and maybe some quarters

i just love sunday nights:)

and my eagle scout that builds me a fire,

and then nurses it all night long until 11pm when we finally turn in.

if you build it,

they will come:)

when you live on the corner, everyone ends up at your house. 

'cause they're taking their sunday strolls around the block.

with their dogs and their kids,

and sometimes just with their spouse.

and there's nothing better than a yard full of friends 

who know how to open the baby lock on your gate to let themselves in.

this way you don't even have to get out of your chair, 

and you can just direct them to the pile of sticks and marshmallows right by your side.

and so sean chips away at the wood with his ax,

and adds chairs around the outside as the group grows.

and the people come walking into our yard with sugar cookies,

children,

soccer balls,

and every new way to create a s'more you could possiblely imagine.

it's magic.

magic on a sunday night.

tonight's new addition:

FUDGE STRIPES. 

who knew?!

andrea did.

fudge stripe cookie

mashmallow

fudge stripe cookie.

or if you're weak like most of us ladies,

you can do it open faced.

no pictures, inhaled too fast.

my dream for next week: fudge stripes cookie, pb cup, mashmallow.

it's gonna be amazing.

some people bring marshmallows.

some people bring graham crackers.

some people just bring themselves.

it's great.

it's just really great.

and then we all sit around the fire,

talking about stories from our lives,

like the fire emits some kind of truth serum out of its flames,

and you're all "yeah, i used to eat my boogers and pee my pants at recess."

wait, what?

it's where you talk about going rock climbing,

what "IOWA" stands for,

writing jingles to frozen songs for your neighbor's advertising company,

and listen to the high schoolers talk about what they're going to do when they graduate this week from high school.

and you sit there trying to spin your head around how you were just the one graduating from high school,

but you're not anymore, ya know?

and it's really great to not be, but really great to listen to kids talk about it themselves.

by the end of the night,

when our kids are tucked snug into their beds 

{WAAAAAY past their bedtimes, might i add--

like we put them in bed at 10pm tonight. yeah...brennan has school at 8:15am.

it's gonna be awesome tomorrow morning.}

so when they're all asleep,

and all of the neighbors have trickled home,

it's just sean and i that are left to poke the fire until the last flames go out.

and we talk about how we can't believe that brennan is done with kindergarten,

and also we discuss about if we really need to put sport court down 

under the bricks for a legitimate fire pit pad off of the patio,

and all of our hopes and dreams for the future of our home and our life,

and can we squeeze in two more treatments of humate for the lawn before october?

stuff like that.

next week,

i'm bringing out a deck of cards.

and maybe some quarters;)

just for good ol' days sake.

welcome to the jungle {BIG RED SUNDAY EDITION}

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

yesterday i walked out into my garden and there it was!

a burning red of fire on the inside of the last tomato bush i checked.

i screamed i was so excited.

doubled check to make sure that's really what i thought it was.

and it was.

it was!

all of the work,

all of the waiting,

all of the wondering if they really were ever going to change.

right then in that very moment,

it was like confetti was raining down from the sky in rays of sunshine all around me.

b/c no matter how many years i garden,

there's one thing that i know for sure:

you can never really know what your garden is going to do for sure.

and i stood there,

with max clapping and jumping down next to me,

repeating everything i was saying again as if she was saying it not me,

"we have to tell daddy!"

"red! red! red!"

like a little birdie.

it was so so cute.

and i was overcome with satisfaction and joy.

and i could have just laid there in grass soaking it all up forever.

.....

when your tomatoes grow out of their cages, 

and pull them from the dirt you've planted them into,

you improvise:)

i give you.................

exhibit A:

THE CHAIR 

exhibit B:

the metal stake

holding the plant back against the fence, 

as it is trying to lay on our grass.

boy i hope there won't be any wind storms anytime soon.

fat chance.

i just hope the green bean bushes aren't too badly hurt in the downfall...

exhibit C:

the sunflower field goal

aka "touchdown jesus"

{this plant will be named "touchdown jesus" from here on out. 

what? too apostate? offensive? my apologies in advance.}

okay, i can't REALLY take credit for this one,

as they did this all on their own,

but i was just so impressed with their natural ability to do their job.

the sunflowers and the tomato plant.

the sunflowers grew,

and the tomato plant grew up around them.

presto change-O,

built in tomato stakes.

vwallah!

i seriously couldn't get over this one.

i just think it's so awesome.

in the pictures below you can see in the back of the bush,

where the tomato plant has grown up and around the sunflower stalks to support itself.

UH-MAZE-ING:) 

the ice cream was pretty great too.

love where you live.

for there's beauty all around.

:):):)

his OVAL boat WITH chairs {and thunder & lightening}

above: a story from the book of mormon.

the brother of jared in his boat. 

his OVAL boat. 

with chairs to sit on.

and babies sleeping on their beds.

{okay, so the story has some added imagination.}

{i love that even more.}

thunder clouds WITH lightening bolts.

and the holes where the air and light could be let in when needed.

...

i love that brennan draws.

i am bursting with pride!

and i really think his brain is just awesome when it does amazing stuff like this.

AMAZING STUFF.

:):):)

AND...
my GIANTS are getting ready to bloom.
their tiny little yellow faces about to POP!
i can hardly wait:)
8 and 9 feet tall beauties.
they tower over me like something out of a childhood story book.
i love to go outside and stand under them.
looking up.

happy happy sunday:)

jump, jump, jump

my mom and i taught sean how to double dutch swing the ropes in the big room this afternoon.

i tried three times to get into the jump of it.

i blame the ropes.

too short for my grown womanly height of 5'5".

psh.

then we taught brennan how to jump the big single rope.

this is why everyone should have a room in their house without any furniture in the middle of it.

economical AND kid friendly.

max didn't want to jump.

it was funny.

do kids still do this?

jump the double dutch rope?

i couldn't remember any of the songs we used to sing.

i just remember tying two jump ropes together to make them longer 

so that the swoops of rope would soar high over our heads, 

timing the double swings just right to get in without stopping the ropes from going round and round,

having two people go in at once,

and that recces never seemed long enough for everyone to go as many times as they wanted.

sunday nights

learning about being a good sport is rough when you're 4 years old.

because really,

no one likes to go back to the cupcake

when they're only two spaces away from candy castle.

i'd cry too.

{also, did you know that when you land on licorice,

you're stuck there for one turn after? me neither.

amazing what secrets lay in the rule book.}

i love watching my kids learn and grow.

struggling through difficulties like going from first to last in candy land.

and helping them through it.

and

i love sunday nights.

when the sun comes in through my front windows,

and makes the room bright and warm.

just as long as my AC is working, that is.

which it is:)

so i'm good.

really

really

good.

sundays {for now}

sundays.

where chase and i send our people off to church for three hours,

sit at home cooing over each other,

get bubble baths in the sink,

{him, not me},

take UNinterupted naps,

read books,

and get the longest, hottest, UNinterupted shower to my heart's content.

{me, not him}

at least until the end of may.

or whenever we decide to resurface.

heaven.

"oh i'm easy! ahhhhh ahhhh ahhhh ahhhh,

easy like sunday mornings..."

rules for sunday

 note to self:

do not let brennan ride his motorcycle bike before church.

it will not be pretty when it's time to leave.

he will cry the entire way to church.

through the parking lot,

into the building,

and walking into the chapel.

until

he is otherwise entertained by a fruit snack or other church survival paraphernalia loaded into my bag.

none of which will keep either of the kids entertained for the entire hour and ten minutes until nursery.

heaven bless nursery.

even if i am the nursery leader.

do

make dad be the horsie after dinner.

mom's are not made for horsie riding.

at this,

not this mom.

snip snip "bizz" & the GREAT debate

watching "bizz,"
i buzzed his hair.

...

in news of the GREAT debate...

my kids look alike.

and they look like ME.

contrary to popular opinion.

at least they do when they're babies.

note the following:
brennan around 4 weeks

makenzie 6 weeks
me 2 days old in the round picture & brennan 1 day old

you be the judge.
seriously though, don't you agree??!!

i mean, don't just agree, but don't you?!