What we've been up to....

Jack is spending his first ever extended "special time" with his Grandma and Grandpa at their cabin for a few days or as I like to call it....Camp MiMi-PaPa. And to make it even sweeter, he has his cousin Ellie along with him! She is there for her "time" as well, but also to be his partner in crime while fishing, catching frogs, boating and swimming. It also helps to have one older cousin around to laugh at all the silliness a one younger cousin can produce, you know, to keep the silliness going and going! 

Owen is then spending some QT with his Momma and his GiGi at one of our favorite places. We have spent the last couple of days swimming, taking walks, napping/sleeping (amazingly well in a hotel for that matter...who knew?), eating, playing and reading (I finished The Help...great book!). I can't remember the last time I felt so relaxed and with one baby....again, who knew?

And Pat...ohh Pat! He is back at home working and finishing up some of our projects that were just about done when we left! That old twin headboard has finally made it's way to this and is now being painted. This has been one of my favorite projects thus far and I cannot wait until it is complete and in my house!!

 That's it, just a little of our 'summer busy'!

A MUST make!

Right now, Owen is fussing because I'm not holding him and Jackers is singing and dancing to Raffi and trying to distract his brother from crying and wanting his Momma. Right now, I should be packing up the car for my 2-week excursion, I should be running to Target for my last minute items, I should be picking up the 65 random toy parts laying around my house, I should be making beds, putting clothes away and cleaning up my kitchen. Plus a few more things I could probably think of!

But, I just have to share this recipe I found for Strawberry Salsa with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips.

We made it yesterday for an afternoon snack. It is just delicious! It was very refreshing and healthy and just yummy-goody different. I was also thinking that if you don't have time to make the chips, a good alternative would be Stacy's Cinnamon-Sugar Pita Chips. Equally as deeelish!

You will LOVE this...trust me!

And because I can't seem to have a post without pictures...here are the boys eating this snack right up!!!

Bugs, bugs and more bugs!

I never knew I would talk about, look for, find, hold, pet, and make homes for so many bugs!

"Momma look, a SANTA-pede!"

Grand Haven

I always write about visiting the beach in South Haven and what a true joy it is spending time there. It really is! Well, in an effort to venture out and explore while my mom was visiting, we decided to hit up a new location and that was Grand Haven. We decided last minute on this adventure, so we scrambled, packed a bunch of stuff and headed out!

Our idea was not so unique as the weather was perfect that day.

Grand Haven was awesome! The beach is huge, there is a long boardwalk that leads out to the lighthouse and a super cute downtown area with lots of shops and restaurants.

                                                                                  Photo: VisitGrandHaven.com

I was hoping to walk onto the beach and it looked like this.

It was fine though as we found ourselves a little niche on the beach.

This picture was taken just as were making up our little spot on the beach. Jack was playing around and digging in the sand. He then shouted, "Oh Mommy, look at this!" as he reached down to pick up something in the sand. Next thing I hear is a loud scream and immediate crying as that "something" he picked up was a bee that stung him on the palm of his hand. I pulled out the stinger and soaked his hand in water as he proceeded to cry hysterically. We calmed him down, but the beach was just not the same for him after that! Darn bees!

Owen loved the beach that day! 

However, every now and then he liked to put his whole face in the sand! 

Unsure of why he does this, but he giggles about it.

I'm not sure why I keep applying "antique" to my beach pics...I just like it!

The lake was very wavy/choppy, so Pat had to take the boys into the water. We weren't very prepared as I didn't have my swimsuit or life jackets for the boys. So, each time he would take one of them in, the other would be pleading and begging to go back in at the same time.

The Lake Michigan Coast Guard have a post in Grand Haven. While we were on the beach that day they did a practice rescue right near where we were sitting.

O loved the helicopter! Jackers was terrified of the loud noise. 

He laid in the sand with his hands over his ears the whole time.

GiGi was there too!

And here they go out to play in the water with O trailing behind thinking, "Wait for me guys, wait for me!"

Family picture...the best it's gonna get these days.

After the beach, we headed into town for lunch and ice cream.

Trying to smile and smiling.

Smiling and not smiling.

What the....? The intensity of Jack's silly face made be instantly burst out laughing.

Which then of course, created more:

And more!

Yep, as I said before...this is the best it's gonna get!

We are tired, sweaty, sandy, sticky, full of ice cream and dirty!

But, I always like to say, those are signs of a Good Time!

We saw it!

Yesterday, in an attempt to accomplish the following three things:

1. give Pat some quiet relaxation time

2. give me some alone time with my Jackers

3. put a HUGE smile on Jack's face

Can you guess what we decided to do?

 

Yep, we went to see Toy Story 3.

Besides having to take my little man to the bathroom 4 times (seriously, not exaggerating!), it was just a really fun time. The two of us shared M&M's and a Root Beer, yum! 

The movie was great..it made me laugh and cry.
I totally did not expect the tears, but the ending was happy and sad. It just got me.

Definitely the best one of the three!

As Jack sat in his chair holding Woody and Buzz and smiling ear to ear..I know he liked it too!

Father's Day 2010

To the BEST father our two boys could ask for!

You're our rock, our silly, our patience, our protector, and our guide.

You're our superhero!

We Love You!

You're Biggest Fans,

Jackers and O-Man

Idea for this found HERE.

We have some...

new friends in our house.

They're names are Woody and Buzz. They make Jackers a very happy little boy. 

And Owen when he can get his hands on them. What makes Jack giggle with Glee most definitely will make O-Man do the same. He pretty much thinks Jackers is the coolest...ever!

Tonight he read a book to Woody and Buzz, it was all about dinosaurs. Of course!

He then fell sound asleep with them just like this. 

And tomorrow morning, I will hear a lot of, "to infinity and BEYOND".

Boys.

Five on Friday

1. Strawberry freezer jam-Check.

A few simple ingredients plus one little strawberry smasher equals......

 5 jars of yummy goodness.

Too bad it turned out to be more of a strawberry sauce than a jam. Argh! 

2. However, the little strawberry smasher could not taste test his work due to the band-aid he had to have over his mouth for a fat lip he acquired from falling off his swing set. He cracks me up...whatever makes it all better though, right?

O-Man did though, by the spoonful. 

 3. Here are a few of the boys just cause they let me snap away for 31 seconds.

 And a Flashback from last summer, well 2 of them, because I couldn't resist.

1. 

 2.

4. Gotta love a bath in the kitchen sink!

And with your GiGi.

5. No words.

Two more things.....

6. Some fun links.....

-Another great recipe blog: The Picky Palate

-Some good tips for dressing your bambinos for professional photos.

-Sick of wearing your hair in some version of a messy ponytail everyday? I sure am. Whippycake gives little video tutorials on how to change it up a bit. Very fun!

-Some of my favorite etsy sellers that I am stalking, but have not purchased yet:

      -Urban Design

      -Petunias specifically the snack bags

      -Pretty Petal Studio....THIS makes me smile

      -Signs of Vintage

7. Did you know they now sell Pretzel M&M's? Beware....they.are.very.addicting!

Just a little chair redo

Okay, so do you remember this nasty little beauty I found for free at the dump? Well, I finally got around to finishing it...finally! Note to self: must muster up more motivation everyday, the same motivation that got me to complete this project aka "mom's coming to visit" motivation.

Here is what the chair looked like sitting all alone at the dump.

It was dirty, a little smelly, and it had a few cracks.

But, I just loved it..look at the details in the wood!

And I was in need of a new desk chair for my new crap craft desk area/guest room.

Oh and free...I like free.

It took lots of sanding and I mean lots. 

There was probably three coats of paint or stain under that white paint.

It then took just about two cans of black spray paint.

I also sprayed over the black paint with some gloss spray paint (name?) to give it some shine.

Jackers and I then worked as a team to pull apart the seat cushion.

I loosened the staples and he pulled them out with a pliers.

Side note: I love that he loves that kinda stuff.

There were three different fabrics to pull off. 

Look at that yellow-greenish one, so 70's. 

I think my parents had shag carpeting that same color in their house at one time?

I stapled some batting over that yellow-greenish cushion to give it some more "oomph" and then covered it with my fabric choice. Well, technically, I had originally covered it with a different, more colorful fabric, but wouldn't you know it, not 5 minutes after I did this, Mr. O-Man crawled onto it with a piece of wet chalk. Destroyed. I think it was a sign though because I like this one much better. 

Here it is...

The room the chair is in is actually a butter yellow although in these pictures it looks tan or some version of that. I love the black, white and yellow together. 

It makes me happy!

Now I just feel the need to say this.....

This project may seem super simple to many of you. Actually now that I have one under my belt, looking back, it was fairly easy. But, let me just say that I never thought I could do something like this...never. That was until I discovered all these amazingly creative bloggers out there in the world that showed me that I could and I can and I did and you can too!

I can't wait to show you what I made out of this little diddy...coming soon.