Catch up

I'm playing a little catch up here with my photos. Have fun as I summarize where I have been in the last little while.

Golfing...

Painting...

Preschool with our favorite teacher Alisha!!!

Father/Son campouts (with special guest Papa)

And finally making Simon's Baby book. You can preview most of it below. I left a few pages out that were extra special and just not worthy of the blog. :D

SNB by Simon Nino Bonfiglio | Make Your Own Book

Bloggable?

Today I cried to an utter stranger! She might have been an angel, but either way she was unfamiliar to me.

I don't like to cry, so this was rare. Maybe I felt more comfortable because she wasn't someone I knew, although I wish I had seen someone who knew that I wasn't a horrible mother and to give me a sincere hug of empathy.

This was all while at Winco, and my sweet 2 year old had a meltdown that was the likes of no other meltdown in history. He was bonkers! Not for a minute or two... but for like 15. I started out pushing the cart and laughing while I had to get my things. This was funny because there wasn't an option to cry, or punish him. I tried bribing, threatening, hugging, ... everything you can do while in a store.

People were coming around from corners to see if the screaming was inflicted or not. Finally I pulled over in the tissue isle... tried to think of something to do, and a sweet lady came and gave me kind words of encouragement and love. I lost it.. right there.. in the Kleenex isle. This sweet woman gave me tissue and tried to make him laugh. He spit on her, threw the reachable groceries at her, and continued to scream like he was either being kidnapped or tortured... and she never judged him. She kept calling him Sweet!!! Maybe she was crazy, but .. today has been hard. He has a new level of tantrum and I have to figure out how to get threw this.

I just thought I'd blog this and see if it made me feel a little better.

Homemade

Who doesn't love warm rolls? I know I do, and the fact is that until this week, I could NEVER successfully make them. My yeast would never do that thing... where it bubbles. And what's up with the scalded milk? I can scald milk, I can mix, and I can follow recipes, but until my friend actually showed me how... I could never do all of those things together.

Look at what I did today! (you might notice in the picture where they are cooked, I couldn't wait to get the camera ready before I dove into them! )

And this is the boy that helps me eat them.

What a day!

It started with these three magnificent boys!

They woke me up early to hugs and kisses, and shortly after we headed off.
Off to eat! This bistro is just perfect; the atmosphere, the food, and the city in the morning were all pretty fun.

After a perfect breakfast, we went to some shops and then stopped for a little ice skating. This is something Emile and I have NEVER done together... and it might be the last time too. (Please enjoy how dorky we were in the video below).

Our sore feet needed a good massage. So, away we went. I'm pretty sure we were both in a coma after it was all over.

After the coma... we needed to fill our bellies again.
The crab and the sushi almost did us both in!

But to top it all off... we went and enjoyed a movie!
I felt like a teenager... or like we were newly weds... either way, I sure didn't feel 30!

The next night we had a fun party with family IN our house! Yes... I bolded the word IN because we moved furniture out and brought a table in just for the occasion. This has never happened before. It was extra special!

These are a few of the clips from the day.
Hope I'm not too embarrassed that I posted this later.

(BTW... Don't you just love where the video is stopped... right on Emile's rear!)

Untitled from Raina on Vimeo.

OH NO The Big Three-O

If you came here to wish Raina a HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY I've got some bad news for you, she won't be reading your comments today because I have kidnapped her (you can still call her cell phone). Today (4-14) we are going to spend the entire day together, just the two of us. We will be eating at Portland's finest establishments (Mother's Bistro and Todai), go ice skating, get a 1 hour couples massage, go shopping and even go see a romantic comedy; a full day for sure.

So thanks for stopping by to give your best wishes to the most amazing, beautiful woman I know, I'm sure she will appreciate them on Thursday.

Happy Birthday Raina!

-E

Spring time

After the last post... we decided to get out a little. We've been hanging around the fire department...

going on a few stroller rides...

catching some fish...

decorating eggs...

and trying to find more of these to enjoy!

Where have I been?

Where have I been?
I feel like I haven't been seen or heard from... but really... I'm around.
Let me explain. I have the amazing privilege of working with the children in our church. There are a lot of them, and I have grown to love and appreciate each one. Some are funny, shy, wiggly, smart... others are just their own! They keep me on my toes, and I will try and help them grow and develop by giving them a little bit of my love.
I have help... from amazing women, and together we put on a Olympics activity for them. You'll appreciate more of what we did once you see some their faces (even the silly ones).
Enjoy for a moment.

We had pillow case races..

building and moving races...

sword diggs...

Warrior balloon pop games...

Shooting games... (look at the poor stuffed animals)

And a few awards!!!

Relatable?

Simon's birthday photos

These pictures might make you think... "geesh... I'm on Simon overload"! While this is true most days for us.. this photo shoot was actually so much fun. I'm crossing my fingers his new attitude lasts but for the last few days he has been smiley, cooperative, funny, and in my humble opinion.. pretty darn cute.
Shonda was so nice to take these pictures of him for his birthday. I will cherish these forever!
Thanks a million Shonda!

Valentine's Day Love

Being Valentine's Day and all, I thought I was being passed a love note by a stranger at church today....

Where's the love?

The funny thing is... our boys were REALLY great today! Our secret unadmirer's disapeared before we could thank them for their unsolicited advice.

I HOPE THEY HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Home Sweet Home

(click to enlarge)
Just the 5 of us! This is the most rare picture in all of our albums! All of us... together... not crying (as far as you can actually see), and no toys on the porch!

Someday I'll look back at these pictures and they'll probably be the most sweet since they are taken at OUR house. The house our boys will always remember as their first!

(this is the kind of mood he was in during the whole photo shoot... figures huh? hehehe)