Mothers Day & Sunday Parkways

Ah, hammock time. Nothing beats snuggle time with each boy, as well as making goofy faces to the camera overhead.

Today was Mothers Day and Sunday Parkways. To top it off, Portland's temperature reached 90 degrees, so we acted like it was Summertime...with the hammock, grilled Gartners ribs for dinner, and lots of outside time.  It was perfect!

Sunday Parkways was in our neighborhood this weekend.  It is an annual event in Portland neighborhoods where streets are shut down to car traffic, and it's all about bikes, scootin' walking, and getting out in the community.  It's awesome.  The boys and I went on a ride when it started at 11:00, but then it was time to get to work.

This year, they wanted to sell water and try to earn some money.  They had the perfect product, on the hottest day of the year.  The crowds went wild and they sold out of 120 bottles of ice cold water!  Of course, there was time between sales to cruise around on bikes.

  Oh, and it wasn't like they were all greedy with their earnings.  They told their customers that 10% of their proceeds would be donated to charity.  They chose Safe Routes to School, since it's an organization that promotes bike riding, and getting kids to and from school safely.  Seemed fitting for today's event.  I'm sure that the CEO over at Safe Routes will be thrilled when they present them with their $6.00 donation.  :)

Where it all happened....on the corner of 23rd and Ainsworth.

Good times.  I'm lucky to be their mama.

Sometimes it's the little things in life....

 ...like this little green worm.

I was at my mom's house this week and we were cleaning out a room and going through old stuff, and you can't imagine my surprise and delight when I came across this little fellow, stashed in the bottom of an empty flower pot on the top shelf. 

 This little green worm spent his entire life sitting in my Granny's kitchen window plant. He was always there, peeking over the edge with that silly grin. 

 How could you not love this quiet and unassuming little worm?

Now he's mine, and I couldn't be more thrilled to have him. 

 I know that Granny would be thrilled, too.

Sunshine!

 What a gorgeous day it was!  It was Portland first 'hot' weekend after lots and lots of rain, and it felt great.

Even Harry soaked his fur in the rays that came through the front window early this a.m.

He added some stripes to his already very stripey fur.

I love this picture.

I didn't intentionally take it, but I was thrilled when I found it on my phone.  Somehow I snapped the photo when I was lying on a lawn chair in the backyard this afternoon.
Amazing rays.

Dan thinks that I am crazy, but do you see the little white speckle in the upper right corner?  Well, I think that's an orb of someone's spirit.  Maybe I've been watching too much of the Long Island Medium, but hey, it works for me!

Concordia Cavaliers #1 fans!

Who needs Wrigley Field anyways?
Just 4 blocks from our house at Concordia University there is a brand new, beautiful baseball stadium where the Cavaliers play college level baseball. Dan and the boys have adopted the team as their own, and have made this their favorite new place to hang out.

They attended the grand opening celebration in February, and have become the #1 fans at all of the games. They even got this packet of soil that was taken from the old pitcher's mound and have since buried it's magical dust in our backyard. They said that it would bring them 'good luck' at all of their baseball games this year.

They have made friends with some of the player's families, the players, and other locals at the baseball field and today when they got to the game they were in for an amazing surprise. Each member of the team had signed a baseball for their biggest (little) fans!

As you can imagine, they were beyond thrilled.

Eat your heart out Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Mark Grace. There are new players in town....and my boys are smitten.

Watching the game and cheering on their team. Go Cavaliers!

Happy Easter!

Time to dye the Easter eggs so that they're ready for the Easter Bunny!

We had a lovely Easter day celebration at the Slater household. There was lots of sunshine, yummy food, and great company with the whole family there! As always, there is nothing better than cousin time!

Gratuitous photo of the boys with their Easter baskets. Every year when we pull them out we say, "Remember when they were so tiny that they could fit in the baskets?"

So tiny. So cute.

Nate doing a thorough review of his loot that was found on Kenny Lane.

When you're 8 years old, it is fun to melt your chocolate bunny with a magnifying lens and some sunshine.

It's baseball season again!

Today was opening day for the Wilshire-Riverside baseball league. Lots of sunshine and happy kids who are ready to play ball!
We finally have beautiful tulips that are bursting open in our front yard.

Yay, Spring is here!

Bits of March

Saddest birthday cake ever.
Shortly after the birthday party sleepover, our household became an infirmary. Both boys and myself were really sick~high fevers, non-stop coughing and were completely checked out from the world for about a week. Unfortunately, sickness struck on the boys' actual birthday, and neither of them even wanted a piece of cake to celebrate.

What else...oh, my gnome was 'stolen' from the front yard one night in early March. The good news is that he was returned about 3 weeks later. I never did find out who was guilty of gnome thievery, but I did see some pictures of him partying late night at some bars on Alberta. I hope he had fun, and I'm happy that he's back safe and sound.

I love thrifting. It was truly a 'diamond day' when I came across this brand spankin' new leather chair that was in the furniture section for only $69.00. Oh, but with my GW Club Card, I got the additional 10% off. What a deal! What a find! Oh, and it reclines. :)

The sun was out this a.m., so I got away from all of the germs that returned to our household (Christopher sick with round #2) and did some yard work. Harry was howling from the window, so I put on his leash and he got some outside time. Happy cat!

Turning 8

This year, instead of a big themed birthday party like Survivor or Minute-to-Win-It, the boys decided that they wanted to have their very first friend sleepover. So they each invited one best buddy, figured out what kind of food and fun they would have, and got to it. Turning 8 with special friends was really fun! (and very easy for the mom!)

They got to choose where to go to dinner. They all agreed that a classic burger at Stanich's sounded good, so that's where we went. The picture above was taken before diving into those juicy burgers and fries.

....and this picture was taken shortly afterwards. They were stuffed and in a food coma.

All were very good eaters!

After dinner we returned home and they were able to play a little bit of basketball before the sun went down.

Cake and candles time! Except, Chris and Nate didn't want cake...they wanted Ding-Dongs. So Ding-Dongs it was...along with puffy Cheetos, Ginger-Ale, and a few other only-at-birthday-party treats.

Both friends got them Beyblades as a birthday gift, so of course, there was a Beyblade tournament in the basement. Let em' rip!

Much of their time was spent in the basement, I mean, the 'man cave.' Lots of Wii.
That's what 8 year old boys do.
They claim that they pulled an 'all nighter,' but I think they were asleep by about 10:30.

After a good night of sleep it was breakfast time. Again, they decided on the menu: crispy bacon, eggs, and Cinnabon cinnamon rolls out of the tube. mmm

Back down to the man cave for more gaming.

They took a break from the Wii and built some cool designs with marshmallows and toothpicks.

Chris, Sam, Nate, Aidan...the party animals. Happy Birthday!

Cool Necklace

Nate's note that he left for the Tooth Fairy after he realized that he wouldn't be leaving his tooth in a glass of water for her to collect. He was still hopeful that she would leave some money.
She did.

Way more cool than a shark-tooth necklace!

Mama's Getaway

Ah, what a great weekend it was! I went away to the coast with 4 other mamas for two nights and stayed at Arch Cape....my favorite Oregon beach. We stayed at a wonderful rental house and filled our time with yummy food, fun drinks, games, laughs, walks, and a few other things.
It was awesome. I'm certain we'll do it again.

Our beach house was really a good fit, as it made us all feel like we stepped back in time with all kinds of kitschy stuff straight out of the 1950's and 60's. The same dishes that my granny had, a turntable and old albums, aprons that tied at the waist, drawers of vintage utensils, etc. My favorite find at the house...boxes and rings of recipe cards that a very meticulous housewife gathered and sorted.
Very Mad Men, indeed!

Megan, Kathy, Cindy, Amy and Amy.

Put a bird on it.
My view from the kitchen table as I sipped my coffee this morning at sunrise.

Mama's Birthday

Mama's 'spa' treatment.
Turning 45 wasn't so bad! I had a wonderful birthday weekend, and felt very spoiled and loved. My house was filled with tulips, my favorite beer was waiting for me in the refrigerator, Dan and the boys baked me a carrot cake and a delicious homemade dinner, the list goes on. Oh, and Dan cleaned the inside and outside of our household windows that were FILTHY.

Nate and Chris cranking out the homemade fettuccine. Yummy!

On Sunday my mom came up to see me and said that she would bring the makings for my favorite comfort dinner~her homemade meatloaf, twice baked potatoes, and cheesy broccoli casserole. It was Delicious, and the nicest part was that all I had to do was pop it all in the oven.
She also brought a big box that was all marked up with "Kitchen Aid" labels, a UPS packing slip, Amazon shipping, etc. I couldn't believe that she was attempting to give me another Kitchen Aid mixer like she did last year that I returned...I just don't need or want one. But since the labels said that it was ordered from Amazon, this year I was going to just keep the senseless (in my eyes) machine and question her sanity as to why she thought I needed one of these things so bad.
Boy, was I ever fooled when I was digging in to check out my new pink mixing set when I discovered that there was no mixer! It was a fake box, with fake labels, and on the inside was a wonderful gift....an i-pad! Of course, I cried. She got me good, and was beyond generous.

Happy Birthday. I'm looking forward to 45 more.

I was Pinspired!

I have to admit, this whole Pinterest craze has sucked me right in. I love looking through all of the ideas and gathering fun ideas. I have never been a crafty sort of gal, but darn it anyway! I just knew that I could do something. One thing that caught me eye was a whole website that I found linked to Pinterest which had beautiful stuff that was made out of those free paint swatches that are displayed at all home improvement departments. Beautiful colors. simple. free. I was bound and determined to make something happen this weekend.
I felt like a thief and a poser as I plucked the colors that I wanted off of the rainbow palette at Home Depot yesterday. I kept wondering, are they on to me? Or do I look like a lady who really wants to test out 45 different color combinations for a bedroom at my house?
I decided to make a banner of hearts out of Valentine colors, since it's the next holiday coming up. Not only was it fun, I actually like my final product and have it hanging in the living room. Hot glue gun, string and color swatches doesn't even come close to what one of my friends can do with banners....but it's a start. What shall I make next? Oh, and Autumn, you might just have to include me at your next craft night. There's a new banner-making-lady in town!

White boys can jump!

Ballers, Shot-Callers.

Yesterday the boys had their first basketball game. They are playing on a youth league that is part of their after school program. It was unlike any basketball game experience that I had ever been to. If it doesn't do them in, it will definitely make them tougher. This game was some serious basketball for second and third graders.

Nobody messes with Nate!Chris taking charge in the air.

I'm thinking that maybe last year's above-the-knee black soccer shorts won't fly for the basketball look. I think that I will be heading to Sports Authority this weekend.