We had a great and relaxing weekend!

Friday while I was in the shower Bennett came to tell me that Buck was stuck under the chair.
I wasn't sure he was telling the truth since Buck hasn't started crawling yet, but I quickly finished up and ran out into the living room. Sure enough he had somehow managed to scoot under the chair all the way from the cube toy. I'm not ready for two mobile boys yet!
(Bennett was showing Buck some brotherly love by sitting on him) 
IMG_7626
After we all got ready, we went to Costco for groceries.
This was Buck's first time sitting in the cart:
(he loved it for half of the time then became whiney and tired for the rest of the ride)
IMG_1509
Saturday night the boys stayed with Chris' parents and we went out for date night with Craig and Lauren. We went to Dick's Kitchen which was pretty good. I don't think I'd get the large kale salad again...I loved the topping combo (blue cheese/cranberries/hazlenuts) but it was a TON of kale!
I also got a Coconut Bliss chocolate malt which was SO good.
Chris got a burger and some yam not-fries(weird name... they are baked and not fried). 
I tasted both and they were really good.
My mound of kale:
IMG_7630
After dinner we hung out and chatted at our house without having to worry about waking up the boys, so nice:
IMG_7634
Sunday morning Chris and I slept in (hello 9:45!), ran a ton of errands then
we had brunch at Por Que No. Their brunch is so good!
IMG_7635
Before we picked up the boys, we stopped at IKEA to price out cabinets for our bathroom remodel!
We are pretty giddy to even be considering a big change like this, which is much needed.
Chris made a mock up of our plans with Google Sketchup:
Screen shot 2013-01-29 at 9.09.16 PM

Such a nice weekend!

Happy Wednesday Friends!
It was so cold over the weekend. 
It got down to 19 degrees one morning, and Chris went for a run in Forest Park Saturday morning while it was 27 degrees. He's crazy and I let him know that fact.

Even though there was frost on the ground Friday, we had to get out of the house for a bit so I took the boys up to one of the parks in our neighborhood. 
We didn't stay long, but they got a chance to ride in the airplane.
Buck's first ride:
IMG_7559
and of course the swings:
(Bennett just wanted me to keep pushing and Buck thought swinging was pretty much the best thing ever.)
IMG_7569
Either Chris wore the same thing all weekend, or we didn't do anything picture-worthy on Saturday.
I can't remember, but I think this was Sunday...Buck started rolling up onto his feet to reach things.
He really, really wanted that monkey:
IMG_7603
Horrible picture but I love how intense his face looks:
IMG_7597
Sunday morning we went out on a spontaneous family date.
We went down to The Ace for our bi-annual photo booth trip.
(Scroll down if you must see our pictures righthissecond.)
We still had time left on our parking so we decided to walk up to Blue Star Donuts:
(supposedly donuts are the new macarons/cakepops/cupcakes)
IMG_7577
Years ago Chris and I swore off donuts (not like we had them very often) and haven't had any since...until Sunday! I had heard about Blue Star and their crazy donuts (and how they are cooked in rice oil, are made from scratch and use mostly local, organic ingredients) and thought that maybe we should check it out. 
So we did:
IMG_7583
Trying to decide what kind we want:
IMG_7588

IMG_7586
Bennett waiting patiently:
IMG_7585
We got our donuts to go so we could eat them at home.
They were SO good:
(we got the almond with chocolate ganache and the horchata glazed donuts)
IMG_7592

Sunday after nap the boys played at Chris' parents house while we had a belated date night. 
We saw Le Miserables and it was really good!

A pretty fun weekend, and I especialy love that Buck is getting to be more interactive and can actually experience these things with us instead of watching from the stroller/car seat. Oh and I must say that we have a fully potty trained little man! Bennett has been wearing pullups only at night for a couple of months and has been keeping them dry for the last month so we decided to take it away over the weekend and he is rocking it!

Happy Thursday Friends!

I promise I'm not going to make a habit out of posting these things at the end of the week, but I'm also not going to beat myself up if I do. It is what it is. 

Last weekend was great, but Bennett had a fever for about 4 days.
I'm not even surprised anymore when someone gets sick.
All I can do is laugh at our sicky-streak and give them lots of cuddles...movies don't hurt either.

Thursday we got a little snow:
IMG_7442
Buck turned 8 months:
(so crazy!)
IMG_7452
Friday was grocery shopping day:
IMG_7454
Chris and I grabbed food at New Seasons for date night:
(I could probably eat there every night.)
IMG_7472
After dinner we went to Washington Square to spend some giftcards from Christmas.
(How romantic of us.)

Saturday morning Bennett woke up with awesome bed head and a 103 fever:
IMG_7483
We took it easy all day and watched a family movie after dinner:
(bro time)
IMG_7490
I tore out our hydrangea:
(The first of our landscaping adventures. We are hoping to put in an awesome new gate this spring.)
IMG_7520
Sunday these guys were being cute at breakfast:
IMG_7503
We went to the toy store with a Chinook Book coupon, which I set in the car seat with my phone for a couple minutes while I decided what to get. 
Then Buckley ate it:
(I had to pull it out his mouth. He had eaten all of the vital information out of the center of it. Luckily, they still took it.)
IMG_7518
Sunday morning we all got our hair done by our friend Lindsey and we took a silly mustache picture:
IMG_7497
This clearly wasnt part of last weekend, but last night I made fettuccine alfredo, except the sauce is mostly made with veggie or chicken broth and pureed cauliflower. 
I didn't have very high expectations but it was so good:
(get the recipe here.)

Everyone is healthy and the sun is shining...
Happy Friday Friends!
Before Christmas gets too far in the distance I wanted to share the gifts I made for people.
This is the one time of year that I feel like I really get to be creative and do the projects that I've been wanting to do all year long. Crafting is quite a bit more difficult with two little guys and I was pretty much making everything after they went to bed, having to clean up everything before I could call it a night myself. Regardless, it's still a lot of fun and a major stress buster for me.

I love coming up with projects that suit each person and I like to think about each person using their gift while I craft the night away.

For the guys I made most of the treats that I mentioned in this post.
It sounded like they all loved them.

This year's wrapping:
(note to self: get a stamp made that says "{CB^3}")
IMG_7105
Utensil crock and dipped spoons for my sister- in-law:
DSC_0466
Chalkboard wine glasses for my sister:
(I thought these would be perfect for the wine parties they have quite often)
DSC_0467
quick tip: use a pencil sharpener to give chalk a nice writing point!
DSC_0468
A chalkboard hors d'oeuvres plate also for my sister:
DSC_0471
A chalkboard for my mom:
IMG_7104
Homemade granola for Chris' mom:
(I didn't get a picture of it all wrapped up, so this picture is an oldie but a goodie. To get my granola recipe click here.)
And I also made a few pom bookmarks for people.
They are so easy I thought that I'd post a little tutorial for you guys!
(get original tutorial here.)


*Grab sharp scissors and yarn.
-cut one 15 inch-long string
-cut one 10 inch-long string
(set the two strings aside for now)

1. Take the end of the yarn and wrap it around three fingers 90 times. You can do more if you want your pom super full. It doesn't need to be wrapped neatly, but just make sure it's not too tight or else you won't be able to take it off of your fingers.
IMG_6801
2. Cut the yarn and gently slide it off of your fingers. Lay it over the 10 inch piece of yarn and tie a knot as tight as you can (without breaking it) around the middle of your 90 loops.
IMG_6802
3. Tie one end of the 15 inch piece of yarn directly over the one you just tied. The long end will be the tail that will act as the actual bookmark.
IMG_6803
4. Holding one side of your yarn ball, slide your scissors into the loops on the opposite side. Cut the loops over the garbage can, because it makes a huge mess. Make sure you get them all. Holding the tail, do the same to the other side and trim it up to make them all even, this is what really makes it into a ball. Be careful to not cut the long tail!
IMG_6806

And there you have a super cute bookmark!

Did you guys make any gifts this year?
I've already started collecting ideas for next year!

Happy Weekend Friends!

This last weekend was pretty darn relaxing. 
Both boys were not sick for once, though Buck came down with a fever Sunday night and has been fighting it ever since. 
Poor guy can't catch a break!

...

Bennett really likes to look at pictures from when he was a baby.
He was showing Buckley pictures on Friday and told him "the pages are not for chewing":
IMG_7361
Buck mastered getting his puffs from the tray and into his mouth:
IMG_7352
Bennett spent a lot of time in the tent that his Papa made him:
IMG_7376
Friday night for date night, Chris and I grabbed dinner at Native Foods Cafe and I got to do a little shopping at Anthropologie thanks to some giftcards! I didn't take any pictures but it was a fun night.

Saturday morning my mom came over and spent some time with the boys while Chris and I had a little extension of our date night...

We went to Ristretto and got our coffee in "for here" cups (kind of a big deal).
(That's Ben, he makes my mocha every Saturday morning. He's a good mocha-maker.) 
IMG_7381
We got to walk around Schoolhouse Electric:
(That never happens with kids in tow)
IMG_7383
We took a picture:
(I think it's becoming a tradition to take a picture in this mirror every time we go)
IMG_7384
We got breakfast at Bob's Red Mill:
IMG_7386
We stopped at the Pendleton Mill End Store to check out the scrap bins. Chris had never been there before so I wanted to show him how awesome it was. If you've never been there (or don't live in Portland) it's part retail store and part fabric store with bolts and bolts of Pendleton wool fabric. The best part (and probably the main reason people trek out to the store) is all of the by-the-pound bins. A truck delivers remnant pieces, selvage and blanket trimmings from the Pendleton mills each week and depending on what they have been making, you can find some pretty awesome stuff digging through those bins.
IMG_7391
We ended up scoring a bunch of pretty big charcoal remnants that I'm going to make some pillows with, a huge piece of the coolest Pendleton fabric I've ever seen, and a strip of a sweet pattern that I want to use on a clutch or maybe a pillow. 
I'm so excited about our zig zag fabric, mostly because a woman was walking around with it in her hands and set it back down once she decided on something else...Chris saw her set it down and like a hawk was over there and grabbed it before I had even noticed he was gone.
It's the same weight as our Glacier National Park blanket, which we love. Score!
I'm planning to finish the edges to make it look a little more, well, finished.
Our blanket is bigger than a throw and is perfect for getting comfy on the couch with:
IMG_7408
I was curious what Pendleton was using this fabric for since it was so different from anything I had ever seen, so I googled it. It looks like it was made for a bedding collection at Room & Board
988327
Ok back to our weekend...
Saturday night we went over to our friends house for dinner.
Buck and Chris lookin cute:
IMG_7407
Sunday morning Chris made breakfast.
Bennett finger painted.
  (Thanks for the paints and puzzle Tana!)
And we went to church in the evening.
IMG_7410

Overall a pretty good weekend.

Happy Wednesday Friends!