Friday Short

This is how Arden spent the first four months of his life.

At the time, our lives were crazy and now I miss it; does that make me still crazy?

Friday Short

And this is my all-time favorite picture of the three of them. 

Don't they all look like they're in completely different scenarios?

Trucks, Trucks, Trucks!

What the fascination is with boys and trucks, I will never know; however, I'm grateful any time that there is an opportunity for the boys to get up close and personal with some of them.  This weekend, there was an annual event in our town, all of these rad trucks come and collect in a large municipal parking lot and little boys (and a few girls) come and pretend for a little while that they're driving these massive things.  It's mildly amusing as a parent to see them touch those dirty steering wheels, sit in the back of a police car (you know, where they put the perps) and claw their way up mud splashed running boards and steps, but it's also overwhelmingly joyful as a parent to watch their little eyes light up when they realize that they can actually do all of that and not get in trouble for it.

There were highs of the day: getting to drive the fire truck and have the siren wail and there were lows: having a sword shaped balloon pop less than five minutes after getting it, but overall the boys (including Jim) had a blast.

Check out some of those mad balloon skills... ten seconds later, it was gone.

This is pretty much how I envision Arden's first day of school going.  Cool older brother chillin' and little brother trying to figure out how he can climb out of that bus.

I'm not sure what this victory was all about, but it looked awesome from the ground.  Maybe it was the climb up the seven foot ladder.

This kid is totally mine, we never pass up the opportunity to cheer for ourselves.

And now, the day is done and shockingly someone's not very happy, which is also another trait of mine.

Friday Short

I was going back through some of the old pictures I had and found this one. 

I just can't handle those blue eyes; they're awesome.

It'll Do

When Jim suggested that we go to a chain diner restaurant the other night, I agreed... or rather acquiesced, thinking to myself, "it'll do," which I can't say now without thinking of Babe, the movie.  I didn't want some dumb ol' chain hamburger and fries or worse yet, the stress that comes from having both kids unhappy with anything on the menu, which is how the regular family meal out for us goes.  But this time it was different.  Like, way different.

The kids were well behaved.

There were no shoes being flung over the booth behind us, or spilled drinks, better yet: I ate an entire meal without having to lift someone over me to go to Daddy, or get up to chase someone who's bolting for the door.  It was so refreshing and wonderful, it was almost too much.  It turned my "it'll do" into, "let's do it again!"

Don't get it twisted though, it's entirely too much to think that every single time that we go out will be this awesome, most times are going to be ok; which is something that I will settle for in light of the fact that we've had bad and even downright terrible meals out, where I swear that we're never going out again, but always change my mind when Friday rolls around and we need a break.

As I always do, I couldn't resist snapping away some pictures- even the light was freakin' amazing and the boys were paying me no mind, which made the pictures, in my opinion, are perfect... I know I'm laying it on pretty thick, but honestly, it was a real turning point in our dining out career; there is hope.

Enjoying Every Last Minute

Every once in a while, the boys and I will eat breakfast together in the morning.  It's a nice 10 minute break from the chaos of or typical day.  The other day, the light was shining just right and as us three little piggies were stuffing our faces, I grabbed my camera and started snapping.  It was a small moment, but one of the first times that we all seemed chill and happy in our new house.  We weren't frantically trying to find something before school or trying to hang something up, or clean, etc.; we were just bein' us.

One of the reasons that we moved was to have more moments like this, I know that sounds corny, but that's the truth.  We downsized because we were overwhelmed, and when parents are overwhelmed, this feeling translates to their children.  I've already noticed a difference in mine.  They are more mindful of the rules- like no eating in the family room and that everyone must sit at the table together while we all say grace; it's been so positive for all of us and I'm loving it.  They are loving the new structure of their life and quite honestly, I'm more than happy to provide it.  For too long, we were loosey goosey with the flow of our house and it created some bad habits in all of us, hence the eating in the family room.

All of that is behind us now, since Jim and I are working every day to make sure that boys are happy above all, but also making sure that they recognize that there are some changes that we're all making so that we can have a better life... one minute at a time.

Friday Short

When I saw this over priced towel, I couldn't resist... who wouldn't want a fox-child with a runny nose?

Everyday We're Walkin'

One of the best, and I mean very best things about moving into our new house is that the neighborhood is warm and friendly; absolutely perfect for walking.  Our new motto and routine has become thinking of ways to make sure that the boys are completely tired, as I believe that it helps Arden to fall asleep, which has been an issue, since the transition to the big boy bed has been difficult... to say the least.  Every night after dinner, we high-tail it out of the house and go walkin' and searching for things to keep the boys occupied.

Who can see a dog first?  

Who hears the first bird?  

Are we going to see the chickens?  

So far cooperation with both walking and the on-the-spot competitions have been fair-to-partly-cloudy, but that's okay, because usually by the end of the walk, Jim and I are tired and the boys are happy to talk about all of the things that they saw- never mind the fact that there were half a dozen meltdowns, 'cause we can see our new house and none of that matters.

As I tend to do, I can't help myself when I get an opportunity to snap a few pictures, so our walks have been documented, but later in life, I'm sure I will be happy that I took these pictures; for now, I just look like a suburban paparazzi, minus the entourage.

Friday Short

How adorable is this?  Red cupcakes are his jam!  

Although, I'm sure you couldn't tell that just from looking at him...