don't you miss being a kid?

...when it's too hot for a crocheted shawl...by all means, wear it as a skirt :)

twin peeks.

this post is dedicated to Lewis 

who's new "mom do" looks fabulous.

For your viewing pleasure, here is my hair love-child....

It seems that eventually i'll completely disappear behind my bangs. Which isn't to say I hate my face...it's just that some days i truly look like a friar, and then i don't have to photoshop as much ;)

If these two mated, i think it would be pretty close.  But my boobs aren't quite as shiny as Xena's....ALMOST....but not quite. 

ayayayayayayayaiiiieeeeeee!

{which is the call of a warrior princess}

rocky mountain high.

i love last minute weekend getaways.
this time we went to to the mountains and
{despite my high altitude headache}
had a blast.


also I love cut offs. 
i dont care who's wearing them!
 i'm wearing them RIGHT NOW!!
......
well actually now that i think of it
...pasty man thighs :/
(but other than that snip snip!)

*if you notice, E is not in any of these pictures. This is cause on trips she is in another world.  One in which her parents no longer exist and her bum never needs to be cleaned ;) do you ever miss your kids even though they've been with you the whole time??

how excited are you?

I can't wait for these childhood adventures to be released in theaters...

hot air?

One of my plans this summer is to make a short movie clip. i found this video a couple weeks ago through this sweet commenter. I can appreciate the playful {and kinda dorky} approach...also the uninhibited profile shots....although I can't lie, the sound effects kind of weird me out. Either way i like myself a little homemade movie.....err, not that kind sickos, this kind:

by cassidy curtis and Raquel Coelho 

*also if you are still not getting my feed updates in your side bar go here to fix.

raw sugar.

Today i mopped my floor {for the first time in about three months} and my iPhone came in the mail....the sky is the limit! So this weekend, since we have no plans to go on holiday, i plan to challenge myself to make it fun at home kicking off my inspired summer plans to  botox all of my sweat glands  er...enjoy as much of it as i can with my two darling children ;)  here's what i have in mind....

{project image found at cookie's nesting blog }

1. a do it yourself dollhouse...where the kids are in charge.  This is where mommy is challenged to NOT micromanage the project to make it look more like the picture ;)

2. a living room fort camp out with shadow puppets and hot cocoa

...and some camp songs for good measure {cause were not quite ready for scary stories}

{image from listentofeist.com }

What do you have planned?? 

....wait don't tell me.....no, DO.  Just kidding this isn't a competition, and your plans can suck it. 


okay fine, they're awesome....but they better not involve the beach.

don't fear the reaper.

{image fffound here }

Tonight my husband and i caught up on our taxes for the 2nd night this week....for hours...and hours (we are a little behind, like by two years ;) Meanwhile "The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift" played on TNT in the background. In other words, tonight we did 2 of the worst things i can think of, that a couple can do together. I had to take a computer break to keep from punching myself in the face.

i remembered this comic strip my friend once sent me:

.....and then i felt a little better.

but just barely ;)

*look familiar Jasmine ?? that is how lazy and unimaginative i feel right now. bleh.

wanna know what never gets old??

...making defenseless babies lip sync to music...

Sheamus and I had the pleasure of entertaining this little "jem" last week.
  

We like her. 

like...a lot.


♥

love notes by erin.

{picture by naomi davis }

Last week i asked you ideas of ways you show your love.  One of my favorite responses came from the very lovely ERIN...just read how sweet this is:

"My grandfather used to hide 'love notes' made on an old school label-maker (the kind that embosses the lettering) around the house. They all say "Joe loves Dot" and the date he printed it. My parents live in my grandparents' former home, and I love opening up a random cabinet and finding his little love notes."

blerg.

{image ffffound here }

i'm having issues.

rather, my site feed is having issues.

so any new adds to your blog roll/list of "team boo" {that's me}

shows it sadly at the bottom 

with no updates for you

even though i've have updated

it stays there

like a sad little rain cloud

**

Good news though,  i have a temporary fix!

**

instead of inputting my url as this...

http://teamboo2000.blogspot.com

just type in the feed url which is this... http://teamboo2000.blogspot.com/atom.xml

and all will be well 

for both you and i

for now ;)

*sorry this wasn't a REAL post....but i had to put it out there, yo. Also watch this ...cause you can't say "fancy" without thinking of it...you just can't.  ...and if you can, well, this friendship might not last.

summer days...

I have spent so much time lately complaining about the AZ heat, i've in some ways given up on the possibility of enjoying myself at all in the next six months. I have central AC, a basement, a house for heavens sake! Also as i recall, roughly 7 years ago i signed on for a job that does anything but revolve around my personal pity party ;)  

It wasn't until i read this wonderful blog that i had a moment of clarity. When did i morph into such a resentful wank? The heat waves really do a number on my disposition as a mother...but aren't i supposed to be teaching my kids {by example} to make the best of what they have?!? When did i forget that life isn't about living in ideal circumstances, but rather how we fair with what we are given. Frankly i should be ashamed to think that i have a reason to complain. Anyway if you need dose of perspective like i clearly did, read {my newest mommy inspiration} Megan Marie's sweet snippet of ways to enhance the summer months...

{which for me is basically making a long list of whimsical ideas to distract myself from the fact that my kids are not in school anymore and the only way to keep from punching myself in the face is to trick them into lots of sweaty and/or indoor fun. but then there i go again....}

 "I am a tour guide. Each day my babies hear language they don't really understand, and witness events and objects that are completely foreign. Everything is new. In the past I have taught them colors, introduced them to letters and numbers. Taken them outside to name the bugs, the sky, the trees. Why though? So they can recite the names of things back to me? Ever so much more than that! I get to teach them to live!"

A few favorites from her summer "tour" list:

*have a yellow day where we wear only yellow, and eat only yellow food

*make a sand castle and then stomp on it

*roast a hot-dog over a fire

*put on a puppet show

*have a major dance party...with decorations 

*eat a really messy dinner with no utensils

*build a catapult and shoot things

*shadow puppets late at night

*make a gift for a friend and doorbell ditch

*rent a projector and make our own drive in

*go on a treasure hunt

*make bird-masks and wings with feathers and pretend to fly

*record our voices and play them back and laugh at how silly we sound

*have a mud fight

...find the rest here .


Needless to say, i am starting my own list. What do YOU have planned??


FYI...this doesn't change a thing about wanting to move. The second a window opens I'M OUT!!.... just saying ;)

duly noted.

a love note. the only thing i cherish more is finding a gas station nacho bar with a dispenser that lets ME pump how much hot cheese my heart desires. In contrast with those prepackaged-dip-five-chips-and-it's-gone crap containers they now give at the movie theaters...i don't need some money hungry butter dispensing corporation to teach me about portion control...i'll mind my own arteries, thank you!

I'll portion control your face!! 

k, maybe i do.

But anyway, i realized {giving the disclaimer of my husbands "butt slaps" after posting a excerpt of his love letter }...i have such a double standard!  who am i trying to fool here?? i'm about as romantic as a Zach Braff kissing scene ...ugh!! So i was thinking of ways that i used to show my love before i got all craggy and resentful ;)....

 Ever make these? 

{rubberband notes} 

Such a sweet youthful way to pass along a message.

This cute blogger's husband addressed a letter and sent it to her in the mail...i love that! So that's exactly what i did {i just hope my husband doesn't read this before he gets it, as i continue to labor under the delusion that he actually reads my blog}

Mixed tapes? mirrored lipstick messages?...how do you like to give/receive notes to/from your lover?? do tell...

♥ and have a great weekend!!!

pretty things.

{photo by this amazing photographer. who's blog is here } 

thanks anonymous ;) 

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." ...unless it's a vase of flowers, cause then after a while it just smells like farts.

—john keats

{and then me}

sum sum summa summa....

So here we are...knock knock knocking on Satan's door {well what feels like Hell's door anyway} and i find myself for like the 10th year in a row, since i've lived in the Valley of the Sun, dreaming of busting a move out of this insufferable state. Its seasonal depression inducing, only instead of clouds, its blaring-oven-like sunshine. I have friends who LOOove it {and we all forget just how hot it gets} but basically, come June, you can't go outside without your face melting off, and sweating profusely out of every pore. Allow me to be frank when i say, its no fun when your crotch starts to publicly draw attention to itself.

I dream of Portland!...or the surrounding areas anyway. The trees, the hydrangeas, the farmer's markets. My Grandma lived in way Northern Cali....I remember being little and wondering why she'd apologize if the "weather was dreadful" when we came. I loved it! still do.  I hear it all the time "you think you like rain, but it is SO.  MUCH.  RAIN." Which leads me to wonder if i'm only hemorrhaging from the grass is {quite literally} greener syndrome.  But the way i see it, I have paid my AZ dues, if nothing else, i'm ready for a change...and a new thing to complain about ;)

Have you lived in the NorthWest? do you just like sharing your two cents? tell me what you think...

poll by twiigs.com

*my saving grace...

.

I am notorious for having this 52 oz. ice cold "baby" attached to my side (6 months of the year). It is quite honestly like a baby in that i even find myself inadvertently swaying side to side or gently bouncing my knees while i'm holding it.  Old habits :)

if feet could talk...

Have you been here??  It would have never occurred to me to make a whole blog devoted to, none other than, feet!  But oh the tales that could be told if our feet had voices!  Now, thanks to Gypsy Feet, they do :)

And how strange that my pushing-size-ten-manly-bunion-feet, of all feet, would be featured there.  See how fantastically ugly my feet are here and here. here's my blurb...

"I never knew feet could be so interesting, and....cute! Probably because i've lived with monster man/hand feet my whole life. I have come to terms though and decided that my feet are the best when they are dirty and bare...cause that means i have been living ;) The dorkiest thing is that for years i wouldn't even show my feet!! Now i couldn't even care less...they take me places!! Run races, jump on beds, play footsies, and even pick up laundry. Basically, feet rock!...especially mine ;)"

*P.S. they don't always look this way, they were just helping ;)  {*i promise i'm not tooting my own horn with this...but the picture needed and explanation. For the record i can't stand dirty feet in my bed} *P.P.S. Check out the "Polished pickle" {one of the creative masterminds of Gypsy feet} it is fantastic and beautiful in all ways...plus, i always love a fellow freckle face ;)

tandem love...

I just can't pass up the chance...click the button for more info:

ssheck it out.

I've had a few inquiries as to what my playlist looks like these days.  There is a lot of acreage in the indie world...i prefer indie rock/pop with a good {often strange} beat. I also tend to gravitate toward female singers. My sister sent me this sweet song that reminded me of young love...kind of modern day "Forever Young" by Alphaville, if i dare say. {this is just some random footage some kids put to the music...you can just minimize and listen to the song}...it's magical ;)

here are a few others for your listening pleasure.... {some old, some new}

sweet as pie.

One of the realities of my motherhood is reeeeally trying to not eat my kids candy after they go to bed.

I'm slowly regaining their trust so they'll let me hold their milkshake while they play, or know i won't eat all the cookies when they're gone...whoopsie daisies ;)

yes, truly "sweet" ;)

*update*

this morning i found my cookie monster with chocolate on his mouth and his secret {fresh baked 2 dozen} stash under the pool table, which he only agreed to reveal to me after he requested i refer to him as "sneaker"

clearly, it runs in the family :)

a love note.

Please know how madly in love I am

...and how much I appreciate all that you do for us.

The hardest thing I deal with on a daily basis

is not smothering you...

you are irresistible.


{love, Adam}

*don't get carried away though...this isn't typical...i suppose thats why i posted it. He's more of a, how should i say?...."slap my butt" kind of guy ;) but even those kinds of husbands have their moments ;)

bringing it.

"i don't want to arrive at the pearly gates wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coifed, or with perfectly manicured fingernails...

...I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt, with childrens sticky kisses on my cheeks, and tears on my shoulder...

...I want the Lord to know I was really here and that i really lived."

excerpts from: "I Really Lived"

by Marjorie Hinckley 

...and freckles on my shoulders from playing out in the sunshine

...and aches in my joints from piggy back rides to bed

...and lines around my eyes from laughing through life

*but hopefully not poop under my fingernails...cause i don't think God would appreciate that ;) 

Happy Mothers day to all that have, all that are, and all that ever will be mothers! ♥

mothra.

my beautiful mother...

love you mom.

xoxo

imagine that!

In keeping with theme of "Mothers" i have been doing some thinking...{cause i always think in themes..??} Anyway, mothers are many things but one of my favorite things to be is a make believe maker. This does not necessarily come naturally for me, but i wake up daily hoping to brand it into my soul.  Its my job, as a mama, but also as a human being. Its infectious and what makes the world go round, no?

An oldie but one of the besssst! This series has a much greater meaning now that i've birthed to two little sponges:

A recent dream job of mine would be that of a photo stylist...the perfect marriage of creative work and imaginative mommy play...i would die.

like simple and sweet...

raw and dreeeeamy. made by, none other than...a mommy! 

{this blog is incredible by the way}...

Bonnie Holland's prolific work is over the top amazing! and obviously has the big bucks clients. regardless, i love everything she touches...

recommended by a fellow blogger , Tim Walker photography also has plenty of imaginary gems....

happy "Face"

10 things that make this boy shine {according to him}:

-"fart balloons" 

- otter pockths

- lightning McQueen shoes

- ALL superhoeros, ever

- red like Lightning Mcqueen

- strawberries and waffles

- strong muscles

- growing up like daddy

- silly faces

- giving mama a "smooch"

- cousins Ryder and Travis

- Tia-lung goes "Skadoosh"

- snuggling...with mom...{yesssssss}

little boys are so easy to please.

{who grow into men...who are even easier to please} 

sharing sucks.

why would anyone ever want to stop doing this??....

when i told him to take turns with his cousin he went on a rampage.  Ten seconds later on time out he screamed the meanest thing he could think to express...

 "I am grumpy at everyone...and i HATE....cupcakes!!"

{oh no he di-n't....i wanted to be strong, but i had to turn my head to smile}

*later that day he asked me "where's your peeps Mom? did the bad guys came and took it?" 


**in another recent anger outburst he shouted "your weird MOM! I'm NOT gonna be your mom anymore!!"

oh the irony!

...My sister came over today and I was telling her about sweetest comments i've received since Taza linked me on her blog last night.   We quickly got to laughing about just how wildly scummy i look today..."if they could only see you now!" she teased.

i gotta say...i was a little shy and ashamed at the fact that as i scoured over your words, not only was my armpit hair poking into my upper arm, but i didn't even have a bra on my body until like 1:30! {breaking a sad and simple new years goal}  But I had been captivated in blogging la la land when it hit me...i haven't even showered.. for like, three days!!

My life is so realistically unglamorous. A point that is solidified by the fact that as i type this, i've just learned that my son just majorly pooped his pants. no joke. My husband has summoned my help, and by "help" he will surely mean "can you do this instead of me please so i don't DRY HEAVE my face off?" {since moms have stomachs of steel you know}

i was right.

Just like that....a reality check that got me to finally shower! "Oh Universe! (lightly punching its imaginary shoulder)...you got me. AGAIN!" {but perhaps a more subtle hint next time}

Anyway the best part is all of the adorable blogs i've found, like this one ...and this one ! I am amazed at all the kind words and talent of those who said hello {thank you!!}, and i've spent the better part of the day responding to as many of you as i can. However, in the interest of full disclosure, i feel its only fair to confess: I am lame sometimes. As women, we tend to torture ourselves with comparisons {myself included} so i want to admit: as much as i love the beautiful romantic things i find through blogging, sometimes my cynical side wants to figuratively blow myself to the moon if i see one more blog post about dandelions or "potty training success!" {crap...am i'm bitter?? from this, this ..or perhaps this ?} k wait, i guess i do it too ;)

Either way...you all are the biggity-best.

{art by Elyott}

heres to keeping it real!

happy lemons

Let us all show the "haters" that happiness is a choice. In this heavy world, seeking out the beauty and humor in small things helps us keep our sense of proportion. 

Inspired my current read, Happiness for Two , and this blog here are some little random things that make me happy:

-chubby baby thighs
-the evening after a long run 
-fresh sheets
-overcast Saturdays
-reading in bed  
-old school photo booths
-Handsome Bob
-pulling weeds while my kids play in the yard
-popsicle stained tummies
-wind chimes
-movies w/Shia Lebouf
-having time for 3 "snooze" pushes
-little kid british accents
-arrested development dvds   


Here's to enjoying life in our own way!