an almost perfect evening

The only thing that would have made this evening better would have been for Justin to have been with us...other than that it was pretty spectacular.

I worked remotely today-mostly from the cozy chair of a local coffee shop-in an attempt to knock out a good portion of my staff performance evaluations. This task=successful. 12 out of 18 mostly done.

I picked the boys up, we ran home to pick up the dogs and load bikes in my saturn (yes, be impressed that it was 2 bikes, 2 boys, 2 dogs and me all loaded in my car) and hurried off to old settlers park for a bike ride/blue bonnet photo op. Enjoy the pics :)

significance of this photo-A CREEK FULL OF RUSHING WATER. so thankful for the recent rain !!!

Biking at old settlers-judah is up around the corner

I tell the boys to smile and this is what they give me. 

to which i reply-what are you doing?!? smile for real...and then they give these equally fake smiles

and then hunter becomes an angry squirrel. Justin has a picture that looks a lot like this...he looks more and more like his daddy every day.

I cannot resist that smile. 

Or that giggle. where has time gone? my baby has turned into a 5 year old ! (ok, well he will be 5 in  31 hours.)

His baby blues make me melt.

this is quintessential judah-love this. love this. love this.

me: judah dont pick the bluebonnets.
judah: you mean like this one? 

sneaky little buggers. i turn around to make sure the dogs are still there and they both picked one. now they owe the state of texas 50 cents.

they love each other and laugh constantly...they only stop laughing to argue.

cant you just hear him laughing?!

love them to pieces.

Love the beautiful fields of texas blue bonnets. 

confessions of a mother

I feel as if I must confess sneaky things I do because my sons are too young to catch on:

1. I rig the deck when playing games such as candy land...mysteriously only the double colors and picture cards end up in the pile. And wow, amazing how your bingo card fills up in perfect order...lucky.
2. I often substitute bubbles for shampoo. 
3. I have convinced the boys that it is perfectly normal for girls to not eat meat...just so they cant say to me, "you aren't eating meat, why do i have to eat all my salad."
4. in the winter, when it is dark out early, i sometimes tell them that its bed time at like 745. this does not work well anymore because hunter can read the clock, which requires one moves the clock ahead one hour.
5. dessert often equals 1 jelly bean
6. h & j think all boys have to kiss their mom's goodbye, and hello, and goodnight, and any other time their mom asks for a kiss.
7. i have convinced them that only moms drink mountain dew, so they are to tell me anytime daddy sneaks some of my drink...and they are sworn to secrecy if i sneak some of his coke. 
8. my sons find it completely normal that i dont touch bugs, or lawnmowers, or broken stuff.
9. occasionally i flip 3 or 4 pages of a book at one time. again, not working so much anymore.
10. i have taught the boys that police officers can come to our house and get them if they are too noisy or dont listen after the 22034th time i have said to do something
11. i tell the boys that bugs will grow in their ears if they dont clean them-or that bugs will eat their teeth if we dont brush them
12. you are never allowed to body slam mommy. ever. 
13. if you go into a parking lot without holding a hand, you will certainly be hit by a garbage truck.. instantly
14. it is always a good idea to pick a flower for mom, or 23 flowers
15. sometimes i "forget" what they ask for, especially when it's that 3rd cup of milk an hour before bed or something similar 

one day they may look back and be horrified i filled their minds with such atrocities...and i will simply reply, "oh just wait until you have beasts of your own."