And Scene...

RyGar and I celebrated the Anniversary of our wedding this weekend... in Vegas.  Because, I don't know, maybe because we nearly eloped fourteen years ago?  No lie.  Being the apple of your Daddy's eye can really make it tough for yourself & your betrothed and all things wedding related.  Long story short - It all worked out in the end.  :)

I digress.  We went to Vegas and you guys... it was SO much fun.  So fun, in fact, that we, as a kid less duo, conquered the city with finesse and didn't take a single picture of it.  We were livin' large and travelin' light and happy to be together.  Period.

If you're headed to the city of sin anytime soon you really should check out the "The Rock Vault" at LVH.  I think it's nearly the cheapest show in Vegas and it's kinda killer.  The hubs, lover of all classic rock, sang every word to every song including Thunderstruck, Stairway to Heaven, and Wayward Son.  Ryno has a killer falsetto so if you ever get near a Karaoke bar, I suggest you take him right on in.  It's incredibly entertaining and surprisingly spot on!  :) I swayed like a flower child to Hotel California and then rocked out to Livin' on a Prayer.  The band is comprised of former members of popular rock bands.  And if I'm being honest, Doug Aldrich, of White Snake has totally still got it.  Ha Ha.

And then after a long drive home, we got to see these little piggies again.  Man, do we love them.  And after a little weekend away from them?  Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder is what.

I'm not exactly sure what their grandparents did to them while we were away, but they were seriously exhausted.  Dax Man fell asleep mid report... one breath he was all, "And Grandpa gave us a ride in his fast red car," and the next he was snoring.  It was adorable.

And then there's this.  I mean, really... tired much, Kaelster?

:)

That nose makes me swoon.

I'm gonna try to avoid entering saptastic-ville, but I've gotta say it.  Marrying this guy and having these babies with him is more than I could have ever hoped for.  I'm kind of having the best life of my dreams.  And I don't dream little, yo.

Picture of all my little dream boats together.

And, scene.

Happy week.

A Hodge Podge....

First and foremost, I want to give a shout-out to my RyGar.  This weekend we're celebrating our Anniversary {YAY!} and I swear, every year I think, "How did this happen?" "How did we find each other?" "How did we get the cutest kids in the Universe?"

How indeed.  It is truly amazing.

And whatever I did right way back when, Hallelujah I did it!

My mind is squarely in Vegas, at the pool, with my handsome hubs.  But before I sign off for the weekend, I feel it is my obligation to share with the Universe Angie's Sweet & Salty Popcorn.  You guys, I've eaten an entire bag by myself this week then returned and bought another bag for our trip and one for my parents who will be caring for our chilluns.  Then I called my friend and demanded she try it, "Listen, I know I've told you to try stuff before, but this is different.  Seriously, I'm gonna ask you if you've tried it next week and if the answer is no, I'm gonna be pissed."

Sure, I flip out over snacks often, but this time is legit; consider yourself informed.

:)

And with that profession, I'm off to be with my favorite person. 

Man I'm lucky.

Of Egg-Cellent Things...

Our wedding celebration morphed into Easter weekend and crescendoed with an Easter Sunday bike ride in our PJs.  In the event you don't excel at story problems, like myself, that equals... a huge win.

We colored Easter eggs despite Grandpa's protests - to the tune of ten grandkids... seven of them of the tiny man variety ages 5 and under.  It was a complete disaster waiting to happen and yet somehow, it didn't.  We consider this the great Easter miracle of 2014.  :)

Obviously my inner seven-year-old girlie, girl came out when I made the Easter Egg coloring kit purchases, because I selected the "Glitter Egg" kit.  Hello?  Luckily, it didn't dissuade the little gents from gettin' into it.  Another couple of years and that mistake would have been embarrassing.  For now, it was permissible and even kind of cool.

And then, it was time for the big hunt.  Ryan had to guard the door like a bouncer to prevent peeking and impatience.  It was a tough job... motley crew and all.

Don't mind these blurry pictures.  Particularly of Kael... big man had it down pat after a couple of years under his belt and a practice run at Preschool.  He gathered a good third of the eggs before Ace really even got the hang of it.

After carefully counting their goods - we were back to normal in the dirt hill with the tractors.  We are nothing if not predictable.

Except for Ace.  Who kinda didn't know when to call it quits.  Tenacity will pay off big time for the little dude some day.

And you know what will pay off for Dax?  His dance moves/lady killer skills.  This boy knows how to make a girl smile.  I mean look at Grandma?  She's smitten.

I had adorable Easter morning pictures of our little lambs as they discovered their Easter bunny goodies, but enter technical difficulties, and they were lost.  

Next best thing - pajamas, bikes and blossoms and the evening sun.  

Man we live in a pretty place.

And those little dudes are pretty egg-cellent too.  

I do believe I'll consider myself a "lucky duck" every day, including Easter Sunday.

Suits & Ties & Piercing Eyes...

That's what this post is made of.

So, I mentioned we had a wedding in the family, yeah?

It was this blushing bride's wedding and she was SUCH a gorgeous bride and the whole day was just down right lovely.

We did our best to let her have her time in the spotlight :) but y'all I was SWOONING to the umpth degree at these little gents I call my kiddos.  LOOK AT THEM! 

{Yep, shouty all caps required, there.}

Right?!

I daresay they are the Pandoras box of all the adjectives in the Universe that mean, "freakin' adorable".  So BAM That's all I'll say about that as I post about 40 more shots of them and their cute little cousins.

I kid - kinda.

Could a girl even wish up a dreamier security detail?  Doubt it.

And here's another picture of Ryan's gorgeous sister, Kim, and her new hubs!  Congrats guys!

And thanks for the excuse to make the little men look dapper.

As well as the excuse to fill the brides room with little cousins, a movie and sticker books.

  As well as the excuse to take off with a golf cart full of giggling future golfers to do

"Super Hero Jumps" all over the property.

As well as the excuse to dance with my tiny lovins... 

And watch them dance with each other & the purty ladies...

As well as...

OK, OK... You get it.

But seriously a spring wedding with these little gents of mine?

We'll have another please.

I Don't Care...

I don't even care what the weather is like in April, you guys, because this month is predisposed to be the bomb-diggity.  Sure, some days are full of rainy skies and snowy grass... but on the flip side, that grass is turning luscious green and the trees are blossoming into pink around every corner.  And when the mornings are frosty and require coats... the evenings produce warm concrete and long sunset shadows.  It's opening the door a bit wider to where you can see summer coming up your walkway.  And it's just.... freakin' delicious or something, you know?

Speaking of delicious... could you eat him up?  I mean, sure, the cookies too, but the little baker with the enviable lashes and the early spring tan?

That little face of concentration is one of my very favorites - hands down.  Along with the "I'm a devious little cookie dough eater" face.  Speaking of - I might be the only mama on the planet that still uses the regular old cookie recipe and lets them eat the dough?  Pinterest is giving me a bit of anxiety with the "egg-less cookie dough" recipes.  But you know... there has been no complaints so if I'm being honest I'll probably just keep keepin' on like the old-fashioned gal that I am.

On a completely unrelated note...
Here are a few other tasty morsels from our recent getaway.
I would apologize for the gross overindulgence by way of photos - but I love them all and I just don't care about said overindulgence.  It's my blog and I'll post a zillion pictures if I want to, eh?  :)

Pretty much when all three are in the frame - it's a keeper.  They move SO fast and in such a "Tasmanian Devil" manner that if the image comes out not blurry I consider it a miracle.

Turns out I'm a flower girl.  Just look at them.  Little bits of the rainbow with a side of water beads.

 Man I love their guts.
The flowers and the boys.
And I may fail in a lot of areas, but producing Heavenly scented, clean, pajammied boys every single evening is an area I completely excel at.

That's something, y'all.  Just sayin'.

Well done, my squeaky clean gentlemen.
And Happy Easter Weekend!  :)

Brudders...

Yes, you read that right.

Lately bromance has been in full bloom around here and I would be lying if I told you I wasn't rendered completely powerless by it.  These "brothers" are such good playmates of late.  Their nature is winning out over my nurture and it makes me so freakin' happy to listen to them be kind and friendly to one another.  They have the best conversations and the brightest ideas together, and this hood ain't never seen a gang of bike riders like the one racing down our driveway.

Just yesterday, in fact, our oldest sat at the table for lunch, looked me square in the eye and pronounced so sincerely,

"Mom, I want twelve brudders."  

"You do?"  I asked.

"Yep, twelve brudders -- because I love my brudders so much."

As if I wasn't already nearly imploding from my ovaries that were hatching eggs by the dozen at his sweet, sweet comment, then Dax joined in...

"And Mom, I want six brudders to play with all the day long."

Geez, if they keep this up they might end up with a few more.  I mean, I might have to go fetch another male partner to make it happen, but you know, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  :)  Kidding.  But really, how does RyGar not fall prey to these sentimental outbursts of theirs?  Ah-mazing.

To be fair, they've been surrounded by little dude cousins all week to the tune of seven of 'em under the age of 5 and I'm sure, in the eyes of a dirt lovin', mess makin', popsicle eatin' toddler man child, that is the stuff that dreams are made of.  So, you know, a baseball team of their very own brothers and the non-stop flow of popcorn at Grandma's was looking like Heaven.

And on a completely unrelated note.  Earlier this week I went downstairs to fetch the rowdies for dinner and they were all stripped to their undies running around the basement and jumping from the couches.  

"What are you guys doing?"

I yelled asked, as I surveyed the scene and noted abandoned jeans and crumpled shirts lying on the rug.

And in the most condescending tone I have ever heard a three-year-old use, Dax said,

"MOM!  We are bein' Hulk Smash!"

Then he exchanged a knowing look with Kael and Ace that wreaked of...

"Poor clueless girl.  She just doesn't get it."

I concur.  I don't get it.  But I'm glad that the three of them do.

Long live the bromance - however messy and comical it might get.

P.S. I promise these are just about the last of our Spring Break pictures.  

P.P.S Kudos to St. George children's museum.  A Plane to fly and a car to fix?  Genius.