wind

The Wind.
Originally uploaded by Myles Smith

i really really really don't like the wind. it puts me in a bad mood. honest. today was windy. i tried to make it a good day anyway.

hey - there's another random giveaway over at storiesbyme. do check it out.

oh, and happy halloween.

birthday festivities

we crammed a lot into luke's special day. here we go, in my friend's favorite format, bullet points:


* luke waking up and being so excited about the balloons all over the couch.

*running around hysterical playing with said balloons.

*max waking up and insisting we 'open luke's presents, now.'



*luke opening presents and max being so excited for each one!


*max helping open the present he gave to luke. a bag of skittles bought with his own money. he was beaming with pride.

*the 'thank you' hug.



*a breakfast of donuts and fruit snacks.

*after max went to school, luke and i raced over to target to have his 2 year old pics taken. it was spur of the moment - no time to plan the perfect outfit or make sure he was all smiles. he seemed to do great and had this thing for sticking his tongue out. the pics were cute though.

*after pics we raced home to get max from school, quick stop at arctic circle for a corn dog/french fry lunch and home for max to take a quick potty break, get nana sue, over to jake's school to pick him up in the jr. high chaos of a parking lot and then off to the pumpkin patch!

*heading to day farms pumpkin patch for a hayride in bumper to bumper traffic... (during which luke fell asleep) and finally arriving only to find out hayrides didn't start until 4pm. (this was about 2:30ish)

*pulling into day farms and max having a breakdown because he wanted to go in the maze and this place didn't have a maze. breakdown was complete with big tears and took some serious talking to calm him down. back in the car to pack's pumpkin patch. (they have a maze there.)

*getting to pack's patch and finding the 'perfect' pumpkins! (nana sue - could you send your pics over, please?) and max got to run through the maze, twice.

*jake being the best big brother ever and helping both max and luke with their selections. luke was pretty uninterested, but enjoyed riding in the cart.

*picking up a $5 hot & ready pizza for dinner and eating it in the living room, sitting on the floor around the coffee table, at luke's request. the kid is weird sometimes.

*making cupcakes during all of the festivities (i honestly don't remember when i did that...)

*having luke enjoy a birthday song and candle experience. watch this: (be sure to watch the whole thing...)



man, it was a fun, full day. and at the end of it all, both kids went to bed very late - but happy. i got to go pick up mike from the airport, also late. yay for mike being home! (sidenote: i had given luke a little toy horse in the morning...well, this morning mike got the presents out he bought for the boys while he was gone and voila - the EXACT same horse for luke. what are the chances? our minds must be connected in some way.)

what a good day for luke. and for max. happy day little man. i love you.

happy day to luke

it's hard to believe that luke was ever this tiny. i mean, look at those little hands...isn't he cute? he's still cute.

today is luke's 2nd birthday. i can't believe it's been 2 whole years. here are just a few things i love about my little lukey:

*he loves to carry stuff around - random stuff. one day it may be a lego piece, the next day it's elmo. sometimes a star wars guy and a train or just a uno card. he's a strange little one. don't fret, he'll always have something (or lots of things) in his hands. (always in addition to 1 or 2 binkies, his blankey and a sippy of chocolate milk.)

*for his birthday he asked for 'snacks' so a box of fruit snacks was bought, wrapped and is being enjoyed this morning.

*he loves to mimic max. like, everything. it can be scary sometimes.

*he is such a good helper - always quick to 'help' put the dishes away or 'help' me take a shower. so thoughtful.

*so silly! his latest is galloping around like a horse. he gallops everywhere. he's a little horse in a kid's body. (maybe he gets that from mike?)

*he loves to laugh. what kid doesn't? but really, he loves to be tickled or do anything to get a laugh going. and his belly laugh is the best!

*the best blue eyes ever.

*he's a tank. i mean, have you seen my boy? barely 2 and can fit in some of max's clothes from last summer! i'm interested to see what the scale says on monday. watch out.

*always quick to give a hug. for no reason he'll find me during the day and give me a huge hug - usually around the leg. then is off galloping to whatever he was doing before.

*such a good sharer - most of the time. when he opened his fruit snacks this morning, he got a package out for him and then one out and handed it to max. awww.

happy happy birthday luke. i love you!

(luke is 18 months old here...2 year old pics coming soon.)

it's official

out with the old and in with the new. another new job. another new opportunity. with the buyout of washington mutual came some uncertainty in what j.p. morgan chase would have to offer. so, being the thinker he is, mike immediately began to check out his options. bank of the west came to the table and we've chosen to take their offer. so, mike is headed to omaha nebraska (anyone know where that is?) on monday for a week of training. wish him luck.

this past summer we had our pictures taken and i've needed to get a frame for our 10x10 family pic. i finally found one and boy, isn't it fabulous! i mean, really. who doesn't need one of these gracing the wall in their house? i love it. and the picture in the frame isn't half bad either!

unbelievable

are you serious? it's not even halloween. this makes me even less excited for what is ahead this winter. like it's a preview of what is to come. i think i want to go back to bed.

as you can tell, max and luke couldn't wait to get out and make 'sun angels' and romp in the white stuff. if only i had their enthusiasm. perhaps i could take a lesson from these two crazies of mine.

mikey

what is his name? michael thomas, miguel the dirty mexican, mike, mikey, dad.

how long have we been married? 7.5 years

how long did we date? first date october 2nd. proposed december 8th. married march 22nd. you do the math.

how old is he? old. really old. 36 - soon to be 37. if you ask him, he's already in his 37th year and is going on 38. strange man.

who eats more? there are days i am sure mike has a hollow leg. other days i think i have one. i bet he wins this one more often though.

who said i love you first? that was totally mike. puttin' on the moves.

who sings better? have you heard mike sing? when he isn't trying, he's ok. i'll have to take the point on this one.

who is smarter? depends. i think i'm pretty smart. and i think mike is pretty smart. perhaps i'm more school smart. mike's more street smart. some of his smarts i'm glad i don't have. and he's probably glad to not have the complex math questions constantly going on in his head like i do. what can i say - i have a thing for numbers. it's a benson thing.

whose temper is worse? i'd like to say mike's, but i'd be lying. me, hands down.

who pays the bills? me.

who does the laundry? me. every monday. and usually thursday. and saturday. except if mike needs something washed he's very good about putting a load in. it's the transferring to the dryer and folding part he sometimes forgets.

who cooks dinner? usually me. at least during the week. mike always cooks on sunday. always. i love it. he's a much better cook than i am!

who drives when together? mike. unless we've gone to see the horses. in that case, mike has contaminated his hands and i don't allow him to touch my steering wheel or sit in the driver seat with horse all over him, so i drive. sometimes if i'm waiting in the car for him, i take control of the drivers seat. all of this is null and void if we are in mike's car. he always drives the classic benz.

who is more stubborn? me! me! me! for sure.

who is the first to admit when wrong? sometimes me. sometimes mike. neither of us are ever wrong. at least that's what we think.

who wears the pants in the family? pass.

who mows the lawn? jake if he's around. mike if he's around. lately it's been me. i actually love mowing the lawn. it's the 'dog poop clean-up before i can mow' that i hate.

who kissed who first? totally mike. again, puttin' on the moves.

who proposed? mike.

what is my favorite thing about him? he's a hard worker, great dad, good example, funny, kid at heart, serious when needs to be, plays hard, good at what he does and loves me. he's my favorite.

missing in action

amazing how time seems to fly. i have been busy...but, i am sure, no busier than the next person. i could sit and spill my guts and share how overwhelmed i have been, how frustrated and tired i feel, how i need about 5 more hours in each day, but who wants to hear that? instead, i am just making a note that i am still alive. i am still pounding away day after day. i am still searching for that word balance...if you find it, please send it over to my house. i am grateful that i am busy. thankful i have things to keep me going. happy to have energetic kids to help wear me out through the day so i can sleep at night. glad to wake up to a new day full of whatever it brings...and that (so far) i can take whatever that is. i am one lucky girl. it's just that sometimes i need to be reminded.