Sunday......fun day

Today was all about fun (and a few meltdowns but we managed them). We started with a family bike ride - me pulling Cole & Tim pulling Eli. Cole took his 15 minute morning nap in the bike trailer. We all had a great time riding - when Cole gets a little bigger and I get stronger, we're Umstead bound!! We managed to get the boys to take an early nap after lunch and then it was time for Sarah's 4th birthday party. Eli had so much fun running around and playing with the kids. We had fun seeing and catching up (best you can with kids running around) with our friends Patty and Jamie. The most amazing part of our day was that BOTH kids were asleep in their beds before 8pm!! Now time to get ready for another busy week.

Eli, snacked up and ready for the bike ride

Cole happy and ready to ride

Swinging at the Rainbow Party Room

Sarah, the birthday girl, on the right

Eli is really good at climbing the rock wall

which then leads him to the big curvy slide

This cracked me up. Eli insisted that Cole take his shoes off just like he had done. Cole then scooted himself everywhere after his big brother.

Cole & I even took a little ride (twice I think!)

We saw lots of THIS - Eli in fast motion

the pool is OPEN

We had such a great day today. This morning, the boys & I went to the Y while Tim snuck in a short bike ride. I even braved going to the grocery store with both boys ALONE! They both behaved so well, it made me happy and shocked me all at the same time.

After naps, we loaded up the entire crew and our gear and headed to the POOL. Eli was so excited. And you can see from the pictures that he loved every second of it. That boy is fearless. He had fun running around with his dump truck and jumping into the pool off the side. Baby Cole loved the water as well. And we learned that he can also scoot around under water! He wanted to run around with Eli so bad. We made a short visit to the big pool but spent most of our time in the kiddie pool. The best part was when Eli announced that it was our ocean. He's going to in for a surprise when we really do take him to the ocean!

Neither boy really wanted to leave the pool but we managed to break them away and head home for our grilled cheese dinner (yum, nice and easy). Now they're both happily sleeping in their beds worn out from our fun day.

Eli picked up just as he left last year - running with dump truck

can not tell you how happy he was

Daddy and Baby Cole

Jumping in the pool - every shot I got looks just like this, Eli with arms flailing in the air and a huge smile on his face

SPLASH

Cole loved standing in the water

the ocean.....according to Eli

Snack time poolside

Eli insisted on blowing the bubbles himself

my boys

Cole all clean and dry in his bear towel

Morning cuteness

I could absolutely not resist posting these adorable pictures I took of Baby Cole this morning at breakfast. Just he & I, before Eli & Tim came into the kitchen. He wearing nothing but a bib and diaper, looking so cute with those big cheeks and sweet smile. Me, doting Mommy with a camera in his face. Yes.....my boys are used the camera always being around!

Dogaversary

Meeting Belle - May 11, 1996

today

Today is mine & Belle's 14th anniversary. Many of you know that Belle was a graduation gift when I graduated from NC State in 1996. It is so hard to believe a) that I graduated that long ago and b) that my sweet spotted baby girl and I have been together for 14 years. We've been through a lot, many many good times and she got me through some rough ones as well. Belle has taken somewhat of a back seat since Eli & Cole arrived but I have so many memories with her. Happy Dogaversary Miss Belle!! Mommy loves you.

a wonderfully sweet Mother's Day

My oh my, how I love being celebrated by my boys. Each year it gets more fun. Last year I was pregnant with Cole so this was my first Mother's Day with two boys. Everyone slept well so a big treat was being able to sleep in. It won't sound like sleeping in to most people but I did not get out of bed until 7:45am - ahhhh the luxury! When I opened the bedroom door, Tim, Eli & Cole were coming downstairs with presents in hand. I jumped back in bed for the Mommy celebration. Since I wasn't home Friday when the boys brought their gifts home, Tim kept them from me until actual Mother's Day. I'm so glad he did. The theme was "Hands down you're the best". Cole's gift was an apron for me with his handprints all over it and Eli's gift was a cute tote with his handprints on it. I never knew how much I would love handprint presents!! These sweet little hands that I love to hold. Tim gave me a wonderful card and perfume and made us all a yummy breakfast. While Cole took a morning nap, Tim took Eli outside and gave me about an hour of quiet. Then we all went to the airport observation park and had a picnic while watching airplanes take off and land. Eli had a great time making new friends and playing with all the kids running around. Cole took an afternoon nap but Eli wanted nothing of it so we hung out together while Tim mowed the lawn. Before dinner, we went on a great long family walk. Mr. No-Nap actually fell asleep on our walk. It was so cute because Eli had his head resting on Cole and Cole just sat there. Such sweet brothers. The rest of our evening was a normal evening and the boys went to bed fairly early giving us a little bit of time together. Thank you HB for a very special Mother's Day and for our wonderful family.

Opening gifts - see Eli's cute blue bag?

My apron - not sure I'll be able to make myself use it. It's so cute!

picnic at the airport park

Baby Cole - hair flying in the wind, makes me laugh

Eli had a blast climbing on the spider structure

and playing in the sand (Cole wasn't such a fan)

and acting like an airplane

and watching airplanes

C-H-E-E-S-E!

Daddy and Baby Cole, just chillin'

the Garden update

I LOVE this picture of Eli. It shows the fun and energy surrounding our garden. Eli loves going out there with me a minimum of every other day to check on it and water our plants and seeds. Last week I posted that the garden wasn't going too well. That all changed overnight. One night last week, we were out there and none of our seeds were coming up. Then the next night, we had plants!! It was so cool to see. Things seem to be going a little better now. We have some things from seed and just purchased some pepper and tomato plants since my transplants did not do well. Our planting list: peppers, green beans, lima beans, tomatoes, corn, watermelon, carrots, onions, lettuce, cucumbers.....and some pictures.

Green bean plants - we have 4 squares coming up and planted 4 more squares

Lima beans - we have 4 squares with plants coming up and planted 4 more squares

Carrots - 2 squares of carrots

Our new tomato plants - 5 total, now have to add supports

Our 2 pepper plants, you can't see it but there is a 3" pepper plant next to these that we started from seed

Corn - we have 4 squares coming up and planted 8 more squares

Meeting Pioneer Woman

Last night, I met The Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond. She was doing a cookbook signing in Charlotte and I drove down to meet her and get my cookbook signed. It was a great treat that my Mom also came to meet me there. It was the start of my special Mother's Day weekend.

So I got to the bookstore at 3:30pm to get our "line tickets" and we were the last two in Group J - 20 people per group. That meant numbers 199 and 200! Crazy!!! Mom & I walked around the mall a bit and then went to hang out at the bookstore. While we were just standing around with 500 other women (and a few boyfriends / husbands drug along for the ride), Ree arrived and walked RIGHT by me. I turned around and there she was. I was so star struck! For those of you that don't know her, Ree is an ex-city girl that married a rancher and now lives in Oklahoma on a working cattle ranch. When I read her blog, I imagine being on a ranch and wonder if I could handle life like that. Some days I think it would be fun, other days I don't know how she does it.

At 6pm, Ree stood at the store's balcony and talked to the audience. There was a Q&A time where questions were drawn from those submitted and Ree answered them all. She seems like such a genuinely nice person that you'd like to have as a friend. She talked for about 20 minutes and then at 6:30pm, they started calling groups - VIP 1, VIP 2, then starting at A. Finally 2 hours later, it was time for our line group (and we even saw some people as far down as "S"). Ree spoke to every single person who came by, signed hundreds and hundreds of books and was sweet to all of us. When I sat down with her, I asked her if she had any advice for me raising 2 crazy boys (she has 4 kids, 2 boys / 2 girls and nicknames them all "punks" - lovingly so). She asked me how far apart they are, just laughed at my response (22-1/2 months) and wished me Good luck. We took a few photos with her and then our time was up.

This was my first book signing and I'm glad I got to share it with my Mom. And it was so much fun to meet The Pioneer Woman herself. I was worried about driving to Charlotte and back in the same day but it worked out ok. I got home a little after midnight and guess what I found.......FLOWERS! A perfect start to the weekend - Tim did great with the boys; they all survived the night alone and I was happily home.

Talking to the crowd

Me and Ree - yes, we're best buds on a first name basis now. =)

Me, my Mom and Ree

Beautiful flowers - such a wonderful surprise