LIFE LATELY.

hallie:

• misses horses so much. it's just too cold to ride, so we are putting it off week by week until it warms up.
• is really into temple run (?), a silly ipod touch game.
• really into her ipod touch. which is very annoying.
• becoming really helpful. she will put her plate in the sink, clean off countertops and whatever chores i ask her to do.
• has a best friend - annabelle. so precious.
• wants to take karate...because annabelle is.
• is possibly lactose intolerant? random, but don't give that girl ice cream anymore!
• is really, REALLY into uno. luckily, dave and i are too.

henry:

• oh, henry.
• hustles everywhere.
• jabbers...loudly. i think he wants to contribute to the conversation.
• is talking more, but still not a whole bunch. but ask him to say "strawberry," please. so cute.
• still an amazing sleeper. goes down around 7:45pm and has a brief party in his crib before drifting off.
• torments dogs. poor zoey. he might be getting a little better?
• love, love, loves when we play uno. so weird. he just wants to sit on my lap and watch. that's all!
• loves baby einstein - baby noah, specifically.

as for dave and i, it's just more of the same. dave has been home more, which is soooo nice. we get those normal family experiences - we just have to bottle them up and then remember them on the months he's gone. i'm still taking my grad class and am not really feeling it. i don't know if i'm going to keep going or not. sigh.

i need a bff that lives close by. please and thank you. all my girlz are a long carride or plane ride away. i neeeeeeeeeed my bffs, please. and thank you again.

the end. oh wait!

pictures.

BUDS.

 

last night i came out of our bedroom and they were just sitting like this at the kitchen bar. just...sitting. dave was working on his computer and henry was completely and totally content just...sitting.

 

he looks so cozy sitting with dad wearing his polarbear jammies. love them both.

HENRY EATS A CUPCAKE: a story in pictures.

HENRY LOVES MY PHONE: a story.

watching baby einstein on a saturday morning. totally engrossed.

hears me taking his picture.

hustle, hustle, hustle. 

rounding the corner.

the grab,

the end.

 

A READER LIKE ME. AND US.

we had hallie's parent-teacher conference yesterday. it was quick, easy and that's how i like it. hallie is doing fabulous in school, particularily in math and reading. what else is there? recess? she can rock recess too.

 

anyway. her teacher says that she will be reading at the third-grade level by the end of this quarter. a brag? yes. but i come from a long-line of readers, so i am pleased as punch.

 

i hope that she LOVES to read as much as she is good at it. i mean, you can read, sure. but if you LOVE to read then that is another thing. i can't wait until she starts getting into books like "the baby sitters club" or "the saddle club" or "the boxcar children." she will love them!

 

remember that book where the boy is in the airplane and his pilot crashes and he has to survive with nothing but his hatchet? it's call "hatchet" now that i think about it. she will love that book too.

 

but for now, she's in first grade and loving it. and her locker is 100% a disaster zone filled with crap..including the case for my glasses, my snow cap, nail clippers and a wide variety of other stuff that she shouldn't have at school.

 

 

 

 oh this girl. look how dirty that shirt is!

 

 

VALENTINE'S DAY THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.

totally mellow today.

 

we aren't ones to get all worked up over valentine's day. dave isn't even home today. there were no heart-shaped pancakes or special lunches - the last one is actually because she left her lunchbox at school. so she is stuck with school luck...bbq ribs (BLECH).

 

we went to dinner last night. we never go out to eat all together, mostly because henry throws his food and also because we are cheap. but we went last night and it was great! minimal food throwing, no hollering, a nice, quiet, FUN meal.

(i promise it was more fun than it looks)

 

 

since it is the holiday for lovers, let me tell you about MY lover and five reasons why he is so perfectly suited for me :)

 

1. he is the best dad you will ever see. so incredibly hands on. even with a crazy schedule like he has from work, when he is home, he is HOME. he is present. and that is super important to me.

 

2. he is so super hot. shallow? yes. but true? you betcha. good grief, he just keeps getting better with age. he's like a fine wine :)

 

3. he puts up with a lot from me. i have mellowed (seriously), but he has put up with a lot of dramatics from me. i still struggle with general grumpiness, but it's hard because....

 

4. he makes me laugh. so, so much. the man is SO FUNNY. his jokes and stories may take 15 minutes to tell, but he usually delivers and makes me giggle.

 

5. he loves the lord. and has a relationship with jesus. and that is the corrnerstone of our relationship. it's the ONE thing that gives me confidence and TRUST in our marriage.

 

love you, dave!

FLORIDA RECAP.

i feel like this today:

 

  (this guy sacked out next to me on my first flight - sorry mister!)

 

but it's time to regroup and get back into a good routine. i got back monday and dave returned home yesterday. tonight we will have a normal family night and celebrate valentine's day a day early! we are going out to dinner as a family tonight since dave has a job tomorrow night.

 

i think the last time we took henry out to a restaurant was in early december. and he threw his food on the floor, so that's awesome. something to look forward to, i guess!

 

anyway, florida was fantastic. it was warm, breezy and sunny - everything that florida should be. i was smokin' hot and ended up buying some shorts at the walm-martz to get me through. there is absolutely, 100%, NOTHING to do in the town of clewiston, florida. which was good, because it meant we spent 100% of our time together :) except when they were tearing down for 8 years, which was really boring. but i watched some good trash tv, so it was all good. and now i'm rambling.

 

i flew in to west palm beach on friday evening and a group of flw-ers came and picked me up with dave. we went to the beach and collected a few seashells, tried to catch a jelly fish (MEN!) and got nice and sandy. it was beautiful and would have been romantic except for the jellyfish thing. which was a...shingle? anyway.

 

saturday was so nice. i had down time to workout (?!), lay poolside and hang with dave. saturday night we spent at the tiki hut, which is the restaurant/bar that is part of the marina resort place we stayed.

 

and they had a band.

 

and i danced (?!).

 

and it was soooooo much fun. i love these flw people so much. i am seriously so grateful that mason sound connected with them and now dave has made some lifelong friends (and me too!). it does such that he travels long and far with them, but hopefully we can meet up like this on some of the trips.

 

so, here are some pictures. not very good ones, and NONE OF ALLIGATORS - HUUUUUGE disappointment and not for lack of trying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then i was reunited with these jokers and all was right in the world again. the end.

 

DON'T BE A HATER.

 

that is my weather for florida. i can't wait. give me some sun, some warmth, a light breeze, oh yeah baby. mama needs some sunshine.

 

but until friday, i am making packing lists, writing down schedules and already starting to miss my little jokers.

 

they have been extra precious lately.

 

check out henry sleeping last night (yes, same jammies, whatever).

 

weird, blurry picutre. but apparently he enjoys being completely sideways in his crib.

BLAHHHHH.

that's me, not really feeling like blogging. I feel like i lost my blogging voice with the new name. i just...don't feel like blogging anymore? or maybe i do and i'm just going through a phase.

dave left for florida for a job yesterday. i fly out to meet him on friday - hooray! except - no kiddos, so - boo. these sort of plans always sound great in the beginning, terrible right before and then awesome once you are there and then home again.

i know it's such an awesome thing...nay, an IMPORTANT thing to spend time with just my hubby. every time we have a date night or a mini-vaca just the two of us, it's awesome. he's actually a funny guy, in case you didn't know, haha.

but last night i went to check on the kiddos and got all sentimental about leaving them for three nights (sob). i know they will be in good hands, but they aren't MY hands and that always makes me nervous. i want to be the ones messing up my kids ;)

look how precious they are.

***

in other news, i'm trying to update my house a little bit. on the cheap, because we all know who i married.

pictures coming soon!

SO LONG JANUARY. YOU WON'T BE MISSED. MUCH.

so, january.

 

 

 

my least favorite month, easily. august sorta sucks too, but at least we have the state fair.

 

this particular january was rough. it found me caring for constantly sick kiddos, booking plane tickets to and from the border of canada (long story), hurting my stupid neck, accidentally signing up for a grad class, crazy family stuff and having my bff get her heart broken.

 

on the other hand, dave was home for most of it, so yay!

 

so let's look forward to february! woo-hoo, lover's month! lots to look foward to this month, i can't wait.

 

****

 

in other news, i'm trying to reduce my grocery budget. it's ridiculous! i can't get out of wal-mart anymore without spending well over $100. not cool. i started getting my produce at aldi's - so much cheaper and more fresh! and then looking around i started to see the regular products i usually purchase at wal-mart. they had bags of spinach for $0.69! wtheck?! i spend $4.99 for a box of spinach at wal-mart, well no more!

 

they have greek yogurt, ground turkey, all-natural, sugar-free peanut butter (!), almond milk (!), etc.

 

of course they don't have my non-food items. plus i love my keurig k-cups, their bread is gross and they don't have asian chili sauce which is super uncool.

 

i'm working on a spreadsheet for a cost comparison to see just how much i am saving. i don't like having to go two different places, but so be it. we will do aldis monthly and try to do wal-mart every two weeks or monthly. hopefully monthly.

 

****

 

yeah, that's it. i know.