sytycd!!!

yeah, baby!
just got in. sitting down to watch. can't wait.
might come back and edit this with thoughts tomorrow....

i'm too old.

for sand volleyball.
well, at least to play threes. maybe?

trying to figure out if we're gonna do a sand league this year or just play some pick up games on a scheduled night each week. tonight was our first night trying out the no league thing... holy shit. i feel like i'm 93. we just played indoor. finished like 3 weeks ago, i should not be that out of shape. i'm not completely sure what my deal is. could have been the fact that we had three less people on each team and that you're running through divets.

have to say that despite all my soreness, i missed it. except those bleeping mosquitos. i cannot believe how terrible they are and it's may. 

looking forward to playing again next week. with more people!! at least four on a team would be nice for this old fart. ;-)

sick visit.

had to take wee man into the doctor today. i was completely nervous. i have no idea why. i think i was fearing another blasted ear infection{s}. we were rocking almost 2 full months of being infection free... was doubting our decision to pass on the tubes. wondering if he does have an infection, how long he's had it, could this be why he spiked a random temp last weekend... lots and lots of thoughts going around in my crazy, lil brain.

ben stayed home yesterday and today. had a killer runny nose, cough, and a random fever. the cough was pretty out of control last night so we made the executive decision to take him in today. i don't think either one of us thought he had an infection, but we wanted to make sure.

took him in today and he just has a cold! woohoo! no ear infections. i mean, poor wee man. but woohoo! for the first time in i can't even count {it's gotta be like 8 or 9}, we went in for a sick visit and no antibiotics. so exciting. ;-)

and in other random ben news.
these were his 12 mo stats:  22.8 pounds and  28.3 inches.
and at 14 mos: 22.9 pounds and 29 inches. 
{you think i need to sprinkle him with miracle grow?}

weekend pictures.

friday night. we stayed in! totally needed. working on that happy medium between too busy and not enough. trying to not have somewhere to be every second of every weekend. the month of june is going to be a marathon so we're resting up these next two!

beaner had fun playing on the water bottle.
seriously. he rolled over it a zillion times. total daredevil.

gotta roll the other way now!

 ahhh! so much fun!

a bath out of order. i think dinner was a bit messy. can't believe i can't remember what happened three days ago. sigh.

then he decided to help mommy with the laundry.

saturday. we were all up early for some reason. so we decided to hit the scrambled diner. soooo good. our new most favorite-est breakfast place.

ben enjoyed the home made bread and apple butter.

they also made their own sausage. yum.

ran a few errands and then back to the house for a bit.
played out on the deck for a while.
ben loves bubbles. i had a heck of a time using the giant wand.

then daddy thought it would be fun to play through the screen. yes, i know it's disgusting but was totally hilarious at the time...
i totally remember my brother doing this through his playpen when we were younger. i think there might even be similar pictures too.

then grandma came over to babysit so nick and i could hit illiana mayfest. 'twas awesome. we were total beginners. will be prepared with pretzel necklaces for the next one! 

chilling outside waiting for the rest of our gang to show up.

got awesome imprinted cups to sample with.
nick was excited!!

just because i like it.

had some pretty good micro brews. i think my favorites were figure 8 and brickstone. did have a killer blueberry beer. i just can't remember from where!

saw some 'hillbilly' nachos early in the evening. nachos with all the fixings plus some italian beef. not sure how that's hillbilly but whatever.  i knew that i would enjoy their tastiness before the night was over!!  they were delicious.

and then the group decides to go out to dinner?!? what. i just ate 3728 calories in my nachos. oh well...

went to the circle. sat outside. was a beautiful night and we had some fun company.
a lame shot of the clock tower. i ALWAYS think of back to the future when we're on the square!

nick's sides + a dirty martini = my dinner. ;-)

sunday. we couldn't decide what we wanted to do. kinda wanted to be lazy. kinda wanted to enjoy the weather. decided to stay home. pulled out ben's splash pad. he was a bit timid but i think he was exhausted!

a few of my favorites....

what's this?

oh thanks for showing me how to play with this stuff dad....

i like it!

can i play on the slide now? that water was too cold! {look at all that grass stuck everywhere!!}

the end. ;-)

grey's anatomy.

love that show.
was kinda thinking about giving it up a while back. so glad we didn't.
that season finale last night, pfwhoa.
i want to watch it again. our dvr'd copy was a bit sketchy. thank you stupid storms. yes, i know i just thanked the rain in my previous post. whatever.
was sooo upset when nick told me he was going to bed last night at 8. i was like, wtf... grey's finale? and then i passed out at 8:30! i guess we were both tired. and fighting off some sickies.
today we're both well rested and on the mend.
and totally obsessed with that grey's episode. have to make sure to record it when it re-airs in september. definitely going to need a refresher. that was serious.
had to check out the grey's blog. just to get a little insight.

some thoughts on the episode: {spoiler warning! episode and possible future episodes.}
- i love the chief. yes, i still refer to webber as the chief.
- callie totally should have knocked the gun out of his hand. i know it could have been risky but still.
- i like karev. heard a rumor that he dies. that would make me sad.
- also heard that mer and der's contracts are up... that one of them might go. if mer goes how would it still be grey's anatomy?
- bailey is my hero. i loved her where is this water coming from moment. and with the dying resident. so touching.
- i want a team avery shirt. he is my mchottie. those eyes are killer.
- happy for callie and arizona. i think jessica capshaw is just the cutest. and her being pregnant in real life might get to play into this...
- some of the logistics of a shooter in the  hospital and the swat team annoyed me. but i'm watching this for entertainment, i'll give them some leeway on the details.
- cristina is bad ass.

can't wait for next season!!

rain, rain...

so glad you've come to visit.
;-)
seriously. my brown, maybe even black, thumbs thank you.
they thank you for watering my newly planted garden so i don't have to. so i don't worry that i'm over watering or under watering. because there is nothing i can do amount the amount of water mother nature decides to bestow upon my garden. and kinda because i'm lazy and i don't have to lug the hose all the way around the house to use the 'right' water!

we have voles.

no, not moles.

voles.

cute little buggers. big pain in the asses.
we have little mazes running through our grass. someone thought it might be moles. however, the tunneled areas aren't raised. it's just missing grass. so strange. i must remember to take a picture! i had one scurry past me this weekend when i was getting water for the plants. didn't get a good look at it. but it was teeny, tiny. so i thought it was a field mouse or something.

we had a pest control man come by and he's coming out to get rid of the lil suckers. thinking that i might have blamed the bunnies for some of the voles destruction. sorry bunnies. ;-)

weekend update part two.

i need to be more selective on what photos i share. i just can't help but have picture heavy posts. sorry!

saturday.
my lilacs bloomed! totally have to trim the tree. it's out of control and cutting down on the amount of flowers it produces!
okay, i'm cheating. this was taken on friday. but what a great way to start a saturday. pretty flowers, great smelling house....

beaner wasn't feeling the greatest saturday. was mr. snuggle bug. had a fever. thankfully, we had some tylenol that wasn't part of the recall! mr. napped until it was time to go to his cousin gabby's first birthday party.  it was outside at lemon lake. brrrr! {trisha, i have more than what i'm posting. i will upload them to a disc and give them to you next time we see each other.}

ben and gigi.

ben and cousin megan.

ben and aunt michelle. he wanted those balloons! was quite funny.

aunt michelle and the birthday girl.

those darn balloons again. this time gibi helped him.

i think i'm going to start a campaign for this to be her new facebook picture!

i don't think she likes the hat.

or the cake...

ben and daddy. it got cold!

awww. another new favorite. so glad to be taking these weekend pictures. have caught some really great ones these past three weeks.

hiding under the blankies it's so cold!

homemade earmuffs!

then dispite the cold, we went to starbucks! 

the cap'n crunch frapp.
how to make it: stawberries and cream frappucino with one pump hazlenut syrup and one pump toffee nut syrup. must add whip cream too!

we got home and ben crashed. he went to bed around 5. didn't wake up until 8 the next morning! poor beanies wasn't feeling well and was a super trooper when we were at the party. kinda made it nice since we babysat wynn...

she thoroughly enjoyed drooling all over ben's toys!

sunday.
went to alsip. got the rest of the goodies for the garden. yay!

it's planted and done! so exciting. fingers crossed something grows! i was even a dork and made a grid on graph paper plotting out what we planted where and when it'll be ready. i know, i know. i'm an uber dork!

when ben woke up from his nap, we decided to put his sand table together.
he's a fan of the box!

still a fan!

silly boy wanted to play on his slide. had to move it off of the deck since he tried climbing under the table to get to it and was insistent on doing so until we moved it.

he likes it! well, the umbrella at least!

mom, this is pretty cool.

orbit escaped!

ooh, sand!

love it.

yes, there was a pile of sand in his hood, down his sleeve, and in his mouth!