So fruity

I have been having so much fun with fruit lately! I found a market less than a mile away from our house that has fresh fruits and vegetables at incredibly low prices! They also have an excellent Mexican food section with fresh tortillas and any ingredient you could ever want. It's nice to find a place that has affordable groceries! :D I've been using my Blendtec every day, sometimes up to three times. The boys love the green smoothies I make--it's taken awhile to figure out what fruits do and don't mesh well together--and I'm so happy to give them a "treat" that's so healthy! Alan and I think they're delicious as well, so for the first time in the 5 1/2 years we've been married we're finally eating all the fruits and veggies we need.
My goal is to learn to make my own garden and grow as many of my own fruits and vegetables as possible. I want to follow the square foot gardening method (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591862027/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER). It's organized and all around seems just perfect for me. We just need to stop moving around so much, first! :D
Speaking of moving...we're definitely moving to Pennsylvania. University of Washington finally decided to boot Alan off the wait list and reject him. ;) It's okay b/c he has always felt good about PA...It's just good to know for sure that there's not another option. :D

Alan's 28!

March 11 Alan's cousin, Jenny, got us into the Seattle Children's Museum for free. :D Her pass allows her to take four extra people. Nice! We were gone six hours and only saw half of the whole place! :D Jenny is so fun! I love how outgoing she is...she really likes doing things with others. ;)

This is a fun water table area they loved! :D Such a great idea!

This was part of a big ball area where they feed balls through tubes, etc...it was kind of loud and Christian was a little scared. :D We quit this idea fast and got some lunch. :D

Here Jenny's building something with them the construction zone. It was such a fun place and I'm so grateful to Jenny for getting us in for freeeeeeeeeeeee... :D

Alan's birthday was last Friday and he turned 28. :D His aunt and uncle and parents came over for dinner (Costco pizza) and cake and ice cream. :) We love to have his family so near!
(This next photo is not for the faint of heart...beware, poopaphobes...)

While Alan was opening his presents, Miles had a major blowout...yah, it was pretty bad (that IS poop you see, it exploded all over!)...but FU-NNY! :D Poor "Mimi" and "Papa" got the brunt of it, and Auntie Donna helped get him cleaned up! :D It's Donna and Stu's couch...right after it happened, Stu said, "You can have the couch!" HA! :D It's amazing how you don't even flinch at your own kids' bodily fluids. ;)~

I forgot to take pictures of the Southern Coconut Cake I made him and though it was good, the Oreo Balls I made were by far the biggest hit...they were soooooo yummy. I got the recipe from my friend Emily. :D I love and miss her so! ;)

They were so good Christian was found sucking the remains of an Oreo Ball off of Miles' fingers...yah, it was dirty, but I was cracking up! :D

In this picture Miles is feeding Papa some chicken...the boys sure love their grandma and grandpa!!! Almost every day Christian says, "Guess what Mommy? Mimi and Papa and Missy (their dog) are coming over today." HA! It's going to be heart-breaking when we move to PA in May and we can't see them every month...I'm looking for a place to live and it looks like we'll have to live on campus, which STINKS! No dishwasher or yard and noisy kids living above us makes me annoyed already. But financially it's the best so I guess I'm going to have to suck it up. Boo! ;)

(Oddly) nice winter days...

We've had some wonderfully beautiful winter days lately! And we've sure been taking advantage.

The boys like playing in the backyard! They fight over the soccer ball b/c Miles LOVES it!

And Christian loves to play baseball with us. He's actually pretty good at hitting the ball with the bat. :)

One day it was too wet for Miles to be crawling around...I love the picture of him with his face pressed against the glass door. :) It's pretty much the best picture EVER. :D

We always love to bike ride! I found that day (Feb 17) that I really need to get back into shape!

And Christian's been getting braver and braver on his own bike. He likes to ride it, though he's still a bit scared. :D We love him for trying.

We've also frequented the park a few times this winter. ;) The other day I was walking along with the boys (not driving to the only park I knew about b/c the battery was dead on BOTH cars!) and I happened upon a park just a couple blocks from our house. Score! :D It was a fun time.

Feb 20 our friends, the Padernoster's, had a yummy BBQ at their house...The sun was so bright I couldn't believe it....It was such a nice day!
They say it's been a mild winter for these parts...I'll take it! I'd like to think the Lord's blessed me, just me, with this awesome weather...but supposedly there's a large group of houses that are in a high risk flood zone...if it's too wet, a damn will break and flood them out....SO, it's a blessing for ME and THEM. :D

Another exciting thing that happened in February is my father-in-law and his twin sister's 59th Birthday. I made some cupcakes for them (we ate at a YUMMY Indian restaurant) and had a little too much fun decorating them. HA! It's not bad to have fun, right?! ;D

Levenworth

Friday after Alan got back from work (he returned much later than normal, of course) we drove to Wenatchee to stay with Alan's parents.
Saturday we drove to Levenworth and spent a couple hours there. It's a cute little Germanesque village that draws tourists from all over (though I'd never heard of it until Alan took me when we were dating). :D It's so cute! The streets are lined with all kinds of stores that sell things from Germany (trinkets and food) and the buildings are decorated like German buildings...it reminds me of the super duper fun European trip I took in 2001. I stayed in Germany and visited France and Switzerland and Italy (my favorite of all favorites!). It was awesome.
Anyway, Levenworth is a fun town and I'm glad we got to take the boys there. Christian's highlight was playing in a patch of snow with a couple other boys (it's fun to see him want to play with others all the sudden) and Miles loved the attention he got from Grandma and Grandpa. ;) He sure is a cute little stinker.

I'm glad we're taking advantage of the time we have being close (2 1/2 to 3 hours away) to his parents, especially since it looks like we'll be moving to Pennsylvania for medical school...possibly at the end of may. Yipes! I sure love traveling around, but it's not quite so fun with two little ones....But we will go and Christian will probably start wetting himself again and Miles will wake up in the night because of the huge change and we will all just plain love it! :)

Park Time!

Saturday was a pretty nice day, so we went to a park by our house. It was a nice park! Christian made some new friends and we enjoyed playing with the boys.

It was such a gay ole' time we shared a smooch! :D


See how smiley everyone is? :D

Miles was crawling down things instead of up them, like I tried to help him do. HA! Such cute babies...thank goodness for parks! (Kids need at least an hour of active play a day, I need to be better at giving it to them!!!) :D :D :D

Of HAIR & Money

I got a new haircut yesterday. YEAH! I was long overdue. :)~ I went to a salon that charges $50/haircut, but they offered me a 50% discount b/c I was a first time customer...I didn't mention that I'd probably be a one time customer, too. :)~ I'd go there again if we had that kind of money! I like $30 haircuts...they're affordable and much, much better than $15 haircuts you get at Fantastic Sams or Klassy Kuts. I've found out many a painful time that, with haircuts, you almost always get what you pay for.
I've been trying to have an art project/craft of the day for Christian. Yesterday he painted with water colors and today he made a candy necklace. He loved it (especially eating the necklace)! He's such a crafty guy...and I've always wanted to do some preschool with him here at home. I have a pre-k workbook we do, which he loves, but we left all his crayons, markers, paints, etc. in Georgia. Dote! I'm taking them to the dollar store today to stock up on some more so we have some fun things to do at home...I figure if I engage him, he won't engage himself...in other words, he won't get into so much mischief! :D
I think I'm obsessed with putting my boys in boxes...ha! I think it's so cute when they fit! :D Miles just sat and ate his snack in the Costco-sized cereal box and I had to laugh and take a picture!! :D HA!

Happy New Year!!

These are the presents we scored at Christmas. :D Sweeeeet! :D

The craziness while everyone unwrapped their gifts. :D Issaquah, WA.
Miles reached a milestone last month...he turned one on the 19th and I could hardly believe it. :S It hasn't been that the time sped by, oddly enough, I just thought he'd never actually be one!...don't ask me why. ;) On his birthday our friends, the McCally's from Texas, came to have some cake and ice cream with us and our kids played and we chatted. It was a fun time! We were glad they just happened to be visiting family nearby. ;) The day after we got together wtih Alan's uncle Stu and aunt Donna. Miles and Stu share a birthday (but he was busy on the their birthday) so Sunday they brought over dinner and we had cake and ice cream with them. :) They got Miles a fun toy but had to leave too soon! I really like spending time with them! :D
This holiday season has been fun and eventful. We spent Christmas with Alan's family here in Washington (I made rolls for the second time in my life for the ocassion...they turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself!). At Alan's aunt & uncle's Christmas Day we spread a lot more than holiday spirit, unfortunately. :) Alan's cousin brought home her husband's two nephews...CUTE boys, but one brought a stomach bug with him...Saturday we went to Wenatchee (WA) to spend the weekend with Alan's parents and bless Alan's brother's new baby, Dalin. :D Well, needless to say, only Alan's parents went to church Sunday b/c everyone else was sick. Well, I wasn't, but Alan and the boys were and I didn't want to leave Alan to take care of Christian and Miles alone...regardless, Christian had a blast playing with his cousins, Joanna & Jaqueline! :D
I thought I was going to be lucky enough to avoid both the stomach bug and the nasty cold Miles has had...BUT (a big butt) Monday on our drive home both hit me so forcefully I just wanted to curl up and die...When we got home around noon I slept the rest of the night until 8 am the next day. I needed it!! Sweet Alan took care of everything for me while I rested. :D

By Wednesday I was ready to start eating again, though I had a hard time with liquids and my pee ended up brown. (TMI, I know, TMI.) HA! Just so you know, if that happens it's a BAD thing...very BAD. ;)
I've been reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" and my goodness!! I just keep marveling at what the geisha had to go through! If you haven't read it or seen the movie, it's something you must do before you die (I'd recommend at least the book so you can understand the customs better)...if for no other reason than to learn a bit about Japanese geisha culture. It's always good to learn! :)

I LOVE this picture of my hot husband and our precious 3 yr old. :D Christian sure loves his daddy!

Gingerbread House

I made my first gingerbread house on Monday night. I remember my older sister(s?) making one when I was younger using graham crackers and homemade frosting, but I was too young...SO, the other day we bought a kit from Costco. It had everything you could ever need and then some...a HUGE tube of white frosting and a small tube of green, cookies for the house and a gingerbread Christmas tree and two gingerbread men and tons and tons of candy to decorate with. FUN!
So our friends, Amy, Scott, and Oliver, came over and they brought their own Costco gingerbread kit and it was so fun! :D Their gingerbread house, I'm sorry to say, didn't make it...but I think Oliver will have a wonderful time devouring the wreckage! :D
So we bought some deer antlers to take a picture of the boys for the holidays...this pic of Christian with Alan is the only time I've been able to get Christian to wear them...is he already becoming aware of what is cool vs what is totally humiliating? hhmmmm... ;)~

I love the Temple! :D

So Alan is currently at his interview at UW Medical School. AAHHHH!! I'm anxious to know how it's going!! :D Mainly, I'm anxious to know how it'll end up!, but we won't know that for a long while. :)
Yesterday a couple from our church watched our boys (they have a girl and a boy around the same age as our own) while Alan and I went to the Temple. It had been soooo long since we had gone it was like taking a breath of fresh air!! I'm so grateful for Temples...they're so peaceful and serene! And it was soooo nice to get out alone. Marcy, who watched our boys, wants to start a babysitting co-op, and I'm all for it! She's going to try and recruit a couple more couples...So we'd get to go out 3 Friday nights a month and have one Friday night of craziness watching everyone else's kids. It's a prayer answered!!!! Alan and I hardly ever go out together, but we really need to! :D Marcy seems super nice! I'm excited to get to know her (among others) better! :)
I just love my boys, even though they can drive me crazy sometimes. :S :) We have a large window in the front room and they love to sit and watch sometimes. I love to, also. We have a squirrel living in the trees outside our place and it walks around like it owns the place. HA! There are also so many birds around here!! They settle on the neighbors' lawns and eat, eat, eat. :) It's so nice and quiet here, I love it. I could never go back to an apartment!!...I wouldn't go quietly, anyway. ;)
I had to attach this picture of Christian wearing my shoes. HA! :D Standing in my heals right before peeing while standing up...There's just something so "Mrs Doubfire" about it. HA! :D He cracks me up! What can I say, I love the kid. ;)