Good morning and Geenyus art

It's the simplest moments in life that make me smile and that I love the most. Like this..



My two little men standing side by side, brushing their teeth (sometimes with the wrong end of the toothbrush).  Sometimes I catch myself being hesitant to reach for the camera because of silly things, like it's rainy and the lighting isn't great, or that ugly faceplate you see in the below picture is on my list to be replaced, or the fact that the wall is 2 different colors (in mid-transition), or the fact that CJ has a million pairs of cute pj's but instead is wearing the worn out threadbare ones that he prefers to the new ones (that actually feel like silk they are so worn).



So this morning I whipped out the camera to document the cuteness, and reminded myself that it's really these imperfect moments that hold the sweetest memories:)  I adore being able to spend mornings with these little critters.  I am a girl who is thankful every day.

Tooootally switching gears...because I am too impatient to wait and post this tomorrow:  Sunday morning while at my beloved Pucketts's (while scarfing down a delicious veggie omelet) my husband and I noticed this on the wall:



It was framed in a wide, black distressed wooden frame and it looked sooo lovely.  I wish you could see it in that frame, I had no idea it was a poster. 

We (obviously) love Nashville and are always looking for neat artwork for our home (I'm still in decorating mode).  We have several stipulations.  Cheap is the first, meaningful the second.  This is both!  It's 25 bucks at GeenyusPosters.com, (and they're 18 x 24, a nice size).  They also have a New York one "coming soon" (hubby's from New Yawk), and some other cute ones too, like Franklin, Boston, Chicago.. Very cute vintage-ish posters.  I'm going to order one (maybe 2:)

And finally, it's almost Friday, Yay!

Piles of Pedi's

My sweet shopaholic Mama (whose best friend owns a children's boutique where I proudly used to work and she carries these shoes) sent the boys a few pairs of Pedipeds.  I love, love these little shoes!!  The boys have worn them since they were babies and I'm fiercely loyal to them.

This is the Daniel loafer..

and the Sydney..

and the Adrian..

I just love them (did I mention that?), I think they are too stinkin' cute!  The ones for babies and new walkers have really soft soles and CJ actually wore his so much he wore a hole in them..



They have cute girlie ones too of course, I love these little sneaker-sandal thingies, so adorable.



But I always heart companies that have just as much for little guys as they do for gals=) Thanks again Mom!

PS Haven't gotten many pics of the boys lately (yucky weather) but here's a couple I hadn't posted..

A book review

Have you read A Reliable Wife?

I hope not.  Please, save yourself.  Run, don't walk, away from this scary book.  Do not be fooled by the words "New York Times Bestseller"... I am all for psychological suspense, but this book, oh this book, it was not good...It was creeeepy in a very bad way....

I would have stopped reading it except that I simply cannot NOT finish a book that I start (part of my peculiar Rain Man tendencies..)..  And now I can breathe a sigh of relief that it's over.  Completing this book was painful.

I am now reading this book

which had me at Chapter 1.  Plus it's pink and pretty.  The characters are my age and mention things like Guess jeans and Bon Jovi which make me smile and relate.  Ah, much better!

Next is Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult, I hear it's a good read.

The magic of childhood

This morning we had the pleasure of keeping Evie!  It was *SO* fun to have a little girl around, oooohhhh so fun... I may have taken 157 photos...

We jumped..

snuggled..

played the harmonica..

shared some cheese-its (whole grain of course)..

carefully weeded out any crayon that was NOT pink...

did some crafting..

read some books...colored....the list goes on!

Evie is a delight and it was so fun playing this morning!  We feel very blessed that she and her family are part of our lives!

The weekend low down

This was Friday when the boys were eagerly awaiting Evie's arrival...

What's cuter than your husband reading to your little ones?

So Saturday morning Grandma and Grandpa flew in from the big city for a visit.  They brought the cold weather with them, can you believe it's been back in the 40's here?! Brrrr.  The boys are having a great time.  The Grandparents came armed with lots of tractors and toys, which makes for happy little campers.  Saturday afternoon we went to Chuckie Cheese's for lunch...



Does it look fun?  It wasn't--HA! Forgive the honesty (oh dear, am I being an old fogey?)  Okay, it was okaaaay...We had some less than delicious pizza, spent a small fortune (um, since when does it cost 70 bucks to eat pizza and play ski-ball?), and we were packed in this place like sardines.  They were soooo busy!! It's only our second time there so I was a little clueless; the games are really geared towards older kids and there were just *so* many people trying to do the same things.  But my little sweeties left with smiles on their faces and that's all that matters!!

Sunday we finally got back into church mode.  We've missed a few Sundays due to random illness and travels.  So today it was good to get back!  I think we are right on the cusp of letting CJ join us in the sanctuary (although he does love going to the nursery) so I am excited for that next time.  And may I say the music every Sunday is so beautiful, my my, these people can sing like the angels!

After church we went to Puckett's, a favorite of ours..

{via}

And you ain't lived until you've been to Puckett's=)

And so we are having a lazy Sunday afternoon with our weekend winding down.  I sure hope we get some warmer weather this week.  Have a relaxing Sunday:)

A recipe for you!

Made this for lunch today for an Evie playdate.  It was pretty yummy and so I'm sharing the recipe:)

Springtime pasta with bacon and goat cheese

{via Southern Living}

I am far too lazy and uncoordinated to photograph any food item other than a cupcake, so the picture above is straight out of Southern Living.  But in my defense the real dish looked exactly the same, I promise!  And it's easy!

Total: 30 minutes
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1  (16-oz.) package orecchiette pasta*
• 1  cup  frozen sweet peas
• 1 1/2  cups  fresh snow peas
• 8  radishes, cut into wedges
• 2  large carrots, grated
• 2  green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3  cup  coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4  cup  lemon juice
• 1/4  cup  olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6  thick bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• 4  ounces  crumbled goat cheese (optional)

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding sweet peas and snow peas during last minute of cook time. Drain.
2. Toss pasta mixture with radishes and next 5 ingredients; season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with bacon and, if desired, crumbled goat cheese.
*1 (16-oz.) package farfalle (bow-tie) pasta may be substituted.

This dish was yummy (did I say that already?). Very springy and light, and be sure to load up on the goat cheese and bacon.  As any good southern girl would do, I increased the bacon to 8 pieces and frankly, a little more than that wouldn't hurt.  I also think some toasted pine nuts would be a yummy addition.

**PS..Our playdate was wonderful! The kids were great, played so well together, and that means we mommies got to talk like grown ups--yay!  It's a great start to the weekend, hope yours is fantastic=)

Boys

I've been playing around with photos lately on Picnik.  It's lots of fun.  I'm waaaay too cheap to buy Photoshop so Picnik has been a good option.  I don't remember where I saw it first but I've seen it mentioned on several blogs and its neato.  It can really chew up some time though!  I have a lot to learn in the realm of photo editing and I'm just getting started:) 

This morning Big C kept the boys while I went to an eye appointment.  I had some problems with my eyes after Cam was born and today was such a great visit--my new Dr. says my eyes are doing great, hallelujah! It was music to my ears.  I've had glasses since I was 3 years old (I'm as blind as a bat) and I think 20 years of over-wearing contacts caught up with me. But I've given my eyes a nice long rest from them and so I'm hoping they are on the mend!

The boys have been pretty darn good lately.  They've been saying funny things and making me laugh. Here's a few examples:

1.  CJ has nicknamed Evie "Ev".  Today he told me he can't wait to see "Ev". Ha!

2.  If CD talks too loud CJ screams "Stop talking! I don't want your voice in my ears!" Funny.  I might use that one.

3.  CJ tries to send me to time out constantly.  I would dearly love a quiet time out.

4.  Now that I'm listing things out, my mind is drawing a blank, but they really have been hysterical lately, I promise.

Well I'm sitting here with my feet on the coffee table, typing and watching Duke hopefully beat Arizona.  I did the bracket thing this year and so it's been fun to watch.  Maybe I'll win a million dollars.  I could use it!

Have a lovely evening:)

My chevron project

Today I decided I would spruce up my desk.  Sometimes I just get the bug to do a project!  I have a cute little desk nook in the kitchen (and I loved that about the house when we bought it).. This morning it looked like this (please excuse the clutter):

I have a love of chevron fabric and since I had some leftover I decided to cover those bulletin boards in it.  Here's the after:

I had previously covered that little lampshade too!  And the seat cushions at my kitchen table.....

and pillows in the living room....and a tissue box in the bathroom.... I may need to chill on the chevron...

Okay.  Well no post is complete without a picture or 12 of my boys.  Enjoy your Wednesday evening and don't forget March Madness games are back on tonight, yippee!! **I stand corrected, they are back on Thursday, bummer!

Can you tell I'm in a better mood today? The boys were in the mood to behave, and that makes for a happy mama=)

Linking to..

 Debbie Doos Newbie Party

Amaze Me Monday

Remodelaholic

All over the place

My brain is fried today and so forgive that this post is going to wander.  The boys were crazy and wild.  It started this morning at the shoe store.  Here's me:

"Don't touch the shoes.  Put that back please.  Lower your voice please.  Inside voice please.  Stop that!  Put that back.  Don't touch the shoes.  Stop screaming.  Don't hit your brother."  Oh.my.  Sometimes these boys just won't listen to mama....Pretty much everything I said once, I said 9 more times.  I am so mentally exhausted! People were staring at us like we were three headed dinosaurs--it irritated me! Ugh, why do people stare?  I've seen stranger things than a mom with 2 crazy toddlers, no need to stare people!

And so these boys didn't get to play outside today because of that naughty behavior but frankly after being inside all day we were all just about crazy.  I nearly put them in bed at 6:15!  Okay, I have vented, now I feel better.  Let me end on a positive note and say that I love and adore them and think they are nearly perfect, (yet ever so capable of making me a crazy woman). 

And my husband and I have given up alcohol for Lent, which means no fun evening cocktails after they are in bed.  That makes one less coping mechanism in my arsenal.  So I've resorted to screaming and eating lots of chocolate.

PS  I decided already that I wasn't digging CJ's curtains.  They looked too thrown together and truly, they were.  The new and improved one is on the right.  More polished, right?  Roman shade-ish.  I like it better!

Spring has sprung

I love those grubby little fingers:)

Saturday night Evie came over to celebrate CD's 2nd birthday.  It was tons-o-fun:)  Its sweet to see how as the kids see more and more of each other they develop a comfort around each other and just act like little buddies.  Evie gave CD a pretty awesome set of trucks and she was sweet enough to bring CJ a set of magnet thingies too (that he loved)..(and that have also provided lots of entertainment for big CJ and me).. The kids ran around, rolled in the grass and dirt, ate cupcakes, chased each other, and just had some good ol' fun.  What could be better than being a kid?

Sunday we started on yardwork.  CJ did some trimming, pruning, etc. and we started painting our shutters.  Always a project around here!  Hopefully it will turn out well. We have a lighter colored brick that is a little challenging to coordinate colors to..

Well its Monday again:)  The kids are on spring break here so we've gotta come up with some things to do.  But we are loving the springtime weather and soaking it in.  Have a sunny little Monday friends:)

PS  THANK YOU to my sweet beautiful Mama for sending the boys a box of clothes!!! They would still be wearing sweaters and sweating profusely if not for her.  Mom, you're the best:) xo