wordless wednesday

bike bike, baby

as seen around our house yesterday...

snow free sidewalks & driveways
rain boots
puddles
bikes

we loved it!!!

we decided to go for a walk around the block yesterday afternoon.
against my better judgement i let ryan ride his big wheel and put josie in a single stroller.
not a good idea.
at exactly the 1/2 way point ryan decided he didn't want to ride anymore.
i had to lug a muddy big wheel and push josie while keeping ryan from running into the street.
meanwhile, garrett and olivia were constantly fighting about who should be in the lead,
who was going too slow, blah blah blah...
and at random times ryan would want his big wheel back only to not want it a few feet later.
45 minutes later we made it back home.
did i mention we just went around the block??

and that is why i prefer a nice run ALL BY MYSELF!!!
miles & miles of peace & quiet
{ha ha - kidding!}

it was a crazy bike ride - but who can't love 60 degrees in february???

fun at the zoo

day off of school
AND
almost 40 degrees

we had to go to the zoo!!!

the zoo was so empty
the kids just ran around like hooligans
it was great!

keep out

olivia's new favorite thing is "privacy"

here's what i found on her door this afternoon

and here's what she said about it
"mom, if people would simply knock on my door
i'd be happy to answer any questions they have."
well isn't that nice of her!


6 yr old translations

"keep off - no climbing allowed"
she said this meant no climbing on her door.
personally i've never seen anyone climb on her door.

and my personally favorite-
"no ryan - but garrett is allowed"

wordless wednesday

a tv lesson

while watching little einsteins & eating breakfast olivia informed me that while the characters and rocket were fiction, the setting was non-fiction.

maybe having a tv in our kitchen isn't all bad.

although, as i type this ryan is crying on the kitchen floor because i won't turn that tv on.
never mind that diego is already on the tv in our living room.

i think the tv in the kitchen will be short lived even though hearing about fiction & non-fiction from a 6 year old over cereal cracks me up.

mother may i

mother

so at first i thought it kind of cute
just a funny thing he was saying to make me laugh

now it's the only thing he calls me
i still think it's funny

but

it's kind of embarassing when we're out in public
like when he yells "mother, can we buy poptarts???" at the store
i feel like i should be wearing a long drab skirt, my hair in a bun and have my kids dressed in some sort of amish overalls

celebrate

josie posie... today is your birthday!!

we can hardly believe you are 1

you are truly our little gift from God

we love you so much!!

...

here's a little of behind the scenes to get ready for your big day...

i had 2 great cupcake helpers

your sister said the pink frosting was so "freaky good"

garrett was more than happy to make sure she was right

we opened a few presents before church in the morning -

lots of little hands were happy to help you open them :)

later it was off to lunch at grammie & grampie's house

and what's a birthday without a birthday onesie????

thanks, grammie!

and finally...

happy birthday, baby girl!!!!

take a peek

well it's almost been a month since i started my 365 blog
it's been fun finding the one shot for my day
some days i have lots to choose from, other days...well, not so many {ha ha}

after sarah and i started, she had the fun idea of putting it into a book
i think it will be fun for the kids to look at :)
{once ryan stops ripping books, of course!}

this is my first attempt at "digital scrapbooking"
and i'm loving it!!

here's the basics of how we are making them...

1. each week {7 pictures} will be on a 2 page layout
2. create layout and save as a picture (jpeg)
3. upload picture into shutterfly
4. create a photobook using our pictures*

*our pictures are actually 12"x12" files that we've created in either photoshop or illustrator
if you don't want to bother with making your own pictures, they have lots of templates you can just drop your pictures into.

you can take a peek at my book on my shutterfly site
i'll be adding pages as i go

i won't lie... it does take some time
BUT it's still way faster than regular scrapbooking!!!!
{and no large totes of supplies required}

25 random things...

if you're on facebook {seriously, who isn't??} you've seen the "25 random things"

i just posted mine the other day and i figured this would be a good place to post it too...

so basically it's just 25 random things about me
no particular order
just things i that came to mind

1. I wish I had more time to read

2. I love symmetry, things that either match or coordinate and even numbers

3. I love running, but wish I was a better runner

4. My goal is to complete at least 10 marathons - I've done 3 so far

5. One summer my running buddy and I did pretty much every major distance race in the Twin Cities - clearly this was before kids and when I had job to pay for it!!

6. I cannot sleep in an unmade bed. Yuck. I have to make my bed every day. I could care less about my kids' beds

7. I have my masters in biostatistics from the University of MN

8. I used to work as a biostat and used to teach statistics at a state college in MN

9. I like my boys to wear coordinating or matching clothes - even though I know it's dorky

10. In the car, I have to have my temperature settings on even numbers or multiples of 5

11. I love being a stay at home mom, but I'm getting the itch to go back to work - and I feel guilty about that sometimes

12. I VERY briefly sold Lia Sophia jewelry - I wanted all the freebies! I later sold it all on ebay for a nice profit :)

13. I love shopping - my favorite things to shop for are clothes for my kids and shoes & coats for me

14. I would wear Ann Taylor everyday if I had the money and the places to go. Right now casual Old Navy works just fine

15. I won tickets on the radio to a U2 concert.

16. I once spent a month biking across southern Australia - I had an awesome biking shorts tan!

17. I have 2 vicoden that I'm saving for a day when I need a really good nap

18. I hate the taste of wine - I wish I didn't.

19. I think Tivo is perhaps the best invention ever. I can't imagine TV without it!! I love to watch and show and look for the little discrepancies in each scene like hair tucked behind the ear in one shot but not the next. I'm always rewinding to check them out. Yes, I need a life.

20. My guilty pleasure... Real World on MTV, plus all the challenge shows - seriously when will those people get a real job? Yet I still watch...

21. I wish I could still play the piano like I used to. I want my kids to learn how to play the piano some day

22. I love watching my kids play sports...even though mid-season I start complaining about how busy I feel :)

23. I miss running around the Twin Cities with Jill - we were the perfect pair. She'd feel good when I would start to get whiny and want to walk and vice versa.

24. I love living back in Michigan - but I really miss my friends in MN

25. I can't wait to start taking cool vacations with my kids - I want them to have lots of fun memories from a wide variety of places

ok, there you go...
now make your own list :)