the lake!

had a wonderful weekend away at the lake of the ozarks.   a couple of my good friends are cousins, and their family owns a lake house down there.  they've been going there their whole lives, and it was such a good time!  i'm realizing now i forgot to take pictures of all the yummy food we had - brisket, the worst-for-you-best-tasting cheesy potatoes ever!, spaghetti and meatballs from a real italian, a healthy but yummy breakfast casserole and more cookies/brownies/ice cream than even i could take. unfortunately, it was raining the majority of the time, but that didn't mean we didn't have fun...  we had cocktails in the middle of the day, pedicures at night, and even a nap!! it was as relaxing as two days chasing 16 month-old curious boys around could be!  liam decided the wide open spaces could only be thoroughly explored if he wasn't wasting time crawling.. he started walking the day we got there and except for a few rooms/hard floors he's not completely comfortable on, he's pretty much a walker!!  it's so adorable to watch, because he's still so wobbly... 

so here are a few pictures of the gang! sorry i didn't get any of wheels and tate...  the other babies present.

poker, quarters, and lots of beer after a rainy day of golf

listen up!

matchy-matchy just for libs

these poker chips kept finney busy for awhile...

the master pedicurist (?) who refused to have her picture taken.. kimmy

sarah, doing a wonderful job of posing and holding babies

no it's not black, it's dark eggplant!

libbus p.

we didn't do this on purpose and i liked how it looked...

thanks again, senter clan, for a great time!!

things that make me happy.

walking around in paper source with or without a goal
seeing my boys in the morning
taking a nap
eating really good chocolate
oogling over pretty paper
hearing my husband come home from work, whatever time of day or night
walking the sidewalk that my kids will eventually follow to school..sniff, sniff
seeing them take their first steps
being with my family and eating good food
baking
finding things to put on my bulletin/inspiration board
comments on my blog
the color green
watching good dance and listening to good music
seeing a movie during the day - by myself!
anything NYC
anything PARIS
not sleeping alone
saying goodnight to the boys
harmonizing
having the majority of the people in my life know what that is
being able to stay at home with my babies
my iPhone
my iPhone
my iPhone
real housewives of new york city
getting a voicemail from my bf that doesn't involve her talking at all
getting my new issue of martha stewart living and flipping to the last page for the cookie of the month
my handyman husband
good chocolate chip cookies, warm from the oven.

so many faces

and this is one of them.. liam's been doing it for awhile, and finn finally caught on!

liam

finn

spring has sprung!

which means (since last spring, we were still trying to settle into a routine with our four month-olds) home improvement time!  on the list:

1.  replace house numbers

2.  plant forsythia on the blank side of the house

3.  create a stone path in our front yard where grass doesn't want to grow

4.  tear out ugly bushes under our living room window and replace with something pretty

5.  try to work a japanese maple into our landscaping  (trying so hard)

6.  figure out how to take the backyard back from the dogs, and then figure out where to put the dogs

so far, we've checked off 1 and 2 (i say we like i had anything to do with it) and i'm LOVING the forsythia... because i'm a virgo perfectionist (ugh), the house numbers i don't love... it's hard to get them straight and evenly spaced, apparently!  and here's a few pics of my mister checking off number 3! more pictures of the process and once it's finished to come!