Jude's 5 year letter

My darling Jude,

I'm sitting at my computer and typing this letter up to you. I haven't blogged in a million years (okay, a few months), and it's a few weeks past your birthday, but I'm doing it.
Ah Jude. Where to even begin!?

You are a plucky 5 year old. You are tender and can be sensitive, and then the next minute you're terrorizing Blaise. You do have a compassionate heart, though, and there have been multiple instances of you seeking out a new kid in your class (whether it's the YMCA or church) and playing with them, or offering them a toy or trying to cheer them up when they're upset and scared. This speaks volumes to me about who you are and that you are listening to God's still, small voice inside you urging you to show love and friendship to those who need it most. I love for this. Seriously. My heart almost explodes a little when I hear about these occurrences.

But there's a sassy mouth on you too. You love shouting, "FINE!" or "OKAY!" when things are neither fine, nor okay for you. It's hard for you to receive instruction or criticism, but I do see growth in you in this area.

You played on a soccer team for the first time this summer and you learned so much! We watched (and okay, we laughed too) from the sidelines as you would run up to the ball but only really hover around it and the other players instead of just going in and kicking it. This was a bit surprising for me as I wouldn't have thought you to be tentative, but by the end of the season you did end up going in for a kick or two.

You learned so much at school this past year too! Junior Kindergarten wasn't too difficult of a transition for you, but you did have some teary goodbyes in the mornings for a few weeks. Your teacher, Mrs. Fulton, was an absolute gem and we are so super excited that you'll get her again in a couple weeks for Senior Kindergarten! You learned tons of songs and loved gym and recess and you can even read a bunch of words. You made a bunch of friends but I think struggled to find that one friend that you really clicked with even though we would hear you talk about many different kids in your class. I'm praying for one really good friend this year and that s/he would be someone that would be a good influence on you and vice versa.

You are one smart cookie and I often hear you sounding out words or when Noah was learning to read this past year, you would intuitively guess the ending of the sentence.

You are my affectionate boy. You love saying that you love me and that I'm "the best" and giving hugs and cuddles. You definitely need to hear words of encouragement and affirmation and I'm constantly reminding myself to give you those as it's not my first instinct to do so.

You got a scooter for your birthday and you are getting so good on it! I'm so proud of you and your desire to stick with it and get "really good" at it. It's really cute to see you bombing down the sidewalk and learning to balance with both feet on it at the same time.

You are musical! You love clapping out rhythms, you pick up on songs and lyrics (and even was a voice of conviction in a Lumineers song when the guy says, "Oh my God", telling me that you didn't like that song because of it.) and you have lately started requesting jazz music. Which totally melts my heart. You pick up on moods and feelings in music and it makes my heart so happy to discuss music with you!

You love Noah. You miss him when he's not around and I'm so thankful you have each other, even if it does mean that you fight with each other a good deal of the time.

And you're really calming down around Blaise which is good for all of us. I know you love him, but how it comes out is sometimes a little too aggressive. Regardless, you have a really special relationship with your baby brother and I see it in how you and he interact and make up games together and the giggles you share as you engage in things like jumping on top of each other from the armrest of the couch. Yeah.

Sometimes you seem older than a five year old and I know I expect a lot from you. You are just my favourite Jude ever and I am so thankful you came into our lives on that hot, July day five years ago. Such a calm, (quick), chilled out entrance into this world and yet you have one of the biggest personalities in this family. I love you, Super Jude!

I love you, Jude.

Love,
Mama (Mom, Mommy)

Kindy

Jude's in Kindergarten! Junior Kindergarten, to be precise.

I did find myself getting a bit emotional when I went to drop him off in the morning.

Such a little-big guy. I thought I was ready, but when it came down to it, I totally wasn't. I didn't blubber, but my heart did that funny achy thing as I watched him walk in line after the other kids into his class.

And then I took off and ran a ton of errands and the day seemed to fly by far too quickly.
When we went to pick up the boys, we first went to Jude's class. He ran out to me and Blaise with a smile on his face, his little backpack bobbing up and down. He said he had a good day, but that he did cry a couple times because he missed me. Aw.

We went around the side of the school to pick up Noah and immediately Jude started singing 5 Little Speckled Frogs. What a cutie.

And he ate a good portion of his lunch so I was quite pleased and impressed.
This morning he was quite disappointed that he wouldn't be going back to school today so I think that's a good sign that he did well and enjoyed it.
I can't wait to get to know their teachers and the other parents as well.

Good job, little buddy!

wednesday morning prayers

I hear foot steps and my door open ever so slightly.
"Mom?"
It's Jude. It's also 6:30am.
"Yes, Jude?"
"Where's Daddy?"
"He's in Halifax."
"Oh. Right."
"Go back to sleep. It's too early."
"But I see a bit of light. It doesn't seem too early to me..."
He wanders back into his room and shortly I after I hear quiet voices and their door shutting. I guess he woke up Noah. They play quietly for a bit.
The play gets louder and wakes up Blaise in the next room. He quiets for a bit and I lay in bed for just a few more minutes.
I check the weather {I have to get back into that habit.} and roll out of bed to go nurse Blaise. {He only woke up ONCE last night!} He's a happy guy and my alarm goes off in my room while I'm in the room with Blaise.
The boys come out of their room and I encourage them to get dressed before going downstairs.
They do.

It's smoothies and toast {and yogurt and cereal for Noah as well} and then the boys brush their teeth.
Jude is bugging to go to school {right.now.} and so I put their lunches in their bags, pack in a rain poncho for this afternoon's forecasted showers and after a bit of playing, they pose on the front steps for a picture for Jude's first day.

How handsome are they?!

We're leaving with plenty of time so I don't feel rushed. Which is nice.
At the school we walk around to Noah's side. We stand there for a minute or two and then give hugs and kisses goodbye so I can drop off Jude at his entrance.
I look back and see Noah standing by himself and it makes my heart hurt a little. I tell myself, he'll be fine.
I'm getting a bit emotional about sending Jude to school today for some reason. He's so little. It's such a long day. How will he do? Will he listen to the teacher and make friends? Will he be able to finish his lunch? {Probably not.}
We walk into the enclosed area and he looks at me with a smile and says, "PLAY?!?" so I nod and he takes off to the slides and climbers and then the bell goes and he comes right over and hops into a line. A helper asks him his name and then directs him to the other line for the other kindergarten teacher. I get a big hug from him and he hugs and kisses Blaise and then chats away to his teacher telling her about his backpack and his Star Wars shirt. Then I look to my side and see Noah standing there with teary eyes.
My heart sinks.

The teacher starts walking in with Jude's class and he happily trots in line behind the other kids. What a trooper.

I turn to walk away with Noah and begin what I've been dreading this entire time leading up to school's start.
We walk into the school all the while with Noah very tearfully and stubbornly telling me he's not going to school and not going to his class and he's staying with me the whole day.
I tell him he is going to school and that he's strong and amazing and he's going to have so much fun and learn new things today. I tell him that Jesus is with him and Noah tearfully says that he can't see Jesus. He can see me and so he wants to be with me. {sob} I try to get to the bottom of why he doesn't want to go but I think it's because I wasn't there to see him into school like I have been since the beginning since I was with Jude. It's also a long day. Every day. And the transition is finally catching up to him.

My heart hurts as I leave him screaming and crying for me with the teacher.
I walk quickly with tears streaming and head back to the car with Blaise {thankful that I chose to put him in the stroller this morning and not carry him like I usually do}.

So it's not even noon and I'm not sure how he's doing. I hope he's doing well. I hope the teacher was able to get a handle on things. I felt bad for her. The little boy in Noah's class who has special needs was also having a rough morning and I didn't see any EA to help her so she was trying to deal with Noah and the other boy.

Jesus please be with Noah and Jude this morning. Send people to love them and protect them. Give them courage and strength and joy today. Remind them of your goodness. Remind me of your goodness. 

**it's 10:57am and I just got a call from his teacher. He settled down within a couple minutes of me leaving. She was so understanding and supportive and I am doing a little happy cry and fist pumping for such an awesome teacher.
Also found out that there is an EA that will be able to help her so that is great for her, for the kids in the class and for that little boy who I hope and pray Noah will get to know and love this year.
Thanks you Jesus!

Jude, you are FOUR

Dear Jude,

You are four years old! As I type this, you are not quite four. You are lying in bed sleeping beside your older brother. But I thought I would type it up before tomorrow happens and I have a bit of time to reflect before I go to bed.

What a year you've had! We've moved continents, have travelled quite a bit and are currently in limbo while we wait for our home.

You are feisty, independent and you truly march to the beat of your own drum. Seriously. You live in another world and sometimes I'd really like to join you. You have an amazing spirit and I know you are going to do big things some day. I want to help you get there. Sometimes I don't know how, though.

You are running, jumping, shooting, marching, laughing, hugging, squinty-eyed smiling, always moving BOY.

I am so thrilled you came into our family four years and nine months ago. Because you were loved and anticipated from the moment we found out about you.

You can count and recognize letters and numbers and colours and while you don't often sit still for books, you still like to look at them every now and then and will listen to Bible stories if you're upset and need some Mommy-cuddle time. You climb and swim with water wings. You love the park and we have a hard time getting you to leave. You've recently learned how to ride your bike {with training wheels} and my heart soars with pride when I see you pedalling away on your little bike although you tend to give up halfway through wherever we are going.

You adore your big brother and contstantly look to emulate him. Look up to him and emulate the good, but never wish you were him. You are the only you. If you aren't you, no one else will be. Noah has been your built-in playmate for the last 2 years and you've challenged each other, made each other laugh, gotten in trouble with each other and protected each other. I love how you two are such tight friends and brothers and I pray it always stays like that between the both of you.

You love your little brother and although you are often too aggressive with him for my liking, I pray that this is the beginning of a tight, intimate brother-bond that you'll have for life with him. He will look up to you and seek to emulate you. I pray your example is one that inspires him to be fully who God created him to be.

You asked Jesus into your heart just this past month and while I'm not certain you fully know what that means, does anyone ever? You seem to be able to grasp big concepts and always have big, global questions. You truly think outside the box and there doesn't really seem to be any limits {in your mind} of what you can or can't do. I pray that every day you move closer to Jesus and that He becomes your centre, your purpose and your grounding point. He is big enough and full enough and more than enough to satisfy your every craving and desire. 

Happy birthday my beautiful, funny, middle boy! I love you more than I could ever capture in a yearly letter.
You are FOUR!
love,
Mama

RIP Bunny

We had some interesting adventures in traveling as we flew through Cairo to Barcelona and then spent an overnight in Barcelona and then flew to Malaga {it's in the south of Spain} and then took a bus to Nerja where our conference was. Our first time flying as a family of 5. Overall we did okay. But there was a casualty. Somewhere between Cairo and Barcelona {either in the plane or at the Barcelona airport} Jude lost his bunny.
The bunny we gave him when he was 9 months old.

It's truly the end of an era.
Once we realized what happened we felt bad but Jude didn't really seem to fathom what had happened. It's a bit frustrating because we've been working with him to help him remember what he does with things and stop being so haphazard with his toys. There were a few sad moments later on in the day when he said, "I miss bunny." or "I want bunny." but nothing major. We bought him a new snuggle toy and life went on in Spain. He was often up and out of his bed a bit more than usual, but because of the late nights in Spain it wasn't so big a deal as he was pretty tired out by the end of the day.

But tonight's bedtime was rough. It was like a mourning for bunny had begun in earnest. Jude was in and out of bed and being disobedient and defiant and we tried everything with him. Finally he started sniffing and crying saying that he missed bunny and he wanted bunny and the sobs began. Poor guy.

I let him have one of the loveys that was given to Blaise and obviously he's not bunny {said in between sobs; but he doesn't have ears and he's not green. so he can't make me happy.}, but...maybe he'll form a new attachment.
The above picture is a classic for Jude; bunny in arms, fingers in the mouth. But I've noticed lately that he hasn't really sucked on his fingers since losing bunny.

Bunny was always around and always loved on. We checked each time we went to the Barcelona airport and with multiple desks/personnel. No bunny. RIP Bunny. You will be missed.

three on the fifth - oops

I take pictures of my boys on the third of each month. You can view past months here.

It seems like just yesterday {that's so cliche, isn't it?} that I started taking pictures of my boys on the second. And so we begin a new year and I'm off to a fabulous start by posting this two days after the third. Oh well. I'm really going to try to not forget February's picture like I did last year and that will make up for it. Right?
And now we're on the third with another Wild Thing to add to our family.
Check out how much my boys have grown with last year's picture! Amazing.

We let the boys watch cartoons all morning. It's Saturday. And ... a certain pair of grown ups did not go to bed early enough. So they were tired.

We had leftover pizza for lunch. It's also on the menu for dinner today. 

Apparently this is how we smile in our family. Seconds after this, Blaise spit up.  

And breaking news, Blaise likes watching Baby Einstein. This could be revolutionary for fussy periods. {Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.}

Happy Weekend!

a gobblety goop of things

it's been a good week. but it hasn't been an easy week.

we're currently experimenting with not swaddling blaise for his naps. he sleeps no better, but no worse. we'll see how it goes.

blaise got his 2 month immunizations on tuesday. he's been a bit irritable during the days. thankfully still sleeping really well at night.
i'm tired. and most days i feel like i fail more than i succeed. but there's grace. and strength.
i'm feeling a bit lonely and missing face-to-face conversations with people who know me and love me and understand me. but there's grace. and strength.

i had a bit of an ache in my heart the other day as we drove the streets of kampala. i was thinking about how i'll miss living here when we leave. i'm very much excited for the day we return to canada, but right now? kampala is home for us. and there are many things i'll miss about living here. {noah remarked to me almost seconds after i thought this that he is glad we're moving back to canada because the streets are bigger and don't have pot holes. yeah. that'll be nice.}

i crocheted a scarf. it's incredibly soft and thick. and warm. much too warm for here. but i'm saving it for when we go to spain in january.
you can find the pattern here.

i haven't exercised all week {tired much?} and i've been scarfing down chocolate. holding crying babies makes me crave chocolate.

jamie challenged me/us to watch all our christmas movies this year. we figured out that we have 22. so far we've watched five.

our tree is up. the stockings are hung. we're listening to christmas music. and i'm loving watching the boys act out the christmas story with their little people nativity set. the other day i heard noah yelling at jude: LET US IN! WE NEED A ROOM!!! LET US IN OR I'LL PUNCH YOU!
i looked over and found that he was holding mary and joseph and jude was holding one of the wise men. i think maybe he was supposed to be the innkeeper. i'm not quite sure that's how it all went down, but i like jospeh's protective and assertiveness.

a wasp flew into our living room the other day. as it was flying around, it got stuck in a spider's web. i have never seen a daddy long legs {or whatever this african equivalent is called} move so quickly! seriously. the spider was on that wasp so fast. but the wasp got free and we eventually "swooshed" it outside again.

i would like to sleep for the entire weekend. but that's not going to happen.
there are so many good things in my life. but life is not always easy. no matter your stage in life or where you live.
wishing you a wonderful weekend! {and a happy thanksgiving to all my american friends and readers!}

a new friday links

somehow i've managed to crochet and try out new recipes. in a lot of ways it refreshes me, even though it does tire me out sometimes.
but...you get to benefit from my experimenting with new crochet patterns and recipes!

so here's a variation of friday links for ya!

this adorable crocheted elf-hat has been a pattern that's been saved on my computer for months. maybe longer. i finally got around to crocheting it with this incredibly soft golden yarn that my mom brought over for me. the cream-coloured yarn is not as soft and a bit bulkier, but i think it works. you can find the pattern here.

yesterday i tweeted that i had made homemade graham crackers. they turned out deliciously! i froze half the batch but the first half is almost all gone so i'm thinking of baking up the other half today. these are delicious and simple and the boys loved them. i followed this recipe exactly and i will definitely be making them again.

now these are only half done. yep. i still need to slice 'em up and bake 'em again. what you are beholding is a recipe for rosemary raisin pecan crisps {although i substituted craisins for raisins. i also omitted the flax seed because i didn't have any, but i'm sure it would be delicious and extra healthy with the flax added in.}. in similar fashion to biscotti, they need to be baked twice. they smell delicious and i'm excited to see how they turn out. i'm sure they'll be gobbled up just as quickly as the graham crackers. many thanks to my friend hannah for recommending that i try this recipe.

and i didn't take a picture, but last night i made a delicious slow cooker {o slow cooker...how i love thee!} meal; coconut chicken curry. it was a bit time consuming to get the chicken off the thighs, but worth it. it was delicious. i don't remember where i got the recipe from, but if this is yours, let me know so i can give you credit!

coconut chicken curry
makes 4 servings


8 oz red potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 tbsp chopped dehydrated onion
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 (14 oz) can tomatoes
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1 tsp regular chicken bouillon granules
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
salt and pepper

1.  stir all ingredients (except salt and pepper) into a 3-5 quart slow cooker. 
2.  cover and cook on LOW for about 4-6 hours, or until potatoes are tender.
3.  salt and pepper to taste and add in additional seasonings, if needed.
4.  serve over rice.

my boys {the older two} often play well together, but lately they're starting to fight more as well. whether it's noah's quiet, but antagonizing comments {o hello fellow eldest child! how i know you well, for i am also one.} or jude's mass chaos and destruction to noah's carefully constructed lego the number of fights in our household is increasing. rapidly. i came across this website today and was drawn in immediately by the honesty and frankness in the style of writing {it's a marriage website, by the way}. then i came across the idea for a "kindness jar" and i was hooked. in fact, i'm making one today. we'll see how it goes and i'll report back here if it has worked for our family.

and one last link. i may be addicted to starting new blogs. i'm not sure how long this one will last, but lately jude has been doing and saying too many funny things. so i made up a blog specifically to document them. they probably won't always be long entries and they might not even seem funny to you, but they'll serve as a great way to remember this stage he's in. you can check it out here.

happy friday!

5 things i've learned since becoming a mom: hold on

in honour of my oldest "baby" turning 5 next week {what?! how did that even happen?}, i was inspired to write about 5 things i've learned since becoming a mom.

hold on

i don't mean that we as parents should hold on in an unhealthy way. i mean hold onto those moments. those fleeting moments that may be your last with them because they've moved on to the next development. breathe in that newborn smell and close your eyes. soak it up. feel the softness of their skin, the pinkness of their feet. cherish the way your toddler wants you and only you for comfort. listen to the stories your 4 year old tells you with such imagination and attention to detail. one day they might not be as forthcoming with their thoughts and stories. hold onto those moments. hold their hands. they might not {and probably won't} want you to hold their hands forever.

blaise gets some "daddy time".

as a first time mom i was really just focusing on surviving those first few months. i had a mild case of post-partum depression and i was in a dark place. i was anxious and paranoid. it was difficult for me to hold onto those moments and yet somehow my memory of noah as a baby is far more vivid than of jude as a baby and probably than my memories of blaise as a baby will be. i'm not sure why that is {although it probably has something to do with not having two older boys to keep busy and take care of}, but i do know that i spent lots of time holding him, rocking him, crying while nursing in the middle of the night {again} and stressing over every little thing. he was my world and i focused nearly all my energies on "keeping him alive" and relishing in his every new development. this is why i smile when i see first time mom's post tons of pictures of their baby's first *insert any "first" that a baby can have* or a 10 minute video waiting for their baby to roll over. they are "holding on" to those moments and they want the world to know about this marvelous new development with "the cutest baby in the world". {because every parent thinks their child is the cutest.}

cuddles with a sick noah

as a third-time mom i am well aware of the fact that this time is precious and will fly by far more quickly than i am prepared for - and not just with blaise, but with my older two boys as well. i will not always have a three and {almost} five year old. jude will not always say "yup" in that quiet, cute way. noah will not always want or need me to read him stories. blaise is growing faster than i thought was possible.

more cuddles with a sick jude

yes, it's hard. yes, it sometimes sucks. yes, it's incredibly sanctifying to be a mother and a parent. there's nothing like a little mirror to show you all the ugliness you never knew you had in you.
God knows that i fail at this every.single.day. but regardless, it's something i've learned and continue to learn.
so hold onto your babies while they are still young. they will never want or need you like they have you now so hold onto it and remind yourself of this every.single.day. on the days when i don't remember what's really important at this stage, it's all-too-easy to get resentful for my lack of "me" time, or the way they always need me or want to tell me something or show me something and want me to play with them or read them a book. it's crazy how quickly i become self-centered when this time is so limited and my children are so precious. what is honestly more important that pouring into my children, spending time with them and teaching them? i can't think of a single thing.

and so in five years as a mama, i've learned the importance of holding on.

photo dump thursday

my parents got into town on sunday night.
it's been lovely for all of us.
i've been recovering from a brutal head cold that my older two boys passed onto me {thankyouverymuch} in between breastfeeding {a lot! my little chunker now weighs 11lbs 13oz!} and making thanksgiving dinner {and now i've making pumpkin everything with all my leftover pumpkin puree!} and enjoying the company of my parents, my kids and jamie.

blogging is not a high priority at this point, but i've been taking some pictures so i don't forget everything in approximately 59 days.
enjoy...

milk drunk smiles

playing outside in the sandbox

gramma holding her youngest grandson

everyone's got their own entertainment

a sneak peek at a quick photo shoot i did with blaise and a vintage suitcase {thanks, kelly for the suitcase!}

{three}

i have three boys! amazing.
we're still figuring out our routine but it's been nice to have jamie around and my parents arrive on sunday night.

noah is really into sonic the hedgehog racing on jamie's iPad and likes to make up stories about sonic. he also really enjoys listening to audiobooks during his quiet time. it's hilarious when he comes up to me and asks about different words or phrases that he's picked up on like, "mom? what does it mean to have a cheese that drags you around the house by your nose?" then it makes me wonder which story he got that from!

jude continues to make us laugh with his funny voices and hilarious antics. he insists on calling "Monopoly" "buh-mopowee" which i love. jamie wondered to me the other day, "i wonder what jude's voice really sounds like. he's either making up a funny voice or shouting Dora the Explorer style." it's so true.

and blaise is adorable. he's also started spitting up as the picture above shows. he spat up as i was walking him over to the blanket for this picture. oh well. c'est la vie. he's doing really well during the nighttime and last night he went almost 4 hours between feedings. pure bliss. he's conked out on my chest right now. he's a cuddler for sure. {and i love it.}

{and one more picture of blaise. cuz he's the new kid around here.}

linking up to steph who takes pictures of her 4  kids on the 4th of every month.

boy-mama

for some reason, this captured moment makes it seem so much more real. i'm a mama to 3 boys! amazing.

threats and "the game"

threats. they seem to be quite popular in our family these days. and i'm not just talking about coming from the parental units. noah tends to threaten us to "get his way" {which he definitely doesn't when he uses threats, letmetellYOU!}.

if you don't let me have the iPad, i'm going to be really angry and throw this chair.

now we've started cutting him off if he even begins a sentence with a scowl and the words, "if you don't..." by saying, "i'm sorry, noah, but that's not how we talk to each other in this family."
he doesn't like it, and it often makes him angrier {usually}, but it's completely unacceptable to us. so no. we don't threaten.
jude has picked up on the "threat language" and uses it from time to time but our reaction is the same as well.

but jude's game with us is the yes/no game. it often happens around bedtime.
it usually goes a little something like this;

good night, jude. *lean in for a goodnight kiss*

NO KISS! NO HUG! NO!

okay, that's fine.  and we walk away.

seconds later,

I WANT A KISS! I WANT A HUG!

so we lean in to give him a kiss and get,

NO KISS! NO HUG!

so we walk away. and he demands a kiss and and hug again.

once we realized what he was doing, we decided to take him at his first word. i walk away and say good night the first time he rejects it, despite the fact that he wails and screams. and the first few times he obviously lasted longer although he does less so now. oftentimes i'll just move in for a kiss and give him lots of kisses all over his squirmy self as he giggles, but it doesn't mean that he is satisfied. he'll often still demand that he gets to give me a kiss but then falls back into "the game". at least when i walk away, i've still given him kisses. he'll just have to learn to mean what he says. he'll get it. eventually.

the same thing goes for mealtimes. he'll say he's done and get down from the table so i take away his plate and he freaks out at me saying that he wasn't done and he still wants to eat.
he knows now that if he gets down from the table, he's done. plate goes away. that's it.
he still freaks out, but at least we all know where we stand on these issues.

it's still incredibly frustrating and i despise the tantrums that follow, but after reading through this blog, i remembered that we had a rough time with noah when he turned three as well. the three's are rough around here. we just have to suck it up, stick to our word and move forward.

we have our daily {hourly} struggles around here. parenting is by no means easy with these two fantastically smart and spunky boys. just the other day i {temporarily} took away their screen time tickets for the rest of the day due to poor attitudes and meltdowns right after each of them using a ticket. i find i am far more grace-filled but i also find i am praying a lot more for patience and lowered blood pressure because these boys certainly know how to make my blood boil!

creative can be easy

on friday i posted the friday links and then ended by saying that me and the boys were going to bake some chocolate chip cookies.
they had so much fun holding the hand mixer and dumping in the chocolate chips. but then when the dough was ready, i didn't feel like scooping out each individual cookie so i asked the boys if they had ever had a cookie pizza and if they wanted to make one with me.

of course they did!
all i did was spread the dough onto our round pizza pan and throw it in the oven for the amount of time it took for me to blow-dry my hair {15 minutes? it was still pretty wet.}, pulled it out and muah! perfection. and so much easier and less time-consuming than doing several sheets of cookies.
the boys loved it and were so excited when it was done that they insisted on having a cookie party and surprising jamie up in his office {he's moved his desk up to the "party house" now that we've re-arranged furniture for baby B}. we each took a plate up and gobbled up our pizza slices of cookie.
delicious!

sometimes thinking out of the box and being a little creative takes less work than doing things the old-fashioned way.

what's something creative you've done lately that's been easier than your usual way of doing things?

this.

this is what jude looks like every.single.morning.
nutella & peanut butter is what he demands requests on his toast and then proceeds to eat it in the messiest way possible. at least, that's how it seems to me.
also?
triangles. it must be cut into triangles.

friday links

yesterday both my boys agreed to let me cut their hair. noah sat like a champ but jude screamed as if i was committing some sort of horrible torture on him. i still have to fix up parts on both their hair, but for now? it works.

for some reason, when i buzz noah's hair {yes, it's meant to be a subtle mohawk}, i think he looks younger. afterward i sat back and said that now he reminded me of "baby" noah {what i meant was toddler noah}.
but jude just doesn't quite look the same to me anymore. i miss his hair already. thankfully {unfortunately?} both boys' hair grows like crazy and they'll both have mop heads before i know it!

here are some friday links!

for all you crafty-types, this seems like a fairly simple DIY. i think even i could sew it! and so handy for traveling with your flat iron!

and these. i am making these. especially with the amazing vanilla beans we get here - and for so cheap! i've missed vanilla coke and this is my opportunity to relive those memories.

this is a sweet reminder for me as i re-enter the season of mothering a newborn.

and i am drooling. and also making these. and i might eat half the pan.

how fun is this site? i like to just keep entering different bands just to see what drink will come up.

and now i'm going to down a couple Tums to counteract this wonderful heartburn. ha!
happy weekend to all of you!