{this moment}

The Easter Train

We had a blast. It was a beautiful day, and we soaked up every minute of it. Definitely a trip to do again in the future! Thanks so much grandparents!

random article...

I come from a family of four girls. I have two boys of my own. It's interesting to read random articles that make such broad generalizations on what it takes to make/have a happy family. Not quite sure how I feel about THIS! What do you think?

{this moment}

The lack of blogging lately is due to such lovely filled spring days! I should try to take more photos of the fun stuff we've been up too. I will definitely be bringing it tomorrow when we head out with family to Mt. Rainer to go on the Easter train. :) I'm not big on Easter baskets or traditions besides those of going to church and celebrating the real reason for Easter (it always just seems more important than christmas does to me for some reason)...but thanks to some fun grandparents, we'll be celebrating this year! I'm always so thankful around any kind of holiday for the families we've been blessed with. The boys have awesome cousins, and so many fun aunts and uncles, and grandparents! LOVE it. :) Have a great weekend!

a beautiful weekend!

a quilt for sawyer

via soule mama

I know I post a lot about/from Soule Mama's blog, but she still tends to be the one that I'm most drawn to for lots of different reasons. I saw this post on her blog today about her little boy's new quilt and it just clicked that that's the one I should do for Sawyer's big boy bed! I've done a chinese coin quilt BEFORE and the colors in this one are similar to SAMMY'S, not to mention all the white in it too. Very smitten to say the least! Not really a project I want to start on now, especially since we'll probably wait till he's two (or whenever he starts climbing out!) to transition him to Sammy's bottom bunk. But I love the idea of them having similar quilts on their bunks that were made with some much love by their momma! :)

sick of the sickies!

We're sick again in this house and it's really about to drive me insane. Boys had fevers out of the blue last week, and now this week I have my yearly sinus infection and the boys are joining me with crummy colds. :( So not fun! At least the last couple of days have been sunny enough for them to get outside some. Lots of cooking and cleaning happening despite the crummy feelings!

We sold our car!! Our lovely lovely prius is now housing 3 cats (plus a litter box) on it's way to California with quite the kooky couple. :) We no longer have a significant car loan. It is our first big step in cutting out the "not necessary" elements in our lives, whittling them down to what's practical (and paid for--literally "ours" and not the bank's) and not following the typical "American lifestyle" where it's so common to have several credit cards, two or more car loans, a huge mortgage, and so much more... We're not going to be extremist in this process, but we really want to be wise with our money, wise with our choices--such as valuing the position of a stay-at-home mom, and making the choices to make that possible (and a priority!). We are more than blessed with work and money thankfully, and count our blessings every day, but we feel that there is a much deeper level that we can go with how we spend and save our money. Very excited to say the least!! :) We have a couple more "crazy" things up our sleeves, but we're in the waiting process (and prayer process!)...so time will tell.

Well, that's what's new around here--ha. Hoping for some tissue free days in our near future!!

I can't remember if I've shared this photo or not before...and was too lazy to check! We've been enjoying the versatility of the glass panes in this old door. A fun little way to add a unique touch to the room.

{this moment}

sprinkler time! would have included sammy in this, but he got down to his skivvies and then nothing after that...thought best to leave those ones out. :) enjoy the sun!!!!! we sure are.

mondays

We're gonna have a lazy day today...well at least the boys will. :) Monday's are usually my cleaning days--recouping from busy weekends, laundry, meal prep, getting ready for the week, and lots of play time for the boys. I generally look forward to these days especially after our crazy weekends. We had a great time seeing lots of friends and family. We had a blast with some last minute change of plans Friday night, and I was able to sneak away to spend Saturday morning with my youngest sister getting our hair done and having lunch at a cute and delicious bakery...and then of course a full Sunday of church and friends. A good weekend. Have to think on those things while heading into another week of rain...

Some randomness:

• I love following blogs, but especially those of my friends. It's been fun following THIS friend's monthly experiments, and THIS friends new journey into motherhood and staying at home with her cute little man.
• Heading into a week of spring cleaning! Was going to push it off some more until I saw the weather report for this week. :(
• I've been obsessed for some time with the concept of "living simply" and all that that entails with living a life within our means, being more intentional with our finances (where we choose to put our money/the concept of an "american style life"...), more deliberate with our food choices/meal plans, and really just soaking up where we are at in life right now with our little ones...how to make the most out of this very moment. I might delve into this subject on here more in the future as we make some drastic/challenging changes to meet the goals we've set for our family. We'll see! I'm not sure if I'm keen on "personal" blogs. Usually avoid knowing more about people through their blogs than I would in person.
• After this week, and the short little break we've taken from painting...we're hoping to jump back into finishing up the projects we have started around here!
• I've really been enjoying reading about MOTHERHOOD. Also looking forward to reading THIS whenever it comes my way through the library.
• Love THIS living space!

Have a good week! Not sure if I'll have much to post on this week, but we'll take it as it comes. Daniel is going to take a couple days off this week so we're looking forward to some fun family time. :)

{this moment}

inspired by: soule mama