our summer to-do list

if you haven't availed of this awesome summer to-do list printable from eighteen25,  you must hop on over there and do so now!

summer to-do list by eighteen25

the bigs and i sat down and discussed what we wanted to do this summer and compiled our very own list. 

it was so much fun! 

these kids are full of ideas, i tell ya. 

ours doesn't look quite as spiffy without the frame, so i guess the very first thing on our list is actually a trip to michaels!

wanna know what's on our list?!?!

• go to a baseball game
• see a movie
• go camping
• fly a kite
• run through the sprinklers on a hot day
• cheer for isaiah in a jiu-jitsu tournament
• go swimming
• make pancakes for breakfast
• make waffles for dinner
• celebrate mikey's 4th birthday
• have a water gun fight
• go to the water park
• go bowling
• collect sea shells
• pitch the tent in the backyard
• go swimming
• skype with uncle mike and auntie jessie {who live in hawaii} 
• play hopscotch
• ride the train at tilden park
• paint on canvas
• go to the beach
• bring flowers to lola at the cemetery
• swim in the ocean
• go on a family bike ride
• have a picnic
• visit grandma eden
• go to superfranks
• movie night with popcorn at home
• back to school shopping
• go to an aquarium
• visit zeum
• take a hike
• bbq hot dogs
• take home fresh eggs from the farm
• enjoy popsicles
• play catch with dad
• explore golden gate park
• make snow cones
• chase the ice cream truck
• play at the river
• go swimming
• spend the night at lolo's house
• play with bubbles
• mail a letter
• visit grandpa don and grandma april
• draw with sidewalk chalk
• family game night
• enjoy cookies and milk
• and go swimming some more!

and our list seems to keep getting longer. now that i've got their little brains stirring with ideas, they can't stop. it's going to be a super fun summer! 

what are YOU gonna do this summer?

miscellany monday

i'm joining in on a new linky party: miscellany monday hosted by carissa at lowercase letters. 

the rules? write random and join in. 

she had me at random.

{one}

my boys love anything creepy and crawly.

we were over at my dad's for a bbq and he was prepping to steam some crabs that he bought live from the asian market. the boys were in awe. but, they didn't quite grasp how painful it would be if they were to get pinched and kept trying to pet the crabs. umm, sorry boys...step away from the creepy, crawly things, please. at least until they're cooked and we can eat them!

{two}

we randomly stayed at a hotel last friday night, and i totally mean it when i call it random. we have a gazillion reward points saved up from previous stays at hilton hotels. well, sad to say, we haven't traveled since wyatt was born, which, apparently, is too long of a break to take from travelling, according to hilton. so they sent us an e-mail saying we would lose all of our points if we didn't book a hotel stay before june 1. we couldn't let that happen! but we also knew we weren't going to be taking any trips anytime soon. so, in an effort to save our points, we stayed at a hotel 30 minutes from our house! 

we checked in. watched tv. went to sleep. woke up saturday morning and the mister and the bigs went down to the lobby for breakfast. they also made use of the hotel gym. but not i. i slept in as long as i could. the littles were cozy and so was i. i even enjoyed breakfast in bed with liam, which isaiah brought up from the lobby for us. it was nice to wake up in the morning and not feel obligated to start on housework. it was totally awesome. and totally awkward.

{three}

everyone should have a best friend. seriously. my bff and i hardly see each other, maybe once every 2 months. and we hardly talk, maybe once a week, if even that. but when we see each other, it's like no time has passed and we just talked yesterday. whatever the variables in our lives, we always remain the constants. i know that i can always count on her for support, encouragement, and motivation. and i love her for all of that.

{four}

we visited the local farmers market in stockton this past weekend. this is one of the best things about living in the central valley of california. farmland is all around us, so the produce at the markets are always fresh and yummy. our loot this weekend: carrots {i love the way they look with their greenery still attached}, cabbage, daikon, fresh basil, mini squash, white peaches, mandarin oranges and a dozen eggs. love it!

{five}

i packed a swim bag for the first time this summer and it was exciting! i love packing swim bags. i love hanging out by a pool or on the beach, watching the boys running a muck and splashing around in the water. that is how we love to spend out summers. :)

i also love the tote i use as our swim bag that i won from a giveaway at a earth day party last year. it's the coolest thing ever because it's made of recycled billboards! the seller even sends you a picture of the billboard that your item came from. sheer awesome-ness. check them out at drive-by bags on etsy.

five months

wyatt james

is five months old today.

he's lovin' his rice cereal.

but not-so-much lovin' his tummy time.
look at you, holding your head up!

he makes the cutest little facial expressions that make me giggle.

and he's found his little thumb and loves to suck on it. uh-oh.

ahoy, captain awesome.

it's so easy to make you smile, wyatt. and i love you for that and more.

pickin' cherries

we have a family tradition of going cherry picking on memorial weekend every year. this tradition started when i was kid, then everyone grew up and we stopped for a while. now that i have my own family, i wanted to make sure we started this tradition again.

we head out to the cherry tree orchards in brentwood and climb trees, run through the orchards, pick cherries, and eat them 'til our bellies are full {or one of the kids gets fruit butt, whichever comes first}. the boys absolutely love it...as much as i did when i was kid, if not more.

mikey and his buckets of cherry loot.

i spy...a little liam in the trees.

the cherries weren't as ripe at this time of the year as they have been in previous years. but they were still delicious...we couldn't stop eating them!

the mister was lucky...he had a little monkey on his shoulders who picked cherries for him...

and even hand-fed him.

another feeble attempt at a picture with my brood.

and our cherry picking excursion wouldn't have been complete without a good stick fight between the bigs.

peace out, first grade!

my oldest boy is now officially a second grader! time is seriously flying. when people used to tell me that the baby days would go by fast, i never thought it would be this fast. 

yesterday was his last day of first grade and here he is with his teacher.

every trimester, each teacher selects three kids from their class to receive an "ace" award for one of three categories: Academic excellence, Citizenship or Effort. i'm beyond proud of my boy for earning the ace award for academic excellence for his last trimester of first grade. when his teacher gave a short shpeel about why he was chosen, she said, "i've watched him all year long and he has been such a sponge. he takes in anything new that i teach him and demonstrates knowledge of the information immediately." this mama was in tears, sitting in the back row of the school cafeteria. what can i say? that's my boy!

there he is getting his award from the principal.

  

the three students from his class chosen to receive the ace awards.

i am one proud mama.

and isaiah is one proud student.

this made me flashback to last year, when he also received the ace award for academic excellence at the end of his kindergarten year. {please excuse his ridiculous haircut. every kid has to have one at some point in their childhood, right?}

we started a tradition of commemorating the occasion with a graduation cake each year.

flashback to last year's cake. the ladies in the bakery always get a good giggle when the mister tells them what to write on the cake.

linking up with tia and flashback friday! come join the fun!

seriously

i could just eat this boy up.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Android

embrace the camera - may 26

so long, oprah.

you are an incredible woman who has touched so many lives. 

your finale show definitely calls for a celebration...and we did just that. 

{oprah party printables courtesy of design editor}

and we even embraced the camera, just for you.

and also embraced the camera...as you.

you've had a great 25 years and i've enjoyed watching for the last few. 

i hope you play reruns on OWN so that i can be caught up in about 20 years!

linking up at the anderson crew! come visit!

my life

i look at this picture and i cry.
i cry tears of pure, absolute, undeniable, uncontrollable, immeasurable joy.

these five people are my life.
who, what, where would i be if not for them?
i have no idea, nor do i care.

all i know is that i'm happier and my life is more amazing than i could have ever imagined because of these five people.
even if they never feel for me the way i do for them, i want them to know that they are my world.
i live and breathe for them.
and i would do anything for them.

hello, summer! ...kind of

we had our first summer-ish backyard bbq with our friends, the welks. i say summer-ish because even though it was warm, the wind was blowing like crazy. it didn't stop us from having a great afternoon and boys from having a fantastic time playing together. days like this are what summer is all about.

wyatt spent the entire afternoon sitting at the table in his bumbo or sitting cozy on someone's lap. he was just looking around and taking it all in. no worries, little man, you'll be running around with the bigs in no time at all.

 mikey, isaiah and jake.

what mama doesn't enjoy an ice, cold adult beverage while watching her children run buckwild in circles all around her? :)

liam welcomed summer with a big bite (or 2, or 3, or 30) of watermelon. yum.

then he had some fun with aron on the trampoline. we seriously need to get this boy his own trampoline. he went in there and didn't get out. he was even ready to take his afternoon nap in there. i don't blame him.

auntie fifi (my friend, stephanie) and little louie.

i love wyatt's little expression in this photo. pardon the glare on my glasses. that's what i get for being cheap and getting plastic lenses. lmao

more trampoline fun.

where'd your face go, mikey? liam is hysterical.

wyatt, meet louie. louie, wyatt.

too much fun in a few hours for wyatt. he was pooped.