i think i steamrolled his mind...

I begin with a story.
A (very good looking) guy decided he wanted a fixed gear road bike. He saved and saved for months. Every time he worked overtime or holidays he would put aside a little extra to put toward his dream: a Surly Steamroller (in the Creamroller colourway) with white pedals, chrome toe clips, brown leather toe straps, and (one day) a brown leather saddle and matching bar tape. He decided to forego numerous CD purchases simply so he would be pedaling that much sooner. Then, when he had nearly met the figure he had saved and saved for, he spent it all. All of it... on a camera for his wife. She never felt so lucky. He selflessly gave all that he had worked months and months for so that she could have something she wanted.
Yesterday we surprised him with something...


He had to call his brother to come over and relive his own Steamroller assembly. :)

(Jordan's) ebony and (Justin's) ivory


He works so hard (with school and work and kids and wife and household projects...) I'd say he earned this birthday/early graduation present. :)

and we celebrated all night, until the break of 8:30PM

"The Birthday Girl (or boy) gets the beaters". (a tradition at our house)



Britt celebrated a year of being a big brother by opening a few superhero activity books and a new Pez dispenser. {thanks again, Granny & Grandpa!}


is there really such a thing as having too many accessories?




ooo! ice cream too!

After the party, the kids took a (much-needed) bath, and Britt drew these fellas with Marnie's bath crayons (which HE picked out to give to her... I have a feeling he was thinking, "yeah, I'll get them 'for Marnie' and then I can use them too!"). He drew Batman, Wolverine and Spiderman. Can you guess which superhero is which?


Britt has a tendency to "steal the show" a little. :) He's never actually seen a "lunch-lady," but he put on the net from one of Marnie's toys and it magically transformed him into a lunch-lady. Apparently, in his mind, these ladies are happy and sweet at first, but if you don't decide which cupcake you want fast enough- watch out! :)





my personal favorite...


:) thanks to gandpas and grandmas and uncles and aunt for making it such a fun party!

things i {heart}

how cute this boy writes his name

my valentine (and his 2 helpers)


{I'm not a romantic. We celebrate Arizona's birthday (and not that other holiday) on February 14th. That being said, I never expect flowers for any occasion (real or invented by card companies), but I also never turn them down. :) Especially when they include tulips and irises.}

my tootsie wootsie... {year one}

In honor of Marnie's first birthday (today) I'm posting some of my favorite pictures of her from this year. I can't believe that it's been a year since these first two pics were taken... She's grown so fast!
















you can practically hear her yelling in this one, huh?




Dearest Marnie Jayne,
One year ago your Daddy kissed me goodbye at 6:30AM, as he left for work, and I tried to get a little more sleep before your brother woke up. (I was trying to store sleep like a camel stores water. I must have sensed how long it would be until you slept through the night.) I never did go back to sleep though, I started timing contractions instead. As if you wanted to celebrate the moment I first knew that you were on your way, you woke up this morning at 6:30AM, just as your Daddy kissed me goodbye and left for work. After snuggling and getting some "ta-ta" (as you put it) we watched birds out the back window. You signed "bird" over and over, then "tree," then got bored and said "bubbah" and signed "sleep," after which you ran down to Britt's room, flung open the door and ran to his bed to give him kissies. This is typical of our mornings for the past year. :)
We could not love you more. You have such a fun and charismatic personality. You love to laugh and kiss and play and run (you always seem to be running somewhere). If you know Daddy is home, you can't leave him alone. Yesterday, as he laid sick in bed, you snuck in, took a headphone out of his ear and held it to your own ear. Then the dancing began... :) It definitely helped Daddy feel better. You are so much like your brother that way; you hate to see others feel crummy, so you do all you can to help. You make us laugh constantly (you've learned from the master in that, though). You are so beautiful, it still takes my breath away. The first things I noticed about you were your dark hair and your big lips (it was like looking in a mirror!), and I admit, I was a little sad to see your hair change color. I love your spunk. I love your smile. I even love your fake cry. You are SUCH a girl! :) I'm so glad to have a girl. I'm so glad I can look forward to ballet classes and fake high-heel shoes and nail polish. Thank you so much for all the fun and love you brought into our family. Thank you for putting up with me when 8 months of not sleeping for more than 4 hours at a time made me a little cranky. Thank you for FINALLY starting to sleep all night (last month). We love love love you. We're so glad we could be your "momma," "dada," and "bubbah."

now let's have some cake! :)

Phoenix {the city and the band}

Any get-away is even better when you have views like this:

and this:

and great friends and fluffy bathrobes. :)

Phoenix had won their first Grammy the night before (for Best Alternative Album), so they were still very much in the mood for a good time/dance party. The lights were awesome, the music sounded incredible, and they invited everyone on stage at the end. I can't tell you how grateful we are that our folks were happy to babysit Britt and Marnie so we could go. :)



Justin and I were happy to add a couple more (awesome) bands to our list of well-over 100 bands we've seen live. I have a wonderful mental image of us still enjoying concerts in our 80s... standing side by side with our walkers. :)



This first video is from my camera, and the next one is someone else's. I just loved this version of Everything is Everything.