my random life

just now i walked into my room to find noah in his "quiet time" sprawled on my bed with books covering his entire body - even his head.

he peeks out from under the books and says,

mom, i'm not done yet.

i tell him i know and asks him if he wants some music. he says yes. and then he says,

and then go back out, mom.

well alrighty then.

i ask him what he's doing and he says,

being quiet.

um, okay. sounds good to me. strange child.

also this happened today:

and i wish i had my camera with me last night at 10pm at the beaches jazz festival. noah was shaking his booty and grooving to all the big band jazz. it was awesome.

the kid has some sweet moves!

share the love

farmer's tans.

no, scratch that. i don't love farmer's tans. 

but both my boys have 'em.

because they're almost always in a t-shirt. 

hence, my love for sleeveless shirts.

and specifically for younger kids - rompers.

oh my heart. 

on a day like today (yeah, it feels like 46 degrees with the humidity) noah is in a sleeveless top and jude is in a sleeveless romper and i.love.it.

i think 2 yrs might be the longest i can push the romper on jude, but dang! so cute!

Old Navy

Carter's

Carter's

love.

what are some summery things you love?

get on your boots

tomorrow my sister (the lovely and talented photographer that she is) will be doing a family photo shoot for us before we move.

thanks to Pinterest (oh Pinterest, you are full of lovely ideas and a very good time waster.) i found some inspiration for some poses, props and outfits. 

love the apples and the red barn background.

ties! love.

oh this looks like such a fun family. 

the setting + their outfits = awesome.

so this morning i took the boys to Good Will to see if i could find any treasures.

it took some searching and if you've got young kids {ahem...boys} you'll know what it looks like to "search" in a store {basically it looks like racing up and down the aisles as fast as possible while at the same time keeping your eagle eyes on the lookout while also sweet talking your kids into behaving and engaging with them to see what they can find - my boys liked the hats and the little animal nicknacks.}.

in the end, i think i did come out with some great finds.

i got 2 dress shirts - one for each of the boys; we'll roll up the sleeves for a beachy look - both from old navy as well as a pair of gorgeous brown ankle boots for me (for $9!).

i know. ankle boots aren't really summery but i honestly could not resist. i've got some plans for these babies and our photo shoot tomorrow.

now to prepare my kids. you can dress 'em up, but you can't make 'em smile. 

but we can definitely be flexible and have fun. 

so hopefully we get the fun and the smiles. 

here's hoping!

like, not just love

i took off my engagement ring the other day.
women in uganda don't wear engagement rings and quite a few don't wear wedding bands.
i'm already getting used to how it feels.

today we went down to the beach and oh.my.heart.
it does me good to be there.
jude fell asleep a few minutes before we got there so jamie and noah went for a walk along the boardwalk while i sat in the car and read my bible and listened to mumford & sons and watched two different cars parallel park with perfect execution.
the breeze was a little bit of heaven blowing in through our open car windows.

once jude was awake we had a picnic lunch consisting of boardwalk hotdogs and some of the best fries i've had in awhile.

it
was
perfect.

it was nice to just be our family. and i like our family. not just love them. but i like them too. i enjoy being together.
just us.

later on we spent some time with family friends that we've gotten together {multiple times a year} with since jamie and i were dating {and they were getting together long before that without me!} and made some more fun memories and said our good-byes and were incredibly blessed by their generosity and thoughtfulness.

we are so blessed.

summer

if this doesn't say summer to you, i'm not sure what will.

we've been having so much fun spending time with friends and family that i've barely picked up my camera and i've talked so much that i feel as though i have nothing to blog about!

{which is totally not true, but ... i'm processing verbally which is so much faster and satisfying.}

we got some bins that we're going to use in lieu of suitcases.

i bought a bunch of stuff from ikea today.

i'm making lists like a crazy woman {i actually enjoy making lists. besides, it helps me feel sane.}

the packing is beginning.

this is good.

and

i finally completed my "family yearbook" for 2010 and ordered it today {from blurb in case you were wondering. they are amazing. i've purchased at least 5 books from them and have NO regrets as well as being completely impressed at the quality and speed of delivery. true story.} and i'm really excited to get it. i think it will be really fun to have and look at while in uganda.

today is funday

...but it's actually wednesday.

noah likes to ask what day it is. pretty much every single day. multiple times a day.
i don't really mind.
sometimes i just tell him straight up what day it is.
sometimes i sing it to him.
sometimes i say it in a funny voice.
he thinks i'm silly.

we went to centre island today with our dear friends, the humphreys.
we got to the island before them so we had some family time in which we enjoyed some good old fashioned swinging

(why yes i did dress my boys in the same outfit. it helps to find them in public places. i know. genius.)

(o hello runny nose!)

and of course...rides, rides, RIDES!

(even though it looks like jude was cowering, he loved every second of it. promise.)

and then once we met up with our friends there were some more rides!

(okay, so noah totally loves rides. he's SO happy!)

and we went on possibly the fastest merry-go-'round known to man. seriously. it was fast.

and apparently i took a lot of pictures. but it was good. because it's been a few days since i picked up my camera and took some pictures. and some turned out pretty good (if i do say so myself).

and it was oh-so-good to hang out with dawn & eric again. we've had some good times and memories with those two and it's sad to say good bye for who knows how long (though i hope no longer than 2 years!). 

and (last sentence i start with "and", i promise) the kids went the entire day with NO NAPS. we didn't get home until 8:40pm so it was a loooong day. but they did really well, all things considered. 

so maybe it was funday and wednesday all at once.

from 6 to 13

...in 5 years.

5 years ago it was just the six of us. 

Mike, Elisha, Jamie and I road tripped it to Windsor to hang out with the newlyweds, Steve & Regan. 

Now there are thirteen of us. 

6 adults.

7 kids.

It didn't feel like there were as many of us as it looks. 

Does that make sense?

It was fun. 

I have some good memories that I'll recall over the next two years with fondness and thankfulness to have such wonderful people in my life.

*photo credit to Regan Thomson (or at least to her camera. and to the kiddie ride attendant that took the picture.)

therapy*

i go to therapy. 

a few times a week.

but i don't see a counselor.

it's laundry.

i hang my laundry on the line.

and it's like therapy for me. 

it used to frustrate me.

how long it took to hang everything up.

one

by

one

but now i actually enjoy it.

i'm not sure what happened along the line for me to get where i am

but it's soothing.

repetitive. 

and sometimes (most times) i'm a little ocd about it.

i hang all the shorts first.

then the tees.

and sometimes i colour co-ordinate them as i hang them.

it's my little system. 

i think it's something i can accomplish and tangibly see results.

today is a perfect day for laundry.

sunny.

windy.

a perfect day for therapy.

*please don't misunderstand and think i am making fun or light of therapy or conditions like ocd. i realize there are reasons to go to therapy. hanging my laundry helps me clear my mind and feel relaxed. it is therapeutic for me. thanks.

beach day

we went to the beach today.

breathe in.

breathe out.

so relaxed.

it was hazy. but lovely. 

tender heart

I was busy making dinner tonight when Jamie came in from barbecuing and told me this story

I was outside when I heard these soft crying sounds and I turned and I saw Noah crouched down and softly (slightly fake) crying.
I said, "Why are you crying? What's the matter?"
He said, "I'm sad and I'm crying because these flowers are dying." and then he pointed to some wilted flowers.


When Jamie told me this I just about died - my sweet boy with such a tender heart. Crying over flowers.

Jesus, please keep his heart soft and tender for the weak ones in our world. Give him the wisdom and the compassion to go out and do something to make a difference in the world.

airplanes, school buses, dump trucks and diggers

It was hot today.
It's only going to get hotter tomorrow.
We are armed and ready with a/c, a kiddie pool, lots of cool drinks and a sweet backyard with lots of shade.

Jude kept asking to go in the stroller {"shooooaa"} to see the dump trucks that were working just up the street from my parent's place.
Noah wanted to stay behind to "help" my Mom with the gardening so off we went up the street to see the dump trucks.
We watched several dump trucks back up onto huge hills of dirt and unload massive piles of dirt for at least 20 minutes {why yes I did just park ourselves under a tree in front of someone's yard}.

Yeah, he totally had to bring his "Daddy's ball" {a Man United soccer ball} and his juice. 

Better than tv, I tell ya.

Jude was absolutely enthralled by everything. There were front end loaders and dump trucks and rollers and airplanes flying in the sky {my parents live 5 minutes from the Toronto airport} and because it was 3:30pm, several large school buses passed by in front of us. It was a little boys' heaven.

AND THEN

one of the construction workers came up and asked if Jude wanted to sit in the dump truck.
I said I wasn't sure but we'd try it out.
Eventually Jude consented to sitting with me and we got our picture taken together.

Oh the things you get to do as a boy-Mom.

Saturday at St. Jacob's

We knew we were going somewhere today, we just weren't sure exactly where.

We decided on St. Jacob's Farmer's Market near Waterloo.

We browsed, we shopped, we ate.

pinkies up!

Jude happily chows down on the most amazing apple fritters known to man.

It was a pretty good day. 

And I ran 5k tonight.

Winning!

little

we still call him "baby jude". 

he's not really a baby, but he still is a baby.

he's my baby.

he got his haircut for the second time of his existence. {that sounds pretty epic, actually.}

we all thought, "oh hello, little noah!" 

he's still ridiculously cute. but i miss the long shaggy hair already. 

it'll grow.

cupcakes

this weekend my sister and i went to a cupcake shop that i am hereby pronouncing as my local cupcake place.

it's pretty cute.

and the cupcakes!

o! the cupcakes!

aside from looking scrumptious i always think cupcakes are so pretty.

like a little itty bitty pretty cake.

love!

{i picked red velvet, raspberry, mango, vanilla, lemon-coconut and hostess - and i'm not telling you how many i ate vs. how many i gave away.}

see how pretty they are?

so if you're in the royal york/dundas area and you like cupcakes {who doesn't?} you need to check swirls out.

lovely day

oh i had such a lovely day visiting in guelph today.

seeing friends, chatting, enjoying some high tea at the boathouse with wonderful women {who generously gifted me with the most gorgeous camera bag you've ever seen - it's purple. me = in love.}, spending dinner and quality time with dear friends.

it was a lovely day.

i caught this shot of jude in my lap {holding a pencil?} and noah across from me {holding some wooden toy} and our feet. 

we are who we are in this messy, crazy, wonderful, amazing world we live in.

i'm glad i get to "do life" with these fantastic people.

our day

i picked up my camera today.

it was the perfect day.

seriously.

a cool breeze. the sun out. {psst! i ran again!} a lovely play date. 

so noah melted down multiple times today {not really sure what the deal was with him...} and jude wouldn't listen when i called him back to the house. 

we played! outside! with water!

watering the bird bath so the birds would have "good" water.

sunshine makes me happy too, kiddo.

a vigorous {and happy} clean up - chucking cars back into their bin.

and so ends a good tuesday.

tomorrow we've got a full day of visiting with friends in guelph and i'm kinda {really} looking forward to it.

'night!

first

nothing like the first bbq of the season to welcome the warm weather.

today i took the boys on the bus, subway and street car and went to a lovely colombian cafe downtown with my sweet friend shelly.

noah grumbled through the entire meal because it wasn't the mcdonald's we had just passed but both boys gladly scarfed down the empanadas i ordered for them.

me?

i had a black bean and mozzarella arepa and it.was.delish.

if you're in the queen st. w area in toronto, check out arepa for some delish food at a good price.

also, shelly introduced me to the store fresh collective which is a bunch of local artisans who each work one day a week at the store and sell their gorgeous jewelery, clothes, etc. 

i'm in love.

(and i'm going back without kids.)

it was a lovely day. 

how was your thursday?

art

Sometimes you just need to create your own art gallery.

And then pose in front of it with a VeggieTales video.

there and back

I love road trips.

I always have.

Before we had kids, Jamie and I drove across Canada, down through the states to Florida and also to visit friends in South Carolina. We've driven to Chicago with Noah and we've done shorter trips with both boys. 

We really wanted to visit our friends in South Carolina and spend some time with them as whenever they come up to Canada, their time is mainly spoken for by their family (as it should be).

So we left last Monday. In the past, we've just taken a day or so to travel, but this time we decided to try driving through the night.
We left at 8pm and this was Jude

And this was Noah

Oh my boys. So so so different from each other.

Anyway, I didn't pack the little DVD player this time (partially by accident) and no one missed it or asked for it. Love it. (We don't use it much anyway.)

The boys did great on the drive down and were cute and funny whenever we'd stop for gas - all of a sudden they'd wake up and squint from the ridiculously bright lights and point out trucks or whatever they happened to see.

We got to Florence, South Carolina at 11:30am and unpacked and settled in.

It was a great 5 days with our dear friends, having many conversations and laughs in the evenings after the kids were in bed and breaking up fights watching the kids play during the day. (In all seriousness, Noah and Leah played great together, it was my wild child, Jude who kept terrorizing poor baby Steven. *insert Mommy lesson of choosing to teach and instruct your child, rather than be embarrassed and ashamed of them* *also insert a heaping helping of humble pie - it's hard to be the Mother of a "hitter"*)

We also went to the beach and while it started off with a brutal nauseous migraine for me, the wonder-drug ibuprofin kicked in about halfway through our day and I was able to enjoy our time there. 

It's always so refreshing to spend time with good friends and for a short time to be able to "do life" together. {Now if only we could get them to move to Uganda with us!}

Our trip home started a little earlier with us leaving at around 5:30pm and getting back to Toronto at 8:30pm yesterday morning but I think we all had a much more rough time. I couldn't sleep until 2am or so just being kinda stiff and uncomfortable and the boys slept for most of it, but Noah was awake from around midnight 'til 2am (that and he didn't fall asleep until 9:30pm made for a tired boy tonight at 6pm when he was about ready to fall asleep in his dinner!). Also, at 3am Noah woke up and asked for sunglasses because the street lights and car lights in oncoming traffic were hurting his eyes. So there he sat, with my big purple sunglasses on and his fuzzy green neck pillow. This kid cracks me up.

All in all, it was wonderful. We got a taste of summer weather, time to spend with lovely friends and a fun family vacation. 

Perfection as far as I'm concerned.