Sweet boys

Evan now has "quiet time" 2 or 3 times a week in place of a nap.  The other day I walked in on him being very quiet. 

Drew has now mastered the "fish face".

He is most definitely my son.

Summer of '06

And this is what happens when you let your children dress themselves as much as possible:

 

 He knows how to do buttons, but obviously started a bit off. ;)

 I'm so glad I realized he pulled on Lil Swimmers instead of a pull-up for church.  That could have been really bad.

A little plug: Whimsicals

Are you looking for something to put in some one's stocking?  A little note of encouragement, maybe?  Or how about just a pick-me-up card to have on  hand?

Meet Whimsicals Cards.  The products created by the fabulous Sarah.  No, not me.  This Sarah lives in Denver and makes all sorts of wonderful cards, both note cards and memory verse cards.  She has calendars and boxes.  She has large prints and small ones.  No matter what I see on her site, I love it all!

Sarah at work in her studio

She says:  I divide my artistic time between creating, running my art business, and teaching occasional art classes and workshops. I adore my studio and love to create using drawing & glitter pens, watercolor pencils, and markers. All of the cards and products that you see in my online shop and at craft fairs are created start to finish in my home studio. I love watching a product transform from an idea into a finished product, then tucking it into an envelope (or email) to send you! I long to be more like Jesus and to spread his love through my paintings and illustrations. I live in Centennial, CO with my daughter, Selah and husband, Drew.


I love all the little figures she draws on her cards - but I love how she is not limited to drawing just these beautiful little gals!  I drool over her Vegetable Thank You cards and sometimes wish to have another little one just to use her Little Boy Thank You's!  The colors she uses are brilliant and the whole "feel" to her images is magical.  I have memory cards and note cards and have purchased items from her etsy shop as gifts for friends.  Everyone who sees her products fall in love just like I have.

Here are some of the memory cards that's I've laminated.  They are so useful sitting by my kitchen sink!

Seriously, even if you're not having a hard time finding something for that special someone, get some Whimsical Cards into your life or brighten someone else's life with them! 

Turkey Birthday

Every few years, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving day.

This year was one of them and I had so much fun!

Scot and I have always talked about having a birthday week for the boys (and for us, too?) but they've been so young, we never acted on it.  Our idea was to really make that person feel special.  All.  Week.  Long.  I grew up celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas and I look back on those traditions with extreme fondness.  I loved that for a 8 days my brother and I got to open a present each night - starting little and ending with a really big present.  I also loved waking up Christmas morning and digging through my stocking that was always bulging with little treats and gifts.  Scot and I decided when we got married that we would keep Christmas small and go-big on birthdays.

This year, Scot went big and treated me to a whole birthday week.  And I'll tell ya what, I was beyond excited. 

The week before, I walked downstairs to find the dining room table with a pile of presents on it. The presents started off small - my favorite chap stick, a cute contact case, a fun pink lanyard, a luxurious bar of soap.  And got bigger -- fabulous wooden spoons hand carved in France, a nice set of teaspoons for my liquid measurements, and some pretty sweet whisks for sauces.  The big finale was a "big girl" purse now that I'm officially in my late twenties (eek!) with an iTunes gift card tucked inside.

Like I said - he went BIG. 

So even though my actual birthday was wrapped up in the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving, I did not feel left out.  Not one little bit.

We drove the short trip to Pittsburgh to visit friends and celebrated the day in beautiful sunshine with good food and laughter.  The kids all got along great and were able to spend quite a bit of time on the play equipment out back.  Leah and I were able to catch up and our husbands were finally able to meet.

All in all, a fabulous way to end such an incredible week.

peek-a-boo

I went to get a cloth, and I realized Drew had been there.  I love having boys.

Frugal Fun: Re-purposing Clothing

 

Why as I showing you a picture of t-shirts?

Because they're t-shirts and not onesies!

They used to be onesies, but since Drew isn't wearing onesies anymore, I converted them to regular t-shirts  by simply cutting off the bottom section and ironing a crease at the bottom of the shirt and sewing a hem!  I'm so excited that he has more than 8 shirts to wear now!  And when I go to the Goodwill from now on, I won't be passing up those mint-condition 24 month onesies for 50 cents anymore!

What have you re-purposed recently?

Still a favorite

When Evan was an infant, we were gifted with this fabulous, bright-colored, fleece blanket.  The gal who made it, a dear family friend, told me she chose the bright colors so he could grow into it.

I'm so glad she did.

 Evan at 6 weeks.

Loving on the blanket.

He has to have the blanket to fall asleep....

Frugal Fun: Beans

This may not be fun for everyone.

I totally understand that.

BUT -- if you happen to eat beans a lot, or make hummus regularly, then you should listen up.

You can save a bundle buying beans dried and cooking them yourself.  You can use them right away or freeze them in 1.5 cup increments in little baggies until you need them.

Here's the math for Chickpeas, which is a slightly more expensive legume (comparing to black beans, pintos...)


2 cans (3 cups total) chickpeas = 2 dollar (and as much as 2 dollars per can in some stores)

1  1lb bag (2.5 cups dried/6 cups cooked) = 2 dollars

were you ready for that?

That's 4 can's worth of chickpeas in one little 1lb bag of dried chickpeas.  That's at least half the price.  That's like 50 cents a can!

Now if you can find cans of chickpeas for around 50 cents a can, grab some, because you never know when you'll just need some and the freezer's empty of them.  But also be aware that canned chickpeas (and any bean for that matter) lose some of their nutrients through the process of canning.  They also have a ton of salt in them.

So ... curious to know what to do?  I don't want to rewrite everything, so just take a peek here.

A little photog talk

I've had my camera for over a year now.  And while I've loved using it to capture moments I would have otherwise missed with a simple point and shoot (thank you continuous shooting mode!), I haven't "learned" my camera.

Yes.  I figured out that shooting pictures in natural light and without a flash turned out best.  But I wanted more.  I had a loose understanding of shutter speeds, apertures, and ISO, but I had no clue how to manipulate ALL THREE to achieve the type of picture I wanted.  I realized that I needed to just plunge in and not look back.  Immerse myself, so to speak.  If I needed to learn a foreign language, I would be better suited to being dropped off in Buenos Aires than opening a text book.  And so, I figured, it would be the same with my camera.

So after some great advice from a gal I just met, I switched my camera to M (manual) and I'm committing to not switch to auto again.

This means a few things. Some of my pictures from now on will look "off" until I really get the hang of everything.  I will miss some moments completely.  I will get lots of practice with my food.  And perhaps the best news is that I've already picked up quite a few things.  I've taken multiple pictures of toys scattered on my living room floor.  Dying flowers on my entry table have also been a useful prop.  And this morning I spent almost 3 hours outside just messing around and learning.

Here's a boat load of pictures -- they are all at least a little off, but some I think turned out well.

 Drew loves playing with shoes as much as Evan did.  This picture had to be taken quickly, so it's a little too bright, but you can still see how cute he is!

 Gorgeous fall trees on a beautiful Denver-like day.  The last day (at least for the next 10 days) that is both warm and sunny.

 We have this rock on our walk the boys have to jump off every. single. time. we pass.  I love that I was able to capture Evan's little fingers in the 'three' position from him counting down to "take off"

 And of course -- Drew has to do all things Evan does.

 Sword fight in some random yard.

 I love this picture, while a little on the bright side.  They so love looking at the trees move in the wind.

 Sun flares!

 I love how you can see the filtered sunlight raining down on him.

 More sun flares

 Loved this one.

 More sun flares!

 Sun through some trees.  It was fun getting this one in better shape.  There were quite a few oh, that's just not right! moments.

 Secrets

 Trial and error, right?

 A bit better.

 Too bright.  

 A bit better.

 The boys watched Gnomeo and Juliet last week and we all loved it.  But now they're obsessed with the pair of "mingos" (in Drew-speak) in a neighbors yard.

Ahh...food photography.  It stays still.  You can put it on pretty place mats.  You can adjust the light.  I was just playing with the aperture on this and thought it was great how you could see the sauce on the beans.

Brotherly Love

Family game-time

When Scot and I were dating, we played games with my parents and with ourselves.

Pop-corn + soda + a board game = family fun night

Call it old fashioned, but we love it.

When we were in med school (and yes, even though I wasn't not taking classes, we were in it together!) and didn't have the money to go out for a date night, we would sit at home with some pop corn and play a game.  At first, we only had a few, but each Christmas I get a game for Scot (read: the family) and it goes in the pile with the others.

We still enjoy playing games.  Sunday afternoons are our typical game times.  The boys nap, we pop some corn, and play a game.  Thing is, most of our games are for more than just 2 people, so we're still stuck with about 4 games to choose from, but that's ok.

This past Sunday, though, was a first for us.

Evan joined in.

Since he hasn't been napping every day, he is sometimes up with us on Sunday afternoons.  And this particular Sunday he asked if we could play a game.  It was a joy.

Pure joy.

Family fun nights are not too far in our future.

not the way you usually see us

 ready for bed (except Scot)

and bathing (safe for all eyes)

a truly GREAT grama

My grandmother was out visiting us all last week and we had a fabulous time.

 There were lots of stories read...

 ...we had snuggle time.

 And more stories.

She also bought the boys matching BRONCO COLORED snow hats!!