May (the month at large) in 2012

So, let's go back in time and relive the past... May 2012 to be exact.  I've been a busy beaver uploading photos from the months gone by and am crossing my fingers that I can be completely caught up to REAL TIME by my birthday on Saturday. (yes, my birthday is in just a few days, can you believe it?)  Rumor has it, if you post your goals on the WORLD WIDE WEB, then you are held more accountable, then you really follow through.  

Perhaps we give it a go?

Ready? Begin.

update: I found a few more photos on Aaron's laptop, so I added them to the mix.  Fun fun, for everyone!

::: Matilda continues to amaze us with her drawing skills. She is just barely 4 years old.  I'm sorry, I know I am biased, but really... how cute is that portrait above?  This is the picture of my mom and her that Tillie put in with the Mother's Day cards we created (below).  She made a really cute one for my mother in law, but for some reason I don't have a picture of it.  

::: Whataburger.  A Texan institution.  Aaron loves it, and so many others do too... My feelings? Meh.  But, I'm with Becca, I love their branding/packaging.  And, apparently, Calvin loves their orange soda.  Cute boy.

::: Someone loves playing with the geese.  (it wouldn't be me. those things scare me to death!)

::: Tillie drew a little self portrait.  Do you love that she mixed several different colors for her hair?  She said my hair has some browns, some yellows, some reds... smart, Til! 

::: I was feeling super domestic one day and tired of paying so much money for Granola in the store... so I found two highly recommended recipes and went for it.  The result?  Pretty okay, but I still have never really mastered granola.  One day I will.

::: We tried out a restaurant called Square Burger that had several great reviews.  The location was awesome.  Simple.  Clean.  I wasn't NUTS about the food, but Aaron was a fan.  Their sweet potato fries on the other hand...?  great.  Really great.  It was a fun afternoon out on the town.  

Here are my two Utah Jazz lovin' fools.

And I happened to be sitting next to THIS crazy kook...

We walked around after lunch and spied this glorious home.  Seriously.  Is it not amazingly beautiful?  One of these days I should post all the pictures I've taken of amazing historic homes in our area.  This one is even for sale... and has a pool!  But, alas, it is not meant to be.  Come buy it and be my neighbor and I will visit you everyday.

::: Tillie doing what she loves most: coloring and drawing.  She is being spotlighted in Primary this week and I wrote up this blurb about her: "She loves to draw/color and if she had the chance, she'd do it all day long. Her parents are blown away by all the fun things she can draw and love seeing all the details she adds to her pictures.  She really has a gift!  And, if she hears that anyone is having a birthday, or if she's going to see some one new that day, or if someone is sad, she quickly wants to go make them a picture to make them feel better."  

Tillie is sporting a lovely jammy outfit consisting of neon green shorts, a teddy bear shirt (that my mom made for me when I was her age!) and neon froggy slippers.  Work it, girl.

Let's talk about the super cheap IKEA table and chairs we got for her birthday.  I saw online that someone had attached a utensil holder on the side of the table and I thought it was genius! So, we bought two of them and Aaron screwed them on.  They make it pretty convenient to store crayons, markers, etc.  (or you can store them on the floor like pictured above... sheesh.)

::: One day we went to take cookies to the ladies at Aaron's office.  They have about 50 women on their staff (it's a big office) and they are always so great to us when we come and visit.  It doesn't hurt when I bring chocolate.  :)  Here the kids are goofin' off while we wait for dad to come in and say hi.

Tillie took my phone on the way home and apparently took some self portraits.  The nostril shot is particularly artistic.  See for yourself...

::: I love that Aaron has his time off during the week.  It is especially nice when we have doctor's appointments!  Tillie had to get her 4 year old shots, and Aaron took her.  She was pretty nervous about it all, but we kept trying to prep her that she'd do great and that it wouldn't hurt too much.  He told me that she didn't cry ONE tear and was super brave.  Way to go, Til-face!  

love the whale she did.  notice the gills?

After the shots, Aaron took her to a candy store in our darling little down town.  Candy land heaven.  She had a hard time choosing what she wanted... so many decisions! Too cute.

On their way, Tillie had to stop at every plant with a flower to smell them (one of her favorite past times).  Pretty sweet.

 she even went for the fake ones.

 

It ended up being a fun little daddy-daughter date.

::: I decided to switch things up one afternoon and we had a Teddy Bear Picnic in the backyard. The kids invited all of their stuffed animals.  It was a fun way to eat our lunch and it didn't involve me vacuuming up the kitchen floor and wiping down the counters.  Good trade.

After seeing this picture below of Cal, I decided it was high time for a little haircut.  Pictures below.

honored guests...

Cal loves a good lounge.

Cutie boy.  He was ready for a nap at this point with his sleepy eyes.

::: For my mother's day gift from Aaron, I took the car and went out on the town by myself.  I went downtown to do lunch with Becca, then we ran to a store and found me a shirt that would work with my ever-expanding-belly.  As she went back to work, I grabbed myself a little ColdStone ice-cream (always a good idea).  And then, on my way home did a little furniture browsing.  It felt good to listen to music that I wanted to listen to (without kids in the back yelling their requests), take my time browsing around where ever I wanted, and just having the gift of TIME.  Great gift, Aaron.  GRACIAS!!

This drawing was my mother's day gift from Tillie.  I'm the one with the blonde hair, she's down in the bottom left corner.

::: Yes, it was haircut time.  I don't know if you remember the last time I attempted to cut Cal's hair? Yeah, that was a disaster.  I've been gun-shy ever since.  But, I really wanted to get rid of the shaggy parts above his ears, and I figured if I watched a few YouTube tutorials and took it slow, I could do it.  And, boo-yah.  His hair turned out lovely, if I do say so myself.

Before pictures:

And, AFTER!

check it out, friends.  If that's not success, I don't know what is.  It helped that I plugged him into the ipad before I started.  Details, details...

I even got out the hair gel and styled it.  Fancy pants Cal eating something drippy.  Nice.  Just focus on his hair.  

::: Aaron and I went on a date to Top Golf.  It's basically target practice + driving range.  I thought this silhouette shot of me being pregnant and golfing was funny/weird.

Believe it or not, I won (according to the legit scoring system).  Aaron definitely had farther shots, but I went for the little targets in the front (that's as far as I could hit them) and pulled out a solid win in the end.  Pretty fun way to golf, in my opinion.  Shade, ceiling fans, food ordering capabilities... yeah, now THAT is how you golf.

After golfing, we ran over to Home Goods to check out their rug collection (if you are in the market for rugs of all sizes, I highly recommend going there!  great selection and pretty good prices).  Since our new house has a lot of wood flooring on the first floor, we are going to want a few rugs.  I really liked this first one with Aaron in front.  But, want to wait till we're actually IN the house to decide... so I held off (and of course, they are gone now).  Sob.

::: They tore down the old office building next to Aaron's office (used to be where their practice was) and I got a call from Aaron saying that the big demo was going to be happening in about 20 minutes.  So, we grabbed our clothes/shoes and quickly ran out the door.  I knew Cal would be in HEAVEN!  And, we were all entranced.

Aaron came out to join the viewing party.

Ready for more random photos?  Great.

::: This is us on a lazy morning watching some movie.  Normally, I turn on a movie for the kiddos when I want to get lots of things done (I know that they will be pretty stationary for that time, so I  take full advantage), but this time I just felt like watching the movie with them.  I took a photo to remember.  I love being able to stay home with my kids.

::: The kids love doing chalk on the brick and then adding water with a paint brush to make the color deeper/richer.  Here Tillie is messing around in the water.

::: Random shot of the kids jumping on the furniture (one of their favorite past times). Who needs a trampoline?  

::: Tillie loves sneaking into our bedroom at night and laying by us.  It's sweet, but sometimes it can get a little crowded, b/c she LOVES to snuggle in real close.  (I think her love language is TOUCH.) Anyway, I woke up one morning and found her like this.  See what I mean?

::: Speaking of Tillie, she is SUCH a huge fan of the app on Aaron's phone called "Fat Booth"---it is pretty entertaining.  I'll give her that much.

I don't like the app for obvious reasons...

Actually, I should print off that far right one of myself and put it on the fridge or in front of the pantry to help dissuade me from the chocolate.  This could very well be my future!!

::: I came out of the office one afternoon to find this site.  I don't know part I love about this picture more... the fact that they are both asleep, that Jessie and Woody are both clutched in Cal's hands, or the two open laptops they were watching.  Two peas in a pod.  

::: After a bath one night, I asked Tillie to go find her pjs and bring them out (like usual).  This is what she ran out into the family room wearing instead.  Caught me a little off guard...  She looks like a Michael Jackson impostor.  Perhaps it's the gloves? Or the hat?  who knows?!  (p.s. do you love how well she put on the gloves?  hA!)

::: Speaking of impostors, is that a Woody impostor I see?

::: One afternoon we decided to hit up the Dallas Arboretum.  That place is a dream land.  SO pretty.  And currently they have a Chihuly (he's the amazing glass blower) exhibit on display.  It was a lovely afternoon and Becca was even able to join us for a bit!  Good times!

love this shot of Aaron as a lone soldier with his black socks on the grate.

Tillie took this shot of us and we were both pretty impressed with her mad skills.

a mini bench for two mini bodies.

One day I will have a legit teepee (sp?) in my backyard.  Mark my words.  I hope it will look like this one.

Love Cal's attempt to do a "thumbs up" with his forefinger.  

 blowing kisses to say good bye!

 and muuuuah!

Yes, if you are in the Dallas area, I HIGHLY recommend heading to the Arboretum.  As you can see, it's awesome.

So, there you have it.  May.  The month in a nut shell novel.

Stay tuned for more exciting times.