i have crowded brain syndrome.

My brain has been filled to the brim lately with STUFF.
So much stuff that this space has taken a big back seat.
Sorry.
Hi.
How are you?
What's new?

Me?
Oh, just life stuff.
Nothing bad, just regular life stuff.
Kid stuff.

I think it's funny that when I first became a mom,
I worried about so many things:
...is he getting enough tummy time?
...did she eat vegetables today?
...am i getting him on a schedule?
...am i teaching her to be wary enough of strangers?
...is he learning his abc's slower than his classmates?

All of those little things I worried about seemed so big when the kids were babies.

And now that the kids are getting older,
I'm realizing that was the easy stuff.
As the kids get older, the stuff gets tougher.

Not because he is a tough kid.
He's not.  He's the opposite.
He's lovely and funny and clever and so crazy CRAZY smart.
Way smarter than his mom and dad.
And we want to make sure we make the right decisions for that kid.

And he still wants to dig holes in the dirt.



Oh how I love that he still wants to go outside and dig a hole.



I wish I would have stressed less when he was a baby.
If I had known that the tougher stuff comes later,
I wouldn't have worried about whether he was walking by his first birthday.

Anyway.

This weekend was gorgeous.
If you're ever looking to visit the bay area,
think about doing it in March.
Or September.
It's perfection.



Sunday afternoon we headed out for a little adventure.



And we took a little hike.
My hamstrings are sore to prove it.



There is something about sunshine and green hills
that are good for the soul.



I'm telling you...March here is perfection.





Ohhhhhh...the rope swing.
They could have done it for an hour if there wasn't a big group of teenagers
waiting right behind us for their turn.



Avery swung too,
but I was too nervous to take her picture.
I was sure she was going to fall.
The picture is deceiving,
but it was a pretty big drop from from the rope to the ground!
But she didn't fall.  Unnecessary worrying.
Again.



Perfection.
I won't say it again...promise.

We had to make a decision recently,
and I'm hopeful that my brain will be a little less crowded with 'stuff' now.
{i'm pretty sure there's a joke there somewhere.}
Maybe I'll even blog more than once a week!
Changes are a'coming, and it's all good.
It's all good because God is good and faithful
and He loves those kids of ours even more than we do
and has great plans for them.

That's good stuff.

six random randoms.

1.  I am iPhone-less, still.
My phone is living with the giant spiders in golden gate park until further notice, apparently.
{confused?  explanation here.}
The museum keeps promising that the biologists will try to retrieve it soon,
but so far they haven't.
I guess they have more important things to do like keep animals alive and stuff?
Whatever.

2.  I'm still sugar-free.
And wheat-free.  And dairy-free.
{ok, full disclosure...except for half and half in my coffee.  a girl's gotta live a little, right?}
It's been 15 days, and except for that half and half, I'm sticking with it.
I almost hate to say it out loud, but I've had fewer migraines.
But I'll tell you...not eating the crusts that I cut off of Avery's pb&j is tough.
Why does pb&j look so goooooooood when you can't have it??

3.  The days have been warm here.
We've been ending the days by the firepit.



There's just something about chilling by the fire for an hour that
ends the day right.

3.  This girl is a big ham.



She can be shy in front of other people,
but around us she's a goof.



And obviously she knows the west coast is the best coast.

4.  So...this man.  I  married him for love.
But thirteen years ago I had no idea that he has mad hang-things-on-the-wall skillz.
HUGE.  MARRIAGE.  BONUS.
{what would I do without him??}



5.  The highlight of Avery's life is when the kitty lets her hold her.



The highlight of the kitty's life is when Avery leaves her alone.
But don't tell Avery that.

6.  I promise I still have two other children.
I love them dearly, despite the lack of pictures I took of them this week.
I feel better after saying that.

i can't make this stuff up.

This has been one of those weeks.
You know...those weeks.

Seems like it has just been one thing after the other.
My brakes went out...six days later Gary's brakes went out.
{can you say $$$$??}

I had an crazy encounter with a cuckoo etsy customer.

If there was something to be spilled, I spilled it.

Something that can break?
This week I broke it.

Then today I went on a field trip with Riley's class.
We went to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.
It's a super cool place, with an aquarium, a planetarium,
an earthquake exhibit, an Africa exhibit,
and a rainforest exhibit.
And that rainforest exhibit has a spider exhibit.
With, like, really really big spiders.

I was going to take a picture of those giant spiders,
when I bumped my hand on the rail
and dropped my phone
RIGHT INTO THE GIANT SPIDER EXHIBIT.
It slid into a little crevice under the walkway where we were standing.
A little crevice that is probably crawling with huge hairy spiders.

And...that's where my phone remains now.
They said they'll have one of the biologists look for it,
and if they find it they have to quarantine it for 72 hours.

Um, quarantine?
Because a spider has laid eggs in it or something?
Awesome.

And I don't have high hopes they'll be able to get it.
So very awesome.

Deep breath.

So I'm going to post happy iphone pictures from the past couple of weeks,
pre-ginormous spiders.































Looks like food has been on my mind lately,
can you tell?

Is it Friday yet?

food, lately.

Let's talk migraines.
Have you ever had one?
If you have, you know.  They're horrible.
If you haven't...they're horrible.
{understatement}

I get them pretty often.

So I decided to make a pretty drastic diet change
to see if I can put a dent in their frequency.

So for thirty days I'm off of sugar...and dairy...and all grains.

YIKES.

Today is day 7,
and I haven't died.
So, that's good.
But I won't lie...it does suck.
Rumor on the street is that it sucks less and less as time goes on.
We'll see.

But you know?
What I'm cooking and eating is good.
Lots of veggies...some good quality meat...fruit...nuts...and good fats.
I'm hopeful that my migraines will respond and hit the road.
Or at least take a lengthy vacay.

I thought I'd show you what I made tonight.
It was yummy.
You should make it.

It starts with pesto.
You can't go wrong with pesto, right?



I don't have good step-by-step pics for you.
But we all know how easy pesto is.
And the measurements here are a guesstimate.
You really can't mess it up.

Yummy Easy Pesto
-a handful of basil leaves.  maybe 1/4 cup?
-approx. 2 Tbsp. olive oil
-3 Tbsp. or so pine nuts
-1 clove garlic
-a couple of teaspoons of white balsamic vinegar
-if you want, add some grated parmesan.  i usually do.  {until 7 days ago, that is....}

Chop it all up in your awesome mini aqua food processor.

Grab your chicken breasts.
{i used two.}
Flatten them between saran wrap.
I let Colin whack away with the back of a ladle.

Once they're flat, sprinkle them with salt and pepper and
spread pesto on top of the flattened breasts.
{fyi: i cut the two breasts in half and they fed the five of us.}

After you spread the pesto,
roll up the breasts and wrap each in a piece of bacon.

Warning: raw chicken photo ahead!



I know...it looks so gross.
But TRUST ME.
Deliciousness awaits.

Bake those little pretties for 30 minutes at 400 degrees,
or until the chicken is cooked and the bacon is brown and crispy.

And chances are your bacon hound will remain within a
two foot radius of the bacon at all times.



Then...get out your best knife and your cutting board.
And grab a bunch of veggies.



How pretty is that?
Broccoli...red peppers...carrots...brussels sprouts...mushrooms...
red and white fingerling potatoes...and zucchini.
Drizzle with some olive oil and a whole mess of balsamic vinegar.
Roast at 425 for 25-30 minutes.

Now here's a really crappy photo of the end result.
It's yellow and bad,
but it was dinnertime and I was starving and ready to eat.



Ok, seriously.
This was really good.
Make it.

It's been hard to give up all of those foods.
And then last Friday Riley wanted to make cookies.
Wah.



We made cookies and homemade graham crackers.



I didn't have any.
Not even a crumb.
Oy.
It was pretty tortuous.
But I did it.  And I'm feeling good.
I only had one migraine in the last seven days, which is good.

Today the temperature was in the 70's
and it's going to be even warmer later in the week.
We ended the day by the firepit, all five of us.




The kids were telling silly stories
and I was telling them to keep their feet away from the fire.
I'm looking forward to more of those nights soon.

{and leftover bacon wrapped chicken for lunch tomorrow.  booyah!}

green.

March is such a green month.
The fresh leaves are coming in on trees...
the hills here in northern California are green...
and of course St. Patty's day, for us {mostly} Irish folk.



{basil}



{izze...i'm straight up addicted.  one-a-day.}



{an old tool caddy that now holds bills and other desk junk.}



{to be juiced.}



{my mam-ma's jadeite batter bowl.}



{happy little strawberries.}



{nice legs.}



{to be unloaded.  sigh.}



{jade plant.}



{our realtor gave me this plant in 2002 when we bought our first house and i haven't killed it.}



{a cherished piece of green portugese pottery from my cherished friend in portugal.}



{and my three favorite little people, in a frame from a friend.}

Also green?
All of the money we dropped yesterday to get new front and rear brakes on our suburban.
Holy shamrocks.