fo realz, winter. you have overstayed your welcome, mmkay?

lula and i have cabin fever.  there are only so many thomas coloring books to color and elmo pages to paint, people.  :)

today we opened up the doors and let the no good very bad winter in.  for a second.  until we froze.

the girl (and her mama) just wanna go outside. 

today i give the glory and the gratitude to God for our warm house and the love that resides within it.

cousin-ly love

this last weekend we hosted three of my favorite people on earth - my nephews jordo and cob-monster and my niece who lula calls "knee-knee."

it always makes for a fun time.  take the pitter patter of lula's feet, times it by three and you've got a whole lotta' fun.  the kind of fun where bedtime is a complete tragedy because lula never wants it to end.  i seriously love it.  my heart sings. :)

we had a full day of fishing and dressing up like frogs at the museum, then into my jetted bathtub where the bubbles almost spilled over the sides and into their semi-matching thomas the tank engine jammies for a crazy 5k around the house.  

and then it was bedtime.  the monster said, "waz dat fun?  yah?  huh?  yah? ok, lula.  i loves you."  and he gave her this hug:

:swoon:  i seriously adore this picture.  even though technically it is a complete mess, i chopped off the monster's foot and his stinky smelly full o' holes blankey is in there.  this is life.  and no one lives it like the kids, am i right? :)

:love:  thanks for letting us borrow your kidz, b & j.  we adore them.

today i give all the glory and the gratitude to God for these kids and the bond they will forever share.  and the simple fact i get to watch it all play out everyday.

a little bit o' lovin...

i miss my dad everyday.  (he succumbed to cancer just 13 short days after i found out i was pregnant with lula).  i often times find myself picturing him holding my sweet lil' lula, reading her a story, tickling her, cuddling her.  i know she would have adored him.  and he would have LOVED her.  it would have been a very special relationship, i'm sure.

on that note... you know what i love?  

grilled cheese sandwiches.

dipped in ketchup.  fo realz.  try it.

it was my dad's *special recipe* and it is so mother-lovin' good. :) 

hey-yo spring :)

lula loves the park. what almost two year old doesn't right?

she has a special place in her little heart for the swings. she always has - from birth. even when she was in the fussiest of moods a little diddy in the swing could always lull her off to sleep. these days, though, the swing doesn't put her to sleep - it induces fits of giggles. and we love every. single. minute.

the temperature hit the big 5-0 mark and we took full advantage. :) we are oh so looking forward to spring.

today i give the glory and the gratitude to God for nice weather, swings and good old fashioned family time. :)

winter is the pits :)

winter is the pits come march in montana.

we are pretty much feeling like winter has much overstayed its welcome.  we are ready for spring!  spring brings the sun, flowers, bike rides and good times.  right?  am i right?  of course i am.

this is what the "winter bike ride" looks like in our neck of the woods:

gah... i can't get over the cuteness. :)

see - we are the ::insert our last name here:: that DO wear our helmets.  because we are safe.  take that j. :)  bwaahahaha!

today i give the glory and gratitude to God for beautiful scenery just steps out our house, bike rides in the winter, helmets (of course) and snacks that will never make it into the mouth. :)

happy friday!

pop a squat and read a book

thankfully, nora has always loved books.

she loves me to read them to her and then she reads them to me.  she especially loves books with anyone from the gabba gang, elmo, ernie and bert, and buzz lightyear.

today she was reading animals at the zoo (out loud) in the playroom and i captured this:

today i give the glory and the gratitude to God for books. :)  and reading time.  and my sweet lil' lulabird.

and now: picasso lula

my sweet lil' lula loves to paint.  she does.  anytime she is having a bad day or a full on fit if i say, "lula, you wanna paint?"  time stands still, the fit is automatically over and she looks up and says, "yesssss."

and so we do.

except today was a little different.  today she decided she'd like to taste the rainbow... so to speak.  and decided it didn't taste as good as it looks.  at all.

and so - today i give all the glory and gratitude to God for the non-toxic watercolor paints.  because they are awesome. :)   bwaahahaha.