one for me, two for you

I've Moved!

Hey folks! In case you didn't know, I've moved to www.honeybeemama.com. Come visit, comment and share!

{my moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by SouleMama

 
Happy Weekend Lovies!

haiku wednesday on thursday

Anticipating

Waves, sand, toes, sunscreen, smiles. Count

Down to a long drive.

{my moment}

My moment from last week doesn't have a picture.

Thursday of last week was the day my engagement ring was to be ready at the jewelers for me to pick up. It was a full size too big and had flown off my hand twice while folding laundry. Finally I wrapped a couple of band-aids around it to keep it on. For something so valuable, on several levels, it was pretty stupid of me to NOT take it in.

Needless to say (why to people type that? if it's needless to say, why say it? i digress...) I was excited to get it back in my possession after several days, so I'd decided I would pick it up on my lunch break. Lucky for me, the jeweler is right around the corner from Aidie's (my five year old) school, so I decided I'd surprise him with lunch. Also around the corner is Taco Bell, one of his new favorites, as well as Alec's. They love the chicken soft tacos and cinnamon twists - who doesn't?!

That kid's face was so sweet when I walked in. Surprise doesn't even do it justice. He was so proud, stunned, beside himself with excitement. He felt so special; you could see it all over him. He was excited that now he had TWO lunches. I assured him it was okay to save the lunch he'd packed for tomorrow and he could eat Taco Bell for lunch, but it took him a while to understand. He finally did though, and gobbled down his tacos, lemonade and cinnamon twists.

More importantly was how thrilled he was to be there with ME. He insisted on making sure I knew all the kids' names and who had been bad and good that morning (they all chimed in to help relay the information).

He kissed me and hugged me and told me how much he loves me, "bigger than the universe, Mom." I asked if he minded if I kissed him and snuggled him in front of his friends. He said, "no," then told his friends to watch as he planted one on me. I couldn't hold myself back from pulling him up into my lap and wrapping my arms around him and reminding him that he's my favorite Aidan ever.

Then I asked him to promise me that he'll never stop snuggling me, even when he's a big stinky teenager and wants to do other things. He said, "No, Mom. I'll never stop snuggling you," then asked, "Mom?" "What baby?" I responded. "Is it okay for me to still snuggle you when I'm a grown-up?" "Of course, baby," I explained, "I still snuggle Mimi." "Oh, good," he sighed, then wrapped his arms and legs around me and squeezed tight.

Yeah, it was tough to go back to work after that.

Speaking of hard to go to work, I have to share a moment with Alec. One I have every morning when I drop him off at daycare. Each morning, I drop off Alec at daycare first, then drop of Aidan at school. I have to actually walk Alec inside the building, and all the way into his classroom. He always wants to hold my hand walking in the building, hold the door for me, push the star button after I punch in the code, and show me how fast he can run down the sloping hallway to his room.

It's in these brief five minutes with me, without the distractions (or mouth) of his older brother, that I get to see his sweet little heart. His gentle and carefree spirit. Once I get him into his classroom, we walk about halfway in near his teacher so I can say good bye to him.

I always bend down to hug him and linger there, squatting, to hold him and watch him and enjoy him for a moment longer. He never wants to let me go, and yet his eyes are watching the room, taking it all in, rather than looking at me. And I love watching his eyes that aren't watching me. I know the moment I leave he'll jump right into play with his friends, but for that moment he seems timid and cautious. It is unique and brave, this moment where he collects himself to see what he's up against that day, while also taking inventory of all the trouble he can get into.

I'm also right at kiss level with those squishy cheeks that still haven't quite lost their baby fat. They're so soft, and right next to his sweet little lips that he puckers and pouts and laughs and lisps and roars with.

Every day. Every day I try to make that moment last as long as I possibly can before saying, "I love you Alec. Bye-see-ya-later (a phrase I believe Aidan began using years ago that's become a family catch phrase). It gets me every time.

Well, that and the "I love you hand." Sigh...

{my moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by Soulemama

 
Happy Weekend Lovies!

loving

things i'm loving these days:

white wine (i used to be strictly a red girl, who knew?!)

{note glass accompanying fajita creation in Sunday Funday post}

veggie booty

 

the boys love it too! they call them green puffies.

 

green grass and irises blooming (my favorite spring flower)

 

and finding other things blooming from treasures planted last fall!

and little yellow flowers on this delightful broccolini!

 

shellac manicures (okay so i've only had one of them, but i love it!)

 

weight watchers (yup, i'm in the program for the second time in my life, and loving it!) also loving jillian michaels and billy blanks. hey, i've got the will, he's got the way!

my tom's, paired with dresses. and skirts.

poached eggs!

 

watchin' my babies ride bikes (i have pics somewhere...promise!)

family fondue. seriously it's soooo cool!

 
and who says we can't have fondue on a week night?!

what a yummy life!

haiku wednesday

stay focused, self. do

what you love, love it too. make

cake pops this weekend...

what's-in-your-purse tuesday

In the process of searching for a hairtie this afternoon, I realized it's probably time to clean out my purse.

 
I found a lot of crap. The list of absurdities includes, but is not limited to:

• 5 forms of nail care
• 4 forms of lip care
• ginormous container of gum
• green vampire teeth
• button from goodness knows what
• at least 2 different sets of tickets to something or other
• marvel tattoos
• marvel stickers
• one lone card from some sonic game that came in a wacky pack
• meg's sunglasses she left at my house when she was in the states
• febreez (you never know when you're going to need it)

That doesn't even count the two different planners, wallet, camera case, keys, "discreet" tampon carrier, and various pens and bobby pins.

And no hairtie. Thank goodness Danielle had one! That's what friends are for.

What's in YOUR purse?

 

 

 

Sunday Funday

I know a group of kids (=20 and 30 somethings) who gather for Sunday brunch and call it "Sunday Funday" which is usually a follow up (=sober up) to "Saturday Sin-day..."

This is not that kind of Sunday Funday; it's merely a Sunday I happened to decide I wanted to document in pictures. And so it begins...

We decided bacon, eggs and toast were in order for breakfast, but were out of two of those items, so Marc needed to make what is becoming a "customary" Sunday morning trip to the store. He usually asks all the kids if anyone wants to come.

Aidan was the only taker, and this is how he dressed himself. God love him.

Alec stayed behind to talk on his banana phone while I made coffee and got things started.Now, I'll say that on Saturday, which was NOT sin-day, the stars alligned and I made two of the most beautiful and perfect poached eggs you've ever seen. No gadgets, no gizmos, just a pan and water. I attempted the same thing on Sunday, and was not successful...they got poached, and were edible, but were not pretty. And took forever because I threw out about three eggs. So there are no sweet pictures of our delightful breakfast, because everyone, self included, was so cranky and hungry by the time it was served, it was just time to eat.

Can you guess what our first outing was? Yep, Bed Bath & Beyond to look for an egg poacher! Not only did we find that, we found some adorable little boys for sale. They thought this was incredibly funny.

Next, Garden Ridge to hunt for patio furniture. And might I say, for a garden stuff filled store, they have an attrocious collection of garden gnomes? Give me Big Lots any day. Not even worth a picture. We didn't find any acceptable patio furniture, but we did find a family's worth of recliners.
 
 
 
 
Alec wanted to push the cart. And push it he did...into everything he couldn't see.

 
 We may or may not have allegedly found the papazzan cushions and started jumping into them. But you can't prove anything...I wish I could have snapped this picture a second earlier though, because Marc did a killer cartwheel into the stack.
Next, stop by Bueno for some taco roll-ups, and off to Mod's for gelato, yeah! We LOVE Mod's for a lot of reasons, one being that they have a SELECTION (more than one) of vegan gelatos. Are we vegan? No, but Aidie is allergic to cow's milk and gets left out of all the ice cream having adventures. Except when we go to Mod's.

But someone (not naming any names...Missy) didn't take the time to figure out whether or not they're open on Sunday. I'll save you the trouble, they're not. But we still had fun romping around Boston for a few minutes! Here's Marc and Corrinne's Michael Jackson "wind" moment (yes, it was quite windy).

And the "This is It" moment.
 
And finishing our taco roll-ups.

And back in the truck to head home. Marc, what happened to your aviators? 
Back home, the kids adopted toads (apparently named Marc and Missy), 

Built them a habitat, 

took real good care of them, 

and we enjoyed the quiet inside. 
Then Marc and Aidan made a special trip to the store for dairy free ice cream and some regular ice cream for the rest of us, while I started sizzling some fajitas! 
Here's Aidan playing with his corn.

One of the many reasons he didn't get to enjoy ice cream and whipped cream with the rest of us.  
And Megan, I did NOT partake of the whipped cream or ice cream. I had a small scoop of no sugar added frozen yogurt, and stayed within my points.

Add a couple of munchkin haircuts,  

And you have one epic post, and an epic Sunday Funday.

Here's to wrapping up my Monday reminiscing about Sunday!

 

{my moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by Soulemama.

Happy Weekend Lovies!