they will outnumber us!

It's official! I've kept it a secret for far too long. From the blogging world and my family {which makes up most of my readers, so it's really all the same}.
I mailed out handmade letters along with photos of the surprise!

We went to our local church to do this photo shoot and it turned out quite nice. The boys are now getting the hang of sitting still and cooperating because it means we get done much faster than if I have to fight them. 

I have had this bun in the oven for 13 weeks!! Do you know how hard it is to keep this stuff to yourself for 13 weeks? Holy bananas. I did it out of respect for my sister who insisted I did not steal her thunder her first pregnancy, which is understandable. {happy to announce also, that baby Leo is home--praise the Lord!!} How dare you steal someone's pregnancy thunder, right?!

we're all about the fake smiles...

So yeah, I have been sick, sick, sick this entire time. Tired as a dog like in the Beatles song. Not to mention, I already popped out. It's a bit ridiculous. But I guess it's what I get when you don't lose the baby fat from your previous pregnancies--haha!
We are SOOOOO happy about this, Witty baby #3 will make its appearance early 2014. I have already explained the baby business to the boys. Mommy's belly will get bigger and bigger {and bigger} and a tiny human will come out. Andrew already takes care of me by not kicking me in the gut, and Jonah already kissed baby. He really just was blowing me raspberries, but a mom can wish, right?
I asked the boys if they wanted a baby brother or sister...in unison they both said no. Andrew claims he already has a brother and he doesn't need another. Jonah said he just would like a baby. Not a sister or a brother.
Well kids, you're gonna get what you're gonna get and you're gonna be happy about it.

water balloon afternoon

this past week, we enjoyed a day outside. we had summer fun out in our parking lot of our duplex apartment! exciting, right? please forgive the never-ending shots of vehicles as background props {grumbles}.

the boys and the little girl had fun trying to get Gary...it was quite funny to watch the balloons never make it to him and just splat on the ground. kids didn't care, they would run to the bucket giggling and laughing to get one more.

 and when the bucket no longer had balloons, daddy had to take matters into his own hands. splash.

have a great week errbody.

after it rains

gnomes and faeries make me happy. you should go ahead and add mermaids to the list too. {check out my mermaid homage and buy one please} but mushrooms? oh, they make me happy happy happy. i don't really know where my fascinations came from all i know is that i don't eat them as often as I should. so they're literally a 'treat' when i do get to enjoy them in my meals {insert explanation here of how the hubs is the most pickiest eater alive and hates them}.
and when it rains here, mushrooms pop up everywhere. i've never lived in a part of texas that had mushrooms grow from the ground. i mostly spot umbrella-like mushrooms that pop up in my potted plants, but it must have been fate, because when I checked my mail box that afternoon after a rain, and looked down...i saw these beauties just waiting for me!!! 

these things were enormous! i was ready to chop those babies up and sautee them with some tasty onions. but after some research, we found out they're not edible. they give you a bad stomach-ache. but that's cool. at least they made for a cool photo shoot. did you know that texas has mushroom hunting groups? crazy. 

the next morning, i let the kids play outside and andrew runs back inside bursting that i need to come see this. with such urgency, i had no other choice but to take his hand and be dragged by his eager little body.

this time, it was a family of umbrella mushrooms, biggest I have ever seen since i first started spotting them. 

the way mushrooms surrounded the earth kinda reminded me of the movie Coraline where she's looking for the water well, and she finally finds it {standing on top of it} and there are mushrooms all around the edge. i always love that scene. 

favorite stop-motion movie of all time! 

i was so proud of andrew for letting me know about the mushrooms. it tells me he gets excited about exploring and discovering.

this Sunday, is the husband's 31st birthday. i am taking it easy this year since last year was a super event. just thinking about that day, makes me tired all over. andrew keeps asking if we can finally make a cake. i tell him not yet. not yet. 

and the signs that school is just right around the corner is saddening, even the hubs has tons of football practives and school meetings planned for the next week. and i cry every night just thinking that my almost 5 year old is about to begin real kindergarten. *hold me, please*

but, let's not be debbie downers, and look forward to the weekend! happy fin de semana, you guys! 

real life

juice of the week? 

freakin' delicious. I made enough for the boys and it also lasted me a few days. this totally brought back taste bud memories from mexico. on street corners, you get jugos {juices} made by hand totally fresh right in front of you. so good. so cheap. unfortunately, my kids will never know that, unless I make it for them. andrew already knows what a juicer is. he gets excited when i pull it out, and goes into a frenzy searching for fruits to juice. while he knows very well that green juices don't taste good, i hope it instills a sense of benefits for when he's old enough to realize, 'hey, this stuff if actually pretty tasty!' and doesn't grab that dr. pepper like someone who I married does. 

jonah, of course, loved it. he tries almost anything i give him. and i love him for it. 

remember when we played restaurant? well, we've been playing tea party lately too. the boys insist on taking out my stoneware {is that what it's called? it's def not china, whatevs, just go along with it} and make an event out of it. just like in restaurant, we go all the way. andrew insisted on daddy changing into his best clothes, and he obliged. we make sure to set up a towel for protection, because somebody always spills something. this time, we had poptart smores as our dessert and english accents to go along with our tea. i need to get sugar cubes though, i think it would be a much better idea than stirring in a teaspoon of it...good grief! 

there's been a few popsicles but lots of wagon rides this summer. our times outdoors occur often, but are quite short and sweet.

...and a ton of silly faces.... esas lonjas hermosas!

there's also been chalking the ground with neighbor friends. i got the chalk paint recipe HERE but I didn't make enough for 4 little kids because I ran out of the main ingredient--corn starch! 

but it was definitely a win project and immediately wrote that on my shopping list so I can make sure to get it next time.
all the weird kids paint rocks, don't they?

there's also been a lot of movie watching, lego building, swimming, wrestling, and ipad gaming. life is good.

andrew also experienced his first vbs {vacation bible school}. he loved going to his 'class' and jonah was quite sad the first day i didn't leave him because he wanted to go to 'class' too. their theme was a rollercoaster and everything was a bit silly, and not to mention, enormous. this was a mega church vbs and i wasn't too keen on it after the first day. whatever happened to small church vbs where the total of the kids was like 70 and crafts were made, songs were sang, you brought a friend, and a bible verse was memorized by all? i don't know what the heck the kid did all 3 days of it, but he didn't come back with any of those things. it was kind of a let down, but you live and you learn. 

anywho, i've been busy too. with my new nephew almost getting to come home after great progress, i have been busy sewing and pedaling {get it? pedaling? i crack myself up} to the finish line with his custom crib bedding and i can't wait to finally get to hold baby leo.
happy hump day everyone!

just a freebie

Hey guys,

Just wanted to make a quick post about a new printable I worked on today. I saw this print in an online store and wasn't too crazy about the design. So I researched it and found better ones, but still not to my liking. So I made my own! I love my Illustrator :) I made blue & coral and they measure 8"x10".

Click on the picture below to get your print on!

Alternatively, you can use them as desktop wallpapers! 

Click HERE for Blue and HERE for Coral so you can save to your computer. 

As always, with any artist, give credit where credit is due and start pinning away!

I guess I really liked this little quote, because I feel it is totally true. No matter how many adventures I wanted to go on, or planned, they will never ever compare to the adventure I am having now with the kiddos. And I want them to know that when they look at this in their room. I want them to be constantly reminded that they are my adventure and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I'll stop getting mushy now. phew.
I made some more printables and I'll be posting them for free in the coming weeks. Have a great weekend!

Simple Moments: found after dark

Hey guys, just a quickie here to participate in Brooke's Simple Moments weekly photo challenge.

This week has been full of lazy dinners & afternoons, thunderstorms, and the most humid weather you can possibly imagine -- sorry Brazilian Amazon, but it's true.
My potted plants are saturated in water, the poor lizards are not getting enough sun, mushrooms are abundant, and we have lived under a constant cloud cover for like 4 days. We actually dig the cloud coverage. It's one of the cool things I like about living in southeast Texas. Clouds. All over. Beautiful too. We didn't have that in northwest Texas. It was just sun. So when we know the sun is behind those clouds and getting close to dinner time, we take the opportunity to spend time outdoors because, let's face it, I'm not that type of person who is willing to sweat outdoors if I don't have to. 

Some nights, it's nice, other nights, it is forgotten and we prefer the company of our flat screen. This night, the boys chose to ride their bikes around the complex. And then daddy decided to get his bike out. And then they begged him to give them rides. So he did.

While they're off riding, I sit in my chair and soak up all the beauty He has provided. I appreciate the breeze, the view, my poor little plants, and the sounds of their laughter and screeching and Gary's panting because he's riding so fast. However, I do this like this: 

So needless to say, this is not my best look. The top bun is just not me, it looks better on my little sister (which is why I snapped this pic, to show her I was sporting the "Dawna") This is how my guys see me almost every day. This is how I choose to remember this night. The beauty of the skies and the freedom to enjoy it from our front door. 

Another unforgettable simple moment happened the other night. Lately, Andrew has been interested in tea parties and playing restaurant. He has been "taking our orders" and loves writing scribbles down. So we finally decided to play restaurant for real. 

Hubby participated by getting a tablecloth and 'setting' the table. And he surprised us all by turning it into a candle lit dinner. It was kinda crazy how it all came together. 

I put on a little apron on Andrew and he grabbed his notepad and pen. He was incredibly excited to be our waiter. With that little smirk he always has. And I kinda was too. Of course, I was the one who cooked our dinner. I placed the pan at his level so he would be able to serve us. Confidently, he wrote our order, took our plate, served the food, then brought the plate back to us. He handed each of us a 'ticket'. 

That night, having everyone sitting around this little table, being formal, and just pretend playing was magical! I loved every minute of it. 

I managed to get a little short video of our waiter in action with the iPad. I didn't use my camera because I wanted to be in the moment and not worry about my settings or capturing something just right. The video is a bit dark, so bear with me :) 

So yeah, Andrew's Ristorante was a hit. Hope you enjoy.

You guys are all welcome to make reservations.