budding artists

usually messes my kids make drive me nuts. and all i can think about is cleaning them up. well, last night i let that all go and decided to make some chocolate pudding. but not to eat.

(although there was a little bit of eating going on...)and it was fun!!!

read this!!!

The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas.
The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising.
Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude.
If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow.
Today I am blessed.
--Maya Angelou

(found this here)

say what?

luke loves legos. he especially loves it when dad or mom will build a ship for him. and this clip captures his request. what did you think he was saying?! i love this boy

too early?

is it too early to be breaking out the valentine hoopla? i don't think so. i was having another blah january day today and decided adding a bit of red and pink to my house would perk things up. and actually, i quite like something new to look at. so, perhaps i'm a bit early. but that's ok. (and decided the winter-esque scene on the blog needed some lovin' as well.) january can't end soon enough around here.

recommended

this movie is really cute. if you haven't seen it yet, i recommend it. (even if it does have owen wilson in it...i really don't like him.)

apparently he was tired

luke decided to follow in the footsteps of his brother and abandoned naptime just after turning 2. i can try and lay him down, but it's usually a fit of screaming and a fight not worth fighting. the trade off is he is a suberb night-time sleeper. 12 solid hours. occasionally he will doze in the car if we're running errands. i guess yesterday he was more tired than i thought. things were a bit quiet in the basement while max was at school. i went down to check things out and here's what i found. isn't he sweet?

happy *late* birthday mike

i know it's late, but better late than never, right? mike had a birthday. yay! 2 days after christmas to be exact. and he's getting up there...closer to 40 than 30. scary. (he's 37 - wow.) i wanted to share a few pics of mike...and tell him how much i love him. mike's an amazing man.

just a few things:

*cowboy

*fishing

*camping

*wrestling with his boys

*serving others

*dedicated

*silly

*use it up, wear it out, make do or do without (it takes a bit of convincing to get him to throw out old worn out clothes (or anything for that matter) and buy new ones!)

*kid at heart

*thoughtful

*gentle

*great cook

*cleaning out his closet or the garage or shed

*always full of surprises

*compliments

*sincere

*takes time for family

*teaches

*great example

*encourages

*always searching for the silver lining

*positive attitude

*it'll all work out.

and it has. he is wonderful and i love him so so so much. happy birthday, babe.

and now for a few pictures:

burning cake! (it really was only 10 candles: a group of 3 and a group of 7. there was no way i was putting 37 candles on one cake. fire hazard.)

making a wish
eating yummy cake!