lovely little life.

last weekend, the atlanta dogwood festival took place in piedmont park. not only is the dogwood festival the biggest and best festival in atlanta, my best friend coordinates the entire event. friday morning, we woke up to cloudy skies and cool weather. going downtown for the day was a no brainer.

the rain held off all day. the boys bounced. we all ate some yummy fair food. i got to catch up with an old high school friend and admire her new baby boy.

you can't ask for much more than that.

saturday morning on the way to breakfast, we spotted a touch a truck event at the rec center. police cars, fire trucks, dump trucks and motorcycles. of course we stopped on the way home.



lane's made his first friend all on his own. they are in the same class at school and love all the same things, most of all monster jams, super cross and race cars.

saturday night, james and lane met up with him and his papa at dixie speedway for the season's opening race. while the big boys watched fast cars and munched on cheap food, i had a few hours to love on the giggie baby all by myself.

we went for frozen yogurt. i don't think he even noticed being left out of the big boy activities.

nor did he mind. for now.


lane's been taking a gym class on monday mornings since january. evan was more than happy to sit in my lap and watch his brother for 45 minutes. until a few weeks ago. now, he wants in on the action. this week, after class, i let the boys play together on the indoor trampoline.

it was pretty much awesome. only problem. i don't know how i'm going to keep evan off the trampoline during next week's class.



we traded frozen yogurt for the playground on tuesday. are my kids the only ones who never use the playground equipment for its intended purposes?

for more than a month, we've been promising our favorite set of blonde sisters a trip to the botanical gardens. sick kids, sick mamas and rainy weather have kept us from going. until yesterday. the trip was worth the wait. not only did the sun shine and the wind blow just the right amount of cool air yesterday, the bullfrogs are finally out from hibernation for all of us to enjoy.

this weekend, calls for lots of housework in preparation for the big kitchen renovation. i think james is going to paint my new laundry room. and sunday, we get to see my dad and the rest of my family for my dad's birthday celebration. it is always fun when we get a four year old, three year old, two year old and one year old together in a restaurant.

ding.

this story is for my old co-worker and friend christina, who responded to this post, where you might notice i had to get a little creative with my photo cropping. there's a little more to that story.

and here it goes.

sometime after evan found belly button, but before i showed him his nose, he discovered his ding. and his papa's ding. and his brother's ding. if you haven't figured out what a ding is yet, let me just say i'm the only member of this family that doesn't have one.

dings, as i'm learning, are fascinating to little boys, and big boys for that matter. and evan just can't resist touching his, or his papa's, or his older brother's any chance he can get. sometimes, we will see it coming, and in preparation for the little push to the private area that is about to happen, james will call out "ding."

and so it is. my 15 month old can also point out one other body part.

his ding, as he so proudly calls out and reaches for each and every time i change his diaper.

ding, he calls loudly with a huge smile as his hand reaches down to his little boy parts and then up for a high five.

because, as i'm also learning, dings are so important to the male population thatthey should be high fived.

so christina, don't worry, you aren't alone. as you said, boys will be boys.

we let the kids play in the sprinkler.

i don't think its quite warm enough to be considered sprinkler weather just yet but the veggie garden needed to be watered the other night and the boys were not taking no for answer. james and i couldn't do much to keep them away. so we just let them soak themselves in water and get covered in dirt.

sometimes its easy to get caught up in all the silly what's hot now in raising your children hoopla. and i have to admit that occasionally we do. most of the time, we like to keep it simple.

because it really doesn't take much to make two little boys happy and keep them entertained for an evening. just an old fashion sprinkler and a dirt hill that is great for sliding down once your little body is soaking wet.

baby love.

two weeks ago, i took evan in for his 15 month well visit. i find it hard to believe he's growing so fast despite the fact that, well, he is growing so fast. we breezed right through the nurse's list of developmental questions until we reached the last one.

can he point to his nose?

not yet. but he can show us his belly button.

when the nurse left, i decided we would conquer finding our nose. it didn't take long. i showed evan his nose. i showed him mine. i showed lots of excitement.

he caught on.

now we know belly button, nose, hair and ears.

and how to give a high five.

looks like he's going to grow up despite all my efforts to keep him my baby just a little longer.

lovely little life.

our covered back deck is the perfect place for swinging. rain or shine. that's why we hung our oversize hammock right near the back door. and that's where you will find the boys at some point most evenings.


there's just an hour between preschool pick-up and nap. not enough time to go to the park. too much time to go home. so we've been meeting our friends for a some fro yo on tuesday and thursday afternoons.

last week, the kids covered themselves in chalk, let balloons fly into the air and played ring around the rosie.

an older couple admired from afar and eventually asked if it was a birthday celebration.

no, it is just a thursday.


four frisbees. 97 cents each at the wal mart. countless hours of afternoon fun for my boys.


a new cupcake shop opened in downtown. one gluten free option on tuesday, thursday and saturday. looks like i'm going to have to take the long way to the gym, james' office and almost every where else i go three days a week.

to balance out all the fro yo and cupcakes, our dinners have been full of farmer's market fresh ingredients thanks to our weekly big box full of veggies and fruits. tonight's dinner: spinach salad. spinach, lettuce and tomatoes from this week's box. carrots from last week's box. some grilled chicken, black olives and hard boiled eggs from the refrigerator.

delish.


lane's new found love for yoga makes my heart melt. its a little bit of me in my boy who is so much like his papa. we had been doing a few stretches on our own until i found some free toddler yoga on ondemand. lane will stretch, downward dog, cobra and go in to child's pose like a professional yogi.

even evan is interested.

this morning, as instructed, he ended his session by bowing his head, pressing his hands together in front of his chest and gently spoke the word namaste.

he then chuckled to himself and said, namaste means there's a light inside your butthole.

nevermind, he is just like his papa.

kids love cuties.

the saying rings true. my kids love cuties. i can buy a bag on tuesday, and the kids will eat one after another and in just a few days time, the fruit bowl will be empty.

we will each eat one for breakfast. lane will ask to pack two in his lunch - one for himself and one for ms. jennie, his teacher. they are the perfect after nap treat. and fit nicely in my purse as an afternoon snack.

this year, lane learned to peel the cuties all on his own. and eating cuties became even more fun.

the curl.

a few weeks ago, evan sprouted a little surprise on top of his head. suddenly, his hair started to grow and a little curl appeared. each night, we would bathe him, wipe the towel across the top of his head to dry his little patch of hair, send him off to bed, and in the morning, this little curl would greet us.

he received compliments on it every time we were out and about. and james and i couldn't get enough of that sweet little squiggle on the top of his head. we waited more than a year to see a little personality appear on the top of our sparsely haired boy. and that curl was such a sweet little treat.

then, just as soon as it appeared, more and more hair started to grow and the cute little curl disappeared.

coconut curry chicken.

i'm a big fan of one dish dinners. that, along with the fact that it is super tasty, is why this dish currently sits at the top of my dinner rotation list. and, all of my boys will eat it up.

if we have been out all day, and i need to fix something fast, it can be prepared in less than hour. if we have been out all day, and i planned ahead, it can simmer all day in the crock pot.

the original recipe came from an old martha stewart everyday foods magazine. however, i've made many adjustments to it over the last three years. many times, i'll add whatever we have in the house that fits. two musts for the meal: you must like coconut and you must like curry.

coconut curry chicken:

skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
at least 2 tablespoons curry powder
garlic powder or minced garlic
can coconut milk
can stewed, diced tomatoes

based on how much you are preparing or how many you are feeding,
adjust ingredients for your family.

pour enough oil in the bottom of a large pot and heat. i use my medium size cast iron pot.
once oil is warm, add garlic and curry powder. brown.
add chicken to garlic and curry powder mixture. brown chicken on all sides.
pour in at least one can of coconut milk and diced tomatoes.

simmer until chicken is cooked and liquid thickens.

this is where you can really cater this meal to meet your family's needs. i always try to add some vegetables to mine. if i have carrots, i will cut up a few and add them to simmer. frozen peas also taste good with this dish. i have also added a can of chick peas and diced potatoes before.

i almost always serve it on top of rice.

very few dirty dishes. plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.

and the one year old almost always eats his and whatever his brother didn't finish.

"children become readers on the laps of their parents."
- Emilie Buchwald

brudders.

it is more common to find them annoying each other. hear one fussing at the other. one snatching a toy from the others hand. although lately, more and more, i'll find them together throughout the day.

i'll peek in a room and hear lane reading to evan. i'll look over in the playground and spot them sliding, or throwing, or climbing right next to each other. i'll step outside to check on them and find them intrigued by the same thing: lane explaining whatever it is to evan.

i know i have many more years ahead of me as referee. i also know one day i'll have to step aside and let them work it out on their own.

for now, i'm wishing i could keep them right here, as they are, for just a little bit longer.

spring break.

for a stay-at-home-mom, i think the best way to spend spring break is close to home. i imagine one day, when the boys get older, we might venture farther away, but for now, we made our own fun right in our own backyard and in our own town.

a lot of our time was spent with our favorite set of sisters in our own backyard:
catching caterpillars, swinging in the hammock and eating popsicles.

lane picked up a frisbee one night while we were at target. and played with it in the backyard each day. when he couldn't convince his papa, brother or a friend to play with him, he'd play
with the short hair.

evan invented a new game: sliding down the hill in the bucket of the big tonka truck tractor.
the older boys stole his idea and perfected their technique.

the short hair soaked up a lot of sun.

we dyed a lot of eggs. and ate almost as many as we dyed.

toward the end of the week, the weather cooled a bit.
i met lanna for a night out on thursday.
james and i spent a little time alone on friday night.
on saturday, the boys and i ventured out for a while to visit with some of our favorite family friends. we enjoyed a pizza lunch, a walk around the square, playing on the train and, of course, making penny wishes in the fountain.

val wished for a passing grade. my mom wished for a day off each week to spend with the boys. lane wished for a monster truck.

i kept my penny.

i've got everything i could ever want.

converse covered feet.

two years ago, i purchased a tiny pair of converse for my sweet baby lane. his first pair of big boy shoes. the stitching ran uninterrupted on the bright red canvas. the white laces shined bright. there wasn't a scuff to be found any where on his size five sneakers.

those one stars logged some miles on my little lane's feet.

and when those tiny feet grew an inch or so bigger, i washed the red converse one last time and packed them away with intentions of saving them for memory's sake and hopes that they would one day find their way to another little boy's feet.

two years later, and my boy has never been without a pair of red converse for his always growing feet.

last month, i pulled a box from storage and found a pair of perfectly worn red shoes for the little boy of my hopes. the stitching runs loosely on the faded red canvas. the shoelaces are worn. and the size five sneakers are full of scuffs.

those one stars are logging even more miles on my little evan's feet.

all of the boys' shoes lined up on the back porch to dry.

dye and crack.

in a first for us, we've stayed home all week. all week, i tell you. three whole days without leaving the house. that's my way of avoiding all the places we usually go that are full of kids on spring break this week.

we've invited a few friends over and spent lots of time playing outside.

on sunday, i boiled a dozen eggs. good for snacks, lunch and tie dying.

we've dyed a few at a time over the last three days. at first, lane didn't take to it. then yesterday, he decided it is his new favorite spring craft. i think we might continue to dye our eggs well past easter.

if you haven't dyed your eggs yet, here's an easy way to color your eggs using items you more than likely already have at home.

tie dyed easter eggs

items needed:
white vinegar
boiled eggs
paper towels
liquid food color

pour vinegar into a bowl. cut a piece of paper towel in half and dip into vinegar.
wrap towel around the egg one time.
using the food color directly from the dropper, drop one color at a time onto the covered egg.
rotate egg and colors.
remove towel and place egg in holder to dry.

to keep work surface free from dye, i placed the wrapped eggs on a plastic plate covered with extra paper towels. to keep kids hands free from dye, plastic gloves would work.
i, however, thought the dyed hands were almost as cute as the dyed eggs.

you are what you eat.

if the old saying is true, and you are, in fact, what you eat, then today i am a dark chocolate mint m&m.

i've been popping a few at at time since our day started at 7 am.

she's cute, right?

cheerio compromise.

i came to a compromise. the boys can have their fruity cheerios for breakfast a few times a week.

while it might not be my favorite food to feed them, i've found a way to live with it. i simply mix two thirds of their bowls with whole grain cheerios and then fill in the rest with the fruity cheerios.

the boys don't even notice. and, i feel somewhat satisfied with their first meal of the day.



i can't argue with two smiling faces. even if lane is at that stage where he makes such a goofy face every time he sees the camera pointed his direction.


i've also found that serving the cereal in brightly colored latte bowls makes for quite a pretty display and makes clean up just a bit more enjoyable.