You Capture - Feet

First off this is my 800th post. Just thought I'd make note real quick. :)

Moving on...

I must have had E.S.P. about this week's You Capture topic because most of these pictures were taken LAST week, I confess (except the last one). But, I'm still gonna use 'em.

And yes I realize the last one is not of feet but the shoes that go on them. I simply couldn't resist taking a picture of this set of shoes in the corner of my bedroom - one pair for each family member.

You Capture is at Keli's place this week!

WW - Just a Little Somethin' To Get You In The Mood For Easter

I do believe there is a little lamb out and about in our house...


Let's see if we can find it.

Oh yes, here it is!

But wait!

Upon closer observation...

It looks to be a baby of the human kind

Yes, yes it is! Our sweet little lamb of our very own, BABY K!


*Thanks to our sweet neighbors who gave Baby K this hat. It's just too much! :)

Birthday Trifecta

We celebrated three birthdays in some form or fashion this past weekend.

The bowling party was a little hectic (Little G was crowned King of "WHINEALOT" after it was over) but The B Man had a great time with some of his new friends and that's what really counts. Oh and he had a Transformer cake and he got some presents, so in other words, an almost-six-year-old boys' dream.

I bought myself a white cake cupcake at the bakery where I ordered his {chocolate} cake and it was disappointingly un-good. But, I washed it down with a glass of wine and that made it somewhat better. And then Tim gave me my birthday present - a spa day. So wanted. So needed. I SO love him.

It was a beautiful day on Saturday and we went to our friends' house for their sweet, cute daughter's 2nd birthday party and the boys had a great time playing in their backyard and eating hot dogs and MORE cake.

And thankfully their older daughter was able to babysit for us that evening and Tim and I celebrated my birthday with dinner, drinks and dessert (at three different places).

We capped off the weekend with a small outdoor home beautification project (i.e. Elaine planted some flowers) and some tasty chicken on the grill.

Here are a few snaps from The B Man's party. His actual birthday is Friday, so expect a sappy, "how is my first baby already six?" post.

I love this kid so much...

Mommy & Me Monday

After a whirlwind weekend, which I will post more about later this week, there was a moment when the kids and I were outside, all together.

The boys were playing as boys do and Baby K and I were hanging out by some flowers I'd just planted and I was taking a picture here and there.

Tim walked up and I handed him the camera and said, "Here! take a picture of us!" The boys got in position and I grabbed Baby K and this is how we ended up. Me and all three of my beautiful, precious children, on a beautiful day.

It don't get much better than this. :D

(btw, I know that's really BAD English but I just had to say it that way...)






Hosted by Krystyn

So, This is What 35 Looks Like

I'm sort of emotional today. I'm officially 35 years old.

The other night Tim mentioned something to me about my birthday and I must've given him a "look" because then he said, "You don't really want this one, do you?"

He knows me too well.

I've always loved my birthday. Always.

And I still do. Don't get me wrong. But for some CUH-RAZY reason, THIRTY-FIVE just isn't sitting well with me.

I'm trying to put it into words.

Maybe it's because I know I'm done having children and menopause is up next on my biological clock.

Or perhaps it's because I'm kinda stuck in a rut right now with the weight loss thing.

Or maybe it's because this year I don't get to see my friends back home for a birthday celebration (our annual girls dinner to celebrate a few of our birthdays).

Or it could be the thought that just a week AFTER I turn 35, I'll be closer to 40 than 30. Yeah, maybe that's it.

Whatever it is, I'm trying to be better about it all. I do want to celebrate my life and those in it. And I'm generally a really positive and happy person. And I know I'm not "OLD" at all. Thinking that would be ridiculous.

I believe that #3 on the list is one of the primary reasons I'm feeling as I am. My birthday is making me a little homesick again (I've been doing SO well!). {hey girls, I miss you!}

And I promised myself after I hit "publish" on this one, I'm going to change my attitude. For myself and for my sons, daughter and husband. This weekend is going to be fun as we celebrate The B Man's birth, mine and even another friend here.

Maybe I'm not as ready now (that it's here!) to take on 35 as I claimed last week. But, it's here and there's not a darn thing I can do about it but eat cake and celebrate, right?

So anyWHO. Here's what 35 looks like for me.

Most days it's something akin to this...


And some days I wear my contacts and put on make-up and it's more like this.


And please, pay no attention to all the misplaced hairs. Perhaps it's a metaphor for my life right now. Most things in place, but just a few little things askew.

I hope everyone has a great Spring day today. And please, if you are near some cake go ahead and eat some in my honor! XOXO

WW - Hand-Me-Downs

I recently cleaned out the boys' closet, taking many things to the resale shop and to charity. I also bought some new clothes for them, especially The B Man, and a few things for Little G, although he's mostly wearing The B Man's hand-me-downs.

When I switched out sizes for Little G the other day, and found things that The B Man used to wear at this age, it was a little heart-wrenching. Just to think that my oldest, who's almost six years old, wore these things half of his life ago.

And ONE SHIRT in particular stood out to me. Because when my first boy was three he adored Thomas the Tank Engine. I mean LOOOOVED all things Thomas.

Ate. Breathed. Slept. You know...

And now his brother is sporting the same shirt. And in all honesty it doesn't seem quite right for him to be wearing it. I have so MANY memories of my BEN in that shirt. It's almost as if it should have been framed and hung above his bed or something.

But instead, yesterday I took it off the hanger and put it on Little G and when he saw it he smiled the biggest smile and exclaimed, "It's Thomas!!"


Looks like there are many more wonderful memories with this shirt yet to come...

And HEY! Check out my giveaway for natural, organic, tasty cereal!

Cereal Anyone? [me] & goji Giveaway

Do you like cereal? Well, I LOVE cereal and quite honestly, breakfast in general. And during the week the best thing for me to have in the morning is a bowl of cereal because it's easy, tasty and fast.

Unfortunately many of the cereals that are offered at the grocery store (even the "health" food stores) aren't very good for us. There's A LOT of sugar and of course plenty of preservatives.

That's why I was most excited to have an email in my inbox recently from Adam with [me] & goji, a company that makes custom cereal with all natural and organic ingredients. And the coolest part? YOU can choose exactly what you want to go in your cereal including 60 or so different ingredients. We're talking anything from almonds to golden raisins to gluten-free flakes.

I had so much fun going to their site, choosing my ingredients and even giving the cereal a unique name - Gavin's Granola! You can also put a photo on the container if you wish, although I didn't do that (SO wishing I had!) I started with the "golden granola" and then added some barely flakes, cinnamon, cashews, cranberries and walnuts and even pumpkin seeds. And I really LIKE "Gavin's" Granola (that's actually been MINE!) so much. And, re-ordering is a snap since each custom cereal comes with a recipe id that can be typed in on the site and instantly recreated. How sweet is that?


Also, the cereal comes in this wonderful round container that I plan to recycle, perhaps for toys or a even gift. There was on idea on the [me] & goji blog to put wrapping paper around it and then use it to store cookies inside and give as a gift. Love that!

The cereal starts at $4.90 and comes pretty well "equipped" for about $11.00. You may think that sounds pricey but the container holds 2-3 times more than your regular cereal box. Not to mention you get all natural, organic, healthy and delicious cereal. And just in case you are not keen on creating your own cereal, the site has many pre-mixed recipes as well, including some geared towards kids.

I've chatted with both Adam and Alexander personally on email and they are really nice guys, running a great company that even contributes to charity. And even Oprah thinks so! ;)

So, I'm quite thrilled to share this product with you all and am so grateful that they are offering a FREE container of cereal that includes a unique name and a personalized photo for one of you lucky ducks!

Here's how to enter to win:

1) For first entry, go on over to [me] & goji and check it out. Then come back and tell me which cereal ingredient you'd most like to try and what you might name your mix.

2) For a second entry follow @meandgoji on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Leave a link to your tweet in a separate comment.

3) For a third entry become a fan of [me] and goji on Facebook and come back and let me know in another separate comment.

This giveaway will run through this Friday, March 26th and end at 11:59 p.m. CST. I will find a winner via Random.org on Saturday.

Open to U.S. residents only.

Please make sure you leave your email in the comments or that it's on your profile so that I can contact you if you should win.

I'm so happy for the winner already. This stuff is so GOOD!

Now I will sign off, as Adam and Alexander do on every email and on their blog.

Sincerealy yours... (isn't that awesome?)




Disclosure: [me] & goji provided me with one free container of their custom cereal in exchange for the honest opinions I've given in this post as well as one container as a give away for one of my readers. I was not paid for this post.

Have You Ever Heard that Expression, "Running Around Like a Chicken With Your Head Cut Off?"

This week begins the busy, and it continues for a couple of weeks.

There are birthdays (even a "half" one), there are parties and celebrations. There is shopping and baking to do (not sure if I'm doing the baking yet or not...).

Tomorrow I will be hosting a giveaway (come check it out, it's something REALLY healthy, yummy and GOOD.)

There's a dentist appointment, a doctor appointment (or two) and Easter.

There are soccer games (yes, two in one weekend, AGAIN).

And of course, amongst all that, there's regular life.

You know, cooking, laundry, diaper changing, school pick up, husband working like a mad man.

Am I complaining? No, no.

Just letting you know that if there are a few typos in my posts for the rest of my life this month... well, this is probably why...


P.S. Monday, I'm ready for you. Don't you dare think you've got a hold a me. Even the grocery shopping is ALREADY done, so HA!


P.P.S Baby K is giving Monday the "stink eye" in the above picture. Can't you tell? (Okay, she's probably giving ME the stink eye, but let's just pretend, k?) Oh, and I discovered her first tooth poking through on Friday. It's as if I blinked and it was there.

P.P.P.S Here's my girl and me together at the zoo last week. My friend Ann was nice enough to grab my camera and take this for me. (it was all her idea, really).


P.P.P.S.S. And here's me and Little G at the park last week in a "self picture."


Now I'm gonna link up to Mommy & Me at Krystyn's place! Get some pics of you and your kids. It's SO worth it!

A Week From Today

Sometimes time passes quickly.

Like when you're at the mall, shopping BY YOURSELF for the perfect outfit because you finally have somewhere to go besides the grocery store and you're NOT going to have any of the kids with you and therefore will not get any spit-up or snot on said outfit.

Then time goes FAST.

Sometimes time passes slowly.

Like when you have a terrible headache and call your husband and ask him if he could perhaps come home a little early because the toddler won't stop whining and your head hurts so badly and you just want to cry (some more).

Then times goes very SLOWWWW-LY.

And then sometimes you look up to add things to your Outlook Calendar and you realize that your 35th birthday is just days away.

YOUR 35TH BIRTHDAY.

Okay fine, MY 35TH BIRTHDAY.

There are plenty of signs that you are going to be 35 soon.

Such as.

*You MUST put things on your Outlook Calendar before you forget all about them, never to remember them again, or until someone reminds you minutes before (this might also be attributed to having three kids...)

*Crow's Feet.

*When purusing the tabloids in line at the grocery store you have no idea who 90% of the people are on the covers.

*Related to the last one, you see pics of your 19 year old niece on Facebook and think, "Isn't she wearing just a tad too much make up?"

*You seek out and buy food that has more fiber.

*You glare and even hiss a little at Victoria's Secret each time you pass it in the mall.

*While doing Jillian's "30 Day Shred" there is much "popping" and "creaking" going on within your body.

*Everyone else seems to have these new "fandangled" phones/blackberries/i phones, etc. While you are happy with your "old fashioned" Nokia flip phone. Which is ONLY a phone (okay, it does take pictures, but is RARELY used for that).

Despite all of these things, I'm good with 35 (really I am). Besides some physical things* that I need to work on, my life is so, SO good and I'm very blessed with a beautiful family and much love surrounding me.

So bring it on 35, I'm ready for ya!

(me, 34 and half-ish years ago. Found this picture in my baby book that I took from my Mom's house while in Austin last month)

*If you would just keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I have a doctor appointment on Monday to look further into some "female issues" I've been having off and on since Baby K was born. It's nothing MAJOR, just some annoying stuff that I hope to get worked out soon.

You Capture - Reaching

I didn't think I would have any pictures for the topic this week but our little trip to the zoo provided me with a few...

Reaching for Food (very pretty giraffe)


Reaching for the sky AND the ground (this tree was HUGE!)



Reaching just for the FUN of it (these guys were silly!)


And I'm "Reaching" a little myself by including these two of my kids, but they are cute and I love them so I'm going to. :)

WW - Sometimes I Feel This Way Too

We visited the local zoo yesterday (for the first time) and this little guy just sat there and stared at us as we walked by. I kinda felt like if he could talk he'd say "Won't someone, anyone, let me out of here?"

You all know I LOVE, ADORE and CHERISH my life as mother and wife. But sometimes, don't we all feel that way? Just a little?


P.S. I really do have it great because I can take my kids to the zoo any day of the week and get to spend time with them all day and hug and kiss them any time I want to.

This post may or may not have been inspired by the fact that Elaine is tired of changing LOTS and LOTS of poopy diapers lately and her desire for one day without an "explosion" of sorts...


Visit Angie for More Wordful Wednesday.

It's Technically NOT Eavesdropping if You Let Them Know You're There, Right?

Little G and I walked out on the screened in porch the other day so that he could blow some bubbles. I was helping him get started when I heard some voices from the backyard behind ours.

I quickly picked up on the fact that the people were arguing and that it was a couple.

It may have had something to do with the fact that SHE told HIM that he was good for nothing and that she takes care of the family and cooks the meals and... He said something but I couldn't hear him as well - he may have still been in the house. But I could hear her loud and clear and when he was done she continued to yell about his worthlessness.

And THAT was the point when my toddler felt the need to interject and yelled,

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" I froze.

Then.

He went about his bubble blowing for a moment and in the next breath said,

"GO IN YOUR HOUSE!!"

Although I was silently laughing my arse off I was simultaneously ticked that I didn't get to hear anymore of their juicy argument.

My "marriage ref" toddler killed it for me as there was NO MORE SOUND from their backyard. Hmmmmm, wonder why...

Oh well, maybe he lightened their hearts a little and their fight really did end.

But man. It was JUST getting good.

She is Blessed

Yesterday was Baby K's baptism day. It was a beautiful day in many ways. She was beautiful. The words spoken and blessings given were beautiful and the weather, well it was just gorgeous.

We celebrated her with lots of kisses, family time, cake and a few pressies.

My brother Larry and his wife Kelley are her Godparents and we are so thankful and she is blessed to have them take that role in her life.

My parents also drove in to be here for her special day. I'm so glad they were able to be here with us too.

My mother wrote her THE sweetest note in her baptism card, it made me cry. And the other night as I was putting Baby K down to bed I asked my father if he would like a "baby kiss" (meaning kiss the top of her head) and he said, "Oh yes, I don't get enough of those." I melted.

She IS truly blessed. In SO very many ways...





Congratulations to my sweet girl!

I'm linking up to Krystyn's Mommy & Me post as well.