a consistent day-to-day cleaning routine for our homes.

Lately I've filed a few tidbits under Who Knew??  
#1 Aggressive, male red-winged blackbirds will attack if you run through their territory. #2 Never, ever touch jalapeno seeds (thanks for being a trailblazer, T).

Lately I've become obsessed healthily interested in pinning bits of inspiration on Pinterest.

Lately our household has had a small case of Bieber Fever.

Lately I've been water aerobicizing and loving it.

Lately I've been thinking about (maybe) penciling in "complete a triathlon" on my Year 32 To Do List.

Lately I've realized it's helpful to understand the where/who/what/why of our backgrounds. Our stories are important.

Lately I've noticed an increase in preggers people among our friends and acquaintances  Who's next??

to do: recipe binder

It's July and about time to start making a dent in my summertime to do list.

Last night, Katie, Theresa and I got to work on our recipe binders armed with empty binders, plastic sleeves, dividers, piles of unorganized recipes and our trusty bottle of Moscato.

Our original inspiration came from Kamarah's binder project which was featured on IHeart Organizing a couple of months ago.

It took us a couple of hours (and lots of snacks) but we made it through to the other side.

I pretty-ed it up this morning by adding a cover with old scrapbook paper I had laying around.

I stuck with five tabs to keep things simple but you can use more if you want more categories. I'm going to use the printable from IHeart to list the tried and true recipes that my family enjoys.

I still have some recipes written on recipe cards in a recipe box that I love - I might eventually incorporate those in later but the binder is great for all the loose stuff from magazines, websites, etc. 

We purged the recipes we knew we would never really make (despite our best intentions), laughed at our previous recipe "organization" methods (multiple post-its for one recipe, anyone?) and shared the really, really good ones with each other.

In the end, our recipes are organized, and more importantly, we feel a little bit lighter, a little bit less stressed and a little bit better equipped to take on dinnertime.