for my pop

i miss you everyday, pop.

there is a little less laughter without you here.

happy birthday.

so you wanna be a writer, eh?

no, i don't. but i wanna be a blogger. a good one. and blogging makes me like to write. for years i wrote in journals. from middle school through college graduation. then i fell in love and i stopped. why is it that i stopped journaling once i had a lot less to whine about? what's up with that? seems backwards, doesn't it?

i recently came across three old journals in the top of my childhood closet and took them home with me to read for a trip down memory lane. i read about 5 pages and i had to stop! what i worried about as a 16 year old seems so ridiculous now. apparently all i cared to talk about was boys. i loved boys. boys were stupid. does he like me? what a jerk! i'll never find someone. how dare he do that to my friend? i think it's love.

wake up, teenage cortney! it's not love. i cross my heart, hope to die. man, if i could sit that girl down and talk to her today. reminds me of this post written by one of the jewels of blogland. what would your letter say? mine would say something along the lines of chill out.

blogging has replaced journaling. i am not a writer, but it appears that i like to write.

now i'll leave you with a few things that make me smile:

• chris was once matt foley for halloween (on the far right, pictured with a dip shit, a pot head, and that guy from nightmare before christmas). he does one helluva chris farley impersonation.
• i am really loving all things suzani, especially from wisteria.
• could someone please loan (*give*) me $2999.00 for this bad boy? (also from wisteria.

• and lastly, for other blog nerds like me: guess what?

big boy's nap time is coming to a close. so enough journaling/writing/blogging for now. (and back to obsessing about followers and comments :)

greatest hits

*i now introduce you to my list: greatest hits, featuring the most memorable bits of my week. if i don't write them down, i just may forget them. see, aren't lists handy?

1) a letter in the mail from the sweetest four-year-old.

(thanks, aly-bug!)

2) this haircut.

3) dinner with my girls.

no boys allowed to this going-away party.

4) this baby bump. kelly isn't finding out the sex, and won't tell us their name ideas...so we are placing wagers! i have changed my tune and now predict a BOY named JOSEPH. we'll see in december. until then, we'll just continue to rub her sweet belly.

5) a trip to the farmers market with this cute fruit taste-tester.

6)a very thoughtful gift in the mail from my mother-in-law. i must say, this has been a very good mail week.

until next week,

the end.

xoxo

days like this...

sing it, van...

there are days like today when:

• chris is out of town and we don't get to look forward to him walking through the door to sweep us off our feet.
• ben wets his pants. twice.
• ben forgets to "aim" properly and momma gets soaked. momma doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
• ben views nap time as optional.
• the dog chews a beloved stuffed animal.
• every time momma hears the word "no" (which is very, very often), her face starts to twitch uncontrollably. help.
• august starts to feel like the longest month in the history of months (mother's day out hasn't started yet, and neither has momma's job).

but then i remember:

• we are so lucky to have a man that (when in town) walks through the door every day excited to sweep us off our feet.
• ben poops in the potty now, and not in his pants. that's major.
• most of the time, pee actually ends up in the toilet.
• our dog just misses daddy, like we do.
• even though "no" is a ben favorite, so is "i love you" and "momma, you's happy? my's happy!" also, "actually" is a new word in the repertoire, which is quite hilarious, as is the substitution of "one day" for "right now" (ex. "my's hungry one day.")
• today is the last day of august.

here is a little video of our pantsless wonder introducing the dinosaurs.

to see more of our summertime fun, click here.

greatest hits

i am drawn to bloggers that make lists. like taza's happy lists or kate's bits of my weekend.

maybe i just love lists in general

(big surprise, i know).

so without further ado, i now introduce you to my list: greatest hits, featuring the most memorable bits of my week. if i don't write them down, i just may forget them.

see, aren't lists handy?

1. singing duets with this guy.

we are part of a lady antebellum cover band.

2. laughing at/with this guy. in this particular picture, i asked him how old he is and this is what i got.

he's two, mind you.

3. mastering the whole poop-in-the-potty thing. actually we are just celebrating ben's accomplishment, considering chris and i mastered this feat some 29 years ago. i have no accompanying picture.

you're welcome.

4. stringing new lights on the tree in our courtyard and the groovy effects it gives this picture.

5. spending time with my besties, singing and laughing and trying not to cry, as we prepare for sweet sarah and travis to move across the country.

6. having a real musician (and friend) at our party, which lead to 3 a.m. sing alongs to this song.

7. dance parties for one. sometimes i just have to dance. especially while listening to vampire weekend.

and sometimes it might embarrass others/myself.

so be it.

image via

8. looking like this after a morning at the gym. working out with a trainer has reinforced many things i already know: i will never enjoy running, i will never want to go to the gym, i sweat as much in forty-five minutes as three grown men do all day, and i love the feeling right after i successfully complete a work-out ALMOST as much as i like buying pants in a smaller size :)

until next week,

the end.

so long, thomas...

meet marcy dinosaur and emily dinosaur (or as ben says, "elomy").

and here you have the class pets, ben dinosaur and daddy dinosaur.

as you can see, ben dinosaur and daddy dinosaur are human ben's most favorite. they are the new thomas and percy.

(mommy dinosaur, maggie dinosaur, aly dinosaur and caroline dinosaur not pictured)

recently, human ben was having a difficult day (in a terrible two year old sort of way), so human mommy decided to take his trains as a punishment of sorts. human ben was devastated, for approximately 5 minutes. it's as if a veil was lifted. he discovered neglected toys. he found life after thomas. and he never looked back.

ben lately

here at 'camp pee-in-the-potty', our days look a lot like this:

followed by a little of this:

streaking is one of ben's favorite camp activities.

and after a little bribery and coersion, this happens.

so far, so good. we've managed to achieve success with only a few major meltdowns from ben (and a couple from momma). whew.