Weekend Mirths

So many, many things.  We're gearing up for Halloween by decorating cupcakes (werewolves and mummies!) and visiting the cemetery on our walks about town; and then there's continuous celebration of fall as we drink in the colorful foliage and nap in the crisp coolness of autumn mornings.

We were also positively delighted to be a part of our friend Gracie's 2nd birthday celebration this weekend.  Her mom did an UH-mazing job planning a super cute farm-themed birthday at Thanksgiving Point Farm Country.  All the kiddos got to feed and pet the animals and ride ponies and take a carriage ride and hype themselves up on a scrumdiddily-umpitous candy bar and adorable caramel apples. Oh wait, that was me eating all the candy, but seriously, those soft little pink piggy things, I need a lifetime supply of those please.

Sawyer L-O-V-E-S petting animals.  It's like the pages of his touch-and-feel books have come to life and he is both overjoyed and puzzled by the matter.  After giving each animal a thorough stare down, he'd take an excited gasp and lean in to grab some hair or wool or ears- whatever he could get his little mitts wrapped around. Eventually we'd have to tug him away and haul him off to the next live touchy-feely.

{the birthday gal in overalls! she loved pushing Sawyer's stroller}

{eat me}

That's MY boy

There it is. There's a little dervish in there after all.  After months and months of waiting for some small smackerel of resemblance to appear, this is my son finally showing a bit of me.

The New Cheese in Town

Jeffrey and I have loved brie cheese since our first tasting.  During those long nine months while I was baking up baby bun, it killed both of us that we had to cut brie from our diet (because if mama couldn't eat it, no one was eating it).  So we kind of locked our love away and forgot about it. But imagine my delight the other day when, while perusing the cheese isle, I discovered brie logs. Not wheels, logs. Yes! It came home with me and Jeff and I literally ate the whole log in one sitting.

Beautiful, easy, and delicious, it made the perfect lunch.

This is our favorite way to eat it:
Brush 1 Pillsbury thin crust pizza with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve with various ripened fruits.  Among our favorites are peaches, strawberries, grapes, and honeydew.

Like I said, beautiful, easy and delicious.

Weekend Mirths

We kicked off the weekend with an early morning stroll (because we're all up early these days) down the street to the marvelous place of delicious carbs-the Provo Bakery. The timing was perfect, not only did we see our neighbors entrancing cat along the way, but we scored absolutely fresh doughnuts in every variety that  we wanted.

Jeff also favored us by doing his homework at home instead of laboring away at it on campus. It quickly turned into a daddy-son fest with Sawyer snuggled right up on Jeff's lap.  That, my friends, is the epitomized image of a scholar father.

Halloween Detailing

'Tis the season! It's October and Halloween is officially around the corner. During my last pedicure, I noticed that in some cases all they use to detail nails is some sort of paint....so I whipped out my acrylic paints and paintbrushes and got to work getting my nails ready for the most wonderful time of the year.

{please excuse my shoddy polish job....I was a major time crunch....nap time crunch.....}

Excuse me....

I'm trying to re-create the children's museum in my mom's kitchen.

Have a fun weekend!

Our Desert Vacation

Lincoln and Sawyer love each other. They played like boys-plenty of pushing and toy thieving involved-but they loved each like brothers and kept laying on the slobbery head kisses no matter how many times Sawyer pulled Linc's hair, or how often Linc knocked Sawyer over in exuberance.

The Phoenix Children's Museum-"Child Heaven"

the boys played themselves ragged; there was no end to things to explore, demolish, and rifle through

Lincoln's Dinosaur-Themed 1st Birthday

my complements to the party planner, Lincoln had an amazing party

{the new Lincoln memorial}

{Sawyer's oh-no-Linc-is-gonna-get-me face}
{or his why-did-he-just-screech-like-that face}

Strolling in the Desert Parks

as well as grass eating, swinging and napping

Well we weren't late to the airport, nor did I forget my license, but I may have forgotten Sawyer's birth certificate.  I realized I had forgotten it as we pulled into the airport, and then I realized there was no time to go back and get it, and then I realized I really stink at traveling by plane. Thankfully for us, a birth certificate isn't needed to offer proof that I am indeed transporting my child and not another person's, it's just to verify that the child is under 2 years, thereby not needing a separate ticket. Yikes.

As usual, Sawyer was an excellent traveler, even winning the merits of the somewhat grungy man sitting behind us who was turning Sawyer's ears red with curses and tales of drugs, sex, and violence for the duration of the flight. He was kind enough to say something like, "I wasn't happy when you sat in front of us, but your kid was awesome." To which I was kind enough to say something like, "gee thanks grungy man" (at least, I said that in my mind).

With a somewhat rocky start, I was glad to get to Arizona and be with my favorite people for six wonderful days.  The more time I spend with family the more I discover how beautiful it is to be together and not only be involved in each other's lives, but in sharing one another's lives. My mom, sister, and I so effortlessly transitioned between bouncing Sawyer on one hip and chasing Lincoln in five steps, then whipping up multiple snacks and bottles and baths.  A friend told me once that she really believes there is something to the whole tribal family living idea, especially when it comes to raising children. We are meant to be together-helping, loving, chasing, patting, feeding, wiping, rocking.  This trip made that observation evident to me.  And nothing solidified it more as upon our return I was inundated with a messy house, an empty fridge, 10 loads of laundry, a sick baby, a sick self, a sick husband, and my back up was still in Arizona.

Here's hoping for another tribal gathering sometime in our near future.