the crazy kids around here.......

'nuff said.

 On a recent Momtourage playdate we went to a small zoo/petting farm.

With his best girl

didn't take him long to love doing this! 

our sweet friend Bethany came with us

 Eden was a little nervous at first, but by the end she loved it as well.

Free fresh flowers daily, picked from my yard?

Yes, please!

I am constantly amazed at how much Eden is imitating us.

Her new fave is to lift the potty lid, then lift up her shirt to go potty.

I sure appreciate her initiative, but she may be a little disappointed when she learns she can't go potty like her brother. =) 

 She recently entered her first I don't want to eat phase.

 Not a happy day.

The amount of food that is getting thrown on the floor.....agh!

This is after she licked the butter off her banana bread.

And then threw it on the ground, of course.

How it ended up in her hair...not sure!

 Stickers, yes! The one on his mouth, not a bad idea. :)

Seriously, in the car today it was mommy.... mommy..... mommy....

So much to say, so little time. =)

And he is a new lover of flannel.

Shirt score = $2. flannel pj's  (below) = $3.

He loves them and wants to wear them every day. Except that it's 70+ degrees. He doesn't seem to mind.

 She is usually yelling about something. =)

 Is that Graham back there in the goal? why yes it is.

He was very happy to get a medal for his stellar season. =)

However, we determined that 3 is probably too young.

There was quite a big difference between the 3 yr. olds & the 4 yr. olds who were playing.  

If you're on the fence, don't be afraid to wait.

At least we had some beautiful days for his last few games!

 Graham talks about going to school every.single.day.

We don't know what we're doing for school, but I will say if we did homeschool he would probably be quite disappointed! He cannot wait to get on the school bus, get his backpack, pack a salad for lunch (huh?!) and go to school.

So I printed out some "school sheets" and he was very thrilled to match the upper case letters to the lower case. I guess I'll have to find some more good printable for him!

The other night before bed we were reading a book about what to be when you grow up....

He decided all he wanted was to go to a football game. Poor kid is sure deprived isn't he? Somebody get that boy some football tickets!

But then after thinking about it, he decided he would rather stay my little boy. (awwwww.)

And he also wanted to stay young so he could just play with his toys.

*

Yep, these kiddos are always doing something crazy around here.

We could never complain about boredom. for sure.

we went to see Yogi Bear and loved every second of it.

Recently Andrew & I realized that since Graham had been born, we had never taken a family trip that was not to see our extended family. We began to plan on how we could squeeze in some type of getaway that wouldn't cost a lot or dip into Andrew's time off.

Enter Certifikid (think Groupon, but family deals for Pittsburgh, DC, Va Beach, Baltimore, Delaware, & Philly). A 2 night stay at Jellystone Park for less than 1/2 price! In Hagerstown, MD which was exactly 3 hrs. away.

When I reserved our weekend, I didn't even realize at the time it would be Mother's Day, but it turned into perfect timing. We seriously had the very.best.time.

The beauty of being away, in nature, no schedule, no computer, the kids getting covered in dirt & able to roam, it was blissful.

It is no secret I am not in to camping.

I have some rules.

#1: no children under age 1

#2: no tenting

#3: a real bathroom

So enters the Cozy Cabin.

Only one room, but also included a bathroom & full fridge.

 Yes, it was cozy, but it worked. That's the bathroom door aka Eden's bedroom. :)

I was thankful we at least had a quiet place to stick her! She thankfully has no trouble sleeping away from home. Graham on the other hand, can wake up anywhere from 6-10 times in a strange place. AGH! Thankfully night #2 was a little better!

The kids just loved being able to spend so much time outside.

Eden sampled both dirt & sand just to be sure how it tasted.

You can't go wrong with buckets & shovels.

 Most boys carry a stick. This one carrys an entire tree branch.  

 We had the perfect weather.

Warm & sunny, but yet it also stayed nice & cool in the woods.

 Much prettier than your typical campground!

 We missed the opening of the waterpark by one week.

 I guess we'll have to go back. =)

 There were so many included amenities including an outdoor theatre, mini golf, pedal carts, playgrounds, pools....it was just the perfect family place!

Just barely got all 3 in the shot. :) 

 He was loving' these things!

Every time we passed one, it was take my picture, mom. So no, I won't post all 20 pics. :)

Still working on just the head shot. :)

Yogi was a huge hit with Graham!
(they also got to say the Pledge of Allegiance and do Yogicize one morning with Boo Boo. And Cindy made some appearances as well.)

 the double marshmallow roaster

I'm not adventurous enough to cook all the food over the campfire yet.

The electric skillet was a perfect companion.

 breakfast 

 Once you've eaten yogurt on your pancakes, you might never go back to syrup.

So yummy.

Also a very special treat - watching cartoons on the 12 inch tv.

Read: no worry of theft. :)

 Bacon burgers over the fire. Oh yes.  

{Cholesterol counting: tomorrow.}

 3 yr. old grumpy pants. :)

 It's not vacation without a blue popsicle.

 Delighting in the gift of my children.  

Sign of a good time.  

The very best weekend.

cross it off the Bucket List

Several weeks ago my friend Sarah posted about The Color Run and I loved it. I was sad to see the closest one was 1.5 hours away and didn't think it would fit into our schedule for this year. Fast forward a few weeks and I see my other friend Sarah (both of whose hubbys happened to be named Stephen!) posted asking for joiners for Color Me Rad, right here in Pittsburgh! So we immediately jumped in and signed up. I seriously can't wait. First of all, I used to love running, but since my first baby arrived 3+ years ago it has become very hit & miss.

But I am ready to get back to it for reals.

So there, now I've posted it for all the world to keep me going. =)

I have never run a race before and figured a 5k is a good place to start. And an awesome one at that.

I also need some serious motivation to put my running shoes on consistently!

So we're gathering a little team of church friends, mom friends, some new friends, and hopefully we'll also get to run together some throughout the summer!

So what is Color Me Rad?

How it works:  Start out as clean as a newborn babe, and throughout the run, you'll coat your chaffing thighs with blue, green, pink, purple, and yellow until your face, shirt, and body come out silkscreened like a tie-dyed hippy on the other side.  Each section of the run adds a new explosion of color to your clean, painter’s palate until you cross the finish line into a final blitzkrieg of color.

{I love how these people do not take themselves seriously at all. If you want some real laughs, read their FAQ's here.}

Well, basically while you are running a team of people pelt you with powdered paint (or to be more specific: non-toxic, non-rash-inducing, Kroger branded, colored corn-starch. Subsidized by the government and processed in the good ol’ US of A, these blasts of starch will change your color, and your demeanor, but never your level of wellness.)

Thus you end up looking like this.

Seriously, I love it.

I am also figuring that you'll be so disracted by being pelted that you won't even notice you're running. At least that's what I'm hoping for. :)

So if anyone else wants to join us on August 25th for an event unlike no other, let me know!

soccer time

It's been an interesting first soccer season for us. 

Graham's season is 7 weeks long and it's been cold and/or rainy almost every one. 

This day was one of the few that he wasn't wearing a hat & gloves!

He needed a little coaxing to join in the game at first. 

They don't keep score and the coaches run around on the field with them directing.

Which is good or G would get very distracted!

{He still sometimes runs to us from the field by the end of the hour}

  "I choose you."

 To run around the field with me the entire game. 

 "Mom, this is Mike. He was lost and so I am showing him where to go."

Poor Mike. 

 And I believe this is where Mike is probably saying, Coach, this boy won't let go of me!

 He actually didn't do too bad as the goalie - even had a save!

soccer dad 

soccer mom.

have camera, will shoot.  

soccer sister. 

{mostly just wants to run on to the field.}

thanks to Kristin for the pics!

 does that look intense or what. 

 a favorite part is snack time after the game. :)

Here's hoping for a little warm & sunshine for our last few games!