Aunt Launa

Yesterday the boys and I headed down to Stanford to see this sweet girl (Ryan's sister) tear up the field for the BYU women's rugby team.
It was fun to see her play (even though I had no idea what was going on since it was RUGBY), and it was even more fun to talk to her afterward. We introduced her to a smiley little Chase, and she won Trenton over with snack food. :)

Now if only we'd been there when she broke her wrist playing in this same tournament later that day... Get better soon, Launa!

Getting Crafty

I loooove a good project. (As evidenced by the piano. Man was that a project.) To fill my evenings when the boys are asleep and my hubby is traveling, so far I've finished the piano bench and made this burlap wreath:

I found a tutorial for this wreath HERE. The flowers are from Forever 21 headbands that I bought just for this purpose. The fun thing is that I can switch them out seasonally.

The bench! I love this fabric. It was easy to staple on, and I have extra, so if (when?) the boys ruin it, I can just replace it!


I'm so happy with how the whole thing has turned out.

Today

The kids were driving me so crazy today that I cried—just a little. Turns out that was the best thing I did all day. Trenton hugged me, kissed me on the lips, said sorry, and actually started behaving better—all of this unprompted! I should cry more! But then of course it would probably lose it's effectiveness...

Love This City

Today was the perfect Bay Area Saturday.

A big part of Ryan's personality is his love for adventure. Whenever he's with us, he wants to go on big outings, rather than stay at home and let our bored children gang up on us. :) So we often throw caution naps to the wind and head to the city, the beach, or somewhere down south—anywhere, really. We typically go into San Francisco a couple of times a month, though it doesn't make the blog every time.

So today we headed to the farmers' market on Embarcadero, the one that surrounds the Ferry Building (another one of my favorite places in the city). It was a gorgeous, blustery day, so typical of San Francisco in the fall/winter. Ryan and Trenton fed some aggressive pigeons and seagulls, Chase chilled in THE exact same position in the stroller the entire time, and I drank some rich hot chocolate and sampled fancy cheese and sea salt. (Insert Trenton's voice saying, "FUN!!")

This is how Chase looked for pretty much the whole stroll. Except when he saw that we were eating some bread and he wasn't. My boys love to eat!

A happy Mr. T with hot chocolate on his face. A bit before this, I asked Trenton for a sip from the cup of hot chocolate he was holding. He told me in no uncertain terms, "Sit!" So I sat down next to him, and he graciously handed over the cup. It's always good to know things are sinking in!

Guess Ryan didn't make the cut. (Sorry, babe!) Our camera is on its last leg, so I didn't get a ton of pics.

On the Brink

There's a lot of this going on at our house...

And this...

And this...

When Trenton sees Chase rocking on his hands and knees, he points to him and says, "Practice!" I guess I've been telling him that Chase is practicing. Then Trenton and I crawl around on our hands and knees to show Chase how. :)

And this I'm adding just because I seem to like to end all of my posts with the latest cute picture of Chase.

Sticks

Introducing you to a place that is special to us. We call it Sticks.


At the end of this private drive is a turn-around. It's our personal backyard—a place where a certain two-year-old can wield big sticks without running into anything (or anyone). That's why we call the whole area Sticks, because that's what Trenton calls it. :)

Can you see Trenton and his dad atop the hill? To the left of this picture is a big meadow that overlooks the whole city...


When Dad's with us, we like to explore.

When it's just Mom and the boys, we tend to stick closer to the pavement, just pushing around pebbles with sticks (pseudo hockey), running fast from one side to the other, or dropping twigs down the sewer grate. :) It's a fantastic place for a boy to be a boy, and since it's not time for us to have a yard yet, I'm all the more grateful for this place that we call Sticks.

What is he—17??

The other day I heard a contented little sigh come from the kitchen. You know that "Ah" sound you can't help but make after you drink something really good, when you were really thirsty?

I walk into the kitchen to see my barely 2-year-old standing in front of an open refrigerator, holding a gallon of milk up to his lips, the yellow cap thrown to the floor. WHAT?? I swear we don't drink like milk like this in our house! (Not even Ryan!)


I love his expression in this picture. It's like he's saying, "Yeah, Mom. Just wait till I'm a teenager."


This is what Chase was doing during the whole scene. Mmmm, mashed avocado!

"Yay Chase!"

Yesterday I was feeding Chase some mashed bananas, and Trenton grabbed his stool from the kitchen (he loves that thing) and brought it over to stand on top of it right next to Chase. After I gave Chase a bite, I heard Trenton's sweet little voice say, "Big boy!" Then after each bite it was something new, like "Yay Chase!" or "Good Chase!" What a lucky little boy Chase is to get so much encouragement from his big brother!

To Trenton: I'm sure Chase wouldn't have made it through the meal without you. Thanks, Buddy!