Today

Outside my window: it’s a warm sunny day with temps in the 80’s. This morning I took the kids to the zoo and for awhile it was in the low 60’s and lovely – perfect weather for roaming around and looking at animals with our good friends. I cannot say enough how much I love having a free zoo here.

little BB “rock climbing” in the zoo play area

This weekend: we did an awful lot of hanging around the house as poor Dan has been suffering a dreaded summer cold. Aren’t those the worst? We tried to make the most of things by watching some fun movies (Pippi Long Stockings and Big with a very young Tom Hanks – MM loved both!) and ordering take out when we needed it. Thai food and sausage and pineapple pizza (our favorite) from THE best pizza place in town made the weekend much less miserable.

We also: finally finished putting up some homemade curtains in the toy room and BB’s room. Aren’t BB’s pretty?

Right now I’m reading: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese – which I’m not making great time with considering my book club will be discussing it on Wednesday and I’m not even halfway through! Ack! Surprisingly I am enjoying it, but I need to kick up the pace, especially because I have two review books waiting impatiently for me: Finding Aster by Diana McQueen – an Ethopian adoption story and The Hour That Matters Most by Les & Leslie Parrott about the surprising power of the family meal. Luckily both of those are much smaller than Cutting for Stone AND look really good. Maybe after that I can get in some reading for just pure fun?

Things you should click – PINTEREST edition:

• Words of creative wisdom -a must see!
• how cute is this Perry the Platypus treasure box? I have a lot of Phineas and Ferb ideas floating around for Christmas and MM’s next birthday…
• two fun first day of school picture ideas: this and this are super fun and clever!
• Then after school you can use this place mat as a prompt for having them tell you show you about their day!
• How cute are these ghost milk cartens? An eco-friendly jack-o-lantern alternative and super easy to make!
• Also, I cannot stop drooling over this recipe for chocolate peppermint cupcakes – already dreaming about Christmas? Guilty.

Three Happy Things: I read in a magazine recently that focusing on the positive (and meditation and regular exercise) are crucial to being healthy inside and out. I know, duh. Well anyway, I was going to write 3 things a day but apparently I’m too much of a slacker for that, so how about 3 things a week? Three things that have made me happy this week are:

1. Meeting MM’s kindergarten teachers last week – how amazing are kindergarten teachers? All three were so awesome and I am very excited for MM’s first year of school now!
2. Thai food. It has a very special place in my heart that makes up for the high cost of take out (and all the lackluster Chinese food in the area). Plus an order of pad thai, mus mun curry and chicken satay somehow got us through three meals this weekend – with almost no dishes involved. Hallelujah!
3. The gorgeous qualities that mother nature provides. Lately everytime I look out my window or walk down the street, I am just awe struck by all the beautiful stuff that surrounds me with very little help from us humans. The beautiful clouds in the sky, random rainbows that show up at just the right moment, sunsets, wild flowers, beautiful trees. What more could an amateur photographer ask for? How about two beautiful children? Oh wait, I have those, too!

One last picture to share before I go: another random picture of BB at the zoo this morning. Why am I so in love with the side of her head?