The Zoo... on a Saturday

the zoo on a saturday is not my cup of tea.  but i did it anyway, because --

1.  i needed to get out of the house and engage the kids.
2.  parking is free
3.  i was temporarily insane
4.  i knew it would make the kids happy

so we went...

it was crowded.  i felt like it was "wal-mart day" at the zoo.  for real, people.  bleh.  why oh why did i go on a saturday???  so many, many tattoos.  babies wearing only diapers.  replace the strollers with blue shopping carts and i swear...  i mean, there is nothing wrong with tattoos {even my husband has one} i'm just saying...  okay, so hate me.  this all makes me sound terrible.  but i will leave it in to show my authenticity.

we did have fun.  and savannah really enjoyed looking and pointing at all the animals.  i had no idea that they would engage her so much.  she was laughing and pointing... in all the times that we have been, i have not really focused on her zoo "experience"  {insert mom guilt} so i need to work on that!

ethan enjoyed looking for bugs.  i mean, why look at the lion when there is a roly poly to be found. 

i tried to take pictures of the kids together.

ha!

this is how it started: 

me:  "okay ethan, sit on the curb, i want to take your picture"
ethan:  ignores me and turns his back.  starts digging in the dirt
me:  "come on, ethan"
ethan:  nothing
me:  "ethan, come on.  sit here and give me a smile"  then i get savannah out of stroller.
savannah:  freedom!  she hightails it down the crowded sidewalk.
ethan:  still digging
other people:  laughing at my failed attempt
me:  "ethan, sit down"
ethan:  "look at my roly poly"

such an adorable little boy thing.  the fascination of bugs...

notice the "fishy" on his belt loop?  it's fishy #2.  fishy number #1 is on the "lost list."  along with sister's brown shoe, white hair bow, and yellow peg in the hammer/peg toy.  i sure do wish i could not care about these things...  better yet, i wish i could find these things.

















xoxo, s

Miscellany

thank you for your sweet responses to my last post.  i am making baby steps toward healthy...  like right now, as i type this, i am snacking on a sandwich, not a waffle with butter.  and i went to bed before midnight 4 nights in a row now.  ah-mazing.

yesterday my mother came into town for a quick visit... she watched my littles so that i could work on my junior league placement that i still not finished.  grrr.  i am hoping that i come "close enough" that they don't make me do the rest of the hours next year.  but ehh, it's my own fault.

i procrastinated.  because it was one. more. thing.  and when savannah was little, i really couldn't even think of one. more. thing.

i mean, it was a loooonng time before i did shopping anywhere but braum's.  and occasionally target.  but only with the stroller.  not the buggy.

i tried to tell this to the volunteer coordinator at my placement.  "how could i shop for the needs of the placement, when i couldn't even take care of my family?"  and she looked at me like i was an alien.  and then i started in on the mom guilt.

but wait.

i do other stuff.  my family comes first.  i should not feel guilty for that.  and i am not super mom.  i can. not. do. it. all.

and i have found that people who look like they do it all -- they have helpers.  whether or not they talk about them.  or even consider that they have "helpers" they usually do.  a spouse that grocery shops or cooks or cleans or takes the kids?  that's help.  parents that keep the kids overnight routinely?  that's help.  and don't get me even started on the rest of the helpers.  paid helpers are not happening here.  :)

and that's okay.  i just need to cut myself some slack.

another mom said to me this morning, that after birthing a child you birth "guilt" as well.  umm, yes. 

anyway, i digress.

while my mother was here i asked her if she would dress ethan up in easter clothes and snap some pictures of him, because i wasn't too thrilled with what i had from the actual day.

and she did.  but you know what?  ethan is not at the easiest age for photos.  he's either grabbing his crotch, pointing, making a pretend camera around his eye or frowning.

i might need to have sabrina come to my rescue so that i get a few keepers this season.

this was the best one.

and then, i asked my mom to make him change clothes and take one more...

in a smocked outfit.  it was passed down to us 3 days before easter from my little-boy-clothing guardian-angel.

daddy said "no more smocking" almost a year ago.  sad day.  but i really wanted to know what my little guy but would look like all dressed up... soooo i figured, a little photo op never hurt anyone.  and you know what?  he couldn't have worn this anyway... it was 4 inches too short!  shoes-socks-legs-pants.  not a cute look.  :)

anyway.  i knew that ethan would cooperate better for his nana than me.  so a special thanks to my mother for taking pictures of him!

in other news, this morning a random guy was three houses up looking in windows and scoping things out, most likely to try and burgle houses.  nice, huh?  send some good vibes my way, i don't want any part of that!!

more randomness:  what do you mulch your vegetable garden with?   we need to mulch, stat!  i want to do a layer of newspaper, and then something on top...

also, is there anything i can do to increase my bee population??  we have flowers... lots of flowers... and i have only seen a handful of bees.

i. want. zucchini.  i. am. tired. of. hand. pollinating.  k?

and last random question -- does anyone know what kind of flower this is? {from my mother's day arrangement}  i really liked it, and 2.5 weeks later, it is still pretty....

okay.  all done with my randomness.  y'all have a nice wednesday.
xoxo, s

Mom Fog

on saturday a friend asked me how my week had been and i looked at her blankly.

the week.  i had no idea.  my mind was really blank.  as in, no memory.  it took me a day {i am not exaggerating} to reflect and piece my week back together... a dr.'s appt. on monday, a stay at home chore day on tuesday, an impromptu visit with a friend on wednesday, ethan's haircut thursday, and homemade pasta on friday.  just don't ask me what we ate for dinner or breakfast, or what i wore... i do not know.  i must have been on autopilot.

in a moment of clarity, i realized a very simple fact.  i am not taking proper care of myself.

i do not exercise.  at all.  and i won't count the ever-so cliche "i run after my kids" because, really, it isn't intentional exercise.

my sleeping patterns are horrid.  i stay up way to late.  get up early.  feel sleepy and run down all day, and then guzzle caffeine.  sounds really healthy, no?

my diet leaves a lot to be desired.  i give the healthy stuff to my kids and then skip meals and eat crap.  i do eat some healthy things, just not as consistently as i should.  and i can truly say:  my favorite food is butter.

if my children were not getting enough sleep, or not physically active, or not eating well -- i would be upset.  but here i am, not taking care of myself, and i am my children's example.

soo... i'll be working on this.  and by putting this on here, i feel like i will try to be more accountable.  in fact, i'll let you know how i did next monday.  because i need to make changes quickly...

please tell me some of you do this too... am i alone??

xoxo, s

she did it again.

the ever talented sabrina really never ceases to amaze me.  she captured savannah's first reaction to cups, saucers, spoons, and tea cakes...

i stole this one from her website, but go on over to see the others.

having talented friends makes me totally spoiled.  rotten. 

have a good weekend!
xoxo, s

Garden Update

it is raining here.  really raining.  {opposed to pretend raining which it seems to do above our house.  sprinkle. sprinkle. done.} it rained last night too.  hallelujah!  our garden needs it.

i have high expectations for what i will find tomorrow...

maybe my new lettuce will have sprouted.  because this is almost done.  i took some to a friend this morning... isn't that the best thing about gardens?  sharing...

ahhh.  anyway... 

last week... no.  the week before last...  i touched one of the cucumber plants.

it died.  seriously.  i was like...hmmm.  black thumb, much, stephanie?

and i didn't touch any more of them.  and then another died.  like,  perfectly healthy --- whamo - wilted up dead.  we have four remaining.  let's keep our fingers crossed that this isn't some sesame street-esque subtraction game.

insert handy dandy google to realize we had some bacterial wilt going on.

bye-bye organic garden... hello sevin dust.  i mean, really.  what were the alternatives?  so.  perhaps we will just all pretend we are organic around here.  now, don't go all "neem oil" on me.  we have been down the organic route... sometimes you have to cheat.  i think there is a king of the hill about this very subject matter.  and i can handle an imperfect garden.  seriously.  i can.  like the lettuce picture -- you see the black seeded simpson {although i'm not so sure that's what it is, regardless of what the seed pkt said} something has made some swiss cheese style holes in it.  i'm okay with imperfection.  just not dead plants.

i also decided to plant more cucumber seeds... in case we have to entirely replant the cukes.  major bummer.  if we don't have to replant, maybe we can just grow them along the fence line...  gardening is so "learn as you go."  kind of like parenthood.

but the rest of the garden is really coming along nicely.  the herbs are crazy.  the mint!  enough for mojitos now.  the green beans are fresh and tasty.  and the lettuce has been wonderful.

and we have tomatoes.  and peppers.

and the eggplants have rebounded from whatever was eating all the leaves.  thank you sevin.  and even flowering!

and the cannas!  the sunflowers!

do you like ethan in his 'jama's?  that's how we roll sometimes while sister is napping in the morning.  why, might you wonder?  well.  if you could see the MOUNTAINS of clean laundry that have consumed me this week, you might take my one-less-thing-to-wash approach, too.  or not.  maybe i am lazy?  who cares.  he's happy.

xoxo, s

the highlight reel...

do you know how nice it is to still see people posting their easter pictures?  its nice to know i am not alone!  the past three weekends have been packed with lots of things, big and small... and so have the weeks.  i won't bore you with all of it... so instead, here's the highlight reel: 

easter.  i love easter.  but i have yet to master the blissed-out-relaxed easter that i feel everyone else has.  in fact, the whole tradition thing always falls short of where i would like it to be.  ideally, i would like to have a fancy brunch at home.  and also attend the 11:00 service.  and hunt eggs.  hmm... you tell me how to make all that work and that would be great.  oh, and the kids desperately need afternoon naps.  and sister needs a morning one still.

{i must stop and tell you that i know this is not what easter is really about.  and i also must say that anything is better than skipping church to work easter brunch at a country club/city club.  something about that made me sooo bitter.  and now, i can't imagine going out to eat on easter, because i think it is the pits that the service staff doesn't get to be with their families.  okay.  i'm off my soap box.}

its the fancy brunchy/lunchy option that always seems to fall through the cracks.

this year was no exception.  brats and burgers.  perhaps that is our tradition.  :)  i can't complain... it was easy... and that was what i asked for.  easy-peasy.

i also asked for my husband to snap a photo of me and the kids before church...  it is not my favorite.  but come to think of it, i have never been happy with easter photos before {or after} church. 

have i mentioned that faustino hates taking the photos?  he always says "good enough.  we're done..." and i have learned it really isn't that useful to argue otherwise.

things i want to remember from easter service:  we let ethan wear his fishy on his white linen pants, and because of that, he was a complete angel through the entire service.  i did have to take him to pee in the service.  better than the alternative... :)  chickfila style.  and savannah went to the nursery and had a jolly good time.

perfection.

the cousin time was fun...

and the egg hunting was great...

we hunted at the park... and practically had it all to ourselves. all three girls had their first "swing" and all three loved it!

then let's all fast forward to... Savvy's Birthday:


i know i'm biased, but she's pretty cute, huh?

here she is on her actual birthday.  perhaps its a dinosaur tea party that she is playing?  :) 

we had everyone over for her little birthday "party"...it was... low key.  faustino was post-call and bless his heart, offered to grill.  in the rain.  what a sweetheart.

highlights -- sister loves cake.  really.  she ate the whole piece so quickly, i didn't realize how much was gone.  i would not have really let her eat all of that had i been paying attention. also, my husband makes the best homemade french fries.  seriously.  and i saw savannah "dance" for the first time... and she finally cut that other top tooth - bringing the grand total to 4 on the top, 2 on the the bottom.

we also went to longview to celebrate sister's birthday with a whirlwind trip... my mom had things "lady bug themed" and it was quite cute and very thoughtful of her to get everyone together... sister enjoyed all the attention!  and ethan had cousin time which he l o v e d.  he also swiped quite a bit of icing from his sister's cake!

then, this past weekend was mothers' day.   now, i don't have any photos, but i must tell you a few highlights:  faustino brought me breakfast in bed -- migas!  my favorite.  i lounged and cat napped and didn't take care of the children {much} until 10!!!!!  guilt free laziness.  bliss.  and i received lovely flowers.  {insert satisfied sigh}

then we went to my sister in law's for lunch... which was wonderful... and i made the most tasty lemon bars i have ever had.  they were so easy, too!  thank you everyday food!

and now, folks, we are up to date!!  {and please forgive me for not adjusting or editing a single photo.  cardinal blog sin, i know.}

xoxo, s

Black Eye!

he hit it on the back of the couch.  it wasn't even a quarter after 7 yesterday morning.  

what a way to start our day.

we did do an ice pack... but who am i kidding?  a three year old does not "do" an ice pack all that well.

it looked bad yesterday... but today.  sheesh.  boys.  

i think he thinks it is cool... :)