{virtual} coffee flavored drink!?

hey!

guess what!?

i am drinking a light vanilla frappucino!

and i like it.

here's the story:

i want to have cute bottles like this for us to drink milk out of....

so i was thinking that these are sorta that shape...

i bought myself a 4 pack.

then i thought i should try them, to not be wasteful.

and i actually LIKE them!

not too bitter and coffee-ish at all!

a little sweet.

i could only drink half, but still...

a coffee drink!

now, i also bought some mr. clean magic erasers

(to clean off the bottles after i removed the labels)

which is the other half to this crazy surprise morning.

let me just say WOW!

i never knew.

i never never knew

(lena, you can smile knowingly, now)

those things are a miracle.

my oven looks amazing!

and walls and baseboards and doors and switch plates.....

this morning was good for so much more than cute milk bottles 

(although the first one turned out great!)

i have a yummy drink and a clean oven too!

who knew?

(well, i bet a lot of you knew all of this)

ps. i just looked up frappuccino bottles on pintrest and i guess i am not the first to think of this...

so, although i am not the most original thinker, 

i am a happy little lady today!

happy tuesday!

'round here-second camera phone edition

i just arrived at a little party called instagram...
an app on my iphone that lets me take fun pictures and share um as i go.
so this is my week.
no fancy camera, just in the moment.

notes:

salad-summer salad: spinach, feta, strawberries, blackberries, avocado, candied walnuts, balsamic vinaigrette. yum

banner-for my upcoming wildflowers shoot! shhhhhh. not telling anything about it until its happened. it's a mystery.

ella's hanky shirt- i made it out of a hanky. it took 5 minutes. really. do you want me to do a super easy tutorial?

ella's red flower dress- i don't really let her wear that mini dress alone. she was in the backyard. i made that dress out of the same fabric as her special "flower blanket" that she likes to take everywhere. so she really really loves that "dress turned tunic top"...i think it makes her feel safe ;)

hula hoop- it's mine, but the kids bent it...grrrrrr. i am goooood at hula hoop. obvs.

ella's photo shoot dress- shhhhh.

all the pictures of ella- we are ALWAYS together. joined at the hip. hence all the pictures of her.

ipad- yep. reedo got me one for mother's day. sweet, right? it saves me at the karate studio and the grocery store, sometimes. he got it engraved on the back to say "OH HAPPY DAY love, reedo, jake ty and ella".  so cute.

jake-trying on stuff at H&M.

that's it.
honestly not my best week as a mother.
i can do better.
i think next week will be better.

your summer is about to get cuter...

if you have tiny kids that need bottles or sippy cups this may be a few years away, but...

wanta make some super cute no-spill cups and get rid of all that mismatched sippy/straw cup nonsense?

(could this photo look any better on my blog??? perfect match!)

come on over to cake and cotton to see how!

this may be my favorite post i've ever done....

i am learning how to use i movie.
i am so super into it and so freakishly proud....
check out my VERY FIRST MOVIE EVER!
it seriously makes my want to freak out.








the song is "the prettiest tree on the mountain" by ben sole
the inspiration came from grace and tom
and the ability to make this loveliness came from my reedo getting me all the tools...
love them all.

a grouchy lady edits pictures...

i did it.

i organized and edited my photos from bend.

sigh.

one thing checked off my list.

but, you should know that ella was in her dress up princess costume all day.

that includes two trips to walmart (gag),

three to the elementary school,

and two fast food restaurants...yep two.

i didn't wear make up or do my hair...at all.

i had that funny head scarf thing on all day.

i also wore head to toe navy blue.

i have nothing against navy, it's just the head to toe part thats kinda depressing.

i was grouchy today.

so give yourself a pat on the back if you smiled a lot today, you did better than i did.

i told the kids that i was in a bad mood.

i thought it would be a good example.

you know? to model just admitting it and asking for some extra understanding?

jake just asked seven hundred and twenty eight questions about why i was in a bad mood....yep....that didn't really help much.

it may have made it just a tad worse.

but it did make me stop and try to figure out what made me grouchy...i think i may be getting sick...that's what i came up with.

my trip to bend was really so great.

i had some super special time with my sisters.

we even went to a little town CALLED sisters.

perfect.

it had antique shops and a fabric store.

plus a little market that had fountain diet coke(hard to find around there).

we each got one and then there was this little spinner at the front counter and if you spun the slot that said "free drink" you got it free...

we spun two free drinks and it was as if someone had won the lottery...

val yelled and i wooped.(i was not in a bad mood that day)

the guy behind the counter had the giantess smile and we all agreed it was gonna be one of the best memories form our trip...

those two free 99cent drinks...

sisters also had a cute little ice cream shop with cool floors...

here are things i saw in bend...

one evening val and i went for a walk by the deschutes river.

it was so perfect.  the lighting and the loveliness....

grace and i did some exploring too...

she is a goof ball.

but i finally got to photograph so real clouds...i have a lack of real clouds in california, so i loved finding these...

grace is like reedo, she doesn't shy away from the camera, but she doesn't pose either...or make weird faces (like i do).

i kinda go crazy when they are both just hangin out letting me snap away...

they love me.

we got lots of good time with grace and her boyfriend tom and that was so happy to me.

my favorite.

and then we were home.

bam.
can it really be over?

(i have tried and tried to fix the weird funky "text on the side thing" and i don't know whats happening with blogger right now...it won't let me fix it....that doesn't help my mood.... %$@#$ blogger! didn't you get the memo that i am grouchy!??)

bend

ok so here's my real deal.
i only have so many words.
i am incredibly exhausted in that area right now.
for a combination of reasons.
but I also know that I can count on you friends to work with me give me some grace for a lack of words.
so here is part one of my spring 2011 bend trip.
the minimal words version.
enjoy.
i am confident that my words will return soon(ish).

another song? {yes please!}

i am getting myself together.

i've had one whole week away from my job.

you know that place where, you have no idea where to start because it seems like more than you can ever do, so you just do a blog post?

yep.

that's me right now.

now, don't get me wrong, i am so well taken care of!

i got to visit with my sisters, hang out with a dear friend, snuggle and take walks with reedo, and then i came home to my sweet sweet mother in law who had seriously held down the fort for me in a BIG way.

not the kind of "hold down the fort" where you look around and just thank God that every one is still alive, the kind where my laundry is folded and the kids have eaten veggies all week....yah, not. too. shabby.

i am so thankful for that break!

i have (around) a bazzilion pictures to share, but i need to download them and edit them still....

so for now, i will share this music video of my amazingly talented sister gracie girl.

i got to listen to her sweet voice for a whole week and now i am listening to this over and over because i just can't get enough.

she is such a treasure.

really.

she makes my life better.

i couldn't love anyone more.

if she's not lovely, i don't know what is....

so here you go...you are welcome.

linking up with heather....of course.

a special treat

hi friends!
i am in bend.
bonding away with my sweetie pie sisters....
and yesterday we even got to sing at my gracie girl's church!
o sisters!


Grace Laxson and Sisters :: Down in the River to Pray from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

my sisters are so beautiful to me
hope you are all well...
when i get home it's gonna be like christmas catching up on on the blog posts and pintrest updates!

xo (wink wink)

{virtual} whirl wind...

oh, well hello!
i am glad to meet today.
i have many things swirling around my head.
did you have a nice mother's day?
did you decide to be happy?
i did.
but that choice wasn't as hard as my birthday was.
my husband and kids really put effort into making it special on sunday.
isn't that nice?
i'd like to say either way i would've known my worth as a mother, but i can't be sure....we all know that sometimes i choose that route and sometimes i don't...
but this mother's day the choice was easy.
my mother in law is here(staying with us) and we decided to take her to one of our my favorite places.
the mission.
you know i love that place.
so we went to church together where ty sang on stage.
"my mom"
instead of "my girl"
you know, "i guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way, my mom...talkin' bout my mom"
and they held the mic up to his little mouth when he sang "my mom"
swoon.

and then Ruby's and we all headed to the mission.
it was really so nice.
then reedo and penny gave me a little time off while ella napped and i went to the mall.
i picked up italian food on the way home which means i didn't cook or clean up one meal that day!
very simple and sweet.

here are some pictures that reedo took that day....

 remember how i said that the kids had to let me take pictures of them on mother's day?
well, jake and ella were....ok with that.
but ty?
he LOVED it!
in fact, when reedo had them all go around saying what they loved about me that night, ty said, "that she takes pictures of us"  WHATwhat?
love that kid.
that's why he get lotsa pictures in here today...

and now it's on!
the countdown.
this week is and will be very busy.
my tiny ty turns 6 years old on thursday....NO IDEA how that is possible.
we are having a rowdy party for him on wednesday afternoon,
treats for his class on thursday morning.
then, he has been invited, with his brother, to test for his karate yellow belt on his birthday night and then reedo and penny and i are gonna take them out to a big guy birthday dinner without ella bear.
then one day to pack and i am off to Bendy Benders to meet up with my sisters!!
three days with special sisters bonding, and then reedo is flying up to join me and bike with his best pal('member he lives up there too?)
all that until saturday!
with grandma penny holdin' down the fort for me until i return!
crazy and awesome, right?
i. am. so. excited.
and.
i have so much to do!
laundry, lunch prep, schedule for grandma, packing, party favors, clean the downstairs bathroom(cause i just went in there and it smells like little boy pee), be nice to everyone, loose some weight, look at my adorable new wreath from danielle, make cupcakes, wrap presents, charge my camera, more laundry, eat some cookies, take 6 year pictures of ty, make sure grandma knows the places to go for pick up and drop off and karate and everywhere....

but even though i have all that to do, i still took the morning off(apparently you can do that when your mother in law is close by....crazy!) and got this little cutie...
she keeps me cool while i do the dishes...

so that's me today.

hope you are doing well and that you are choosing happy today, but if you aren't, don't worry.

tomorrow, is another day....

(i know, i'm a drama queen)