things i love

grilled nutella sandwich

square dance

dancing at midvale....ryder totally rocked it!!

now, grab your partner....

spa treatment

the kids have been enjoying the warm weather lately, and it didn't take long for them to discover the cooling sensation of mud...such animals!!

quinn thought it was so funny to put mud all over ryder!

now it's quinn's turn for a treatment....aahhh

all covered....then it started to dry......"mom!!! can you get this off of us". so i filled up buckets of water and got to work, and their skin looked radiant afterwards. we probably won't do this all the time, but it was just too precious to stop......when was the last time you rubbed mud all over yourself?

ice cold rootbeer

since the weather has been crazy nice out, we've been frolicking outside every afternoon when ryder gets home from school. today we picked him up and came home to a special treat....ice cold rootbeer. the kids and i spread a blanket on the grass, and cracked open our tasty beverages.....and the giggles, or should i say burping, began:)

just capturing the moment.

AAARRRRRPPPPP!!!! ryder was like a professional belcher, seriously...he was pretty impressive (although sometimes i truly thought he was going to throw up), and quinn just gazed at him in amusement and envy. although i do NOT allow this kind of behavior at the dinner table (that's just disgusting), i must say it was quite hilarious and just plain fun, to sit outside in the warm sunshine with my kids, and just act like kids:)

backyard reading

i am having so much fun with ryder's new interest....reading!! we hang out and read our favorite books together, today it happened to be 77, so backyard reading was a must!!

delish dish

this has been one of my favorite dishes lately, like when i'm craving a comforting soup. jesse makes this delish dish (miso, stock, pasta, veggies) and then a poached egg on top.....yum yum yum!!! everything is so much better with a poached egg, seriously!!

celebrating in minneapolis

we headed to minneapolis for a weekend in the city, to celebrate grandmama's 60th birthday! meet up at mill ruin's park, stayed at the westin hotel, played in the pool, got a babysitter for the kiddos, and went out to a fabulous dinner and had pink cake for breakfast (well, after our first 'real' breakfast).

we all had a wonderful time, it went by so quickly.....and it was so worth the drive!!

mill ruins park!! on the river, historical, beautiful, and full of rocks....lots and lots of rock:)

the kids love throwing rocks into water. i'm not sure if it's something they have acquired from living in SF, or if every kid is naturally obsessed with the plunking sounds of rocks....

he looks so graceful here.....just relaxing, with my rocks.....

things i love

the comforts of mommy and daddy's bed:) don't you remember how comfortable your parents bed was? so big, so soft, so safe.....

glowing

a breakfast, just for me

since i got my kids safely off to school, i decided to sit (just for a moment, and when i mean sit, i mean sit and eat, while folding laundry, banking, paperwork...) and enjoy one of my favorite breakfasts! one day i will get to the point where i will just sit...but for now, i will simply enjoy this:)

bedtime stories

ryder loves his stories before bed, sometimes we will read an entire chapter book (he's really into the 'magic tree house' series) before calling it quits-what can i say, they're good stories! but, before he gets to listen to a story, he has to read us a story....in spanish. the books have been getting longer and longer, and far more challenging. jesse and i have to piece together what the story is even about (with ryder's help), but we manage! he is now reading his favorite series 'magic tree house' in spanish....so cool;)

package of cheer

our annual card (yeah, we like to send them somewhere between feb-april). keeps everyone guessing, and something to look forward to! this year we went with bursts of color, wrapped in grays/browns.....resembling new growth, spring, sunshine!!! hope it made everyone smile, i can't help but smile when i sing the song "you are my sunshine", and then to hear the kids sing it....oh, it's priceless!!!

things i love

noticing really large windows, walking over, and simply looking out.

the joy, and color, and energy, quinn gives our family....even on a cloudy day!

minute of silence

we have been gathering together, usually before we all go our different ways (before school, work, ect), to have a moment of silence together. holding hands (feeling the hand within my hand), breathing (listening to all the different breaths), for as long as the kids can do this. we started at being able to maintain silence for 5 seconds, now we're up to like 20. it's a great way to feel connected, and continue feeling connected even though we are not with each other all day. i tell the kids that we can give each other strength, to get through the challenges of the day, knowing that right now, in this room, this is our family. we will love each other unconditionally, for the rest of our lives......and that gives us all the courage we need, to try new things, stand up for ourselves, to go out into this world and be who we want to be!

ps. oh, shit...we totally didn't have our minute of silence before school!! we'll have to do it this afternoon. well, it's a really great message to keep telling my kids, even if we forget to do this everyday!!

sunday walks

i find that our family does so much better when we enjoy some fresh air together. so we decided to walk/bike to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. we also stopped and got a snack (fruit), chocolates (we all got to pick one piece from the chocolate shoppe), and latte's (well, because it's sunday afternoon and we just love our afternoon coffee), then walked/biked home.

this is quinn riding ryder's bike. she's getting pretty good at it, and the seat is up super high. we're thinking she'll be riding that thing this summer, for sure!

ryder is sitting in the jogging stroller, taking the picture:)

chazen art museum

ryder went to the chazen art museum a few weeks ago, with his school, for an art class field trip! after his field trip he came back with lots of information, and we all wanted to check it out, so we asked him to bring us there. he was pretty excited to show us around:) as we were walking towards the museum, i said "ryder, so you will have to be our leader, you can show us different pieces of art, and tell us what you know about them." ryder then replies, "yeah mom, i'll be your docent." jesse and i looked at eachother and smiled. again, he amazes us!!

his class was learning about 'calder' and all his mobiles. so here is ryder showing quinn some of calder's work. they were so cute together, holding hands, talking about art....

yellow floor. ryder's feet

yellow floor. quinn's feet

laundry detergent

we've been making our own laundry detergent for the past few months now, and we just love it! the kids help out, we save tons of money, it's better for our sensitive skin, and it's so easy!!

i told my mom about this and she said "oh, you remind me of aunt june". i was a bit caught off guard by this statement, because in my mind aunt june is nothing like me...she would be at my grandmas', playing cards, smoking cigs, drinking a cocktail (or was she the one that always ate prunes....can't remember, and i was little), but i never saw myself similar to my aunt june. then my mother told me about how she rendered deer fat (we come from a whole lineage of true hunters), and would make all her cleaning supplies from it....she would use up that entire deer, nothing got wasted. after hearing that story i felt a couple different things, 1)holy shit, aunt june was a super cool chic, and totally my kind of homemaker 2)i really wish i could have gotten to know her better!

valentine crafts

we were all so very crafty for this special holiday.....so here are a few things that we created! i loved how the chalkboard paint heart turned out, so cute!! and the pillow heart (on the right) was for quinn's classroom, it hung from a beam. first time sewing onto paper....LOVED IT!! and then heart on the left is for me, from my loving husband, jesse. although he totally procrastinated (which is so his style), he is luckily talented enough, to make someone (me) feel really special, and really loved!!