may 11

today i picked the kids up from school and told them we were going to go home, change into different clothes and take a few pictures in hopes of getting a good one for mother's day.  i promised them it would not take longer than 5 minutes.  in general, it's getting much easier to take pictures of brooke and gavin as they get older.  however, some of my most frustrating days have been when i've intentionally tried to get a good shot of the two of them.  it just never works.  they don't cooperate; i lose my patience.  it's just not good.  today was no different.  for some reason brooke started crying as i was doing her hair.  despite my efforts, i couldn't get her to stop.  i really did take pictures for less than 5 minutes, and she cried pretty much the whole time.  her eyes were bloodshot and watery, and i just gave up.  photo shoot over.  i wasn't very happy.  but then i downloaded the pictures.  and a miracle happened.  somehow i ended up with a great picture of brooke and gavin.  you can't even tell brooke was crying :)  as a matter of fact, it's one of the best pictures of both of them that i've ever taken.  so i thanked them.  i thanked them for putting up with mommy's pictures even when they don't feel like it.

may 10

playing baseball is one of my favorite things to do when gavin and i have 1:1 time.  i pitch to him over and over and over again, and i cheer for every hit, every "home run."  i encourage him when he swings and misses, and i try to give him some pointers on how to stand and how to hold his bat.  most of what gavin knows about baseball he knows from me or from watching professional baseball games.  gavin knows how to run the bases now, but he doesn't quite grasp the concept of stopping at a base.  he runs all the way around the bases every single time.  when i tag him out to try to teach him the rules of the game, he puts up a big protest.  funny guy!  we've signed gavin up to play t-ball through the Y this summer so maybe he'll learn a few more fundamentals of the game.  or maybe not :)  either way, i know he'll love it.

may 9

this morning gavin and i headed over to mom's house after dropping brooke off at school.  mom is moving back into her own house after having rented it for a couple of years.  i went over to help mom select paint colors in preparation for our big family painting party.  when i pulled up, my sister's car was already on the street.  i told my mom that it was kind of like coming home.  i lived with my mom (and my sister) for a few short periods during/right after college, and it felt good for us all to be back in the house together.  it was the first time gavin has ever been in mom's house.  he and stella had a great time playing with a few boxes of toys while we picked paint colors for the entire house.  i'm excited that my mom is back home.  i know she is, too.

may 8

rain today meant that gavin got to break out his new pirate umbrella that aunt megan, uncle zach, jackson, joey and chase gave him for his birthday.  it's the perfect gift because gavin loves umbrellas.  the fact that joey has a matching one makes it that much cuter :)

may 7

days that end with family movie night are always good days :)

may 6

we packed a lot into today.  the kids spent the night with gram vicki.  kevin was up at the crack of dawn to run the first leg of a relay in the flying pig marathon.  i was up early, too (just not that early) so i could see megan finish her first half marathon!  i'm always in awe of all the runners and today was no exception.  i have enormous respect for anyone who can run for hours!  megan and alison did great, and i got to see them just before they entered the chutes leading to the finish line.  i also caught up with zach & the boys, hayden & kids and karen.  from there i walked through downtown to meet up with kevin for breakfast.  not only did kevin run a relay in the race, but he proceeded to run all the way back downtown, so he came pretty close to running the half marathon, too!  the only running i did was in my car to pick up the kids from my mom.  then we came home and spent the entire rest of the day washing my car.  oh, how it needed it!  i was more than a little embarrassed by how dirty it was but more than a little overjoyed at how much fun we all had getting it clean again.

may 5

cinco de mayo, derby day and date night all in one!  now that's some kind of day!!  we had a relaxing day at home since brooke's soccer game was cancelled for the second week in a row.  i sat in my office this afternoon with the window open, and i could smell a charcoal grill being fired up somewhere in the not too far distance.  it took me right back to my grandparents' house in the summertime.  they had a small patio at the very back of their yard, and it had a built-in stone grill (i think).  i can remember my grandpa grilling us dinner in the summertime.  mmm... that smell.  grandpa always used a lot of lighter fluid :)  i love how a smell can transport you to a very specific time in your life... childhood.  summertime. family.

this evening we dropped the kids off with mom and stopped downtown for dinner in OTR.  we walked into bakersfield as soon as the derby was going off (literally).  i was happy we got to see the race and even happier that there wasn't much of a wait for dinner :)  we sat in the front of the restaurant with the windows/door pulled up and enjoyed the perfect evening, perfect company and the perfect margarita!