RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY.

we were going strong! harvesting and whatnot! we had help (shout to luke & betsy brass! friends for LIFE, I tell you what), and nothing was breaking down. and then the corn was too moist (sarah loves that word) and then it rained. boo.

 

 

 

that's okay. it's time for a break, right?

 

in the meantime my mom is coming up tomorrow(!) and we are beyond excited. a visit from mom means donuts and candy, a clean house and she does my laundry and loves on my kids. it's basically the best thing ever.

 

happy thursday!

MOM/AUNT OF THE YEAR. ONE DIRECTION, BABY!

 

tomorrow, hallie, mackenzie and i embark on a trip to see one direction in concert. in chicago. at soldier field.

 

 

i'm one part terrified, three parts pumped.

 

if you had asked me yesterday morning, i would have been three parts terrified, one part pumped.

 

you see, i've never been to soldier field. i was all out of sorts about where to stay, park, how to get there, etc. i mean, i was still super organized and all systems were a go, but i was still really nervous about how it was all going to go down.

 

the original plan was pretty awesome, but got squashed, which is fine.

 

so then came a hotel, a paid parking spot downtown and a MILE WALK for me and two eight-year-old girls. one of whom is used to going to bed happily at eight o'clock. so a mile walk there at five pm = easy. a mile walk after the show at ten thirty pm = hell. for everyone. but it had to be done and it could be done and it will be FINE and OH DID I MENTION THE FORECAST LOOKS CRAPPY? just sayin'.

 

so out of the blue yesterday, my BFF betsy texts me to see if it was the st. louis concert we had attended, but no, we didn't (school night). so i wrote her back and just lamented a bit about how much easier that would have been because i KNOW st. louis. easy. so easy. but again, a school night.

 

one complain-y text from me to her. that's all.

 

fast forward a few hours later, i magically had a free place to stay less than half a mile from the stadium and a free parking spot. what?

 

I CANNOT EVEN DESCRIBE MY LOVE FOR YOU BETSY BRASS. so much love.

 

and my stress level has diminished dramatically and is now replaced with super excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WEEKEND RECAP.

finally, a normal weekend. whooosh!

 

it was a pretty typical weekend. hallie had a lock-in at a local church, so henry and i had some good quality time together. he ate it up.

 

 

 

 

 

we had lunch with some new-ish friends (so much fun) on saturday, and then i spent hours after church prepping food while these goobers played on sunday.

 

 

 

 

(these girls, i tell ya what.)

 

and then i remembered that dave wouldn't be home this week to eat half of it. whoops.

 

i made:

 

turkey meatloaf

swedish meatballs (new recipe!)

quinoa breakfast bars

turkey tenderloin

quinoa (to add to stuff)

homemade ww tortillas

taquitos (for the freezer)

roasted potatoes

 

so, who wants to come over for supper this week?

 

 

MORE PICTURES. BOSTON.

we took lots and lots of pictures. most of these are still from the wedding, but some are from the exploring erin and i did the next day. we had a few hours between dropping alison off at the airport and when our flight left at 6pm (which we almost missed. stress). so we walked the freedom trail and enjoyed boston!

 

what a great city. it made me remember bringing henry almost exactly two years prior to visit sarah! time has flown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012

 

UGLY CRIES & SARAH.

oh what a wonderful weekend. what a quick, quick, wonderful weekend.

 

watching sarah marry jared was amazing. the wedding was intimate, beautiful and fun, fun, fun. we dance for hours. and hours. and ate so much pie.

 

i have lots of pictures, but they are all blurry iphone pictures, so sorry about it.

 

also, there aren't many good ones of me and sarah because apparently i am unable to NOT cry hysterically when i see her. period. i mean, i look at her and ugly cry. so i spent precious moments trying to gain composure when i should have been hugging on her. it's a problem.

 

i also loved traveling and partying with alison and erin. it was so much fun! we all let loose and enjoyed the celebration. with dancing. and pie. so much pie. and dancing.

 

pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i love this girl.

I LOVE A GOOD WEDNESDAY.

man, today is shaping up to be a good one!

 

this weather is killer,

 

lots of stuff checked off my to-do list,

 

two pregnant friends (!!!),

 

and a friendly owl two days in a row,

 

wheeeee! it's a good week!

 

i'm also going to back up a bit to this previous weekend. we had a teeny weinie roast for the kiddos (and grandma lucille, and matt snodgrass  - random!) that was a lot of fun.

 

hallie also spent almost the whole weekend at her favorite place - the stables. her riding instructor has a world-famous horse trainer come three times a year to do lessons and people come from all over.

 

hallie got to help brush the horses, lead them and give them their cookies.

 

she was in heaven. absolute heaven.

 

there were other little horsey girls there too, so that was great too - like-minded friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(do you see the owl? on the fence post. hallie says it's harry potter's owl, but DUH HALLIE, hp's owl is white. #nerdalert)