Cutie Alert

Chocolate covered bananas rock! The bandaid is from his blood test for allergies. He was such a brave boy. No tears! The bananasicle is his treat for being so brave. No results of the test yet.
Cleaning up from a hard day at play! Being little is so much fun! They love taking baths together...until Avrie takes away Nolan's toys.
I can do it all by myself.

100% Addicted

Dice mango, toss in fresh lime juice, sprinkle liberally with chili powder. Eat.

Summer Days

Helping get the dirt ready for flowers.
My very own tree hugger!!
Avrie loved the so-called grass.
Nolan is telling Avrie how to smile for the picture.
I had to try on all her summer dresses that fit NOW and take pictures in case they don't fit in the summer!!

Narrator Nolan

Nolan has taken to blabbering nonstop. On Monday, and I'm not exaggerating at all, from the moment he got out of bed until the moment he fell asleep in the car at 4:30 I doubt he was quiet for longer than two minutes. He talked and talked and talked. All day. He narrated his day as it unfolded. "I'm standing on the rug. Be careful or I'll fall. I'm walking down the hall. Going to wash mine hands. Eating my waffle. Drinking my water." Good thing he's absolutely the cutest thing ever or it could have gotten annoying! But it didn't =)

Avrie is starting to get brave and take steps from one thing to another (ie: coffee table to couch). She's become quite the speedy crawler. A crawler with a big appetite...she loves to eat and nurse.

Lori surprised me this morning and called to see if the kids and I wanted to take a road trip to Texas with her! So I didn't hesitate at all in saying "Yes!!" and we're going next Friday for a week. I'm so, so, so excited! The kids are going to have a blast together.

Grilled brats for supper tonight...now that's a taste of summer!

Bathtime, Nolan Working & Banana Muffins

It's Got Nothing To Hide

Pure, Organic Seville Marmalade It's quite bitter and delightful...leaves your tongue tingly and numb.

Come and get it...I have 8 jars!

Spring Has Sprung....For Now

Yummy swing!
Nolan driving his fort.
Pure joy!

We had such a blast today. We went for a walk along the river this morning...my pants were soaked up to my knees and my shoes were very squishy. But it was warm and the birdies were singing. Came home for a leisurely lunch...Nolan sat at the table for over an hour drinking almond milk out of a bowl by the teaspoonful.

The kids both had naps and I cut up Seville oranges into tiny bits for marmalade. My very first attempt at this. It took almost 2 hours to cut them up. Hope it's worth it!

After naps Nolan and the neighbor boy Nuay melted the remaining snow in the yard with their watering cans.

Making gluten-free taco pizza for supper tonight. We use the Gluten Free Pantry French Bread and Pizza mix. Just have to leave the cheese off of Nolan's. He has an appointment with a pediatric allergist in two weeks. I can't wait. He's still having skin issues even with complete elimination of dairy and gluten. So we hope to get to the root of the problem.

Jellystone

Nolan and Papa
Nolan went down the Boo-Boo slide a zillion times.

Avrie was a water worm...she absolutely loved it.

Daddy and his bathing beauty.

Having a nap after a busy morning of swimming.

Kami and Nolan watching Yogi cartoons at night.

Babyhood is Gone

Avrie walked around 1/2 the train table last night =( She's very proud of herself!I am always on the lookout for quinoa recipes. I was inspired by Gluten Free Girl's photo yesterday so I whipped up my own little creation. I cooked up some quinoa in stock in my rice cooker (who knew?!!) and it turned out perfect. Then I sauteed a bunch of mushrooms and then added some quinoa and set aside. Then I scrambled some eggs and just before they were done I dumped in the mushroom/quinoa mixture and then topped with cheddar. DELISH.
I used the leftover quinoa to make a Tex/Mex chili that was unbelievable. I advise you all to go buy some of this wonderful grain...so delish and fun to eat! Not to mention the nutrition powerhouse.

Our Kids Like Each Other! For Now...

Nolan actually wanted to hold his baby sister! Can you tell he's a little bit proud of her? They love playing together in Avrie's crib.
Here's our little monster! Isn't he adorable?

Score!

Here's what I got at the thrift store today for a total of $55.

Brand new Speedo swimsuit, tags still on--$78.
Swimsuit skirt coverup thingee
Bag of fake food for the kids' kitchen
Woodkins paper doll puzzle
European jeans for Nolan--uber cool
Children's Place knit dress
3 kid's books
Superwoman t-shirt/shorts set for Avrie
Levi's cargo shorts for Nolan
2 cute girly rompers for summer
Leggings for Avrie
2 modern circle pattern "stuff" holders for Avrie's room
J. Crew summer dress for me---way cool!
Box of heavy duty lace-ups--8 pack--ocean themed

Ummm...why buy new???

Oh...!

For the Grandma's out there...that is not a real candle. It's a LED light. I'm not trying to burn the house down. I'm a very responsible parent.

On a completely different note: I hate garbage disposals. I loved it in our apartment when all I had to do was call maintenance when it got clogged. I can't even use ours because it gets all clogged up with literally one carrot peeling.

My back is going to kill tomorrow...I was desperate for a minute away from the kids so I offered to shovel when Evan got home. It was not fun but it was a break nonetheless.

Well, both kids were supposed to be sleeping by now but one is sneaking out of his room and the other is screaming in her crib. Good night.

Snowed In....Again.

I surprised Nolan today with a fort when he woke up from his nap. He had cookies and juice by candlelight. His plate is a Peter Rabbit plate so we collected all the books we have with bunnies in them and had a themed story time.

Getting tickled by Daddy.
Brushing up on her Yoga.