three gratitudes, 4

It's 7:15 on a Sunday morning and thank the stars in the sky, Loretta is still upstairs asleep! I'm grateful for this quiet time, that I got to sleep in until 6 and still have a full hour to do bills and drink coffee and listen to Otto in the other room, belting his heart out to the Frozen soundtrack. I'm grateful for weekends. And right now I'm grateful for the little fellow in the room next to me, who had me laughing so hard while he gave me a load of shit last night because he beat me at bowling. I'm like, "Dude, you had the bumpers up." But he wasn't hearing it. He was like, "Oh yeah, Mommy, sure you're good at bowling, keep telling yourself that." I suppose the goal is to raise them with loads of self-confidence, hearts of gold, and an ironic wit. So it's like check, mumble-mumble-when-it-comes-to-bowling, check.

Currently {link up}

The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: facing, snapping, counting, loving, hopping

This week we have been... Facing! ::does air guitar:: Oh, facing is a cool verb I use that means your face is full of twitches. Party time. Three simultaneous face twitches yesterday (eye, eyebrow, upper lip) UGH!

I have a goal of Snapping more photos. We were on a roll there for awhile but I think winter just ruined me this year and I rolled up like a potato bug and just waited to do anything til the sun came out. It's out-ish now (ok it's been cold and rainy again but we all at least have hope now) and I'm looking forward to more outside time, some projects, and snapping more photos on my actual camera.

This one's from my phone but still, LOOK, LOOK LOOK LOOK, sunshine and ice cream! The winter does end. Thank freaking goodness.

Loretta has been Counting to ten. Amazing! Obviously I spend a lot of time wondering how BOTH of my kids are going to become famous artists AND the President of the United States... it's nice to see them off on the right path early, geniuses, ha. Loretta can identify two of anything (just try her, two is her jam!) and count to ten on her fingers but it's a pretty sloppy little count with lots of too many and not enough fingers involved, and skipping four. Pretty much the best.

Last night we were Loving this green bean recipe. If you don't know what to do with a giant fresh pile of green beans, this may be it. Quick, easy, and so good.

and we've been Hopping to make plans (yikes, that's a stretch) to move Otto from a shared bedroom with Loretta (which he only uses for clothes storage since he sleeps with us at night) into his own room, probably this weekend. We don't expect him to just fast-transition to sleeping in his own bed again or anything, but he's made it known that he's ready for his own space where he can set up some of his "choking hazard" toys and plug in his Darth Vader nightlight and just big-boy around. I'm excited for him and for the shopping trip to thrift/antique stores we have planned for this weekend to get him his own dresser.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
reading, feeling, racing, using, smelling 

three gratitudes, 3

I am grateful for meal planning. We got back on the meal planning track this past weekend and it makes such a huge difference in how much you spend at the grocery (less!), what you eat during the week (just better stuff!), and the daily anxiety of figuring out what to make for dinner (basically gone!). All hail Pinterest for inspiring recipes. This week we're having veggie cheese soup with homemade bread, tacos, homemade pizza, ravioli with sundried tomatoes, and breakfast for dinner. Then one night we're having dinner at a friend's and another night we'll either order out or do macaroni & hot dogs because they can't all be winners! And then OK, speaking of spending at the grocery, I am grateful for a growing boy who has started eating us out of house and home. It's actually kind of darling how much this child can wolf down. Annnnnnd, finally I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't hold it against me that at least twice a week I'm gonna pass out at 7pm during Otto's bedtime and binge-sleep til morning. I wake up around 4:30 most days and getting 6 hours most nights is fine but sometimes you just gotta jam out some Zzzzzz's.

yard kids

Last weekend, with Nana and Papa's help, we turned a sandbox into a garden for the kids. This weekend the kiddos went to work planting pansies and mums (I think) in their little garden box along with other yard activities that have all warmed my cold, dead Oregon wintered heart. Otto peed in the grass. THAT IS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. Loretta got angry at dirt she threw in her own face. That's my girl. The grownups had a beer and mowed and I turned up a 5' x 4' patch of yard for future gardening. I'll be starting my seeds this week and so cleared out a shelf in the laundry room to get those guys going. Can't wait to see the little sprouts start coming up. Beets and tomatoes and all kinds of veggie goodness. Also? I am hard-core dreaming about a worm composter. But who isn't?