sunshine

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend full of yellow golden rays of sunshiny goodness! 

and more opportunities for Evie to sport her cute little swim suit! Its a halter and her baby chub spills over in all the right spots! So darling! 

The Kelly River

We have been having the spring from hell! Seriously! First off we had the longest winter ever! We had snow on the ground in May!  We were still having freeze warnings past Mother's Day. And now monsoons and flooding!

Here are some pix from last night's crazy storms.

 (we hopped in the van to look at the craziness so we wouldn't get wet! )

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are a part of life in these parts...but this rain is crazy! I think we have had almost 6 inches in the last 4 or so days. Which is alot- especially when your coming out of a drought. Our sump pump is getting a work out - that's for sure!

The weather forecast says sunny and clear the next few days with only 20% chance of precipitation. Here's to hoping we dry out!

our front porch

My little pet project is our courtyard. And I've been wanting and wanting to update and fix the front porch FOREVER!

Our door was maroon and the railings and post were grey. IF you look behind this adorable little stinker, you can kind of see what I'm talking about.

All of that with the brass just screamed 1980s. And it was dark in desperate need of brightening up!

So we put in a new railing (the old one had rotted out) and stained it a bright white. We also painted the posts white to match. And finally the door...I wanted a summery buttery yellow. But settled for white. And its 100 times better! I need to figure out how to paint the metal sheeting that is wrapped along the side panels. The two panels would look much better if they were white too. Any thoughts on that? Eventually we will get a new front door...but money doesn't grow on trees! :)

So for now here is our front porch! I finally feel like its coming together!

Schools out and Memorial Day weekend

teenagers

I had to drive the twins and some other students to and from a field trip Tuesday. Now I'm perfectly aware that the girls are entering the 'parents aren't cool' stage of life and I'm fine with that. Been there done that. So I played it low key. Didn't start up any conversations or follow up on any stories they were sharing in the car. Just kind of played it cool in the front seat- being the best little chauffeur I could be!  BUT holy smokes that was hard! So many times I wanted to join into the conversation and add my two cents. But I resisted.


Once back at the school and all of the kids were out of the car (perfectly polite kids I might add! All of them thanked me for the ride- kudos fellow parents!) Kynna came back and asked "Are you feeling alright, mom? You were really quiet- is something wrong?"

Man! I never win!

marathon

Corynn had her school marathon yesterday. Students were able to choose 1, 2 or 3 mile races to participate in. Corynn is not much of a runner...surprising since her long legs would be such a benefit!

Here are some photos from the event:

Corynn prior to her race...cheering on the other students who were already running

 Corynn and her friends

 The girls loving on Evie...and Evie loving the attention

 Corynn finishing up her first lap

Evie cheering on her sister

 Corynn finishing strong

Proud little runner! Her official time was 7 minutes 42 seconds! Pretty good!

Something super cool happened and I'm so happy I was able to witness it! There was a group of special needs students running with their aides and parents just before Corynn's race started. One little boy with autism was sad and wanted to be done. His mom kept encouraging him and telling him if he wanted to stop he could, but that it would be so great for him to finish. The finish line to the race was along a sidewalk that spanned the whole front lawn of the school. The whole student population was in the grassy area along this sidewalk. They cheered on students, held up signs and gave high fives as runners passed.  They had split the kids into a multitude of subgroups, so only about 30 kids ran at any given time. Corynn's was the last of all the groups. 

So anyway, the mom and this student were along this part of the route. The kids were cheering him on. Even still it didn't look like he was going to finish. Then a group of boys who had already raced came up to him and asked him if he would like them to run the last part of the race with him. The little boys face lit up. One of the students grabbed his hand and the small group headed towards the finish line. The two were still holding hands when they crossed the finish. It was so sweet and so touching. And the fact that they were 5th grade boys, boys that would be entering their tween years and middle school full of egos and attitudes. It was these sweet, thoughtful, kind hearted and compassionate kids that gave me back a little faith. 

pizza

One of my favorite parts of summer is grilled pizza! I seriously think we have it at least once a week all summer long. Fresh tomato and basil from garden make for tasty toppings! But we mix it up too! Pizza toppings are be anything! Sometimes we even pick up a take and bake pizza from a local pizza place and throw it on the gill! Gives it that extra crunchy crispy crust...so good!

We made this one on Sunday...so good!

ingredients:

pizza crust (I had a package of premade pizza crusts, the thin and crispy ones, in the pantry so we used those. But dough from Trader Joes or premade crust from a local bakery are my favorites!)

pesto
mozzarella cheese (shredded is fine for this one)
feta cheese crumbles
1 grilled chicken breast- cubed into bite sized pieces
a handful of baby spinach 

Spread the basil pesto on the pizza crust. Top that with a cup of shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle on some feta crumbles. And then add the cubed chicken breast. Bake at 400 for 10-14 minutes depending on how crispy you like your crust. If you are using the grill- do this on a pizza stone or indirect heat. And your time will be much shorter. Better to just hang out by the grill and keep an eye on it!

Once your pizza is baked...slide it onto a cutting board. Slice it up and top with a handful of fresh baby spinach.

YUM! YUM! YUM!

terrible

Evie has officially entered her terrible twos...3 months early! Such a little over achiever! She is a doll one minute- giving you hugs and kisses. And then 10 minutes later she's screaming and throwing stuff. Corynn was such a passive easy going child and honestly I can't even remember this phase with the twins.  But Evie... oh yes! This child is a full fledged member of the terrible twos club...and I'm guessing she will be club president!

watering

One of Evie's favorite times of day, is watering the courtyard. I tend to obsess about my plants in the courtyard and its turned into my pet project. The drought stressed many of the bushes last year and we even lost a few. But not this year! I love the space...its become my little haven. Evie and I spend hours out there.  And the plans I envision are GRAND, people! GRAND! If only my vines and climbing roses would grow faster!!! :)

Here's Evie helping out and watering the plants....

and Emma....

 and her sister! 

ACTION

Evie is a bundle of energy! She is constantly on the run! Her favorite thing lately is running up and down the grassy culvert in our front yard. She'll run up the hill and then throw herself in the grass. And then she'll run down and throw herself in the grass. She lays there, giggles and does it again. For hours if we'd let her.

(Just so you know...this isn't a sad face or I'm hurt or scared face. She was yelling a happy yell as she tumbled down the hill. I just thought it was a funny shot! )

Mother's Day 2013

Spent yesterday with my family. The first Mother's Day in years that we didn't see or visit our mothers and grandmothers. Nothing grand or over the top. Just quality family time. Which works for me!

Somehow Corynn talked Evie into pulling her in the wagon! I think some big sister manipulation was going on! 

Evie seemed to love it! 

Emma chilled with her ball...tired after 30 minutes of fetch! 

I chalked with Evie. 

Corynn and I found three robin nests in the yard! So cute! Little birdies soon! Thank goodness they aren't woodpecker eggs! sheesh!

 The twins took a photo with me! shocker! 

Hope all the mothers out there had a special day! 

someone needs a haircut

OR at least her bangs trimmed! 

I just love her strawberry blonde hair! I've been putting it in a ponytail all week. It only lasts about 20-30 minutes. But I'm trying to get her used to it. Her hair is super fine and most hair clips will just fall out. I may take her to the salon for this trim...she's getting pretty wiggly for me to attempt it at home! :)

UPDATE: I wrote this yesterday afternoon...and last evening I went ahead and trimmed her bangs. I trimmed them while she sat on her scooter in the driveway waiting for dad to get home. She sat still, we can see her eyes and she's still super cute! 

a close up of spring

Spring is slowly but surely making its presence known! Here's a little close up tour of our yard in all its spring-y splendor!