Proof

Caleb has been here.

Want to know how I know?

It’s the purse.

He’s crazy about spiriting away his sister’s bike and her purse.  And filling said purse with all kinds of treasures.

My favorite to date:

And this is, apparently, the latest in how to carry a purse.

{The first in my playings with Sarah Cornish’s lightroom presets – this set is called Happenstance.}

 

Drewby Special

Two of our boys have a “special”.  It started years ago when Jacob decided a bean and cheese burrito was his special.  No salsa.  No sour cream.  Just the burrito.  Not to be left out Joshua chose jell-o.  Any flavor.  That way he could have lots of specials… well, we don’t have jell-o that often.  Which led to his request to have grilled cheese sandwiches and/or jell-o be his special.  Now whenever we have those foods they announce to the whole family it is their special.  It took a few years, but two weeks ago after church Andrew chose his:

A pancake.  Hollowed out in the middle and filled with strawberry jam.

Not just any strawberry jam.  Store-bought strawberry jam.  And then fresh homemade jam spread across the top.  He was very specific and super pleased.

Here’s to many more Drewby specials.

Riding along

While scrolling through pocket booth photos on Jim Bob’s phone I discovered this one:

20120404-235634.jpg

Taken on July 11 of last year.

Notice the wildflowers in the basket? Those were from my hunny. I love our biking-near-fields dates. They are some of my very favorites.

It’s time to get my bike out and get riding again. Fun.

exercising with a three-year-old

It’s fun having an exercise buddy that doubles as a personal trainer. We’ve been doing a yoga/pilates routine lately, Katey and I.

Having a little one attempt reverse warrior, dolphin pose and cracking me up makes exercising at least seven fold more enjoyable.

“You can have a big piece of cake… after you exercise. It’s called exercise treats” she says.

Brilliant! Too bad the cake is pretend.

“It was fun doing that exercise. At least we’re done” she sighs.

My thoughts exactly.

{Photos to come – I believe my computer is overworked from the intense whining whirl of the fan. Time to rest us both.}

Clever: a story in three tweets

March 1st:

When I put peanut butter and raisins on my three-year-olds celery this morning she proclaimed that I was clever.  #whythankyou

AND she just declared the celery yummier than fruit snacks.  #forthemommywin

I’ll tell you what’s clever… wearing a very fluffy lacey slip as a skirt and a sweater on top. Adorable Katey.

 

bonne buche 2

Thinking on happy unions… one reason for my parent’s successful marriage is that they have always had mistletoe hanging in their home.

Year-round.

Multiple locations.

One right over the kitchen sink for whomever is washing the dishes.  ;)

These photos are from their mission apartment when we were there on Mother’s Day.  :)

 

bonne buche – Numéro 1

Thankful for google and a thesaurus today.  (psst… My bro Adam – did I get “number 1″ right in French?  Or is that all sorts of wrong?)  Looking for a better way to say “tidbit” I happened upon bonne buche, which is French for “delicious mouthful” or “good bite”.  Perfect for these little posts that just tell a little bit.  Random, life-filled little love notes and observations.

I am a girl that likes to know her options before making a decision.  This is manifest one way by my listening of the radio.  When I first start to listen I like to know all the songs on at the moment before I decide on a station to listen to.  After I’ve selected one I’ll continue to listen until a song (or commercial) comes on that I don’t care for and then the process begins again.  It’s a blessing I live in a small town where there is not a station at every bump of the dial.  If it is evening time I usually end up at 88.3 when jazz is playing – my favorite!

There is one exception though.  Whenever Jim Bob is on the air (weekday afternoons and some Saturdays) I tune in to him.  I know from the get-go there will be nothing better on.

Have you played Apples to Apples?  Our little ones are just getting to the age where it is hilariously funny.  They get the hidden meanings (on some) and can play forever if we let them.  One player pulls out a green card (an adjective) and everyone else picks a red card from their hand (nouns – seven of them in a hand) that they feel best fits that green card adjective. The “judge”- player that pulled the green card – picks their favorite and then the winner gets to keep the green card.  Everyone draws a red card until they have 7 again and play another round.  The first player with a pre-determined amount of green cards wins.  Confused?  The rules are explained much better on Wikipedia and there is even a video tutorial on how to play at Amazon.

For the veterans of the game – have you seen all the variations on Wikipedia?  Here are a few favs I want to try out:

Apple Potpourri: Each player selects a red apple card from his or her hand before the judge turns over the green apple card. After the red apple cards are played, the judge turns over a green apple card. The judge selects the winning red card as usual.

Apple Turnovers: The roles of red and green cards are reversed, with players using adjectives to describe the given noun. This can be stymied by the relatively low number of green cards in the box (a third as many as reds).

2 for 1 Apples: The judge turns over two green apple cards to start the round. Each player selects the red apple card from his or her hand that is best described by both green apple cards. After the judge selects a red apple card, both of the green apple cards are awarded to the winner.

Apples Eye View: The Judge must pick a red apple card based upon the point of view of somebody, or something else (a house cat, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Clinton, a speck of dust, etc). The player to the left of the Judge determines which point of view the Judge must use for that round.

The photo of the cards above are from my favorite win so far.  :)  And now we are back to talking about our favorite DJ – how we love to listen to him!  You can too, if you have a hankering.  He’s on live here in the afternoons.  Streamed over the internet for wherever you live.  Or you can turn on your radio, 95.1 FM, if you’re blessed enough to live in the area.  :)

And here are a few crafty items on the topic.  The first is a layout from back when Jim Bob started “his hobby he gets paid for” (as he likes to call it).

And this calendar is from last year – made with photos about a year before that.  The whole family loved the tour of the radio station.  Just looking at these photos… how our littles have grown.

And this has now turned into quite the mouthful.  Bonne buche for sure.  ;)