I think he is going to like it here!

Justin went to his pre-school open house today.  Today was a chance for him to meet his teacher and get the lay of the land.  The big lego blocks were a big hit with my boy, no surprise.  He also loved the warm play-doh and the fact that they had 2 toilets and sinks with stools in the bathroom.

pom poms

I love this.  They have been hanging in my living room for over a year {left overs from Jamie's wedding}.  How many would be too many?  Because I think I want more.

up for adoption

A lap full of babies!

The "white one"  has been adopted and named Bailey {a kitty name close to my heart}.  This munchkin is by far Justin's fave.  

And this little black and white love is my fave of the bunch and I named him Domino.

You don't have to be a baby kitty to get love

kitty whisperer

Brandi is fostering a feral momma cat and her four kittens.  I offered up the services of my kitty lovin' boy!  We spent some time loving on the four sweet kittens and Justin instantly fell in love with this one.

Still not sure if this kitten is a boy or a girl, but Justin kept calling it "white one".  I fell in love with a black and white one - but we will not be bringing one of them home - no way, no how!  We will pet them, love them, and help find them loving homes - and that is where it ends!

Sidenote:  I just realized the bags under Justin's eyes - partially due to him being tired and partially due to the low light in the room.  He was tired from getting up earlier than he should due to his fear of staying in bed alone (all due to a nightmare about spiders).  Tonight he was out and snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow! 

dominos

Justin wanted to play dominos this evening, but was not too keen on trying to actually learn how to play - so I figured it would be fun to show him how to set them up and then watch them fall.  He thought it was cool for a few minutes, but quickly lost interest.  He was however fascinated by the domino videos I found on YouTube.

summer, please stick around. I like you

There is something so incredibly cute watching Justin walk around with flip flops on. 

Today was a nice warm summer day. Yesterday it was kinda cool out and I could feel fall trying to creep in, today it was back to summer heat.

Teachers Fountain

I met Tina downtown after work today for dinner and drinks.  I stuffed my self silly and had a great time chatting.  Across the street was a new fountain area that was super cool.  I really enjoy going downtown and need to try to get down there much more often.  Portland is such a cool city and one I am so glad to call home.

noodle thief

I often feel discouraged by the lack of stuff that I am able to accomplish on a weekend.  I never understand when I hear someone say that they are bored.  I don't know what that is like.  I have so many things that need to get done and so many things that I want to do.  There is no time to be bored.  This weekend I did actually get a few things done although not nearly as much as I had wanted to.  There is always next week....

happy weekend

36 holes

Took my favorite boy mini-golfing tonight.  He rocked it! We played 36 holes and he could have kept going. 

scenes from the front yard

eye protection is a must...

...because let me tell you - when one of those darts hits your eye - IT HURTS!

sunflowers

Jason sent me this picture today with the subject line "'oh. my. goodness.' says Justy!"  They were taking a walk and found these awesome flowers.  Justin and I tried to grow some sunflowers this year, but were not super successful.  These ones here are pretty impressive!

the sunny spot

checking out pre-school

I took Justin to the pre-school he will start attending next month so that he could get a feel for where it is located and so that he can check out all of the great outdoor playground.  We also peeked into the windows so he could catch a glimpse of the classrooms.

He kept saying "oh. my. goodness!" He was thrilled with all the outdoor stuff - minus all the cobwebs and spiders. It has been a few months since the toys have been played on and since most of it is under a few large trees, the spiders and their webs have moved in a bit. Justin freaked out when as we were leaving we walked right through a web. I promised him that the webs would be gone by the time he starts school.

This silly look was what he provided me with when I asked him for a picture.  He totally posed like this, although I am not entirely sure why. 

I brushed the cobwebs off this teeter-totter and we played for a bit.  I think he looks so handsome and grown up in this picture - I just love him!

Saturday dining

Breakfast: Coffee {of course} and english muffins - just butter for Justin, add homemade strawberry jam to mine.

We spent a good portion of the day on the living room floor building legos. 

Later I made potato soup.  Which makes no sense at all given the hot summer temps outside, but I was craving it.

a mojito with a view

Party planning is one of my favorite things to do and today was the annual shareholder get-together.  We had a mojito inspired menu and although I didn't get to stay for the party I did get to sample the drink.  It was awesome!  As was the view - it was hazy out and the mountains were not in clear view, but I sure enjoyed it.  I hope the party was a success - I left after the first guests arrived. 

cool shades dude

Hole 10

Helped Brandi out today by setting up our table out at Langdon Farms.  It was a beautiful day!

deck turtle and jasmine

8-9-10 at 11:12

AM

My desk. Coming back from a week off means a lot of catch up. 

PM

Just out of the tub.  After a week away, I missed my bathtub.

dinner and more

Justin set his little table tonight for dinner.  That little bowl in front of Lucy - it has some dry cat food in it.  He had noodles, I had pork roast, potatos, corn, gravy...

Today we also washed the car.  Well... we got the first layer of bug guts off of it.  I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that it is Sunday and that the reality of a work week is upon me.  I feel very overwhelmed and I am feeling the need to simplfy things at home a bit.  We need some major organization around here.  I have piles of clean clothes that need to be put into dressers.  I have {Justin has} a number of toys that need to be sold or donated.  I am trying to work on the basics, but I need to do more. 

pump your own

We got up and moving today around 10:00ish - which in my opinion is the perfect time to get up. We picked up mom and headed to my favorite Spokane breakfast spot {the Cottage Cafe} and had the best Belgium waffle ever, then headed to the mall to pick up a dress I couldn't leave town without. Justin had some serious lego play time on his mind so we headed back to dad's so he could play while I packed up. After stuffing the car we headed back to mom's for a snack before taking off around 4:30pm

We stopped in Kennewick for the traditional gas-up and dinner.  While crossing over the bridge from Washington to Oregon we almost, very nearly hit a dog that was trotting down the middle of my lane.  We also very nearly escaped being rear ended by the car behind us as I slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid the doggie.  The incident got my blood moving for sure!  The windshield ate a lot of bugs on the way home and we pulled into our garage right around 10:43 that night.  Justin was thrilled to be home!  

hummingbirds

On our final vacation evening at the lake we were sitting on the deck after dinner and the hummingbirds were at the feeder.  They move so fast they are hard to photograph.  So cool though.  What a nice evening! 

I wanted to sit on the beach and do nothing...

J played in the sand

But what he really wanted to do was swim!

so he did!

The water felt cooler today.

He was so proud.

Later we watched some contruction work...

Justin was the superintendent.

Later Charlie liked the ear.

reunion

I got a lot chopped off last night.  It is shorter than I like, but at least it looks better.  Trying to remember that it grows and that I don't really care that much.

After playing in the water Justin wanted to explore.  He is really enjoying the lake this year.  He wanted to hike and throw rocks and explore.  It was awesome.

Still love this sign my dad put up several years ago. 

Was a beautiful day!

I am pretty sure I could drive this road blind folded.

This evening was fantastic.  I spent the evening with Cheyenne and Amy, friends from junior high and high school that I have not seen in a really long time.  Thanks to the wonder that is facebook we reconnected and set up a evening bbq at Cheyenne's house {hence all the cupcake baking the day before}.  I had visions of all kinds of pictures of the evening, and I even brought my camera, but I never pulled it out.  I had so much fun catching up and chatting that it was way dark before I knew it.