this is our life...

have you been to she's crafty today?

i'm posting great crafty ideas for the family every other day or so for littlerockmamas.com...come check it out and support me and other mamas in the area!

Shipley's on Saturday

We ran into Katelyn and Hannah saturday morning after we'd hit a few yard sales. They all had a ball running up and down the table and squealing! The girls were about to go see "how to train your dragon" and they were very excited!

little guy

no, not nate...this is our new obsession....little guy trailers! we want one very badly....they are adorable!! the cameraman in this video was moving around alot, so if you get motion sickness be prepared. ;)

food for thought on a friday

a friend from work passed this along yesterday, and so much of it rings true in my life-

_{“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”  Anna Quindlen}

 

i do wish that i used this blog to document more of my life, but i've never been a journal keeper. and i somehow got away with nary a photo from memorial day weekend. i did take the camera to crystal falls but it never left my bag. and i don't feel all that bad about it.

 

i keep telling myself that if i had a nicer laptop that i'd blog more, and maybe that is true. but i don't have to tell myself that i'm doing myself a disservice by not blogging. it's okay! i'll have the memories in my heart and mind to hold on to, long after this thing called the web has ceased to be.

Ms. Jannis' class Taco Party!

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

back on the bikes

i told aaron last night that, dammit, we were going to ride bikes this morning so help me. and that he was going to start riding his bike after work again, and i was riding mine to work, starting monday.

so we did it! we got up and ate breakfast, then got out in the neighborhood. nate was SO happy to be back on his blue bike and he really did a great job. we rode the route to uams so i could be sure of the best way to go, then rode up to kavanaugh and rested for a bit. we'd had a rather large breakfast and didn't wait long enough before leaving the house. oops!

after we suppressed the urge to vomit, we rode over to pulaski heights and played around on the playground, then packed it up and headed back home. we all played around in the pool when we got home...yes, even i dipped my feet in the that freaking cold water.

i was so proud of us! i made aaron promise me that we would ride at least one day each weekend, as a family. i see me pulling the trailer and hitting a few yard sales as we go. and even though i don't look as good in my bike shorts as i used to, just seeing me with them on makes me feel powerful and energetic. can't wait to hop on it in the morning!

a first

just wanted to let you all know that i mowed the yard for the first time ever today. aaron has been really trying to get the quarter round in the kitchen done, and after nate and i went to argenta market i decided that i no longer wanted to see a weed infested yard. we have a manual lawn mower, easier to use than a gas powered one, and the weather was perfect so i thought there's a first time for everything. it took about 2 hours, including some weedeating...first time i've done that too! aaron was very impressed, and i guess i was too. it's good to know that i'm fairly handy at other things.

so glad

over the past few weeks, there have been moments that we questioned why we moved from a perfectly good and DONE house with great neighbors on a great street.

then we have weekends like the last one and a night like tonight and we remember why.

we are so fortunate to have a pal for nate across the street from us, who happens to have a super cool mom. her boyfriend's pretty cool too, and his little girl's super cute. last weekend, nate actually had his first semi-sleepover at his house and we all hung out for a few hours talking it up. then tonight they came over for pizza while the boys played.

and just two blocks over are more pals....two sweet girls, one of whom will be with nate at fair park in august! we've been friends since before nate was born, connected through our mutual love of ye old sufficient grounds on palm. we had an impromptu lunch play date at the playground on sunday which was just a ball!

we realized that the only thing missing from our old house was the fact that there were not little pals for nate close by. and even if there were, in the 5 years of living on valentine we never met them.

i love that nate will grow up running across the street to see his friend, and walking to his school, just like i did. it make it all fell so right, regardless of the hours of demo and construction we have in store. w are so glad to be here finally.

New house photos

We've been busy around the house, getting new gorgeous counter tops and fabulous orange VCT dining room floors, and doing some work outside in our overgrown flower beds. aaron pulled up a nandina bush with a root ball so big that he had to wash out all the dirt before he could drag it out to the street. and the city still has not picked it up. the positive side? nate has a great mud pit to play in now.

here's some photos from the past few weeks-

new counter tops and faucet..yeah!

new fence...yeah!

new dining room floors....yeah!

massive hole from the nandina bush....yeah!

i've loaded more photos into my flickr photostreamif you want to see them. this weekend aaron plans to finish the quarter round in the dining room and kitchen and put up the backer board to prep for the tile back splash.

on the downside this week, our bathtub faucet broke so no more showers until we get it fixed. aaron hooked a washer hose to it so we can rinse off, kinda like a camp shower. we call it the elephant trunk. if you know of a claw foot tub faucet set out there for less than $400, you just let me know.
 

photos from noah's fifth birthday

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Easter 2010 (144 photos), by leigh austin

I'd like to share my Walgreens Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.