An Anniversary and a Party (but not an Anniversary Party)

We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary a week ago Saturday. Unfortunately December 3rd was the only date that worked to host the annual Allegis Christmas party so our 'celebration' consisted of a houseful of employees and their spouses, a fully catered gourmet meal, a fully stocked bar and a bartender...when I put it that way, maybe it wasn't all that unfortunate!  It was a very late night and we did have a few overnighters but all in all, everyone had a great time and we budgeted a house and carpet cleaning just a day later so the mess was handled for the most part.

The past 12 years have flown by.  The speed started feeling twice as fast after Greyson was born and I expect the next 12 will in retrospect feel just as, if not more than, fast.  We aren't a couple to make a huge deal out of an anniversary. We talk about return trips to Lake Tahoe where we tied the knot but an anniversary in early December precedes what is usually a whirlwind celebration of many things anyway so we usually choose something simple, quiet and relaxed.  I'll admit a big party doesn't necessarily fit that criteria but I didn't have to plan it; I didn't even choose the menu.  I provided the venue and the team took care of the rest.  

We leave as a family for Wisconsin in just over a week.  I should feel a little anxious given the experience with Graham on our last flight, the fact that I've done almost zero Christmas shopping, my Christmas cards haven't been mailed yet (though they arrived well over a week ago) and our work schedules are packed until our flight on the 20th.  What I feel instead is peace, gratitude and a sense of calm.  Tonight while Mike and I sat in front of the tree, Graham danced to the musical ornaments and Greyson sang 3 Christmas carols.  There's nothing to be anxious about after that.

Getting ready for the party!

Our cocktail server insisted on taking a picture of the anniversary couple

Greyson's "Christmas party girlfriend" and his Badger fan sidekick

The Badgers are headed to the Rose Bowl!

The party attendees

The Allegis Group Services Seattle team

GRAHAM*isms*

• M: "Graham, what's in your mouth?"
• G:  "Tongue"

It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing

Greyson and Graham got a new nanny this week.  Sara was with our family for 3 years but it was time for a change.  Our new nanny Heather has a 1 year old son and was born and raised in Green Bay. She hasn’t lost her accent and Midwest values and she’s going to be a great fit for our family.  Graham loves the “baby” and so far the 3 boys are getting along great.

• G:  “Daddy has longer nipples than me and Graham”

November was family month for us.  My mom and brother visited me and the boys for an extended weekend (see video below for a snapshot of how we spent our time).  Mike had a blast in Costa Rica but is not recommending it as a future family vacation spot.  I received a few texts from him over the course of his short visit but this one took the cake, “Just got done signing autographs- I’ll explain later”.  Ask him- it’s a great story.

Mike’s parents spent Thanksgiving week with us. We ate, we shopped and we relaxed; not necessarily in that order.  It was a wonderful visit and after seeing both sides of our family for a bit, we’re as excited as ever to get home for Christmas (a white one!)

• G: “I’m going to sleep with Grandma because I only sleep with girls”

Our decorations are up, our first Christmas card arrived (yeah Hirsts!) and our own cards are waiting to be be addressed and stamped.  We’re preparing our house for the 2nd annual Allegis Seattle Christmas party. It’s tomorrow night. Wish us luck.

Halloween 2011- better late than never

What I really want to blog about right now is Thanksgiving preparation, upcoming visits from my family and Mike’s and an amazing “Fakesgiving” meal at a friends house but I still have this Halloween blog drafted from 2 weeks ago and need to publish it before I can move on.  This is not a technical glitch, it’s just the ‘who I am" that contributes to my inability to stop reading a book I hate because I started it which means I must finish it.  So, here’s the Halloween recap:

I cannot take credit for this work of art but I had to share because it’s cute, creative and fun and upped my appreciation for Halloween.  Graham appreciated it too!

We enjoyed dinner with friends the night before Halloween and my friend, a Halloween lover, went all out for the kids as you can see.  She served monkey brains (spaghetti) and eyeballs (meatballs), fangs (fruit wedges) and bones (breadsticks).  The highlight was the witch cupcake.  After the kids finished, the adults had a wonderful meal as well followed by an impromptu performance by the 8 kids hopped up on sugar and decked out in a combination of costumes. They came to the ‘party’ as one character, they morphed into different variations (one Spiderman hand, one Transformer face, a cowboy boot etc.)

Trick or treat was in fact a real treat. Graham was into it and I’m a particularly proud mom this year because Greyson chose to donate his candy to his dentist for cash.  It was coincidence that his dentist appointment happened to fall the week before Halloween so the idea was fresh on his mind.  He followed through and used his cash to buy a   Dr. Thomas sends the candy to troops overseas (sorry about that cavity, soldier!)  We will be purposefully scheduling all future 1/2 year dentist appointments the week before Halloween.

In the 2 weeks since Halloween ended I:

• Composted the pumpkins
• Pulled out some additional harvest-themed deco
• Took a quick trip to Paris and Copenhagen for work
• Hosted a dinner party
• Attended 2 dinner parties
• Started the menu planning for Thanksgiving
• Started a weekend with my mom and brother (Uncle Nate)
• Said ‘so long’ to Mike who is leaving for Costa Rica to see PEARL JAM

No Additional Words Necessary For This Post

~Mrs. Deneall Owens, Greyson’s Teacher, October 2011

Party Fit for a 2 Year-Old!

We could have had a party with kids of all ages, a bouncy house or trampoline, Halloween costumes and other fun themes.  An end of October birthday provides a canvas of opportunities to celebrate Graham’s special day.

We chose to keep it simple…

On Saturday morning, cars of all shapes, sizes and sounds awaited Graham along with car-shaped chocolate chip pancakes. 

We kept our PJ’s on all morning while Graham had fun with his vehicle-centric gifts (thank you family!!).

After homemade pizza for lunch, more chocolate in the form of a (nut-free) chocolate layer cake from Rae’s Bakery.

After naps, the boys watched, what else? Cars.  Mike and I cleaned up the “party”, made stuffed peppers* for dinner and let our new 2 year old stay up until 8:00pm!  He deserved it- he’s not a baby anymore (sniff). 

No party is complete without the requisite party hat.  Greyson rocked it well.

Happy Birthday to our sweet baby Graham. We are madly in love with you and every new day is another chance to watch you grow, learn, love and best of all, laugh.

*Stuffed peppers = healthy, yummy and Greyson’s new “favorite” food. Who woulda thought? 

Halloween Fan? Nah.

GREY*isms*

• G: “Mom, what is that?”
• Me: “It’s a cap gun”
• G: “You can shoot cats with it?”

October is my favorite month.  The mornings are starting to get cold (~45F) but the afternoons are sunny and fall-warm (~60F).  It’s primetime pumpkin patch weather but we haven’t scheduled it yet.  Here’s to hoping the sun/no-rain holds off for one more weekend.

If you know me well, you know I’m not a huge fan of Halloween so it begs the question, why would October be my favorite?  On the one hand, it’s 31 days of spiders, bats, witches and zombies; black and orange (just a hot water rinse-cycle away from Chicago Bears colors), creepy lawn decorations and Styrofoam headstones.  On the other, it’s fall colors, cinnamon candles, sweaters and puffy-vests, Harvest-themed decorations, family time* and football (Ok, baseball too, when the Brewers are in the post-season- alas, not the World Series).

Now I feel I need to clarify because most of my friends, family and readers are massive fans of this “holiday”.  I do not dislike Halloween.  I do not dislike kids in costumes, trick or treating, jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows.  I do dislike ME in costume.  I do not enjoy handing out candy to 17+ year old trick or treaters without costumes holding a pillow case (I prefer not to provoke this set by turning them away so I smile and let them choose what they want- my fear of “crazy” is a blog post for another day).  I recently listened to Rob Lowe’s audio book** Stories I Only Tell My Friends and he recounted a trick or treating night in his neighborhood when Martin Sheen dressed up in camo, painted his face and hid in the bushes. Even Martin Sheen wouldn’t alleviate my lack of appreciation for unexpected scares jumping out of the trees.  ‘Party Pooper’, ‘Boring’, ‘Annoying’- call me what you want.  I LOVE my kids’ excitement over costumes and candy, pumpkin carving and toasting seeds, hot apple cider and a late bedtime.  I embrace Halloween on behalf of my kids and will stimulate the economy with purchases on their behalf (that is, once they’re old enough to choose their own costumes- until then, hand-me-downs it is).

Greyson has chosen the Bumblebee Transformer.  Graham has not chosen, but will be, a soft and cuddly bumblebee.  I will post more pictures and you will ooh and aah.  Just don’t scream from behind the bushes.

3 Reasons to love October

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*As opposed to family time in the summer which typically includes more people, more trips and more organization. Aside from a weekend business trip for Mike, we are home together until November 6th when I depart for business in Europe and Mike goes to Costa Rica shortly after I get back.

**I highly recommend “listening” to his autobiography. He could read the dictionary and make it pleasurable

Orca are family just like us

Carmen, Brian and the kids paid us a visit a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to post some pictures ever since.  Jake, Bria, Greyson and Graham got some great bonding time and I’ll warn you now, you’re going to wish you lived here when you see the beauty that is a whale in its natural habitat.  But first things first…

Mike took the gang to Seattle for a day.  First stop, Space Needle.  I laughed out loud and for a very long time when I saw what at first looked to be a very nice family photo until your eyes pan to the right. I laugh still.

Bria and Greyson got their fill of Kinect- Dance Central, Boxing and Soccer were big hits and I have enough video of them jabbing the air, kicking imaginary goals and ‘getting down’ to Lady Gaga to make a movie.  They were two peas in a pod all weekend.

The whales, though, always steal the show…

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The dreaded gum wall (click here for context) received a few more donations and Brian went crazy at the fish market so we feasted like kings on fresh salmon, halibut and Dungeness crab.  We miss you already and are looking forward to the holidays at home this year. Thank you for visiting…come back soon!

Back to…Preschool

My friends (i.e. Tina & David) think our 5 year old is THE wittiest, THE funniest kid they’ve ever met but this is only because they are not exposed to very many 5 year olds who look and sound like a kid* from Lord of the Flies.

G:  (watching a commercial for a ‘Dance with me Baby’ doll)  “I DEFINITELY don’t want one of those!”

His preschool 5’s program started this week.  He had, in his words, “watery eyes” Monday morning but since then he’s gone in without looking back.  He talked about a Caroline (that’s CARO-line, not CARO-lynn) for quite a while last night and no, she’s not his teacher but he made a point of stopping by Mrs. Sharon’s classroom just to say hello and make sure her hair was down.

Most of Greyson’s friends are starting Kindergarten this year but it doesn’t seem to faze him so once again, I sweated a decision that meant more to me than it did to him.  So he’s the oldest kid in his class? I’d rather him be driving first than riding with the likes of a teenage driver like me.

It’s a quiet blog these days but the soon-to-be cooler temperatures will keep us off the boat and in the house with a little more time to draft…maybe. For now, we’re looking forward to a weekend visit from Carmen, Brian and the kids which includes a return visit to the Sound (whale watching), the Space Needle and Pike Place Market’s fresh fish. 

*know-it-all, argumentative, savvy, resourceful and independent (not murderous)

Surfer Boys

GREY*isms*

Greyson has a fondness for adjectives:

1. G: (running through the sprinkler) "MOM! Look at this magnificent rainbow!!"
2. G:  (coming across a pile of glass while riding his bike) "MOM! This glass is extensive!!"

• G:  "Mom, when are we gonna go on a rocket ship?"
• Me: "Maybe you should be an astronaut, but you would need to study really hard"
• G:  "I am!"
• Me: "You haven't even started school yet"
• G:  "Oh yeah..."

• Mike: “Grey, what’re you doing?”
• G: “I’m hiding from the maniac*!”

*i.e. Graham

August has been a pretty good month of sunshine and warmth. I remember our first 2 summers out here wondering how in heck the majority of homes, even new ones, don't include air conditioning.  Our house does have it and in the early days, we turned it on often.  We must be getting used to the Seattle climate because although there have certainly been days that warrant the air, we prefer open windows and doors.

A quiet blog usually means long days and nights of family time. Between afternoons on Lake Washington, a short trip to the Michigan side of Lake Michigan and backyard barbecues we actually have sun tans.  Yesterday, Mike got up at 5am (again) for some early morning wake boarding.  Despite the slow start to summer (and it was really slow), it’s the best one yet. We are a family invigorated, happy and content despite our busy schedules and work commitments which have included business trips for both of us this month.

Graham’s vocabulary is a work in progress. Everything with wheels is a car. He’s got a few words, like airplane, bubbles and vitamin that are easily discernable by us but good luck figuring it out if you don’t spend every day with him.  He’s eager to point out anything in the house, from shoes to sunglasses, that belong to me or Mike.  He points to my shoes and says “Mama”.  He points to Mike’s sunglasses “Dada”.  He’s brilliant.  I wish you could see him like we do. You would fall in love.

MADLIBS! and other fun

 

I’ve never been more huge.  My baseball team, the Orange Motorcycles was about to play the championship game. But Coach Vincenzo announced that the official rules had changed!  First, every player would puke 24 times before going to bat.  We also had to wear our gloves on our brains like jerseys and run like a Meer cat. Before Coach could explain more the umpire shouted Jump ball! The umpire tossed me our new official bat, a helmet. When the school goer threw the new official ball, a grapefruit, it zoomed past me and swam all over the catcher.  After 25 tries, I finally hit the grapefruit all the way to India. I started running as fast as I could until I slid into home base. This new game isn’t so slimy after all.

                              ~Greyson, Aug 8, 2011, National Geographic Kids

I planned to tell you about my garage/yard/rummage/shoot-me-now-I-hate-this sale and how stressed out I was preparing for it in between late night conference calls with India and tired after it was over and about all the crazy people who stopped by to haggle (“you marked this for $3, will you take a buck?”…um, “sure”).  I could regale you for a good long while but I changed my mind.  I made a profit and I’m over it.

The Blue Angels @ Seafair were the highlight of our weekend, not the damn garage sale. I played hooky from work on Friday afternoon so that Greyson and I could meet up with our friends.  Seeing the show from the middle of the lake was an awesome experience although our friend Cooper obviously wasn’t all that impressed:

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Seattle and the San Juan Islands

The Bertotto family chose the Pacific Northwest for their summer holiday and we’re so glad they did because we got to revisit Seattle from a tourist’s perspective.  This was our first experience with the “gum wall” behind Pike Place Market.  It was disgusting and intriguing and the usual wafts that come with a back alley were replaced with notes of fruit and mint.  Greyson paid 25 cents for a gumball from the machine conveniently located in said alley. He chose to chew it and keep it but Noah and Evan contributed to the wall behind them.

After 3 nights with us in Kirkland, we drove up to Anacortes, put our cars on the ferry to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands and stayed 3 nights in a house on the Puget Sound with views that rival the Hawaiian islands.  It’s called The Lodge at Pebble Beach.  Here’s one of the views from the ferry to the islands.

What a great week it’s been.  We’ve cooked gourmet meals nearly every single night, toured a lavender farm, flew a kite on a 7 mile beach with the Olympic mountains in the distance and went on a whale watching kayak tour in Roche Harbor. 

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DAVID*ism*

• Mike:  “We’re not allowed within 200 feet of an Orca whale”
• David: “Do the whales know that?”

We’ve been eating like Kings. David and Tina love to cook as much as we do.  Since the best part about cooking is sharing, here’s a snapshot of our menu. I’m a little embarrassed to say that this isn’t everything.  For recipes, send me a note and I’ll see what I can do- some of this we just made up as we went.

Monday night:  Pulled pork sandwiches (Big Green Egg) with a side of coleslaw and Sweet Baby Ray’s, buttery garlic green beans and garden lettuce salad with Pike Place peaches, shallot and shredded swiss

Tuesday night:  Grilled chicken (BGE), melted swiss, cremini mushrooms and arugula with homemade pesto on grilled rustic bread and a side of white wine and parmesan risotto

Wednesday night: Cafe Juanita. Nuff said

Thursday night: Seafood stew* (mussels, clams, lobster, halibut and prawns all from Pike Place Market) with a side of Pancetta/parmesan caesar salad with homemade croutons and dressing

Friday night:  Guenther house guacamole, tortilla soup with homemade tortilla chips and soft corn tacos carnitas (pulled pork from the BGE)

Saturday night:  Homemade blue cheese dip with Kettle Chips and lots of leftovers

*the seafood stew rivals anything we’ve had…anywhere

We’re sorry to see the week end, but it’s not over quite yet.  The sun is shining, the ocean is sparkling (literally) and to quote David Bertotto, “we are blessed”.

One year later

When you are sorrowful
look into your heart
and you shall see that
you are weeping
for that which has been
your delight ~ Kahlil Gibran

GREY*isms*

• G: “Are we praying for Patrick’s baby tonight?”
• Me: “How about we pray for everyone who knew him?”
• G; “Like me?”
• Me: “Yep, we’ll be praying for you too”

I read a book last month called Heaven is For Real. I already knew that it was, but am thankful for the vivid images that now accompany my imagination.  The book didn’t make the loss of loved ones easier but it provided some much needed validation.  I sure am thankful and I will continue to pray.  Patrick, you are sorely missed.

July

What a July it’s been! Let’s keep it short and sweet, shall we?

Week 1:  The first 4th of July holiday spent away from the Northwoods, we stayed in Seattle and celebrated the holiday with friends. A boat ride, paddleboarding, a parade and a few firecrackers and sparklers in the backyard after grilled chicken and a nose bleed.

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Week 2:  My mom got sick, had surgery for a ruptured appendix and spent a week in the hospital.  We flew back to Wisconsin a day early to bring some love to her and enjoyed time with my sister and her family as well.  My mom is doing great and we’re so thankful for all of the thoughts and prayers from friends across the world.

Week 2, Part II:  We visited Mike’s family in Minocqua, went to a party, lived on a boat and had dinner on an island in the middle of Lake Tomahawk.  The temp didn’t drop below 85.  We got sunburned. We loved it, despite the worst flight home in the history of flights (picture a certain one and a half year old overtired and…overtired)

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Week 3:  A business trip to Chicago began with a great visit with the Shah family and their newborn baby girl, Naya followed by a Cubs game and an unexpected visit with old friends from Milwaukee and Chicago on a rooftop across from Wrigley Field. A pleasant trip overall despite another very awful flight home due to a 7 hour delay.

2 visits to the Midwest in the course of 2 weeks has me homesick and nostalgic.

I wonder what the remainder of the month will bring?

 

Professional Mom

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The past 12 months have been a year of unforgettable experiences.  From the Great Wall of China to the streets of Hyderabad, the Eiffel Tower to the canals of Amsterdam.  And Dublin, a city I’ve had the privilege of visiting half a dozen times and each time, I find something new.  I’ve made the most of these opportunities and am forever grateful to Mike, our family and friends who help out when I’m gone. 

There is no experience or opportunity, though, that validates me more than being a mom.

I’m side by side with Greyson in his bed as he fights a stomach bug today. No mother would wish her children to be sick but the worth I feel as I rub his back, clean the puke bowl, fetch the popsicles…I’ll take this feeling over professional triumphs any time.  This is who I am.

And on a lighter note (not for the faint of heart):

• *Greyson is crying while sitting on the toilet and puking at the same time*
• Me: “You have diarrhea, Grey” (for the first time since he was 9 months old)
• G:  *stops crying* “It rocked!  It was like phfoooooschhh. It was awesome”
• Me: (speechless)

On Father’s Day, Mike took Greyson to a Mariners Game with his tee ball team while I stayed home with Graham so he could practice how to say “no”, “No” and “NO”.  That night, after Greyson fell asleep, I took this picture of him and the Mariner Moose.  One of these days, he’s going to wake up and get angry (Grey, not the moose), but until he does, I’m going to risk the occasional nocturnal shot.  I can’t resist.

Season End

Greyson’s tee ball season ended a week ago. Signing him up for Little League was great for all of us. Grey loves the game and made some more friends and we did too, which was an added bonus.  We hosted the season-end party yesterday…I lost track of the kid count after 23 (12 players who all have siblings; one family brought 5 of their 6 kids).  Despite my jet lag and Mike’s exhaustion after a long week as a single-dad, the party was a success (along with the guacamole!)

I’m keeping it short and sweet on this late Sunday- we’re all catching up on sleep and enjoying the sunshine and togetherness.  I’ve heard more GREY*isms* this weekend to fill a page but can only remember the last one:

• G:  How did God get made?
• Me:  I don’t know!
• G:  I think he made his-self

Graham has hit the beginning of what was my favorite age with Greyson.  At 19 months his personality is on fire.  My “favorite age” for Greyson lasted every month through 2.5 years and if that holds true for Graham, we’re in for an awesome year.  Pure joy.  The video below is from a month ago.

Amsterdam awaits, a short stop to Dublin and then home until we all travel together to Central Wisconsin in early July.  We are dreaming of warm Wisconsin nights, cheese curds and tranquility (not necessarily in that order).

The biggest congratulations go out to our friends, Sejal and Ann Shah and their boys, Deven and Sai.  They just welcomed a baby girl to their family.  Naya, we can’t wait to meet you!

If you haven’t called in a while, we’d love to hear your voice.  Microsoft just bought Skype…it’s a fabulous piece of technology and it’s free.  Skype name= theguentherfamily. 

Ski Bum

GREY*isms*

• Me:  “What should we pray for tonight?”
• G:  “That I don’t step on bees and Graham can’t suck on bugs”

Finally, a full weekend of sun and fun!  A weekend like this almost makes me forget how gray and boring it’s been around here. Greyson’s final tee ball game of the season was on Saturday followed by a great afternoon on friend’s boat, where Graham water-skied while Greyson freaked out because the “sides of the boat are too short!”. He got over it and ended up tubing with his buddy but Graham is officially our dare devil; no doubt about that.

There is nothing comparable, in my experiences, to boating on Lake Washington with an unobstructed view of Mt. Rainier and the Olympics. It’s a a different kind of beautiful from the Minocqua lakes. Breathtaking. We really had an incredible day with a family we love so no doubt there’s more lake days in our future.

I’m in Paris at the moment, back home this weekend for Greyson’s end of season tee ball party and back to Europe next week. Thinking about Greyson singing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” chorus when he didn’t think I was listening is helping me through the days without him.

I’m writing a blog post for my company about working mothers.  It’s actually been a therapeutic exercise and I’ll try to remember to post the link once it’s live.

the latest list

Cabo San Lucas feels like a distant memory but we had a fabulous time with our friends, the Mullens, and look forward to seeing them again.

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1. Greyson’s last day of preschool was on Friday but we’re sending him back to the 5’s class in the fall. We’re at peace about that decision. Total and complete peace.
2. Mike and I saw Hangover 2 this week. Funny. Not as funny as #1, but worth the price of a ticket.
3. Graham caught the baseball bug. Press play on the video below… 
   
4. Our meetings were a success in France so I’m heading back to Paris next week.  The business we pursued was awarded to us which also means that a new iPad 2 is coming my way. This is what happens when I use my cunning to strike a side deal with my VP over a bottle of French wine.
   

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5. Memorial Day weekend was relaxing and low key. “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”   Arthur Ashe
6. A big shout out to our friends, the Herreras and Mike’s mom who flew out to watch the boys for a few days (and spend some time with us). We’re now counting the days until our visit home.

Anyone got any tips for hosting a garage sale? Send ‘em my way before June 24th.  The first round of baby gear is for sale!

Mom, Mom, Mom

Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful Mom who never missed a moment to tell me how smart I was, how beautiful, how good at the thing I was doing at the time. I didn’t deserve every compliment but she doled them out anyway and she was as good a salesperson as I’ve ever met because I believed her. To this day, I think I can do and be absolutely anything I want. I’m so grateful for that gift.

2 good trips this month- one to Paris and one to Cabo San Lucas.  Paris for work (seriously) and Cabo for a much needed vacation with Mike.  I’ll post some pictures of both when we get back from the latter because tonight I just want to post some pics and a fun video of my Mother’s Day weekend.

I am absolutely smitten with these boys! I can’t properly express how much fun we’re having.  Greyson is looking out for Graham just like he promised me before Graham was born… “I won’t eat ‘em and I won’t squish ‘em”.

Greyson is a sports-kid these days.  He gets home from baseball and wants to play baseball. I’ve been fielding his hits, throwing grounders and playing catch with him.  I feel like a kid again.

Graham is pure joy.  I am so completely in love with this child!

In short, my Mother’s Day was a glorious one. I stayed in my pajamas until dinner time and only changed because I thought the neighbors might stop over.  We played all day.  It felt like Christmas. I’m heartbroken to be leaving them tomorrow but ecstatic that Mike and I are heading to sun, 90 degrees and a week with our friends, the Mullens. Marita isn’t going to know what hit her because it’s been SO LONG since I’ve been able to chat with a girlfriend who knows me inside and out.

And speaking of girlfriends, one of my favorite Seattle-area friends is learning the art of photography.  She took pictures of the boys a couple of weeks ago for fun and for free (for free!). She posted the best ones to her blog.  I adore them and I adore her.  Click Here to see how good she is. She captured their spirits in these photos.

And a few more weekend pics for your viewing pleasure. Tomorrow we’ll be sipping margaritas by the pool.  Au revoir, I mean Adios!

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GREY*isms*

• “Does anyone want a Geico credit card”?