365.94: Camera Shy

Holden has always been camera shy. A soon as I pull out the camera, he immediately stops the cute thing he's doing and turns into expressionless stone.
But not tonight.
Tonight he actually insisted I take his picture, and came up with all these poses on his own. And he wanted to see every picture after I snapped it. Every one of these poses is on purpose and his idea. Including the fake yawn and the "flying" shot.

365.93: Remember the Partridge Family? We're Basically the Same as That.

...because the Partridge Family had a toddler who was potty training, thus naked all the time, right?

I love these times of listening to my boys make music together. Holden is really into instruments right now (which he pronounces "anstruments"). After this jam session ended, he made a stage out of pillows, where Ryan and I were treated to quite a few renditions of Jingle Bells. When Holden starts getting really into it, he closes his eyes to really feel the music. I try with all my might to burn these images in my head to keep for years to come...like the teenage years.

365.92: Sandwich Artist

If I'm gonna serve sandwiches for dinner, they're gonna have to be dressed up a little.
Take this chicken sandwich.
Fry up some bacon and saute mushrooms, then top it with havarti cheese and add lettuce and tomato, and voila!
Dinner deliciousness!

365.91: Plants

In an attempt to ward off all-encompassing sadness (due to my parents visit ending), I have kept my self very busy since yesterday afternoon.

Last night we went to Zach's 6th birthday party--which featured fried chicken and chocolate cake, both homemade. Get more party details and pictures here.

This morning two girls who are going to be our babysitters while Ryan and I are in Elevate came over. It was so great to meet sweet Meghan and Emily! There will be more posts on them to come. I am praising the Lord that He has worked out this minor, yet huge, detail.

After Meghan and Emily left, Zach and Cristie came over so Cristie could help me with my potted plant situation. The situation in that I have two big pots that I would just love to have overflowing with lively green plants, but I also have a brown thumb and super-limited budget. While my parents were here, my Mom was so sweet to take me to a nursery and help me pick out plants.
We got this hanging plant for the front porch:

And then for the pots, we got lantana, verugated sweet potato, and chili pepper plants. Cristie's idea was to combine these things with a few other plants that were already in our yards for a festive potted schmorgasborg. Here's what we came up with.


Once they grow and fill in and the creepers spread, I'll post an after picture!

365.90: Saying Goodbye

I'm sad.
My parents just left to head home about an hour ago.
Boo.
It was so hard to say goodbye! I actually started getting sad last night, just anticipating them leaving.
A couple final pictures of Mimi and PopPop with the boys:



As they were about to pull out, Holden yelled, "Wait! Don't go yet!" He darted off the front porch to the car to give Pop one last hug and kiss. (Then Mimi forgot her phone, so he got to deliver that to her window with a hug and kiss, too, but I didn't get to snap that picture.)


Waving a last goodbye.

Holden was very sad after they left. He asked to call them on the phone when they'd been gone no longer than ten minutes, but I didn't want to start more tears in case Mom and Dad were starting to pull themselves together by then. So he took his nap with a framed picture of Mimi and PopPop and the rest of the fam right beside his bed.

I have a feeling that we're gonna be blue for the next few days!

365.89: Painting

Our playroom/office is a very dark navy blue. Which I like alright, but I really wanted to liven up the large wall that you face when sitting at the computer. I was originally envisioning one really large piece, but then Christie gave me the idea a few weeks ago to have a collage of smaller canvases instead. The beginnings of this idea, and inspirations I found online, are explained in this post.
So today my parents, the boys, and I (Ryan was at work) spent five hours on the front porch (in the sweltering heat) painting canvases.
I just LOVE how they turned out! I stop and look at them every single time I pass the room. What a great way to have a piece of my parents and the boys and the memories of time together on the walls.

Turner's piece of fine art:

Holden's work:

Look at this cool piece my mom did! It is a Turner family tree with a T for the trunk and then our monograms inside the dot leaves. Turner's and Holden's dots are actually their thumbprints!

These are the two my dad did. (How lucky am I to have actual pieces of art from a pro on my wall?!)

And here are the three I did.


(This means "Love Never Fails" in Portuguese.)


And the final product:

365.88: Austin

We took a little road trip to Austin today and had so much fun. First up was lunch at Oasis, which is a restaurant that sits up on the side on a hill, over-looking Lake Travis. It has sort of a Mediterranean feel, looking across the lake with sailboats at houses nestled in the hills.

After lunch we drove into downtown Austin. We only walked a few blocks before the heat really took it's toll! So we opted to get a Jamba Juice, then take a driving tour instead.
The boys loved their "smoothies!"


Ryan explaining how a wheatgrass shot is made.

Said wheatgrass shot an the Pomegranate Pick-Me-Ups Mom and I ordered.