May Favorite Things

Endless cupcake choices

sleeping babies

 best friends

 mysterious messes 

 maiden braids

 one month wedding anniversaries

 "artfully" husband-prepared dinners

productive month at work

Saturday Soccer Sessions

For the entire month of May, Clay, Em and I have spent our Saturday mornings cheering on Narls at his soccer games.  Even the chilly, rainy mornings.   By nature I'm not the best sporting fan.  Mass quantities of coffee helps.  

So does seeing my boy getting into the game and enjoying himself.

  

And he enjoys showing off his battle marks.

As does his sister, who gets hers from the sidelines.

My Husband is Such a Celebrity

My amazing husband was on tv earlier today.  

He was interviewed by the local news and it was live although you never would have known it.  Clay has a natural ease in front of the camera and omg you guys, he was so sexy! He was being interviewed  to promote radioPup, an app created by his company that allows you stream and listen to over 150 local radio stations - no matter where you are!  It's genius and you should absolutely download it. 

Our Marigolds

When we bought our house - almost two years ago now, wow. blows my mind. - it came with all of its landscaping. We very much enjoy the flowers and plants, which include hydrangeas and day lilies and various shrubs, and one of our top favorites is our pink tree. I personally swoon for this tree.

But I think my most favorite thing about this landscaping is that the plants and shrubs  and trees pretty much take care of themselves.  This is awesome because I'm not much of a gardener. At all. It's sad to admit but this small flower bed where the previous owner planted annuals got pretty overgrown with weeds. I hadn't even touched it last spring, let alone weeded it. I was determined to get my hands muddy this season and pull those weeds out and plant some flowers.

 

When the kids and I were at the Farmer's Market the other day, we purchased a flat of flowers that the salesperson recommended.  Before we could plant them, we had to tend to this flower bed.  This picture is mid-progress of my and Narls' weeding.  It was a tough job; way harder than I imagined.  Clay was busy mowing the yard and Em did a bit of this and a bit of that, but my boy stayed by my side the whole evening and cleaned out this entire flower bed with me.   

Narls: "Mom, is this fun?"

Me: "Nope, not at all."

Narls: "I didn't sink so."

He was a great help and provided a ton of insightful comments and comic relief.  I couldn't have made it through without him, even if he did demand to wear the only pair of gardening gloves we own.  I ruined a manicure in the process.

But it was so worth it because look how pretty our marigolds are! Narls and I are unabashingly proud of our first attempt at gardening. In fact, these cheerful golden flowers are now our favorite part of our yard.  It's been a week and they're not only still living, but they're thriving. We're naturals, obvs. 

Farmer's Market

The Flint Farmer's Market is truly one of my city's gems.

There is an exceptional range of products available all year from fresh produce to free range poultry and meat to homemade breads and bakery products. There is also an amazing wine shop, tons of flowers, a full service café and an art gallery. It's love.

So even though we woke up to a gloomy sky and the threat of rain, the kiddos and I threw on our rainboots and headed to the market for some fruits and veggies.

They had fun identifying all the different foods.  Em confused a tomato for an apple and Narls surprised me by knowing what a squash was.

We left with some blueberries, tomatoes, onions and a loaf of fresh bread.  And three muffins for the road. Oh and some flowers! And we got home before the rain.  I'd call that a successful morning.

Springtime Love

These pictures are actually from April, I just found them on my computer and they're too pretty not to share.  The little blooms on the plants by our front porch were just starting to blossom.  They have almost all bloomed now - as they've been loving all this springtime rain, and they're absolutely gorgeous. 

Adventures in Thrifting: The Rescue Heros Edition

My town has an annual city-wide rummage sale that I majorly look forward to. This year? I skipped Narls' soccer game so I could garage sale. Now before you get all judgey, know that I pretty much had to- his game was at 10:30am and that's prime thrifting time. Plus, I'll be mom of the year when I show you what I found for him.

Rescue Heroes! Don't know what they are? I didn't either, to be honest.

I just saw this huge Rubbermaid tub with $20 taped to it. $20 was mighty spendy; more than I planned on spending on toys for the kids, but these guys - and there are at least a dozen of them - are so fancy.  They talk and came with all their pieces, like helmets and flashlights and hoses and other accessories. Plus they're so dang big! Easy for young hands to grip and hard for young hands to lose.

Once I found out it included this huge... ship thing, and that big... plane thing, I was sold.  I paid my twenty and loaded it up in the back of the Edge.  Turns out that ship thing is an Aquatic Rescue Command Center which is actually quite pricey.  And the plane thing is a Camouflage Jet that retails for $60.  So yeah, $20 was a steal.  Seriously, this is why I love rummage sales.

I'm so glad I bought it because my boy was overjoyed.  He helped me clean the toys and then we spent the rest of this beautiful spring day in our backyard. 

Narls played with his Rescue Heroes...

 

And Em serenaded me.

Such a perfect day.

My babies.

Fortune Cookie

We had dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant today. The food here is so delicious; in fact, this is the place that made Clay a fan of Chinese food. And the service is just as exceptional.

Our kids love it as much as we do, which isn't surprising considering Em's been eating here since she was practically born. Sweet little side story: we stopped in for dinner when she was just a couple months old and that particular day she was whiny and fussy. The owner asked to hold her and remarked that her boys loved the broth of wonton soup at this age and would we mind if she fed Emerson a couple bites. We didn't, and Em immediately calmed down and started smiling and opening her mouth for more; she's been a fan of Chinese food ever since.

I asked her if she remembered her first bites of soup here two years ago and nope, she didn't.  But that's ok because I'll remember for her and remind her of this story when she's older.  Tonight she was still a bit sassy until the food arrived and then she started smiling and ate her her eggroll and the broth of her wonton soup and her shrimp-fried rice with the same abandon.  And her fortune cookie?  Well, it couldn't be more perfect for her.

That's our Em.

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky: adj \'wa-key\ : absurdly or amusingly eccentric or irrational : crazy, silly.

Yup, I had to look it up. Crazy I know quite well, but I'm more familiar with the WHY-ARE-YOU-LOOKING-AT-ME-LIKE-THAT?! and I-already-have-seven-cats-what's-one-more-going-to-hurt? kinds of crazy than I am with the silly, eccentric type.

I had to look this term up because my children had a Wacky Wednesday at their school and they were encouraged to dress in this manner.  So, me being me, I did a little moodboard with possibilities from their closet and planned outfits that were silly but still stylish and functional and somewhat matching. 

Em completely embraced her outfit but Narls? Not so much. 

I thought he could wear his skeleton pajamas under come camo shorts - BUT WAIT MOM, WE DON'T WEAR PAJAMAS TO SCHOOL. I know son, but it's a wacky day.  You're supposed to dress silly.  I'M WEARING MY JEANS.  There's nothing silly about jeans. Can you at least put them on backward?  NOPE.  Fine Narls, whatever; don't be silly then.  You'll be the only not-wacky child there.  OK.  AND I WANT TO WEAR MY DINOSAUR SHIRT.  That's not even silly. It's nerdy. This shirt would look better- it's bright and colorful.  NOPE, DINOSAURS.  AND I KNOW! HOW ABOUT I WEAR SOCKS ON MY HANDS?! BECAUSE THAT'S REALLY SILLY.

Fine.  Just dress yourself for all I care.

So he did. And was as happy as a clam.

Em didn't even know what to think about her brother's definition of wackiness.

But she came around, and convinced me to as well. 

Now that I think back on this, I wish I would have been more open to their choices from the beginning.  We all have different viewpoints of what we think is wacky and cool (and even nerdy) and I should always respect their selections.  I love that they beat to the rhythm of their own drums; why in the world would I fight so hard to make them move to my music then?   Lesson learned. 

Funny how the littlest people in my life are my biggest teachers.

Cupcake Liner Love

Inspired by a picture I saw on pinterest, I put all of my cupcake liners in an apothecary jar and set it out on our kitchen counter.   They're too adorable to be shut away in our pantry, which is where I previously stored them.  And now I have the perfect excuse to purchase a few more ;)

Watching the lightning...

in his Lightnings.

Love.

Friday the 13th

The morning of my Friday the 13th was exceptionally beautiful. The first day it hasn't rained in a whole week; the sun was shining and it was sunny and warm. I drove to work with the top open and listened to some perfect old school jams like PM Dawn's 'Set Adrift on Memory Bliss' and Paula Abdul's 'Rush Rush'.

It was a perfect day.  And not the least bit unlucky.

A Rainy Kind of Day

Rainy days are some of our favorite days around here.

We throw on our rainboots and search for the biggest, deepest puddles.

If we can't find what we're looking for in the front yard, then we stomp and splash our way to the back.

Good times.

Adventures in Thrifting: The Ugly Doll Edition

Look who I found at a rummage sale last weekend.

Babo. For only 50cents.

He got a trip through the washer and dryer.

And now he's hanging with his homies in Narls' room.