In The Key of Life

We're foodies!

On multiple occasions people have said to me...." You guys are such foodies!"  

and.... yes, I would have to agree!

I like making and feeding my family tasty (and extra fun looking sometimes) food. We do a whole lot of cooking from scratch. We're always looking up new recipes and critiquing our meals.

....and I take pictures of them eating!!

... and when we go out to eat....it's always a pick from our list of our best  authentic tried and true favorites, like YUMMMMY Five Guys. Our list of local places is extensive and we're always sure to look up tasty stop offs when we're out of town too.

As you can see Papa is the biggest foodie of us all. :)

 

So yes....You can call us Foodies! We won't even try to prove you wrong....we'll just pass along recipes and suggest restaurants.

...on the change of seasons in life and the city

** last week was Kindergarten Round Up at Dexter's school. My my my...how can it be! He was so tentative about going. Being all shy, stuck to me like a leech and super quiet....then all the angels of heaven shined down on us and he spotted a classmate from his VPK class! THANK YOU GOD!! He then was much more calm and actually agreed to go with all the other children to another part of the room for a story time while we got all the info for school.  After seeing his little friend, I think we might actually be able to be ok going to school again in the fall. Next hurdle....will she be in his class?  

( second picture by Emerson! Dex all cool and relaxed with his little friend and a cookie)

** I have to say that starting Kindergarten has been a ball of emotions for both of us. I know most Kinder moms always get weepy on the first day....but I feel different. Sad that he'll be gone, but also more of a concern that he will do ok  when he's gone. Even though he did VPK for a half day everyday last year, I still wonder how he will adjust. They said right out at the Round up that Kindergarten isn't what it used to be. Not playing with blocks, naptimes and learning your letters....but now writing words...in full sentences...with proper punctuation...by the end of the year. WOW! So this summer we are working on writing in upper and lower case letters, tieing shoes, always remembering to wash your hands after the potty and so many more every day items that are no longer a part of the kinder curriculum. I hate to say it (and this will show how I loved Montessori) but, are we teaching the person....or to the test??

OK...Sorry to start with the heavy stuff....now onto the fun stuff...like bucket hats and beach visits!!

** We also a little celebretory beach visit! It was lovely!! One little man in our house spent and entire day (including a trip to the park to play with friends) in big boy pants....with no accidents.

It's a wonderful thing...but I'm just a tiny bit sad that we will be packing up, give away and sell all the cloth diapers that we have been using for the last 5 years straight. So many cute designs, memories and such. I know it's weird....but cloth diaper Mammas are a peculiar sort of people! :)

...and did you happen to notice how big these boys are getting??? DANG...I might have to stop looking right now so I don't get misty. The cuteness overwhelms, but my oh my are they getting older. They walk themselved down the path to the beach. They are responsible for taking all the toys to and from the beach. Big boy knows the routine of the shower, towel and changing to dry clothes in the car after the beach. It makes things way easier, but it makes me sad that the snuggly, sweet smelling baby hair days are coming to an end. 

** It's official..."Season" in our little SW Florida town in just about over. The traffic is lightening up, the temps are headed up the thermometer, and the beach looks like this......at 5PM!

Yup, that's us on the beach last week. It seemed so weird to drive into the parking lot and only find 3 cars in the entire lot.....then when we got to the end of the walkway, we saw about 3 other towels....at quite a distance away! We had a blast with all the room. The boys ran around, scattered toys, left our belonging and toys strewn as we played on the rocks a short walk away! LOVELY!!! 

** This weekend we gave the Mothership a galactic vacuuming and wipe down. It really needed it! I pretty much could have referred to it as the crumb mobile!! BUT....even though it was crumby....I kind of like the fact a bunch of what I was vacuuming up was this....

...yup beachy leftovers depositing by little boys while changing!!  I sure do love it that we have made a point to visit the beach more often this year!!

** Speaking of beach....we're off for a boat ride with the Grands this afternoon so I better get to something a tad bit more productive now....since we spent the afternoon at the beach yesterday too!! YUP, these boys are beach bums and I love it!!

OK...I'm out! 

{this 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. 

Head over to SouleMama to see more {this moment} posts.

 

... on summer, sewing, sisters and sillies!

** Summer is here!! The first week without school was not so hot...a little cramped for time, transition emotions running high and refocusing. BUT...NOW...FUN, FUN, FUN! I'm trying to reprogram my brain and schedule to accomodate for more time out and about (even if that's in our front yard!), less idle time, scheduled time for solo and brotherly playing, more time with friends and plenty of time on, in and around the water. 

So...this week, we can check off a handful of items on our summer priority list.

Look at all that beautiful blue water!!! and all those friends!!! ....and check out Dexter's goggle hickies from today's pool visit...he he he.

** I hosted my Singer sewing party last Friday and it was a BLAST!! So much fun with a nice group of lovely ladies. The projects turned out great and it seems to be the beginning of a casual little sewing circle of goodness!

  

** it's one day short of a month away from my wonderful sister's wedding!!!!!!! We booked our plane tickets this week (yes, I know!) and I am so excited. In celebration of it all I slipped into my bride's maid dress and shoes last night. The dress is so pretty and it just makes me feel great. 

(older photos but, I just love them!!...the pics and the peeps.)

Standing next to my big sister as she marries her prince charming who loves her family with all his heart makes me so proud of her! She's been through  a lot and now she's truly happy...and I can't help but match her emotions!

** In an effort to follow through with this excitement and further work on my non-procrastination efforts (yes, I know the tickets!! and I won't tell you about the emailed tux measurements I sent last night...shhhh), I am planning my hair cut for this week to have it grown out just right by the time we go...I've actually gone to the gym and WORKED OUT...I know shocker!! Then a visit to the toes and nails joint next week maybe because seriously, these claws need more than one visit before they are on display!! AND...in a total UNLIKE ME way, I'm thinking of actually putting out the suitcases next week because you know ...with both parents in the wedding our two little boys better be dapper. There will be many family pictures of course.

** as I scroll through my Flickr photos I came across these two silly photos from the past week.....too funny....one is Em with my little 'Teddy" from my childhood riding around town....and the other....um, my passenger riding home from Goodwill!! $3 people!! $3!! I couldn't resist...wait I mean, the kids made me do it :).

** and today, when we got home from the pool our Blurb book was waiting for us on the front stoop. OH MY GOODNESS, it's wonderful. BUT....you'll have to wait. It's worth a post on it's own.

** listening to our awesome iPad app for This American Life (it's become a nightly ritual) and giggling! It's all about summer camp. Too funny, and oh the memories...and the wondering how it might be when Dex and Em get old enough to go. WAIT...I must stop thinking about them growing up! STOP!

** ok back to summer love, fun times and LITTLE boys! What shall we do tomorrow? I suspect fun in the sun, giggles and maybe even a little bit more silliness. 

 

...ok, just one more thing....It's totally not planned to have such alliteration on all my thinking thoughts titles. How is it that each time I write these I can come up with these cooky catch words that all start with the same letter without too much thought? WEIRD....Yup, my mind is all over...but all together at exactly the same time :) I amaze myself sometimes. 

a blurb about blurb

Hey folks,

I know I've missed out on the last few posts. You know me by now...a little scattered when it comes to blogging.

BUT...in the mean time I've been working on a blog book!! We made one a few years ago, loved it and were planning to do each year in a seperate volume as soon as we could. Well, you know how that goes... there's never time for a mom to sit at the computer at hours on end formatting an entire year of blog posts.

THEN....my lovely little Groupon offered a deal on Blurb books. Since I used them for the first book, I totally jumped on it and bought 2! $20 for $45 worth of products through their website! AWESOME. They have software that 'slurps' your text and photos straight from your hosting company so it makes things go much quicker and means you won't forget any important posts.

...so what did I do yesterday...sat for hours on end formating a book of course!

AND...here it is!

 

In the Key of Life by The Housewert Family | Make Your Own Book