grateful friday.

i'm feeling especially grateful for these two little guys this week. i am constantly challenged and amazed.  they keep growing and changing and surprising me. 

3-13-14, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

andrew has hit this stage - finally - where he likes to draw.  i am absolutely loving it.  most of his pictures are mario and luigi and lots of sounded-out words.   and then there was the one where he couldn't stop giggling, of his daddy with the words "yor fierd." 

he has such a good heart.  the other day he prayed at dinner, "i hope that people won't talk while i pray, and i'm thankful that i went to an egg hunt, and that mommy and daddy gave me such a nice easter basket with candy."  he shows a lot of joy in doing right and asking for forgiveness when he has done wrong.  he teaches this mama a lot of lessons, for sure.

3-13-13, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

the peanut is my little buddy.  sometimes a family member offers to babysit him so that i can run errands, and i don't really want to take her up on it.  i know many moms would jump at the chance to head to target alone. and although he does NOT stop talking, i enjoy his company.  

the peanut is my little creative child.  i have no idea what God has in store for him or his brother, but i can already see a tendency toward the imaginative and creative.  he makes up amazing stories and all his cars talk to each other.  he can make any toy talk to another.

i'm realizing that they are both growing very fast, and that the days go too quickly.  i want to remember every moment.  every time they need to fight over sitting with me.  every time they wake in the morning, warm from sleep and the smell of sweet breath. every time they giggle together in the backseat of the car.  

sure, there are moments i don't want to remember - the fighting, the gagging over vegetables, the pee on the floor around the toilet, the tantrums...  but sometimes we need the bad to appreciate just how good the good stuff  really is.

ch-ch-ch-changes.

3-13-12, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

our kitchen has officially been painted 3 times since we bought our house almost 10 years ago.  the irony is that the color that i've finally become content with is almost the same exact shade it was painted when we bought the house.

when i get itching to paint and change things, chrispy knows he can't fight me on it.  i'm willing to do {most of} the work, and paint doesn't actually cost that much but has a big impact.

i've been wanting to re-paint our bathroom for a while now but i've been hemming and hawing about colors.  finally today i went and bought paint - oh, you know... because family comes to visit next week and i'd like the bathroom to look nice.  i love to be last minute.  

so here's my color, swatch taped up on the bathroom wall so that i could see it in the light.  of course i'd already bought the paint, so - oh, well if it didn't look right.  gray is so difficult to choose.  warm gray, cool gray, grayish, beige/gray.... i was about to pull my hair out.  but i took my time, picked several grays and then eliminated.  i got it down to two colors, and then realized by the name of this color that it was the one i'd pick.  and now i'll never forget the name of my knitting needles bathroom. 

so we've been busy.

3-13, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

we celebrated Easter this past weekend.  i love dressing the boys the same.  i will only be able to get away with it for so long so i'm taking every opportunity!
 we had a wonderful holiday with beautiful weather {i have so missed the sun!} and can't wait for the rest of spring to arrive.

getting crafty.

3-13-10, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

on friday, cheri and i got together for a bit of crafting.  we used to craft once a week.  this was pre-bebe (for cheri) and with my boys driving me a bit more nuts during the day, i needed desperately to get out of the house once a week.  

unfortunately, now we craft in our minds when we wait in traffic or wait in the doctor's office.  read:  we have no time.

we decided we'd make more of an effort, since walking around target is great and all - but not creatively stimulating.

following this tutorial, we spent an afternoon painting away.  i think we both ended up with three paintings.  this one was my first and i love the quote, so i might re-do it.  i'm not crazy about how the ombre came out.  i also made one that is super-duper-top-secret so i can't show it just yet.

lesson learned:  make time to get crafty.    

a little throwback.

6100_132356951094_1769866_n, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.
why did i think i needed that pop-up flash on a bright sunny day?  

i always see people posting old pictures for throwback thursday.  so, it's thursday and here's an oldie.  cheri, kristen and i in nyc.  back when i was crazy, out of my mind and drove to brooklyn only 6 weeks after christian was born.  what was i thinking?  i certainly paid for all that driving and walking the next day but it was worth it.  not sure i'd jump so quickly to do the same thing again, as much as i do love these girls...

cheri, kristen and i would never have met if it weren't for the internet.  well, cheri and kristen wouldn't have met me.  it makes me think of those movies with alternate realities where people pass each other without knowing what could have been.  we all went to the same college but they both left just before i arrived.  so internet, thank you for introducing me to some lovely girls.

it doesn't always work out the way it's supposed to.

3-13-9, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

living in a household with two little boys, food doesn't stay around for long. to be honest, food doesn't stay around for long with the big boy in the house either, but he tends to leave their favorite treats just for them.

i bought some delicious organic blackberries for my birthday breakfast. you see, chrispy makes delicious breakfasts and can you just imagine blackberries on fluffy pancakes? don't drool on your keyboard, but he also made a blackberry syrup. seriously.

so we had leftover blackberries, and left to their own devices, my little boys would have eaten them all up. i insisted that they'd make delicious muffins, and so i held the little wolves off. chris tends to brag about my cooking, amazed that i can just whip something up. he doesn't understand that it's about 10% skill and 90% luck. part of that luck is that i have a very good memory and that i tend to remember food combinations that i've seen before. ok, maybe i'll give myself 15% skill, but that's about it.

i had some bananas rotting away so i figured we'd make banana-blackberry muffins. we cut the blackberries into fours because those things are big and you'd probably end up eating a muffin with one honkin' blackberry in the center.

end result: beautiful ingredients in the bowl (see above). icky muffins popped out of the oven.

final determination: my boys will eat anything - they said they were fantastic.

grateful friday + a winner.

thank you for all your sweet responses on my last post. we have a winner!! Merideth is my lucky winner. you can feel free to message me on facebook or email me at maryelizabeth.orlowski@gmail.com. thanks everyone for entering!

3-13-8, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.
 taken tuesday evening, hanging out my bathroom window.

thankful this week:
- this beautiful sunset that just reminded me of God's amazing creation.  
- celebrating chrispy's birthday on friday with special time with the kids and a movie date in the evening.
- time spent with my sister this week.
- having a good friend that is always there to talk to on gchat.
- free books on my kindle.  i find that i am finishing books and reading more frequently and it feels great.