my new favorite tradition.

You know how when school is winding down
and you are SO ready for the year to be done
because if you have to pack another lunch you are going to cry?

And then school is out and you head home
after the class parties and the goodbyes
and you unpack the backpacks and throw all of the crap
{did i say crap?  i meant treasures}
in the recycling
{did i say recycling?  i meant special archive box}
and twenty minutes later your freshly graduated kindergartner is telling you
she's bored?

Yeah.

And then by God's grace you've reached Summer, Day 8, and you've logged
a lot of togetherness already
{because don't summer days go by at a snails pace?}
and you're just kind of missing those days when the kids are in school
and you can go to Trader Joe's by yourself
and browse the frozen foods section in peace?

Yeah.

This weekend I was mourning my alone time.
But thinking at the same time I love having them home.
I know.  I don't get it either.

And then a little idea was born.
I'm not even sure who spoke it first.
But born it was,
and it was a beautiful thing.

"The Night Before Father's Day Backyard Campout"

Don't you love the ring to that?

It's so simple:
tent + backyard + everyone except mommy
{key words: everyone except mommy}

At first mention of the idea the kids were sold.
Like, so sold they practically set up the tent all by themselves
and couldn't wait to get to sleep in it.







This first annual backyard campout there was nothing fancy.
Just the tent:
Hanging out in the tent.
Reading in the tent.
The dogs in the tent.
The cat in the tent.
Shining the flashlight around the tent.
Selfies in the tent.



And then after the selfies mommy said,
"ok guys, good night!  have fun!  stay warm!  love you!!"

And mommy went inside.
And mommy had the house to herself for the evening.

God bless the Night Before Father's Day Backyard Campout.

Next year - because there WILL be a next year - we'll get fancy:
we'll grill burgers
and roast marshmallows
and sing campfire songs.
{no we won't.}
And then mommy will still go inside
and rejoice in one night of solitude
and watch So You Think You Can Dance all by herself.

And the next morning she'll be happy and refreshed when the crew
comes running back into the house at 7:30.
And then when she has to roll up all of the sleeping bags
she'll vow that next year those kids are going to learn
how to roll up their own dang bags.

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.

a week of stuff.

I wish I had some great reason for not checking in here since last week.
Like...I was on a Hawaiian vacation and
ditched my laptop for the beach.
Or maybe I broke my arm while rock climbing and couldn't type?

Sadly, no.

It's just that life has just been kind of hum-drum lately.
It's been good, just not very note-worthy.

Avery decided that our white board calendar
is better used as her drawing board.



I'm kind of nuts about calendars.
I was going to try and get away with using only my iphone calendar this year,
but it was too hard.
So I broke down and got another Erin Condren planner.
It really is the best.
If I ever were to lose it I'd be in big trouble.

This was my kitchen yesterday morning.



Clean dishes from the dishwasher on the counter and
dirty dishes in the sink.
Those three middle plants on my windowsill are basil from my mother-in-law.
I am trying super hard not to kill them and to keep them going.
Having fresh basil at my disposal is too awesome.
I'm making pesto like it's my JOB.

In another {somewhat clean} corner of my kitchen...



cookbooks, cauliflower, tomatoes, and gumballs.
I'm digging the Weelicious and Homemade Pantry cookbooks.
And P-Dub, of course.
Practical Paleo has been good for some recipes too.
We are NOT paleo over here,
but I try to incorporate a lot of veggies into our diet these days and paleo is good for that.
That cauliflower became faux mashed potatoes tonight.
They were garlicky and yummy.

I made homemade heart-shaped graham crackers the other day
and the kids are nuts for them.



The granola recipe is from 100 Days of Real Food.
It's delish.  I make it a lot.

I told Gary I think I spend 90% of my day in the kitchen.
Do you ever feel that way?
I like to cook for my family but it's definitely a lot of work.

The other 10% of my day I'd like to be outside.
Especially when the temps are in the high 60's.





And yesterday just seemed like a good day for new shoes.



But...is there ever a BAD day for new shoes?
Duh.

So...there you go.
My week.
Messy kitchens, the never-ending task of feeding people, sunshine, and new shoes.
That about sums it up.
Oh, and add yoga in there.
Seriously...I think I'm addicted.
I even went to heated yoga and didn't pass out or die.

Yay me!

hello, monday and a happy heart.

Hello, Monday.
What a weekend you are capping off.

Last Thursday I said hello to a dear friend
that lives in Portugal, but belongs here.
{in my opinion.}



I picked her up from BART and thus began a weekend that included
non-stop talking and laughing
and bedtimes later than 1:30 every night.
{i need a nap.}

When you live in Portugal,
and you come back to the states to visit,
you need to shop: Michaels...Bed Bath and Beyond...
the Disney store...the mall...Sam's Club...
and an oh-so-exciting trip to Lenscrafters.



Friday night went to see a band with a really cute guitar player.



Saturday morning we said hello to soccer season.
And this year the soccer parade's 8:30 arrival time came very early.
And with it came lots of coffee.



I do love soccer season.
Really...does it get any cuter than 5 year olds playing soccer?
Avery's team is the Purple Bears.
She knows all of the kids on the team and is having a blast.
This is her first year playing.
And watching the boys play is really fun now.
I try very hard not to be a screamer on the sidelines of their games.
Their games are just so exciting!

And to continue the fun Saturday night...sushi.
This table of girls is a lot of fun.
And a little loud.
I think the restaurant was wise to seat us outside.



And just like that...on Sunday we were saying goodbye,
with tears and hugs.
My heart is full and happy,
and I laughed more this weekend than I had in a long long time.
I hate that Portugal is so far from Califronia and
I hate the 8 hour time difference that makes talking difficult.
But I do love the WhatsApp app that let's us text for free.
Technology is a good thing.

Love you, LB!
Thanks for being the first to christen our guest room.
I miss you already.

Now...hello, going to bed early.
I'm tired and tomorrow's a school night.
:)

Saying hello with Lisa Leonard.

a whitewater adventure.

Back in June, right before Gary was about to turn 40,
I had already spent several weeks wracking my brain
thinking of something to get him.

He loves the outdoors and adventurous-type things,
so I wanted to do something along those lines.
I just figured we'd all head to Santa Cruz together
and he could surf.
There has since been a shark attack there.  YIKES.

But a couple of days before his birthday a Groupon came up
{i love groupon}
for a rafting trip on the American River.
Yes!  Perfect.

Saturday morning we headed up the cute little town of Coloma.
It's so pretty there.



I think forty looks good on him.
:)



After a safety talk from the raft guide about how to NEVER stand up in the river
and if you fall out of the raft DO NOT PANIC,
I decided that I would probably immediately panic and stand up in the river
if I fell out of the raft.

I was nervous.

My only goal for the day was to stay in the raft.

And I did.  Booyah.

This was the scariest part of the trip.
We saw two rafts flip over here.
And please note that in the following picture I am clearly saving Gary's life.



We were soaked to the core.



It was so much fun.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.

After rafting we headed to a bed & breakfast not too far away.
I'm usually not a huge fan of the whole B&B thing.
I don't really like to eat with strangers and just want my own space.
But this one was amazing.
We almost never saw another soul.

And the view from the pool was the bomb.



It's hard to see but the American River is right down there.
We just sat by the pool for a couple of hours.
Turns out...rafting is exhausting.
But boy would you have great arms & a strong core if you did that all the time.

That evening my favorite 40 year old and I went to dinner and
shared some peach pie for dessert.
We figured we had earned those calories.



The next morning
my fear of the B&B was put to rest
when our breakfast was delivered to our private balcony.
I think I could get used to the breakfast part of the bed & breakfast.
Oh...good morning again, beautiful view.



We also did a little exploring.
Coloma is where gold was first discovered in California
and was the birth place of the gold rush.







We saw a guy jump off of that bridge the day before.
Cra-zay!



On our way back home we stopped in Folsom to walk around.
I love Folsom.  It has a very cute downtown.
{remember johnny cash?  folsom prison blues?  i guess that's its other claim to fame.}
I did my student teaching there 14 years ago.
{i'm feeling old.}
There was a huge antique store.
Gary was a trouper and walked the whole thing with me.
{that's true love.  he hates antique stores.}



I have almost all of these Nancy Drews.





I kind of loved this chair.



And then Gary had a chance to showcase one of his very favorite
talents in the entire world:
taking the back roads to avoid Sunday Tahoe traffic.



I cannot tell you what a kick he gets out of beating the folks on the freeway.
It's a little scary.

He loved his 40th birthday rafting adventure.
I have a few more years until my 40th,
but I've already got a few plans.
Mine involves a Big Apple,
a Central Park, and a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.
Yep.


*************************
And don't forget!
Enter my giveaway here.
There are goodies to be had.
:)

fun at world market.

The kids and I went and ran a few errands last week.
I like that they're at the point where they are very easy to take out and about.
{most of the time, anyway.}
Actually, except for a few rough years with
one kid who shall remain nameless to protect his identity and future job-search prospects,
they've always been pretty easy to lug around on errands.
And I usually enjoy having them tag along with me.

Except in Anthropologie.
Or Nordstrom.
Then I need my space.

But last week I just needed a couple of things from Michaels,
and then we wandered over to World Market.

Can't you just spend a lot of time in that store?

I saw this print,
which reminded me of one that Lindsey made.
I think I need to add that to my to-do list.
I don't think it would be too hard.



The kids are pretty sure we need a papasan chair.
Those things really are so super comfy.
Maybe if I got them one for one of their rooms I could sneak in and nap in it?
Hmmm.  Something to think about.



How great is this coffee table??



I love the casters!
Really really love it.

We wandered around the furniture and lamps and kitchen stuff
and saved the food and candy for last.
The kids love the candy there.
I mean, Mario mustaches??  Come on!



Riley assured me this pose was something from Super Mario Brothers.



And I'm pretty sure this one is not.



Yeah.
We were in a pretty goofy mood that afternoon.

I bought a few things at World Market.
This, of course.
My crew was so happy when they started carrying it.



I've told you about my family's love of this before.
I must say...I don't eat it like the rest of my family does,
but on ice cream?
Delish.

And, on an unrelated, and totally shallow reality tv note,
I just finished watching The Bachelorette.
She got rid of my favorite guy.
Lame.

Ok.  This may take some time to get over.
{deep, cleansing sigh}
Later this week?  Giveaway!  I bought something for you at World Market, too.