A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Hooray for a lovely Saturday!

Hooray for kids who slept well last night!

Today, maybe we'll do this:

And a little of this:

And of course, some of this:

Because we all love this:

And, if we are lucky, we'll get to do this too:

Enjoy the day!

Wowza!

I just found two fun websites that I'd like to share before I go get ready for church!

I've been a bit obsessed with Craigslist, and as I search through all of the miscellaneous furniture items, I find myself thinking, "I could totally re-do that! I could paint it and switch out the drawer pulls..." The problem with my crafty ambition is that, well, I'm not very crafty.

BUT, check out www.ikeahacker.blogspot.com to see all of the ideas that people have used to recreate simple Ikea pieces! I can't wait to spend hours on this website (maybe I won't sleep tonight!).

Also along the lines of home decor, I found www.littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com. Can you tell that I am still in home-makeover mode?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Notes on February (So Far)

I can't think of a better title for this post! So I'm just goin' with it!

I love Costco for a number of reasons, one of which is that their shopping carts hold both of my babies, side by side. It makes me very happy- so happy, in fact, that I was singing and dancing in the parking lot while trying to get a good picture.


Seriously, how can it be so difficult to get them to look at the camera at the same time??

We've been able to play at the park a couple of times, and Max totally loves the park, but I had to dig wood chips out of his mouth more times than I care to admit.



Lucy has entered into a new stage- she likes to dress herself. On this particular day, she chose a sundress, winter boots, a hoodie, and she couldn't decide between the sun visor and the baseball hat, so she wore both. This was a battle that I chose not to fight, so off we went to Target!

I sold our sofa on a Tuesday, and a new sofa didn't arrive until Saturday, so this is how my sweet husband relaxed in our living room last week :)

I am now officially 30 1/2 years old.

I've marked the 1/2 birthday with a new accessory.

Ignore the straps of my nursing bra and the pepper stuck between my teeth. Do you like my new glasses??

And, finally, Tom Sawyer.

Joseph was in his school's musical performance of Tom Sawyer last week, and

HE! WAS! AWESOME!

He auditioned for the part of Joe Taylor (which he thought would be perfect since his name is already Joe), and he got the role, and he was the best darn Joe Taylor that a Tom Sawyer audience had ever seen! He even signed an autograph after the show. We were so proud!

The show was clever and funny, and the crowd was completely entertained (except maybe for Max, who couldn't decide whether to watch the show, or grab the hair of the boy sitting to his right, or smile at the people sitting behind us, or turn left and try to pull a switch-a-roo with Lucy and sit on Daddy's lap, which makes a complete circle, like a rotisserie chicken).

These aren't the best pictures, but you can see Joe in the center of the photo.

And here he is talking to the Sheriff.

Joe even had a solo! He sang, "Some say money is an evil thing, but it still makes my poor heart sing! Every night I kneel to pray, Give me, Give me, Give me lots of money today!" Lucy has since sang the song everyday :)

We arrived early to get good seats.

As people filed in the doors, I couldn't help but think She is missing everything. "She" is Joe's birth mother, and she is missing out on his life. I leaned over to Devon and said, "You would think that a mother would want to be here. You would think that a mother would never miss this."

He said, "A mother would never miss this, and that is why YOU are here. You are his mom."

Yes, indeed I am :)

To The Coolest 52 Year Old

Today is my dad's birthday, and since I am too far away to celebrate with him, I am sending a little love to my daddy via blog :)

A little walk down memory lane...

Remember when I was your favorite (and only) child?

Remember when I wet your pants? Sorry about that :)


Remember when you rocked a mustache? Nice!

Remember when I really, really loved New Kids on the Block and you made fun of them and made me cry? I forgive you.

Remember when you took us all to Maui? Can we do that again? Soon?


Remember when I worked at The Sleep Shop with you? You bought me a mocha everyday, and that officially makes you the best boss ever!

Remember when you guys bought these silly hats?

Remember when my best friend got married and you performed the ceremony? You did a really great job and I was super proud of you.


Remember when I dated guys that you DID NOT LIKE, and then I brought home this guy? We like this guy! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!



Remember when you walked me down the aisle?...

And then turned around and married us?


Remember when Lucy was born, and you surprised me by flying to Seattle and coming to the hospital? That was a really nice surprise.


Remember when our family grew to this size?...

And then to this size?...

And now we've added these boys!


Remember Pebble Beach?


Remember when you met your name-sake, Max Mitchell?

Remember how much my kids love you?

We all love you!


We hope you had a really great birthday!

Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day, and I often joke that everyday is like the movie Groundhog Day. I pick up the same toys, wash the same dishes, fold the same clothes, put away the same princess dresses... the life of a mother can be very routine.

I don't want to imply that a routine life is bad, because spending the days at home with the kids is a blessing, for sure, but sometimes I look around my house and wonder, "what can I do to mix things up around here?"

And then comes the adrenaline. Have I mentioned my adrenaline? My anxiety has taken the form of ADRENALINE! I clean. I clean and clean and clean. But, see, Max follows me from room to room, often fussing if he thinks that I am trying to ditch him, and often curious as to what I am going to pull out next- the broom? the vacuum? a toilet brush? The toilet brush gets him very excited, which is super gross. It is a daily battle to keep him from entering a bathroom because he can find the toilet brush in less than 3 seconds. ICK!

So, I decided that I needed to rearrange my furniture, but I couldn't wait for Devon to get home from work to help move the entertainment center, and fortunately adrenaline provides super strength, so I moved it by myself.

And then I decided that we need a different couch. So I posted my sofa on Craigslist, and the buyer is picking it up tonight, and I just learned that I can't get the new sofa until Saturday (Sorry Devon. Not ideal, I know).

And I am tired of our yellow walls, which is actually perfect because our new sofa will require new wall color (Sorry Devon).

By the way, our budget is 0. Zero.

What am I doing?!!!

Another side-effect of this crazy anxiety is that I keep losing weight, which sounds like a great problem to have, and I will absolutely not complain about it, not even once. But it is strange, don't you think?

My doctor doesn't seem to be concerned at all.

Max is asleep now, so I'd better do as much as I can before he wakes up! Maybe I'll take some before and after pictures of my house as I manically change everything. It could be a "big reveal" just like in the home improvement shows :)

Happy Groundhog Day!