Easter Outtakes!

We can't manange the snazzy Easter photo ops that I envision.  So, we'll settle for a couple of cute outtakes!

This is the "smile!" face we get these days.  I'll take it.

SophDogg & Aubrea at church

This is our little dapper dude, rocking out the seersucker suit for the second year {though it fits a heckuva lot better than it did last year!}.  I bought it *new with tags* last year at a thrift store, and figured we might as well get some wear out of it :)

 

I kinda looooove the red Chucks!

Can you tell what a stinker he is these days?!  I mean, he would not stand close to us and kept doing these silly little leg moves.  Cooperative?  NO.  Entertaining.  Oh, yes.

Okay.  I kinda looooooove this pic, too!  B and I never take candids like this, and I'm so thankful that Aunt Aubs snapped it!  Totally a framer!

And here's the cousins checking out their loot after egg hunting in Nana and Papa's basement.  Darn you rain.  Also, this was the last time we saw them quiet the entire time we were there!  They're quite the trio!



Any Easter outtakes you want to share?  I'd love to see them!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, y'all!  I hope you had an enjoyable weekend, and made it out to celebrate our Savior's resurrection.  After great worship and sermon, our church ended the service with cardboard testimonies from many members in our church. {Cardboard testimonies are when people write their hardship on one side of a piece of cardboard and then flip it over to reveal how God intervened. So cool!  Google it to see many examples on YouTube.}

There were so many amazing testimonies, and it was so inspiring to see so many respected people publically display their insecurities, trials, inadequacies, and disappointments and then reveal that through their faith they were redeemed through Him.  I. Was. Crying.  Especially when my parents took the stage {my sisters and I had no idea they were doing this}. 

My mom's is the top and my dad's is the bottom.

{Backstory #1: The summer after my sophomore year of college, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was a scary time for us all, but my mom battled it with chemo and radiation, and by the grace of God, came out a survivor.  We have a very strong history of breast cancer in my family on my mom's side - great grandma, great aunt, grandma, and 2 of my mom's sisters.  I told B when we got married not to get too attached, if you know what I mean ;)  But in all seriousness, my mom is about *12 kinds* of amazing and I had no doubt she'd triumph.  Above all, though, it's amazing what He can do.}

{Backstory #2: My dad, a successful VP for a large coorporation, lost his job right before Christmas 2009.  They waited until after the holidays to tell me and my sisters, not wanting to the situation to put a damper on the celebrating.  Though none of us lived at home anymore, we're all very close and felt just awful for both of my parents.  My mom had been a stay-at-home mom for over 20 years, and my dad wasn't near ready to retire.  The insecurity was fear of the unknown was the worst part.  But, fortunately, after months and months of praying for guidance, direction, and a job - stop the world - my dad is now successfully self-employed.  A huge blessing.}

I hope y'all had a great day of rejoicing!  He lives!

Tuesday, what?!

Unbelievably, it's only Tuesday.  Friday might as well be a million years away. It doesn't helped that it rained 497 inches today, thereby flooding our basement.  Grrrrr. 

But, the better news is that a new season of  Sixteen and Pregnant is starting right now.  And I realize how ridiculous it is that I continue to watch every episode, every season, but it's my weakness. That and Jersey Shore, and Diet Coke, of course.  Which, by the way, I have attempted to quit drinking.  Unsuccessfully.  I sent out a desperate email yesterday to two fellow addicts at school and thank goodness they were supplied.  Because the first day back after Spring Break required a little more than my patience.

In other news, I spent a large part of last week listening to my new favorite On Demand radio station.  Sans the strange images they flash while playing all of my 90s favorites, I am totally loving jamming to Wilson Phillips and Oasis while I clean or bake. 

Also, I went thrifting.  And - stop the world - it was scratch-a-deal day.  So, I got 50% off everything.  Which convinced me to buy the Little Tikes picnic table I had my eye on the whole time I circled the store.  Despite being lacquered in a ridiculous amount of crusty barbecue sauce, I just couldn't pass it up for five bucks.  A little soapy water and magic eraser (love those, btw!), and it was good as new. 

I also got these cutie sundresses.  If only the sun would shine and I could actually wear them. 

Also, continuing with my obsession with all things tank top I bought this flowery little number...

 And...don't tell anyone...a maternity top!  But I'm so totally wearing it now and I am anything but pregnant.  {Explanation: It's an XS which is essentially an oxymoron when used with the term maternity.  Come on, who is an XS while preggo?!  Sure as heck not me!}

Here's to Tuesday, a new season of one of my guilty pleasure, and thrifted maternity tops!  Happy mid-week, friends :)

A Momentous Day...

First of all, I want you to imagine the feeling that you had when you were about seven and it was Christmas Eve and you were twelve kinds of excited about Santa Claus coming the next day. Now, add to that the excitement of meeting your firstborn child, the day you found out the New Kids on the Block tour was coming to your town, and multiply it by how you feel on double coupon day at Kroger.

And now you know how I felt all day at school anticipating coming home to a fully functional kitchen.  It just about killed me that B and Becks were at home to witness it all.  While my kididdles were taking a potty break, I may have snuck away to the lounge to call and check in on the progress. 

But...before I show you the *new* pictures, let's revisit the kitchen in her 1970s glory.  This pic was taken when I wrote THIS post about our vision to remodel her in 2009.  Well, only two or so years later isn't that bad, right?

Also interesting =  my attempt to disguise and embrace this bare wall with this little collection...

{Please note that linoleum.  I just gagged a little thinking about it.  However, if you'd like a relic, I'm sure I could salvage you a scrap from the pile hanging out by the garage.  Lemme know.}

And now DA DA DA....

I'm pretty sure we quadrupled the counterspace and tripled the cabinet/drawer space.  I am in love.  I am thinking I might roll out a sleeping bag in there on the floor tonight. 

Now, I do have to let you know that there are still some minor things to take care of - like replacing outlet covers and switches, patching, touch-up painting, hanging wooden blinds, and laying a few more feet of toe strip.  And then there's the lighting. We cannot find anything we like.  So we're holding out and just plugging in lamps for right now. 

And of course the decorating.  I staged it a little for the pictures, but can't wait to hit up Homegoods and Target ASAP! 

Also, in case you wondered how I knew what kind of sink I wanted {because I'm sure pressing issues like that just plague your thoughts at night}, my only qualification was that it had to be big enough to bathe a baby in.  Because, sadly enough, I never bathed Becks in the old sink because it a) didn't hold water and b) was kinda scuzzy.  So, tonight I made up for lost time and inagurated the sink with a bath for my baby!

 
And then I loaded the dishwasher and did a little dance around the house.  I also kissed B about 25 times and told him how proud I was of all his hard work. 

Happy, happy Monday!

A Sad Day...

Aw.  So sad.  It's the last night I will wash dishes in the bathtub :(

And the last night I will use my pseudo-countertop made out of cardboard :(

And the last night I will prepare dinner in a room that's not the kitchen :(

But I guess I'll try to be happy that when I get home tomorrow from my first day back after Spring break I WILL MEET CORY!!!! 

And I will do dishes IN A DISHWASHER.  For the first time in FOUR MONTHS. 

Ahhh, I think tomorrow will be a great day.  I'm pretty sure I won't be too sad. 

I think I will post an entire post with pictures and exclamation marks tomorrow.  Be prepared!!!!

* * * * *

In other news, Spring Break is O to the VER. So I say: Let the countdown begin!  Wahoo! 

Have a great start to the new week bloggy friends.  T-minus 31 school days until I can go all Alice Cooper on you and sing Schooooool's out for the summa'!



Very Important Things.

Yesterday, while at the grocery, I decided two very important things:

a) I do not like one way parking lanes.  It really complicates things when I spy a good spot, usually right next to the cart return, but because I can't go down the up or up the down someone else zooms right in and I miss it.  Darn.

b) Shopping carts should have parking brakes.  Especially the hybrid ones that are part-cart and part-automobile.  Because do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep that behemoth from rolling into traffic when it's full of groceries and your kiddo and you're trying to unload it in a windstorm on in incline?  Not an easy task, but my ab muscles are better for it.

Yesterday, while making dinner, I decided two other very important things:

a) I have missed cooking for my family over the past four months.  At one point, I actually felt myself getting a little teary thinking about how proud I was that B's hard work made it possible, and how thankful I am to have food to eat and a family to cook for.  That is really a very sappy thing, but you never know how much you appreciate all of that until your back aches from washing dishes in the bathtub or you look at your dinner plate and praise God that not one thing on it came from a box. 

b) I love my boys more and more everyday.  Watching them grill out together - while hosting an impromptu soccer game on our new deck - is just precious. 

This weekend, while at the lake, I decided two other ver important things:

a) There is a lot of value in doing nothing.  And it's underrated and underappreciated.  I need to do nothing more often.

b) Family is the biggest blessing.  Ever.

Yesterday, while reviewing blog comments, I decided two other very important things:

a) I love my readers!  Thanks to Jocelyn, I have ordered the supercutie print below for my new kitchen:

And thanks to one of my teacher bloggy friends, I can also print out my very own Diet Coke sign from Thirty Handmade Days!  Go HERE to check out this great print! {Please tell me which of you sent this link to me yesterday - there were 4 different blogs on the profile, so I couldn't figure out which one of you it was!!!!  Many thanks!}

b)  Obviously, I have a severe addiction to Diet Coke and everyone knows about it!  Ha!

Well, I'm getting the I wanna hold you, mommy! call, so I'm off to get Becks up for another great Spring Break day!

And we're home.

We've been busy learning to whistle...

digging for worms...

repairing scooters...

 and enjoying cocktail hour.  Well, some of us have been enjoying cocktail hour. 

I'll be back with more from our Lakehouse weekend soon!  Happy, happy Monday!

{PS.  Yes, Becks has an enormous boo-boo on his head.  I will explain later.}

{PSS.  I am a twelve kinds of behind on responding to email!  I'm on Spring Break, so I'll be in touch soon!}

Twenty Things About Us.

Just a little look at me and B...

1.  We are messy basement people.  We're forever flawed.

2.  We only have one couch and we both share it when watching TV at night.  The alternative is the floor, so we squirm uncomfortably at opposite ends for the first 5-minutes until one of us dramatically gives in and positions our legs on the outside. 

3.  We have really good conversations on long car rides.

4.  We don't always like each other.  But, we always love each other :)

5.  We don't go to bed at the same time.  I always go first.  B rolls into bed anywhere from 1-4 hours later (after he's fallen asleep on the couch for a bit).  It drives me crazy.

6.  We endure each other's TV show addictions.  B could discuss Snooki and Jennelle, and I could tell you what a rivermonster is and the most recent Castle drama.  It's called compromise.

7.  I talk a lot.  B talks less.  However, we're both loud.

8.  We never fight about money.  I thank God and Financial Peace University.  Before you marry, I highly recommend FPU or some other financial planning class.

9.  We *love* to take walks when the weather is warm.

10.  B drinks lots of milk.  I drink lots of Diet Coke.  It could be worse.

11.  We often do the exact same task differently.  And that can really drive us crazy.  We're still learning how to cope with this :)

12.  B is one year older than me.  We're high school sweethearts.

13.  B is really good at fixing things.  Which is good when I blow a fuse three times in a row at 6am and have to wake him up to turn the electric back on.  I like to keep him on his toes.

14.  I'm a Big Mac kinda girl, B's a Quarter-Pounder-with-Cheese kinda guy.

15.  Drinking coffee together on the weekends is one of our favorite pasttimes.

16.  We've decided we want to take Becks on a vacation before we add another bambino to the family.

17.  Our shared love of the Dave Matthews Band bonds us.

18.  We race to pick up Beckham from the nursery at church.  B has even been known to steal the pager off of my purse without me knowing it, so he can sign him out before I can.

19.  We're totally BFFs.

20.  We both agree that doing laundry is - by far - the worst household chore to do. 

Happy Wednesday!

It's Sunday. And it's random.

Well.  UK lost.  So, I'll just go ahead and get that off my chest.  But I certainly won't promise that you won't continue to see Becks in his Wildcat gear because he requests it every stinkin' day without fail.  Even to sleep in.  So, though basketball season is over, he will continue to be sporting the big blue.

In other news, I think my mind is already on Spring Break (which doesn't officially start until 3:26pm on Friday)...

Case in Point(s):

-  I inadvertantly peed in the men's bathroom at Applebees the other day, and only realized it when I walked out of the stall and saw a urinal.  Also, the smell was putrid.  Boys are gross.  Embarrased, I ran out and washed my hands in the girl's restroom and omiword, thank goodness no one else noticed.

-  We grilled out tonight and didn't eat until almost 8:30pm.  But it was well worth it.  And Becks was in a good mood despite the late burger, so he stayed up utnil 9:30.  I didn't mind one bit. 

- I wore my Rainbows out for the first time this season.  I can't convince my feet to wear anything else.

- I've worn a tank top of some sort every day for the past week.  Even when there were flurries in the forecast.  With a sweater, of course.

- The windows were open today and my house smells delicious.  It makes me long for long for other spring smells, like fresh-cut grass and sunscreen.  Yum.

- The end of Spring Break means one thing: CORIAN COUNTERTOPS.  April 18th, I love you.  As does my sanity.

And, now for some pics for the babybook...

Have a great week, friends!  T-minus 5 days until I'm on Spring Break!!!!  Wahooooooo!!!!!