Nature Walk

We went on a nature walk at Sycamore Grove last month, during a rare slew of sunny days. I took a ton of pics of Lumpkin, including some really cute ones with her daddy. Plus one good shot of the Dumplin' when he was awake.

It was a great day.

You should click on this pic just to see the look on her face.

Poppy.

Hello blue eyes.

Yes, I'm taking your picture.

No, my shadow is not usually that lumpy. Lumpiness = Will + Bjorn

Lovely Linny Lumpkin.

The way she runs cracks me up.

Mr Beetle

Strolling with Daddy.

Exploring Nature

This one is my favorite.

Productivity

I cleaned the crap out of my house yesterday, not to mention gave Linny a bath and fed her three times, AND gave Aden the best day ever as we hid from the hot sun outside.  He played his keyboard (bday present), played with clay, and played with his new Hot Wheels (thank you Grandpa Chuck!).  He even had home-made chicken nuggets for dinner (with the ingenious addition of melted cheesy sticks on top of some), which Aden declared were "better than Disneyland!" 

THEN I surprised him by fulfilling an earlier request of making his room like a movie theater. Dressed up in a vest a hat, I welcomed him to "Paquette Cinemas" at the "concessions" stand I set up (a box on top of a laundry hamper) by the door of his room, After he chose his selection from the DVDs presented, he "bought" buttered popcorn, two Milk Duds, and "water-flavored soda" with hugs, all of which were delivered up to his "suite" (aka: loft bed), complete with wet wipes to clean his hands.  He got to stay up late and watch "Emperor's New Groove" in his bed and have room service.  He couldn't stop smiling.

However, I got the biggest compliment of all today, overheard as I dozed in the back bedroom (Sundays are my "go back to bed" days): 

"Daddy, build the fort like Mommy's.  Mommy's forts always stay up!"  (yesssss!!!!)

Life is good.

Best. husband. Ever.

So, yesterday, we had only been home for a couple hours after our Disneyland trip (which was AWESOME and deserves it's own posts - or many posts, as I have 200+ pics), when my lovely husband and Aden hand me a small gift bag.  An early birthday present, I am told, since we were all together right then and he'd be working all weekend, including on my birthday (Saturday).

Aden says, "It plays music!"  So I'm thinking they got me some little Disney music box on the sly.  I open the bag and, to my utter DELIGHT, see one of these:

(mine's black)

I jumped on him. I squealed.  Today I realized I can not only download songs - and movies! - but I can learn Spanish, listen to NPR, and get the KEXP song of the day for free.  Free, people.

My husband rules.

As I said, this deserves it's own post

Chris got a promotion to lead line cook (ie: chef in charge of other chefs)!  And a raise, to boot.

I'm so proud of my chef.  He's worked very very hard for this and he deserves every bit of it.

I'm SO excited about this, in fact, that in celebration I give you... the Hoff:

The Afrumas Visit!

March was a lovely month, because my bestest friend Katy came to visit along with her husband Michael and her mini-me, Peanut.

Katy is the friend who gets me cards that say "You're the kind of friend I can tell anything" and when you open the card it says, "My butt itches. See? Anything." I was a holding a leg when Peanut came out and cried half the way to California when I moved 2 weeks later. I miss her.

It was fun just being mommas together, chasing the kiddies around. The visit culminated in a dinner at the Taylor's (Katy's parents) house, with my parents and all of us friends who used to hang out watching X-files and are now chasing our mini-me's around. Nostalgic, wierd... and great. Unfortunately Chris had to miss the festivities; he was working. (Sad). But I had a blast!

The Mommas

The kiddos chillin

Katy with our mini-mes!

Peanut chowing down. Note her picture in the background.

Awww! Kisses!

Mikkel and his (very happy) mini-me.

Corbin Dallas (not really), the official screen opener.

The papas!

The crew.

Note: I will try and post the pics larger next time. It's taking me FOREVER to post them. I need to tweak with my photos. Patience, Iago....