makeover

whoa! what a change my blog has undergone. google has been prompting me to change my blog to one of their new "designer" templates, but i have resisted until today. i had to play around a lot to find something that wasn't totally boring and still suited me. while i like the design & colors, i'm not sure it's great for a blog. too much going on? too hard to look at? comment if you think so. if i (or you) can't live with it, then i'll just have to redesign again :)

before. during. after.

gavin got his first hair cut yesterday @ 15 1/2 months old.  he doesn't have a lot of hair, but the hair he does have was getting a little scruffy.  i didn't expect this to go well.  it started with tears and a death grip on me.  i pretty much had to force him into the chair.  the fact that it was a tractor, and he could "drive" didn't matter one bit.  the sucker that the man tried bribing him with didn't matter either. and then, what i didn't anticipate... the clippers.  sent my boy over the edge.  the noise, the invasion of his personal space... not happy.  once the clippers were put away, he settled down a bit.  i was able to capture his attention with the Thomas the Train behind him and Nemo on the TV screen in front of him. then when it was all over, he lost it again.  "save me, mommy!  save me."  i hated seeing him so upset, but the end result was definitely worth it.  i can't get enough of his handsome little head.

two personal favorites

love, love, love these.  soon they will be blown up and added to our walls :)  i think the picture of gavin is the best picture i've ever taken.  it inspires me to keep taking pictures.  the picture of brooke so perfectly captures her expression after throwing a water balloon.  it screams summer, and it is so brooke.

these are pics i want to look at over and over again.

soccer girl

brooke is 4 weeks into her first soccer experience, and she is just as excited now as she was that first day.  maybe even more so.  she can't wait to put on her soccer shorts and shin guards.  she listens so well and does the drills to the best of her ability.  she's learned how to do "little kicks" and "big kicks."  she can "stamp" the ball and "pass" the ball to her partner.  i don't know a darn thing about soccer, but i know that i love to see my girl out there on the field being all sporty.

a little walk outdoors

i love where we live.  there is so much beauty that surrounds us.  a couple of months ago the kids and i took a little walk along the ridge that follows the golf course.  we searched for flowers, saw deer and a bunny rabbit, admired the mountains and enjoyed the fresh air.  there's not much more we could ask for.

hair cut

one day this week brooke asked if she could do some stickers. we got out paper and stickers, and i suggested she take the scissors also. as usual, brooke sat quietly at the kitchen table and did her "art" while i was busy doing something in the kitchen. she finished, went outside to play, kevin came home, i was cleaning up the table for dinner and that's when i saw it - strands of brooke's hair. i couldn't believe it. when brooke came inside, we had a little conversation:

me: brooke, how did strands of your hair get on this placemat?

brooke: i cut them with the scissors.

me: why would you do that?

brooke: because that's what the lady and the man do when i get a hair cut.

me: true, but do you know that the lady and the man went to school to learn how to cut hair? did you go to school to learn how to cut hair?

brooke: yes.

me: gee, i must have missed that phase of your life.

brooke: smile.

me: don't ever do this again. you won't like the way it looks if you do.

thankfully, you can't even tell where she cut her hair. a little experimentation, no major disaster :)

the next best thing to siblings...

are cousins. i was reminded of this last week when zach, megan, jackson and joey came to visit. brooke & jackson have been looking forward to this visit for so long. it was hard to believe it was finally happening. it had been 6 months since the cousins had been together. i was immediately struck by how much jackson had grown. he's a whole head taller than brooke now. and they are both so much more grown up. i love to see the way their relationship changes over time; especially how their love for one another grows. they were inseparable for most of the 5 day visit. they held hands, giggled, played, slept in the same room, danced, argued occasionally and wanted to do whatever the other was doing.

on the other hand, gavin and joey were just getting to know each other. it pains me to say that, but it's true. they're too young to really play "together" at their age, but they sure were interested in one another. there was lots of love going around. gentle touches, hugs, kisses... priceless moments. joey did his fair share of loving on brooke, too :) that boy is a lover for sure!

gavin soaked up every minute of having two older boys around. he learned a lot from them - like how to have a sword fight :) i could see flashes of all the boys playing together as they get older. we sure do have a whole lot to look forward to.