This moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Inspired by Amanda Soule

Have a great weekend, we are off to the woods.

Take me out to the ball game

Last week the little man, hubby and Grandpa O took a trip to Seattle to attend a baseball game.
The little man has been to baseball games before but never to the Mariners.
So I decked the little man out in his Mariners coat and hat. I had to do a little more convincing to get the hubby to sport his original Griffy jersey. But before they left both of them were looking sharp in the baseball clothes.


I guess that the game was really slow so just into the ninth inning the boys decided that they had enough. Enough of the cold, enough of sitting, and more than enough popcorn.
As they got to there truck and turned on the radio and headed home they heard that the M's won thanks to a little help from Griffy. The hubby was a little bummed that he did not stay to watch the end but they all had a great time.

WIP Wednesday

After many, many month of not of not having anything on my needles I finally started a new project. Its not that I did not want to knit it is just that I lost all of my bamboo double pointed needles a few months back and had not gotten around to replacing them. Oh ya... I had a baby a few months ago also that takes up a lot of my 'free' time. So after a quick trip to the craft store last week the knitting bug has bit again.

I have been very excited to try wool soakers on the little lady. The two that I knitted using my sisters pattern are still a little too big.


So I started her some rainbow shorties using this pattern.


I am using a Crystal Palace Yarn that is 100% wool that I ended getting for 30% off. The color is called circus but I think that it looks more like fruit loops. This is my first time knitting a ruffled edge and I really like how it is turning out.

Just one more leg to finish (hopefully today). Then they will be ready to be lanolized. Hopefully we will get some summer like weather here soon so she can wear them.

Enjoying a quiet house

Everyone is sound asleep but me. Its not that I dont want to still be sleeping its that as I lay there in bed all I can think about all the things I SHOULD be doing.

But here I am on the computer still thinking about all the things I SHOULD be doing.

Dishes
Laundry
House cleaning
Baking
Showering
Making phone calls

So I think that I am just going to sit here for a little while longer and keep soaking up the sweet, wonderful feeling of a sleeping baby on my chest. The other things can wait but that this moment wont be here forever.

Monday, Monday

I woke up this morning with many things on my to do list but all the little lady wanted to do was be held. Every time I got her to sleep she would wake right up as soon as I put her down. I would of loved to of put her in the mei tai but it is not so safe to do that while baking bread and brownies (before I know it she will be big enough to be a little monkey on my back). So every time I needed to put something in or out of the oven I had to put her down and she would scream until I picked her up just a short time later.

Once everything was baked and packed we were off to the park to celebrate the little mans birthday with his friends. He had fun running around with his friend sporting his mama made big #3 shirt.


The little man had a blast and the little lady slept the whole time in the sling of course.

It was such a beautiful day we spent the rest of the afternoon outside in the sunshine. We eat snacks, played, colored and I tried to get some knitting done (the little lady needs rainbow shorties for the summer, right?).

The little man spent some time playing in the hubbies truck.


The little lady slept and played on the blanket sporting a cute bib that does not really work so well at keeping her shirt dry from all of her drool.


The hubby washed and waxed our new 1982 trailer that the in-laws bought us (we have to pay them back once we have 'extra' money again).


Its in great shape. It just looks like 1982. It would be so nice if we could get the fridge working but it looks like we might just have to use it as an ice box.


We had bbq for dinner and now I am ready to call it a night but I think that the kids will be up for at least an hour longer. Hopefully the little lady will sleep an eight hour stretch like she did last night. Either way it does not matter because before I know it we will be celebrating her third birthday.

I am truly loving life.

Zooming

This past week just zoomed past.

Friday I had my mom chop off my hair. My family was getting a little tired of finding long hairs in there food.


We shaved the little mans hair earlier that week. Not sure if we like it. It really makes him look much older.

Saturday we spent it garage saling. A large community by our house does a neighborhood sale every year. This year we did not get any great buys. All I came home with was a sunburn.

Sunday was just a lazy day. I should of spent it cleaning but a nap sounded much better.

Monday was the little mans birthday. I did no prep for his day what so ever. We stayed in our PJ's until 2pm. I tried to get some cleaning done but I still did not find time to scrub the toilet. I sent the boys out at 4pm to by a cake and pick up dinner and this is what the little man picked out.


Oh well... he only turns three once.

He got everything he wanted and more. A fishing pole, his own camera and a child size electric guitar.


Tuesday the hubby took the little man to Play to Learn and I took the little lady to the doctor. My petite little girl weighs in at 13 lbs at 2 1/2 months old.

Wednesday we spent the morning chopping wood and just as the hubby finished a storm rolled in. A trip to the grocery store rounded out our day.

Not sure whats in store for today but if I dont get myself up and start my day before I know it it will of zoomed away.

This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.



Find more This moment posts at Soule Mamas blog.

Amazing mama trait #4

Our ability to give birth

Not a day goes by that I dont look at my children starry eyed and amazed that they were once so small that they fit in my belly.

The little man will be three next week. THREE!

When I look back upon my labor with him I am just relived that it did not turn out any worse. I am not saying it was bad, I am just saying I got sucked into the birth trap and things could of gone wrong real quick.
I was 20 when I gave birth to the little man. We attended birthing classes. I read some books. I felt prepared. I thought a natural child birth was just going to come well, naturally.
When my doctor said that she would induce me, I was all for it. She never explained to me the risks. I just assumed that since she was the doctor and she knew best.

I had no fears about being induced.

After about eight hours of medicated, medically induced labor I gave birth to a healthy little boy. In that second I became a mama.


In between the time after the little man was born and before I got pregnant with the little lady I did more research on birth. Its not that I had an horrible experience giving birth to the little man, I just wanted something different.

My birth experience with the little lady was amazing, you can read the whole thing here.


The way that my children came into this world did not make me love them any differently. I am just glad that I was able to bring them into this world.

Amazing mama trait #3

Intuition

My mama intuition kicked in the moment the little man was born but I did not really know what it was. I was a new, young mom and I just assumed that everyone knew more than I did.

But who really knows more about your kids than you?

When the little man was a few weeks old I knew something was not right. The doctors said that everything was fine. I tried to believe them but deep down I could not. I kept bugging the doctors and when the little man was six weeks old they listened.

After that whole incident I learned to listen to that little voice and stand up for my kids who cant stand up for themselves.

Mama truly knows best!

Amazing mama trait #2

Improvising

I have been doing this one more and more lately.
This is the one of the reasons I dont meal plan or I dont make plans more than a few days out. Every time I make some sort of plans they almost ALWAYS change.

Just today while making dinner we got a phone call and things changed. Dinner was put back into the fridge and we climbed into the car. The little lady had to go with the flow and eat once we got to our location. Our evening was spent at my parents house with my mom and the kids instead of at home as a family with the hubby. We still had a wonderful evening it just was not how I thought it was going to be.


{The little man enjoying a 'special' treat while the little lady enjoys a little snooze at my parents house}

I have been improvising with 'special' treats with the little man. 'Special' treats in our house range from fruit snacks to toast to root beer floats. Adding 'special' in front of just about anything makes it most foods more appealing to the little man. I have tried to have carrots and dip be a 'special' treat but it did not go over too well.

Every time I hear the word improvise I think of a song I sang in elementary school. It sang 'Im-pro-vise means make things up'. I think that this would make a good theme song for mamas out there like me.

Amazing mama trait #1

Multi tasking


Photo taken by the little man last week as I nursed the little lady, checked my email and finished my morning coffee.

This is a trait that us mamas do without even realizing it. It's just in our blood. It is the only way that we as mamas are able to add more hours in the day. With out multi tasking there would be no way for us to cook three meals a day, raise your young children, get the house work done, grocery shop, shower and still find some time for ourselves.

Right now I am rocking a half naked baby, while typing this post, watching the little man play cars and listening for the washer to stop washing so I can put the clothes in the dryer and put in another load. I am also thinking about what I should cook for dinner.

Multi tasking helped us through our days but it can get us into trouble also. I have been so busy with all of my tasks that I have forgotten a few. This is how we burn dinner, leave the hose on outside and back into garbage cans.

What would we do without multi tasking

Mama week

We deserve more than just a day.
I am declaring this week Mama week here at Living life and Loving it.
Everyday I will focus on one amazing mama trait.

This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


If you're inspired to do the same, dont forget to link up here with the women who started it all Amanda Soule.

You capture- Spring

Spring is in full bloom around our house.
We have been spending more and more time outside sometimes even shoe less as we enjoy root beer floats.


In the evening as the sun is setting you can smell barbeque's grilling up dinner as you hear the faint (or not so faint) sound of kids playing.


I can even find traces of spring among my piles of dirty dishes next to my kitchen sink.


And how could we have spring without the little lady in a bonnet.



Part of I should be folding laundry's you capture spring

On my floor

I try to keep the floors in our house clean but with two young children and a long list of other things to get done they are not always that clean. We ALL have or fare share of spills and make our fare share of messes.
When you walk in our house it is always a good idea to look down as you walk because you never know what you might step in or on.
The little man likes to spread out his toys all over the floor and create huge cities and race tracks for his cars.
I have found things on the floor that have grossed me out others have made me laugh and others have left me wondering what is that and how did it get there.
Here are just a few items that you can find on my floor today.


Cars, playing cards, and even a toothbrush.
Sometimes what you find on the floor you just want to pick it up and shower it with hugs and kisses.


Whats on your floor today?
All pictures taken by the little man.

A windy washy day

My day started about 7am when I got up to nurse the little lady, check my email and make some coffee. The wind was howling outside and all of the clocks in the house were blinking 12:00.
Just as I was grinding the beans to make the coffee I heard the pitter patter of little feet coming down the hall way. It was the little man with a grin from ear to ear dragging his little blankie behind him.
The first thing that I heard out of his mouth was not good morning but 'My pants are wet.'
So with those words I knew that I was going to have to do laundry today. So we went in his bedroom, changed his clothes and for the first time ever the little man was dressed for the day before even eating breakfast.
And for breakfast we had cold cereal because there was not much of anything else to eat in the house. Thinking ahead to lunch I quickly made up some bread dough so that it would be ready to bake before lunch.


As we were eating breakfast the hubby left to go do some work at a friends house. So we were left home with no car since I sold mine this weekend. So I knew that today was going to be a productive day around the house since I could not escape it and go anywhere.
After putting a load of laundry in the wash I than wondered into our bathroom to try and put myself together a little. I was greeted by a very messy counter and a filthy toilet.


After a little cleaning up it looked much better.


The clothes were now ready for the dryer and the bread was ready to go in the oven. Not long after doing these two things the power went out again. Shortly after it was back on and than back out again. My bread was never going to cook at this rate and my clothes were going to take all day to dry.
The bread did cook and tasted amazing with a little homemade freezer jam and peanut butter.


The clothes did get dry and are now calling my name to fold them and put them away. So that is what I will be doing the rest of the afternoon.