Chaos

That about sums it up.

Sean's birthday was yesterday and we tried to have a little family party for him after work. I had 2 toddlers who didn't nap so they were in particularly bossy moods. A different 2 toddlers would not eat dinner. 1 toddler *cough* Gracie*cough* had 3 time outs before presents were even opened.

Tate has been crying every day because he wanted to get daddy a puppy for his birthday and I haven't done it yet. I keep telling him I'm not going to do it at all, but it's not sticking.

As you can imagine, there wasn't much opportunity for pictures.

The real fun was after the kids went to bed and we got to eat the warm berry cobbler I made with vanilla ice cream, while catching up with the DVR. Bliss.

Sean is off to Colorado today for his real gift, 5 days with the guys.

Heaven help me get though 5 days (and a holiday weekend where daycare is closed on Monday!!!) by myself.

Enchiladas

Maybe I shouldn't discuss dinner and travel plans in the same car ride. Sean is going to Colorado for a trip to see friends and we eat enchiladas for dinner, to be clear.

G: Daddy flying in an airplane to enchiladas!
T: Yam. I will miss him soo much.
Me: No guys, its COLORADO

Later at bed time...

G: Mommy, I will miss daddy when he flies to enchilada.
Me: Remember it's Colorado, not enchilada. Enchilada was for dinner.
G: No, that's silly! Daddy go to enchilada.
Me: (giving up) Well, yeah I will really miss him too.
G: Don't cry momma you're a big girl. Don't cry like a baby.
Daddy: That's tough love
T: Yeah mama, don't be sad and cry. Daddy will be home after nap time.
T: If you get an owie you can sit on my lap, ok?
Me: Ok, you guys are right. I will try not to cry. Thanks.

Sometimes I wonder who is doing the parenting around here...

Sesame Street Live

This weekend was insanely busy with birthday parties and a "to do" list a mile long. But the highlight was taking G and T to Sesame Street Live. We bought tickets for their b-day gift, knowing they'd be confused at the time, but it was worth it. This kind of a gift is a bit of a risk at their age. Especially with Gracie's history of screaming at people in costumes. But Sean and I wanted to do a more memory making/exxperience driven gift than just another toy to clutter up the family room.

Anyways.

We got to the arena and were excited about our super close seats. 3rd row! Gracie proceeded to cry and yell for the first 3-5 minutes of Bert's monologue. She wanted to sit in the granstands and/or go home. I was afraid of this, but she cuddled close to daddy and perservered. After that, we were golden! Tate was in awe beginning to end. She got super exited when The Count came out and we guessed the 'number of the day', like we do at home. She guessed 3, but it was 1. I think my favorite memory is that throughout the show when they would talk about the numbers, she would raise her finger in a three and yell "NOOO! It's 3!!!" ha ha. Sometimes just a silent protest of three fingers. Such a rebel.


Tate's favorite part (besides the bag of popcorn) was getting to hug Bert! They both got to high-five Rosita, but about half way through the show he kept telling me "I want to hug them". I'd say "I know, but they are kind of busy singing right now, buddy." Thankfully, Bert took the time to come over and Tate siezed the opportunity to run up and hug him. I was so happy for him and proud of how brave he is!

We promised we would tell Benny everything we saw and they did. Benny wasn't interested in the least, of course. But I like the sentimate. It was a real treat to have one on one time with the twins again. We haven't had that since their last birthday when we took them to the zoo alone. I forget that we were a little family of 4 for over a year. Not sure if we will continue this tradition every year, but I think we all like the smaller parent:child ratio every so often!

The Family That Plays Together...

Are my kids weird? They are just SO into this music phase. They LOVE to play guitar, drums, sing off key loudly into a mic, etc. Lucky for them daddy is all over it. I am happy in my role as publicist/manager.

They were having a real jam session last night before bed and everyone was happy, so they got to stay up almost 45 min. late. A few pics and video below!








I adore this one with Gracie and her daddy. Both playing their guitars, with picks in their mouths. Love it.

House Guest

I bought this little bird house last summer in hopes that some little guy would make it their home. While Sean was doing yard work this weekend he discovered that and more!



It's hard to see, but the house has been filled with a nest and buried in the middle is a mama bird. This is like the Where's Waldo of blog posts, but look for the eye and beak in the middle somewhere.

Sean felt like we were intruding and being horribly rude, so we left. A few hours later, we wanted to show the kids (some neighbors we are) and mama bird was gone! But in her sweet nest she left her eggs. Super exciting to us voyeurs!


Again, tough to see but they are light colored and way in the back. This time Sean was certain mama bird had laid a trap and was going to come back and peck our prying eyes out if we didn't back off. So I didn't linger to take a lot of pictures.
I don't know where his irrational fear of birds who come to live in our guest house comes from, but I see the logic I guess.

Anyway, that's the big news around here. A single, pregnant (maybe birds don't count as pregnant?) mother in our bird house! So pleased she chose us! And for the low, low price of allowing us to gawk at her every move- we hope her little family stays for as long as they like.

Balance

Cozy Saturday here.

Watched cartoons in our pj's and some girlfriends of mine came over for a late waffle brunch. Just having 3 hours of lounging/waffle eating/coffee drinking has done wonders for my mood.

I've been feeling so out of balance lately. Too much work, errands, and STUFF and not enough cuddling and meandering. I signed up for the 30 day challenge in hot yoga, which basically means I do 30 days in a row. It has been awesome (I'm on day 12), but I have to let that go too. I have to miss 3 classes coming up for other things and I was getting all stressed about it. I wanted so badly to complete that challenge because it would be good for me, but possibly NOT doing so much might be better after all.

I feel like motherhood, working, and being a decent wife are 3 balls constantly in the air, add "me" time or working out and that's another. I like to say I'm a great juggler, but after about 4 weeks I crash. So I am trying to be a little more pro-active this time and let some things go.

No, we cannot attend every birthday party we are invited to. So that, yes, I can spend an hour catching up with my husband during nap time.

No, I don't have to fold all that laundry this morning. So that yes, my kids can count on me to play a game of 'mama bunny' with them.

You get the idea.

Trying not to be a procrastinator, just a better prioritize-er is that a word I can play on words with friends?. We are attempting to simplify everything lately and I think this is a good step.

Spring is Coming!

Another sunny afternoon in Seattle! Hooray!

Daddy is in AZ for work and Grandpa took us out for dinner at our favorite beach cafe next to a sandbox and marina. We didn't even have to wear coats!

Mother's Day!

I am one lucky lady!

I was greeted by 3 happy toddlers and a doting husband at 8:30am! That is glorious time to wake up on a sunday!
I was handed hot coffee and a beautiful set up:


Flowers and a "Users Guide" for Mother's Day
"From the people who brought you your birthday and anniversary"


I got to select my breakfast and Reading Materials


Then review my thoughtfully crafted schedule for the day


The highlight was a transcribed interview about me, from my silly ones


Finally, the guilty pleasure of a new hardback book I'd been coveting!


Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mothers out there, hope you felt as loved as I did!

Rock 'N' Roll 3rd B-day Party!

We were blessed with gorgeous weather and besides a few kinks (stuff I ordered online not showing up on time) it turned out great.

The invite:


I used a seller on Etsy and I liked the way it turned out, but other items (banner, etc) he was supposed to get me were late so that was a bummer).

Decorations:
I didn't go all out on this. I feel like I have spent too much $ on the last couple of b-day parties so I was trying to scale back on decor and food. :)
I went to goodwill and hit up my parents for old records.




I hung them on tacks to the walls with was a fun effect because they could spin on their own. Album covers were lining walls in different rooms and then I used records as plate chargers on the snack table.

Food:
The party was at 3PM so I didn't feel like we needed to do a lot beyond cake and ice cream. Just some snacks and treats to keep the parents and kiddos happy. I didn't get a picture of the refreshment bar, but there were sodas, organic juice for the toddlers, italian sodas and a few adult beverages for the real rockers ;)

Pop Rocks were a must have!


Rock star rice crispy treats


Snack table (with records underneath)


Cake:
Daddy made these cakes with a pan we found at Joanne's Fabrics. He did such an awesome job and the kids adored them! He even carved out Tate's to be an electric and made Gracie's pink one to look like her real life acoustic.




Activities:
We didn't have games going because most the kids in attendance were 4 and under, but we had our bouncy house set up, the swing set, random cars to drive, toddler play house and a picnic table with a bunch of instruments on it for the kids to try out. So glad the weather cooperated so we didn't have all that noise in the house!






The Band:
This is the part I was most excited about! My husband and two of our friends who actually have musical talent agreed to rock out pre-school style for us! They set up in the back yard and played 5 of our favorite songs, but with a rock n' roll twist. I have never heard ABC's or Happy Birthday sung better! Everyone loved it and the Gracie and Tate were in awe of daddy on the drums!






We also had a temporary tattoo parlor set up in the bathroom for guests to use, but I forgot to take a picture again! Here is a cute little brother rocking his tattoo though ;)

The best part for the kids was getting to try out the drums and microphones themselves! How cool!




Outfits:
Tate wore an AC/DC shirt I got from Old Glory and Gracie wore her Madonna shirt and tutu. I ordered her an awesome Joan Jett shirt, but it was late. I wore my mom's old Bon Jovi shirt and yellow netted gloves, and daddy kept it classic with Pink Floyd. He also had a black SECURITY shirt incase things go out of hand ;)
Friends an family got in on the fun too:





A few of my fav pics of the day:



I had to throw this one in so you can see Grace's super cute guitar hairclips! Got them on clearance at gymboree!



Last but not least, the swag for the kids to take home:
Blow up guitars, rock star sunglasses and their own microphone. I've heard one little boy has been using all 3 to make bath time more entertaining.