coffee date

Hey you! Yes, you. Would you like to come over to my place for a little coffee date?

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If you were to come over, I'd tell you to bring your kiddos (if you have any), as mine love anyone new and my daughter is constantly begging me to let her have friends over.

Being that both of my little ones are home all summer, you will definitely be stepping over all of the toys that are strewn around, while I apologize and explain that no matter how many times I clean them up in a day, they always find their way back onto the floor (or couches, or tables, or counters) before I can blink an eye.

I would then offer you coffee, or hot tea, or a chai latte (Oregon, no Tazo for this girl), and while I was making it I'm sure that Audrey would be dragging you to her room to show you her new bed, and her toys, and her summer reading challenge bookworm, all the while talking your ear off about all of her plans for this summer.

Finally, once the kiddos are settled (does that ever really happen?!) and we are settled onto my couches with our beverage of choice, we could start to talk.

I would probably start off by talking about the kids WAY too much. You would hear about how Lawson has been super fussy lately due to teething. And how we are currently sleep training him and in doing so have basically been kicked out of our own room, since that is where his crib is. I would tell you that since Lawson is now a year old, and I know MANY people having babies, I have been getting the fever. Baby fever! You would hear how, even though I already have my hands full at the stages my kids are in, I still long for another one.

About this time Audrey would run in to sing a little song, or show you how well she can read. She would tell you that even though the start of school is still two months away, she has decided that she wants to be homeschooled, solely to remain home home with mommy. Quickly she would move on to the next subject, which undoubtedly would be how she just lost her third tooth. This would be followed by a firsthand display of the spot where her tooth used to be.

At some point in there I would remark how it all goes by too fast. That before you know it your oldest is a Kindergarten graduate and your youngest is a year and on his way to walking.

Eventually I would realize that I've talked for too long about my children, so I'd try to smoothly change the subject, so not to bore you.

I'd show you the little pots of seedlings I planted that will hopefully grow to be basil and cilantro, if my black thumb doesn't get there first. I would confess that I would love to have my own vegetable, herb and flower gardens one day, although I can never keep a plant alive.

At some point you would probably comment on the mountain of books piled on top of my bookcase, to which I would respond how at 28 years old I rediscovered the joy that is the public library and have been reading like a crazy person since then. 48 books completed in 2012 so far!!!

I would ask if you have any big plans for the upcoming weekend and when you eventually respond in kind I would tell you that we will probably do what we always do. Stay home and read and relax and watch tv and eat good food. And I would tell you that it is my FAVORITE thing to do on the weekends, since my home is my favorite place, my husband is my absolute best friend, and my kids bring me so much joy.

By this time Lawson will be getting whiny and I'll probably hint that I need to put him down for nap. So we'll say our good-byes and with my kiddos at my feet I'll hug you at the front door and tell you to please come by again soon!!

xoxo

Thanks to Casey, Maggie, and Ashley for inspiring me with their previous "coffee date" posts.

monday misc. :: sick weekend

Within 2 hours of coming home from school on Friday, Kid A got sick.

 She had a yucky 24 hour stomach bug/fever.

So, the hubs quarantined her and himself into our bedroom, so that he could take care of her and not risk Baby LL or myself getting sick.

Sure enough, in the early morning hours of Sunday, he caught it.

Good thing is, Kid A is over it and hopefully the hubs can come out of his hidey hole tomorrow for our anniversary.

And let me tell you, after sleeping on the couch for a few nights, I am more than ready to get back into my comfy bed.

During a trip to Target with Baby LL, I picked up some Clorox wipes and have been using them like crazy.

Clorox wipes, you are my life now. :)

It was/is very hard to not be able to be around Kid A or the hubs, but I have spent every waking (and sleeping) moment for the past 3 days with Baby LL.

He is SUCH a happy baby, and has the greatest disposition.

He even took a 2 1/2 hour long nap with me today.

 Thanks for that buddy, mama really needed it.

 

I love this little guy!

I also realized that he LOVES his stuffed giraffe (it plays Twinkle, Twinkle).

It's half the size that he is, but he's loving quality giraffe snuggling time.

 

During our Target excursion we also picked up a little somethin' somethin' for the little dude.

He'll be 5 months old later this week and we got the green light from the pedi to start solids whenever we wanted.

And seeing that this little boy can eat something FIERCE, we will be starting rice cereal  this week.

Just waiting for daddy to get better, so he can watch (and I can have a photographer).

 

Late  last week I took a little shopping trip to Anthropologie  to use the gift card that my mama got me for my birthday.

Here are my shopping spoils.

I actually received the vase and sugar bowl as presents.

 I still have a bit left on the card, so I will be headed back soon.

And yes, I have already put the mini colander to use holding our tea bags.

I haven't been very hungry today, but I'm craving a BIG bowl of Cheerios (with ice cold milk) something fierce!!

And seeing that this weekend didn't go as we planned, I thought  the following sentiment was appropriate.

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monday misc.

This past weekend was wonderful. 

A lot of hanging around the house, reading and napping.

I love my weekends with my family.

Even if we don't have any major plans, I get giddy as Friday progresses, thinking about spending time with my favorite people.

The week ahead is going to be a busy one.

I have three mornings of work scheduled.

Kid A has her very first field trip on Thursday, where she will be visiting a tree farm to do all sorts of fun Fall things with her classmates.

And on Saturday, we have the Fall Fest for Kid A's school.

I'm really looking forward to that one.

I used to love when we would put on Fall Festivals when I was in school.

Definitely looking forward to some fun family time.

I will also be making sure that I carve out a little time to go spend my birthday gift cards.

Anthropologie and Barnes & Noble, here I come!

I am currently reading this book.

It's about a girl who is a zombie.

Yes, you read that right.

She's not being attacked by zombies.

She is one.

It's definitely an interesting idea and I'm curious to see how this book pans out.

I have several upcoming posts that I'm looking forward to sharing with you, including one showcasing my Halloween decor, and a few talking about a few habits I've recently picked up, that I hope will positively impact my health and wellness.

Stay tuned.

Advice to live by....

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Tonight seems like a homemade burgers and fries kind of night.

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Hope wherever you are in your day, you're smiling!

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weekend update :: lazy days

This has been one lazy, but great  weekend in the L family.

We seriously did NOTHING, and went NOWHERE all weekend.

Well, with the exception of the hubs making a quick trip to the grocery store on Saturday evening.

The farthest the kiddos and I ventured out this weekend, was taking 3 nice, long walks (one each day), which earned A 1 1/2 miles toward her marathon in 6 months log.

The last one, on Sunday evening, the hubs joined us, which was great.

I love my little family SO VERY MUCH, and they are my absolute favorite people to spend time with.

Other than that, I finished one book and started two new ones.

I watched a few episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel on Netflix.

The hubs and I watched pretty much the entire last season of Hell's Kitchen on HuluPlus 

(not happy with the outcome, by the way).

Made and ate some good food.

And  generally just chilled and enjoyed my hubs and our babies.

Great weekend in my book!

How was your weekend?

Do anything fun or eventful?

inspiration workshop! - inspiring books

This week the Inspiration Workshop!from Gussy Sews prompt is Inspiring Books.

If you read this previous post of mine, you could probably already tell that I'm a bit of a bookworm.



Reading is something that I grew up loving to do.
Some of my fondest memories revolve around bookstores.
As a kid, my uncle (who was/is also a book nerd) used to take me out on a Saturday morning to brunch and then Half Price Books.
He would go his own way, probably to the sci-fi section, and I would go mine, most likely to check out which Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins books they had in stock.



And as an adult, with a family of my own, some of our best Saturdays have been spent eating pizza from Little Caesars ($5 Hot 'n Ready, baby!) and perusing 3 or 4 different Half Price Books around town.



A love of reading is definitely something that the hubs and I hope to pass on to our kidlets.
So far we're succeeding with A, in that regard.
At 5 years old, reading is in her blood.
Sometimes she will drag a huge stack of books into whatever room I'm in, find a spot to settle into and just read, read, read.
And, two of her favorite places just happen to be the bookstore and the library.
Between the hubs and I, there is really no hope for our kids.
I just counted the books that I have on 2 small-ish bookcases, the total was 140.
Add to that 3 more (larger) bookcases, a dresser full of stacks and multiple small boxes of books, and we are well on our way to having our own library.
Oh, and A has a bunch of books too.



All if this to say, I love to read.
Always have, always will.
And, if you aren't a "reader", I strongly encourage you to become one.
You won't regret it.

Check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/jen_l_06



All photos via Pinterest.

it goes so fast

My baby girl started Kindergarten yesterday.
Wasn't it just the other day that I was itching to get out of my hospital bed to go to the NICU to hold my 7 weeks premature girl? Didn't she just amaze me by rolling over; sitting up; crawling; walking? It seems like I was just beaming with joy when A said her first word, which was Gordy, the name of our dog at the time. Was it seriously 4 1/2 years ago that I finally let go enough to move her to her own bedroom? And now, that brown eyed beauty is officially in elementary school? How can this be? I know that in the blink of an eye things are going to change again. She'll want to have a slumber party with her friends. School dances and boys are going to be in the forefront of her mind at one point. I know I will cry the day that she gets her driver's license and takes off down the road for the first time. One day she is going to have a job and be independent of both myself and her dad. She will move out and be on her own in the world (although, she did tell me that I can visit her whenever I want). There will come a day when I try to hold it together while her daddy is walking her down the aisle towards the man of her dreams.
And one day she'll understand just how much I love, cherish and adore her, when she holds her own babies in her arms.

the face rubbers....

....this is what I have nicknamed my 3 loves.

It all started with the hubs. We can be sitting next to each other, lying next to each other or standing next to each other and he will rub his face on my arm or shoulder.

I then realized awhile back that A did the same thing. Only to me.

And now, at barely 2 months old, Baby L does the same thing if I'm holding him with his head on my chest.

It is so funny to me, but both the hubs and A swear up and down that it feels good and brings them comfort in a way. Also, I've noticed that the face rubbing increases when they are tired. I guess I can understand. I'm an eye rubber. At any given moment (but normally when I'm tired) I can start rubbing my eyes. And I've been doing this ever since I can remember. It is one of the reasons that I dislike wearing eye makeup. Why wear it if it's either: a. going to be rubbed off OR b. going to get smeared and smudged?

Anyways, file that away under "quirks of the L family".

What are your "tired" quirks?