Time to put the bon bons away...

Kidding. I have not been eating any bon bons. Life has just been busy and wonderful lately. The boys are changing every day and I haven't wanted to miss a second. So we've been chasing bugs, going to the park, reading a lot and hanging out. It's been heaven on earth.

Sam and Luke's Nonni and Granddad are in Alaska for a few weeks, so we are watching their sweet pup, Bella. She is a good girl and Sam wants her to be his. He has said, "My puppy?" And then I remind him and he says, "Oooooh, Nonni puppy!" So it's "all about Bella" over here. They have been helping me feed her, pour her water, and pick the leaves out of her fur when she comes in. Yes, it's true love.

(Fun fact - my parents used to live in Alaska and I was born there. They are having a great trip!)


**OH, RATS. Most of these pictures won't rotate, even though I have done it a few times in My Pictures. I am tired, so you are just going to have to cock your head. See? I really AM a lazy blogger.


His puppy (he wishes)


Bella's no dummy. She knows which one is the messy eater.



I surrender.

Sweet puppy.

Luke, THIS is how you do it.

Double the pets!

A little blog break

I just wanted to let my handful of faithful readers know that I am taking a little blog break. We are really busy right now and the boys need me.

As soon as things get settled, we'll be back!

Hope you are all doing well!

Batter up!!!

It is "all baseball, all the time" at our house. Sam has given his heart to baseball. It even comes before food!! He will try to hurry through dinner and then say, "Bat, mama? Ball, mama?"

Anything that even remotely resembles a ball or a bat becomes "mah ball" or "mah bat." Well, that is perhaps a bit generous. In a moment of desperation, even a small pencil became a bat. Desperate times call for desperate measures, you know. (Edited to add: a potato masher just became a bat. I was crying I was laughing so hard.)

(I would be remiss if I didn't mention their "summer haircuts." They started out innocently enough - "just a trim" and that went haywire. So I just buzzed them for the summer. It's just hair and hair grows, right?)

Swinging his bat...


A boy and his mail tube bat.


I think that was a homer, little slugger!


Aaah, I have all my treasures - my bat, my cap and my ball.


Thanks for the hat, Uncle Matt!


Phewww...it's been a rough one

Bubbles and bucket shoes!

We're having a great weekend. We took the boys to spend the night at the Westin Crown Center. We took them to the Crayola Cafe (sounds neater than it was) and Fritz's restaurant - where a little train delivers your food to your table. I don't have the vocabulary to express their delight with Fritz's. It was so much fun to see them enjoying it so much. We'll be back, Fritz's!!

Last night we took them back to the T.Rex cafe with their granddad. They are still a bit young for it, but a good time was had by all. They are in for a shock when their meals next week are going to be served by boring mommy in their kitchen. I guess I could give them a little impromptu "eat your veggies" dance or something.

And then some Luke bath fun - he is our water baby. He loved the pool so much and really thought he could swim all by himself. He loves going under the water!


Bubbles are the best.


Can you see my bubble beard?


I wish I could live in the tub.


Sam found his buckets from the San Diego Zoo and voila! they became shoes. He walked a LOT in his buckets. Guess I won't need to be buying shoes anytime soon.


Taking a rest from strenuous bucket shoe walking.


Look at me go!!

Musical additions!

Wow - I am finally getting with it and have added a playlist to the blog. I hope it enhances your viewing pleasure (Mom and Dad - my faithful, and perhaps only(?) readers). I didn't select "shuffle," so if you want to hear a different song, just scroll to the bottom and click on it (Mom and Dad). The music thing is really Tony's passion, but I took my amateur crack at it.

The songs I selected and why:

My Wish by Rascal Flatts - I am not a "country music lover," but I have always loved this song. I sing it to the boys. And I use the term "sing" very loosely.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - by a Hawaiian artist named Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (who is more commonly referred to as "IZ" for obvious reasons). He had health problems and passed away in 1997 at age 38. This song is wonderful.

A New Day by Celine Dion - This is a song she wrote for her son. I listened to it for years, dreaming of the day I would have a son.

Home by Michael Buble - I am a huge Michael Buble fan and even though this song is a love song, I used to listen to it when we were waiting for Sam to come home. I cried many tears listening to this and dreaming of the day he would be here to sing it to.

Beautiful Boy by John Lennon - he wrote it for his son Sean. Tony is the biggest Beatles fan you could ever meet and we love this song and our beautiful boys.

God Blessed the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts - another country song that I listened to while we were in process. Sam and Luke, God most certainly blessed the road that led us straight to you.

Sugar Dumpling by Sam Cooke - I am a HUGE Sam Cooke fan and sing this song to the boys. It is written for his wife/girlfriend, but I still love it. I have been known to dance around the house with them in my arms singing it. Thank goodness only my mom and dad are reading this!!

Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel - the title says it all

Stand by Me by The Temptations - because I will always love and protect them

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Goats and toothbrushes...

Welcome back for some more of the minutiae that is my life.

We took the boys to the zoo today. It was such a great time - lots of animal sounds coming from them which is always enjoyable (did you know that giraffes growl? Neither did I, but Luke let me know.)

We let them feed the goats and Luke, our son who stuffs food in his mouth with both hands, was, well, quite persnickety with his goat feed rations. It was "one kernel at a time"...which frustrated the goats a great deal. (I think Luke was enjoying being the one to dole out, instead of being the "dolee"...)

They took a 3 hour nap when we got home and that is never a bad thing!


Sam not quite sure what to think and definitely not enjoying the goat slobber.


Here's your solitary kernel.


Goat moving on to more generous sources...


Goat: "Your feeding style isn't working for me."


The train!!!


Choo choooooo!


Cave boy


Loving their new toothbrushes




Life is good.