the past few days

some days i'm super mom

 friday night we had an impromptu dinner at applebee's

and i let the boys invite their buddy, riley

 

 

afterwards i got crafty while they watched rise of the guardians upstairs

 

 

we went through 2lbs of strawberries in 2 days

 

 

sunday at church we had a BBQ fundraiser for Jen & Robert's trip to Uganda this summer

it was so awesome to see all the support

we raised a mere $4,000 in a few hours

god is good

and BBQ brisket is pretty yummy too!

 

 

monday the boy's tested for their orange belt

 

 

obviously they passed :)

and their buddy michael earned his strap in green

 

we are excited for the weekend

mom will be here to hang with us for a few days

i have lots of easter stuff planned for the boy's

just gotta finish up this work week

 

Gardening Time

Adam started planting early this year

we have onions and potatoes growing

We still can't seem to find the right strawberry to take off and grow. 
It's still early maybe we'll get our bumper crop of strawberries after all.

Many of the other seeds we planted have not began to sprout.
 this weekend we planted small size plants for the rest of the garden.

4 types of tomatoes

squash, zucchini
cilantro
watermelon

cucumber

basil

marigolds to surround the garden plants

tomatillos

peppers

it's pretty easy to get your hands on plants to start a garden

this time of year they sell them everywhere

the challenge is getting them to produce

keep the dogs out of the garden bed

watering them properly

keeping them alive in the intense summer heat

knowing when to harvest

thankful someone in this house has a green thumb

and has a pretty good gardening track record

little dude

someone got a new bike

he was pretty surprised

his daddy bought it for him cause he had a fantastic report card this 11 weeks

and cause we love him

and he's awesome

and had out grown his little blue and yellow 12" bike

he got a gigantic 20" now

it's a stretch for him but he's growing like a weed

we will be raising the seat in no time

:(

whaaaaa! my boy is growing up.

we are pretty crazy for this one 

first born

  Cooper P

i love his spirit

his energy

sense of adventure

creative gift

smarts

compassionate heart

silly 

6  year old

... almost 7 in like 47 days.

keep up the great work coop!

we are so proud of you.

and admire your dedication to work hard

enjoy that new black bike little dude

hello spring

this weekend was so nice

it's starting to warm up and be sunny 

at the same time

feeling like spring

and there's always enough wind in kyle

so we took the dogs to the dog park and flew a kite

it's been so long since we've flown kites

really a fun thing to do

coach and mocha went crazy when they saw that shuttle start flying right above us at the dog park

love the freedom for the dogs to run at the dog park

do not however like the stickers mocha came home with all buried in her curly fur

we need a new place

spring break 2013 was a hit

short trip to Nana's for the boy's

then a long weekend at home

cook out with the silvert's, fishing with dad, pot luck with church friends, subway, donuts before church

we've officially over eaten and splurged! time to go back to work, and send the kids back to school.

summer is around the corner!

I've seen little patches of bluebonnets here and there this week

found this beauty growing solo at the dog park

happy st patty!

after church we get to spend a few hours eating lunch with the sunday school gang. white's are hosting with some of Ron's delicious brisket. i'm making homemade blackberry ice cream... 

thanks to my brother Ronnie for teaching me how to make it!

3/4 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups blackberries

2/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the milk, cream, sugar, salt on low speed until dissolved. Gently smash blackberries until broken up good.

Add berries to liquid mixture. Stir in vanilla.

Freeze for an hour.

I use a Cusinart ice cream maker and make it in the freezer bowl for 15 minutes which turns it into soft serve ice cream. I freeze it longer.

 It's amazing!!

instafriday

linking up with jeanette at life rearranged again this week

i'm aacurtis on INSTAGRAM

 

i found a new favorite bath & body scent

thanks to my friend kris :)

breakfast with dad before school

the boy's dressed alike, and didn't even notice until we were walking to the car to head to school

 

 watch that tail... mocha's tail is like a whip

she's fierce

except when she's passed out on the bathroom floor
making us step over and around her
silly doodle nooodle




look at those birth dates
4 kids
1 set of twins
all exactly 12 months apart
bam bam bam bam
wow
 

have you seen one of these?

toe pull
no more washing hands and then having to touch the door handle
they were recently installed on the restrooms in our office building

nifty gadget

tricky to get the hang of using
i almost grab that handle every time
as i balance on one foot and use the other to open the door
 

perfect for the germophob in all of us :)
and a little exercise in balance too
win win
 

 

my social calendar is evite exciting this month
going to a slumber party tonight... it's been like 30 years - i'm giddy excited
like i'm 9 again
 

 

next week is spring break

boy's are off to nana's for a long weekend

i'm hoping for some quiet evenings at home with my man

with a few parties, dinner dates, and productive days at home thrown in :)

karate tournament {#2}

the boy's had a karate tournament yesterday
cooper is white above
working on a nice kick

below Corbin throws a sneak left punch to the chest

and won the point over his opponent's attempted side kick

the first one to 3 point wins

both boys had a close match
oh it's so exciting
and over SO fast!

down to 2 to 2

adam and i just sit on the sideline reminding them "hit him".

it works

they both won 1st place medals!

mr "d" (their karate instructor) was referee of corbin's match

the tournament is two exciting 5 minute matches and then it's over
well for our kiddos
the gym is full of about 200 other kids and families waiting their turn

 boys take their next rank test for orange belt on march 25th

 we have to finally learn to tie their belt on our own
lord help me
i can't tie that thing right for nothin'!
boy's will have to finally learn and teach ME :)

coopcorb

pretty awesome little karate fighters

congratulations on a win win guys!

happy, hot, and hungry

way to work hard
Sparring Champs!

InstaFriday

happy friday

friday's are so exciting when you work mon - fri aren't they?

when i stayed home friday was sorta just another day for me.

NOT anymore :)

linking up with Life Rearranged
I'm aacurtis on Instagram - follow me!!

******************

this has been a GOOD week



saturday i got a much needed pedicure

so nice to have sandal toes again!



look at this tree

gorgeous spring blooms

my favorite color

 

i scrapbooked with kara until 10 saturday night

our two camping trips with the boys are almost in their albums

i love scrapbooking



got me in the mood for another camping adventure

 soon
 

while i played all day the boys went to a cub scouts event to cheer on their buddy alex in his pine derby race

they missed the race

but he WON!

way to go alex

 

sunday was church

sleepy early morning church... snuggled up close to mom and dad, reading along with the liturgist




adam worked on planting more seeds for the garden



monday night was karate



a craft project in the works



more amazing clouds

captured on my way to work

what an awesome creation

 

 

we are getting sooooo close to raising enough funds to construct a sunshade over our playground at Science Hall



"momma, take our picture. me and vanilla & chocolate"

someone still likes the camera



hat day at school today

cat and the hat day to be exact :)

and market day

and hot lunch day

and the last day of celebrating dr. suess' birthday

did you know dr. suess' first book was And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street?

We have most all the Dr. Suess books... thanks to our long missed friends Kem and Thomas :)

miss you guys

thanks for all the books

we LOVE reading them!