i like to win

do you remember beuford?

he's been cramping my style and clouding my creativity in our future nursery for quite some time now.

well.....



i know, i know, i was pretty excited when i saw the hubby getting him down for project relocation.

that was until i later walked across the hall and found this...



it was promptly put to a vote and i lost. three to one. i am thinking that this baby girl is going to need a sister if we women are ever going to stand a chance around here!

happy wednesday!

xoxo.ash

pretend rain

the hubs sleeping in after a long day of work and school.


some mornings i wake up to the sound of tip tapping on my window. so i hurry over and pull up the blinds, generally to be disappointed and realize that it's just the sprinklers. not rain.





i love rain and it's no secret. my favorite time of the year in arizona was monsoon season. it always hits about mid-july and carries through august. the beautiful thing about arizona rain is that rather than just up the mugginess, the temperature will drop and the air will seem perfectly clear and cool and crisp. at home i would turn off the air in the house and open all my windows and just let that beautiful mountain air run through each room. all the while we would get the full effect of the rain drops on the rocks and trees and porches. it's something that i miss terribly right now. i keep telling myself, just a few more months, just a few more months. the fall weather here is beautiful.

the five and three year olds however hold no favoritism to rain or sprinklers, mugginess or no mugginess. if there is water to be found, they are to be found in it. i came outside just in time to witness tilly be hoisted up to the soggy trampoline. she was having none of it. the boys thought it was funny how she hunkered down, scared out of her mind. with a bit of prodding from me, the fun crasher, we got her down and the boys ran wild and carefree in our make believe rain in our lovely, green, tree lined yard.

rain or no rain, it was still a pretty wonderful way to welcome in the morning.

just ask blondie here. i'm sure he'd agree.

happy wednesday!
and if you happen to live down our street, happy trash day as well. i really enjoy knowing that our stinky trash can is about to be emptied!

but maybe that's just me.

xoxo. ash

i can't mom.

this is where you will generally find the two-year-old about five minutes before the four-year-old's big yellow carriage delivers him home. these are the shoes and the general "get up" you find the two-year-old sporting about five days out of seven. he particularly likes when one of his cowboy boots is three sizes too big and the other is just right. i imagine it helps him with his man chores. like shoveling this here hole. just look at that balance.

the backyard is where you will generally find the four-year-old about five seconds after said yellow chariot makes its delivery. toting around his favorite pup and telling the two-year-old all about his big boy adventures and newly acquired knowledge.

but last friday he was not found in the backyard.

last friday the two-year-old and i abandonded our trampoline time to go find him.

last friday i called and called for the four-year-old. but there was no response.

at least not until i found him laying on my bed. i asked the boy if he wanted to come join us and he just layed there with lids half shut {which was clearly taking effort on his part} and lazily replied "i can't mom. i have to sleep for a really long time and be tired because i'm having my spring break."

it looks like preschool has got this boy plain tuckered out.

but i still think he's swell.

home in the sound of a train

photo

it was about two o'clock in the morning when i counted the fourth train howl by. disoriented but determined i made my way to the far bedroom to find what would hopefully be the last of my bedroom boxes.

*********

when we first looked at the house in november we were lucky enough to have the neighbor step out and talk to us. one of our big questions was about the railroad track which is barely more than a stone's throw behind the back fence.

"is it pretty loud inside the house?" matt questioned our prospective neighbor.

apparently they had moved in during the summer and he assured us that then the sound hadn't really been that noticeable. but then the leaves began to fall {in buckets, because that's how they do it here in texas} and the sound traveled further and louder than ever.

i can safely say that was the only doubt we had on the home.

everything else about it was perfect. size, style, location, yard....perfection.

we were undeterred.

********

i unpacked box after box as mechanically as any woman could. with each passing train i winced in dread of the children waking. first the thundering, then the horn at the crossing, another bout of thunder, another horn and then nothing. just silence and boxes.

i wondered to myself how we had ended up here in texas. far away from the mountains that i love and the people who i love even more. in truth i never saw myself staying put in arizona. i saw traveling and adventures for us. so why was this such a shock to me? maybe because the travels and adventures that i had not so carefully planned out in my head had nothing to do with the great state of texas. not a single thing. or maybe it was that in my head i think i'm a much stronger person than in reality i tend to be.

the unpacking commenced and so did the time. christmas, new years, beloved family holidays in a foreign home in a foreign town, in a foreign state.

i began to wonder if it would ever feel real.

until last week when the boys and i returned home from a shopping trip. we bumped over the railroad tracks and beneath the cover of tall trees and straggly vines. in perfect melody the boys chimed that we were almost home. we pulled down the street and up our drive and into the house with our purchases. we were spot on time to hear the beginnings of a train. first the thundering, then the horn at the crossing, another bout of thunder, another horn and then nothing. a kind of nothing that is everything. it was the peaceful, calm silence that warms you inside and tells you that you are home.

bits of saturday night + the best part

i went and watched this movie with my long-time friend, mareez, on saturday night. i dropped my two love bugs off at nana's house to play with uncle burke and a myriad of aunties and we made our way to the theatre. i may have made a small detour when i spotted four high back, white chairs sitting near the side of the road. the tiny shop being run by an abraham lincoln look-a-like turned into quite the adventure. we made it back to the car and bolted. we ordered burgers from this little place by the theatre for the first time which also turned out to be quite the adventure. a tasty adventure. and we were promised "thanksgiving style" sweet potato fries should we return on a slow day. tempting yes?


the movie was sweet and cute and gooey. i'm not sure if we were supposed to be convulsing in laughter at the end or not, but we were regardless. movies with friends who make clever side-remarks are one of life's simple pleasures!


it's oh so nice to get out every now and again and not have to worry about chasing kids, wiping noses, apologizing to onlookers or taking an excessive amount of potty breaks. i had such a fun time!

as much fun as a getaway is, the best part of my night---

getting this sweet picture message from my little brother:

++garrett and callie holding hands++

the story of green santa and his reindeer

sometimes the boys raid my drawer for dress up. usually they'll pull out a huge shirt or striped socks and go crazy but on this particular snowy day they dug deep and found what was once a christmas eve surprise for the hubby. {about three years and thirty pounds ago}

my initial reaction when i saw gage, i mean 'green santa' jingling his way towards me was a huge cringe. i debated taking it straight away. but then he called in 'his reindeer' whom he had outfitted in this fabulous green moose sweater sans pants. i noted aloud that his rump was bare and 'green santa' patiently explained how reindeers don't wear pants. how embarrassing to not make that realization on my own.

i decided i could not ruin this moment and my 'green santa' and his moose, i mean 'reindeer', proceeded to prance and dance and 'fly' about the house. when the fun was nearing an end the oh so adorable twosome planted themselves at my feet and the three-and-a-half-year-old proclaimed "mom. you need to leave me milk and cookies."

they must have had great faith in me because within a split second they had locked themselves in my bedroom. i poured a mug of milk, set out a nice big stack of oreos and made my way to the couch where i was able to, for the first time in my life, watch santa and his reindeer enjoy my milk and cookies.

i would have to say this falls into the top five best days ever.

a brother like that::with a sprinkling of photos

Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.

"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Paul nodded and said, "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."

The boy was astounded and remarked, "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..."
Then he hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.

"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added,"Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"

"Oh yes, I'd love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again.

"Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast because he was carrying his little crippled brother.

He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas, and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it... Then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride going around to see all the Christmas windows.

That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said: "It is more blessed to give..."


i am not sure the author of the story but it has been a favorite of mine since before i can remember. wishing you all a merry Christmas season!