U2

just have to share a few pictures and thoughts on last night's concert.
all pictures are taken with my iphone, which means they aren't the best quality.
forgive me for not taking along my SLR.  ;)

there is a reason why U2 is the biggest band in the world.
there is a reason why Bono is the definition of the term rockstar.
they put a great show, playing the most popular songs from the past 3 decades.
can you believe that?
they've been together for 35 years!

all your favorites... and you know which ones you love, were played.
i know not everyone is a huge U2 fan but everyone, i'm sure of it, has at least one U2 song that they love.
a song they can sing along to.
a song that brings back a flood of memories from a certain time in your life.
i have many of them.

the last time U2 was here was 14 years ago when i graduated from high school.
apparently, the armpit of canada isn't high on the priority list of big bands.
but that's ok.
because when they do arrive, they put on a he** of a show!

i was even impressed that Bono gave a little 'nod', if you will, to our hometown.
singing some lyrics from neil young's "heart of gold" and reading from bto's "ain't seen nothing yet".

i have two favorite parts of the night.
first was when they played elevation.
i run to this song.
all the time.
and it always gets me going.
so i danced hard and sang loudly when they played it.
it was closer to the beginning of the setlist.

next favorite part was when Bono told everyone to put on their cell phones and light up the night like the milky way.
it was very cool to see.
and it definitely helped that it was to the tune of one of my favorites, "with or without you".
(can i just say how ridiculously hot Bono is in that video?)
that is how they ended off the concert.

we sat in the nosebleeds but still had a wonderful time and a fantastic view.
next time, if there is a next time in our small city, i will get on the floor.
i will lay my anxiety down and brave the crowds, the competitive nature of floor seats and just...
rock out!
now who's gonna hold me to it?!

menno museum

we live in a small town that has predominantly been mennonite over the years.
first settlers in this area, you guessed it, mennonite.
i did not grow up 'mennonite' but my husband did.
and being 'mennonite' can mean different things to different people.
to me, it's more of a culture and not necessarily a religion.
if you grow up mennonite in this region, it means you went regularly to church, you eat menno food, which includes such delicacies as vereniki (cottage cheese perogies) with schmon fatt (cream gravy), kielkje (noodles also with cream sauce), rollkuchen and watermelon, new year's cookies, farmer sausage, and a whole lot more unhealthy but delicious dishes.
all you mennos totally know what i'm talking about.  ;)
oh, and if you're menno, you always play the mennonite name game.
this is trying to find out how you're related to another mennonite.
and believe me, you will be related somehow (and it won't be as far as 6 degrees of separation... oh no! more like 2).
if you want to delve more into the mennonite culture, you just take a trip to our local mennonite museum.
i kid you not.
there's a whole outdoor museum devoted to the mennonites...
and it's fascinating.
it really is!
most children within an hour's vicinity of here have taken field trips to the museum.
i remember going in grade 3.
my children love to go to the museum and may long weekend is the perfect time.
it's the annual 'spring on the farm' which includes lots of fun events that were common in early mennonite settlement times.
this year was chilly but off to the museum we went.
here's a few pics from our day:

every year there's an antique tractor display.
then they do a tractor parade of sorts.

could you guess that this next one was my favorite?
hello!
mid century?!
LOVES it!

could you guess that lots of couples choose to take wedding pictures here?
the grounds really are unique and beautiful.

oh yeah, and i like to hang with the clydeses!
we're pretty tight!

would you believe she's the bravest out of the three in these situations?
hello petting zoo!
hello FREAK OUT SESSION by my 7 year old.
no, no pics.
that would just be mean, wouldn't it?

here she is teaching mennonite history in the 'private school'.

hello old crackled mirror.
can i steal you and take you home?

a picture of my pantry.
ha!
just kidding!
but i had you there for a second, didn't i?

p.s. isn't instagram like the coolest thing evah?!
seriously LOVES it!

garden time

so my mother in law plants a wickedly huge and wickedly awesome garden every summer.
when i can, i like to pitch in and help out.
it's always with my girls in tow which means sometimes i hinder rather than help.

luckily, my mother in law is also very patient.
more patient than i... ahem.
i could learn a thing or two (or two million) from her.

as is the reason every year i go to help out.
every year i'm gaining more and more insight as to where and when to plant certain vegetables and how far apart, etc.
plus, my girls are learning where food comes from.
it's a valuable lesson for all of us.

and bonus... after a full summer of hard work in the garden,
we get to work even harder at canning all of our glorious bounty to enjoy all year!!
it's a pretty sweet deal, i tell you!
so get out there and plant your own garden.
and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty!!

in other news...
my in laws also spotted this sweet little nest in their cedar tree.
check out those eggs!
in my very FAVORITE color!

maybe next time i'm over there i'll find some little birdies!

my lunch

it is yummy!
grilled cheese and avocado sandwich.
with sweet chilli and sour cream chips by miss vickie's.
just thought i'd share.  ;)

first official 2011 summer fire

we have a fire pit...
and it's seriously one of the best investments we made when we built this house.
in the spring/summer/fall we use it often.
like 2 x's a week usually.
M is the fire master.
people may laugh at his obsession with building and maintaining a fire...
but secretly, i think it's mighty sexy! ;)

he also likes to call himself the marshmallow roaster extraordinaire.

i like it when he toasts mine so i can concentrate on warming up my chocolate on my graham wafer.

this girl would like to have a fire every night if we let her.

every day, "can we have a fire tonight?!"

she loves it!

and so do we!

we hope that as they get older, they'll use the opportunity to share/visit with us about their lives.

yay for quality family time!

ok, doesn't this look delish?
i will say that it was so awesomely yummy that i made 3 of them for ME.
no, i did not heat up the girls' chocolate for their s'mores.
just mine.
i'm a great mom like that.
besides, would they really enjoy it all melty and gooey the way i like it?

mmmmmm!
please disregard my filthy fingernails.
i'm not a junky.
i really just did a whole whackload of weeding before we had the fire.
(and what is with my red forehead?!)

as you can tell, we put baby H to bed before we had this particular fire.
no one likes to see a baby stumble into the fire while saying, "issa haw!" (it's hot)

ok, i know you'll probably ALL ask so i'll share...
the sweatshirt is vintage gap, from highschool, circa 1994?
it's hot, i know!
i've kept it all these years because it does wonders for my figure.
i know you ALL want one!
check out your local thrift store and see if you get lucky.
don't be a hater if you don't find one.
you can also look extra cool if you wear socks with your crocs.
you don't need to thank me for that fashion tip.

(ahem... can you tell my husband works at a lumber yard with the amount of "firewood" we have?!)

are they just weeds?

this morning as i was hurrying to get the kids off to school (my carpool morning), my two older girls commented on the open lot full of dandelions beside our house.
aka, the eyesore, in mine and M's opinion.
"oh mommy... they're SO pretty!!"
"aren't we so lucky to live by such pretty flowers?"
"mommy, i want to go and pick lots right now!"
"why don't we have any little yellow flowers on our yard?" (this one said with a pout!)

"girls", i said, "dandelions are weeds.  and we don't want yucky weeds on our lawn."
then, in my rush, i kept driving, leaving the subject behind.

this afternoon little K woke up from her nap and wanted to play outside for a bit.
i used this extra amount of quiet time to keep lounging lazily in my bed.
after a couple of minutes she runs back inside.
with, i might add, a whole fistful of beautiful yellow flowers. ;)
"mommy, these are for YOU!"
well, do you think my view of dandelions has changed now?
yes, they are still technically a weed... but they're a pretty weed that my girls absolutely love.
and if they want to bring me fistfuls of dandy ol' lions... who am i to not accept them?!

they now reside in a little cup on my bedside table!

where will you find beauty in the most unexpected of places today?

texas trip and other randomness

bear with me...
i might be all over the place with this post.

first off, we went to texas.
i love texas.
no wait, i big huge squishy heart texas!
my 'rents are there!
love everything about it...
except...
except that it's a whopping 19 hour drive from home. :(
boooooo!
check out our sidekick gps... she'll tell you where it's at.

so we squished all three girls into the back, loaded up our gear and off we went.
baby H did surprisingly well.
i think what helped was flipping her carseat around to be forward facing.
yes, my 20 month old is still not technically heavy enough to be forward facing.
however, a 19 hour car ride is definitely deemed appropriate enough for her to turn around.
she could watch baby einstein DVD's to her hearts content.
and be in on the fun with her big sisters.
there were also insane amounts of snacks consumed by all three.
whatever it takes to get you to the next gas stop.
there was minimal fighting between the other two.
noticed i said minimal fighting and not 'no fighting'?
yes, there were still 'tiffs if you will.

we did our annual zoo trip except changed locations this time.
usually we hit up the ever popular forth worth zoo however this trip we finally tried the dallas zoo.
and it was a success!
apparently it's pretty old, built in the 1800's or something crazy like that but they've improved it a lot.
however, you can still notice some awesome mid century architecture from the last renos (probably in the 60's).
they've got a great kids zoo, a cool monorail (hello, mid century?) and an awesome new giants of the savannah exhibit.
the highlight of the trip?
seeing and touching the giraffes, hands down!
i definitely recommend a trip to this zoo if you're ever in the area.

M and i usually take one day to ourselves when we're down there.

my parents willingly (yes, i said willingly) take the girls and we go out on a date.

this year, lots of shopping (him more than me, surprise!) and a date lunch at Dickey's!

if you know my husband you know how much he loves this restaurant.

he would, no lie, eat here E.V.E.R.Y. S.I.N.G.L.E. day if he could.

he loves it.

and after 11+ years of marriage, he definitely doesn't need to impress me much anymore...

wait, that sounds bad, doesn't it?

ok, he doesn't need to woo me like he did at 5* restaurants anymore.

dickey's does me just fine too.

only a real man takes his wife out for a date to DICKEY'S!

ha ha ha ha!

lemme tell you, it's real fancy like.

you know, cafeteria style, keep the cup.

that's how we roll!

that same day we took the girls to a ballgame in the evening.
daddy does all that he would do with his girls that he would do if we had boys.
so off to a rangers game we went.
it was a lot of fun and the girls did great.
being the girly girls that they are, they even brought their barbies along for the ride.
they also begged and begged for those stupid foam hands.
really?
we TOTALLY need them?!
guess what?
we didn't get them.
boooooo... mean mommy i am, eh?

we got to celebrate easter while we were there too.
in my parents community there is a country club.
oooh, sounds so snotty, doesn't it?
it's actually more of a community club, with a private golf course attached.
during most of the major holidays, they have community events.
every year they hold a big easter egg hunt and of course, we participated.
each girl got to run and grab eggs in their very own age class.
i was the mom giving them tips on how to get the most eggs.
no, no pushing...
more like, run to the far side and make your way back.
atta girls... they listened and they filled their baskets up to the brim.
they also got to meet the somewhat creepy easter bunny.
and sit on a pony.
good times.

pre-kids we went out for dinner quite a few times when we visited my parents.

post-kids, it doesn't happen as much.

i don't know about you, but going out to eat with 3 small children (especially a year and half baby) isn't so fun.

but we always make it out at least once or twice.

this time we chose a happening spot, babe's.

we've been to another location before and it's always crazy busy.

you always have to wait.

but this time was no problem b/c this little town was super cute.

lots of little restaurants, tiny stores and quaint streets.

the girls had lots of fun!

once we got in we ordered immediately.

no menu... you choose either fried chicken or chicken fried steak.

i am no southerner, so i really don't understand this chicken fried steak business.

steak dipped in chicken fried batter?!

what the heck?

not getting it... and so, nope.

no chicken fried steak for me.

with our fried chicken came tons of mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, salad and biscuits.

good old home cookin'.

on easter sunday we headed to church.

of course there's the obligatory before easter service picture.

this might be the best one, although big k's eyes are kinda closed and my necklaces are hanging on my boobs kinda funny.

this is one of about 50, so it's gonna have to be alright.

once we got home, we were welcomed with our own easter bunny of sorts.
in our front yard, in one of our burlap covered beds, was a little family of baby rabbits.
we enjoyed them for a few days and then they left.
how cute is this little guy?

a few days after coming home it was back to the grind.
dance recital weekend.
i was one of the few lucky moms that had girls dancing in BOTH days of the recital.
they try to make every accomodation to put siblings on the same days.
surprise!
our girls danced on separate days.
so, basically we were at the theatre all weekend long.
oh well!
M loved watching each and every performance, by each and every dancer.
ha!
(i'm kidding, by the way)
both of our girls did great.
big K did two dances in the recital this year, a ballet piece and a tap piece.
and little K loved tapping at her recital.
this was her first year in dance class...
and will most definitely not be her last.
this girl lives to dance, i'm telling you.
weeks later she's still practicing her routine.

we were also greeted by some lovely weather within the first week of being back too.
doesn't that poor tree just look sad out the window?
wah wah!

that is all, for now.

this post was actually lost and i had to totally re-do it.

very annoying.

so, if i lose it again... i'm probably going to lose it.

watch out!

hopefully more posts will be coming shortly.

trying to get off of this unscheduled blog break!