a little {dirt} never hurt anyone, right?

I swear I only walked away to put some laundry away...and make the bed...but then I noticed that all the kids toys were strewn all over the bathtub so I put them away. But that's it, I promise! I was gone for maaaybe 5 minutes. Meanwhile, Mason was busy doing this. I just can't keep this kid clean!

Some days I feel like I'm trying to clean up after this...and it's a losing battle!

lemony goodness - Eureka!

So, my sister, who is approximately 3000 miles away from me right now {but hopefully not forever} in Greenwich, CT following her free spirit and creative soul, thought I deserved a little gift for being such an amazing little sister {yes, Crystal, we are finally reaching the years that I'm excited to say that I'm younger. Go ahead and call me your "baby sister". I dare ya!}

She read my post about my lemon striped lemon tree, or Eureka Lemon Tree if you will, and decided jump into action. She knew that my Mothers Day gift from D, although absolutely AMAaaaZING, wasn't the tree that had consumed my thoughts for days and days...and days so she got on the horn and rounded up the cutest litle baby lemon tree for me.

By the box, I thought "man, this baby's huge!" but sometimes little things come in big packages {isn't that how it goes?} and by the time I figured out how to open it here is what I found.

Along with this.

{Love You. Love, Crystal}

I then spent 20 minutes cutting tape from around my new little tree and finally came to this.

It's tiny. I know. But I plan to nurture and love this little tree until it gives me those stripedy lemons I so long for. And those fragrant flowers I need in the winter when I can't even stand to look outside.

Thank you, Crystal for your love and thoughtfulness.

I love you!

Happy { Birthday } Uncle Bruce

{ thanks for whiskery kisses... }

{ ...and lemony smiles! }

Hope you have a great birthday!!

We love you!!

Weekend in Newport

We spent the weekend with D's family in Newport for his brother's birthday. Pretty low-key. Just hung out at the house they rented, went to the aquarium, had lunch at the Rogue Brewery & played on the beach a little bit.

Okay, maybe not so low-key. We had a ton of fun and all four of us were exhausted from all of it! Anyway, here are some pictures!

{ manta rays to touch }

{ but B would rather touch the shark }

{ scaaarrrry }

{ M liked the sea anemones }

{ all 3 kids loved watching the sea lions playing }

{ jellyfish put B in a trance }

{ these were crazy! Look closely & you'll see some of their mouths open WIDE }

{ B thought they were crazy too! }

{ we made friends }

Oregon Coast Aquarium

{ I just love her little voice! }

Say Cheese

Here are the kid's "say cheese" smiles...today. They seem to change by the minute.

Brooklynn is finally willing to look at the camera and smile again. We'll see how long that lasts!

our {dream}

I'm a little depressed today. I've been in this little funk for a few days now. Losing sleep and dwelling on my negative thoughts. Over all I'm just bummed out.

Here is why:

D and I have talked about, dreamed about, planned for, plotted for, scrapped & saved for our dream property and home for a couple of years...so far.

We are still a few years away from starting anything and with this economy, maybe even further.

However, this came to our attention last week.

We are sooo disappointed. This is our dream property! 5.26 acres with mountain and gorgeous territorial views in West Salem.

In fact, one day when we were driving home from the coast, D looked up at a hillside, pointed and said "I want to live up there".

Well, guess where this land is! Just guess. Yep, right there on that hillside.

Unfortunately, we aren't in any position to afford this right now. So we'll wait. And wonder if this {or something like it} will be available in a few years. And wonder what this will cost in a few years. And wonder if somebody else will scoop this land up and build THEIR dream home on it.

Siiiiigh.