Hold

At our rehearsal - a moment with mama...

Took the boys hiking at Multnomah Falls - turns out Matthew is a little bit afraid of heights. It's all good, though, if Baba hangs onto him so he can enjoy the view from a safe spot...

It's simply stunning in the Columbia Gorge - damp forests, waterfalls, so much greenery...

Back at home - the garden is taking off! A few sunny days, and this is what we get:

Tomatoes!

Color...

Raspberries...

And NOT from my garden - from my bridal bouquet, in fact. This is green trick...it's soft, fuzzy and super green!

Took the kiddos to Creature Feature at the library this afternoon. They were incredibly patient with all of the totally misbehaving children (and parents!) - the biggest issue was rudeness, as in nobody would sit DOWN so my boys could see. They were also the very last in line to pet the snakes, but were able to have some unrushed time as a result. I'm very proud of those boys for being so kind and respectful, and grateful for their patience.

3 days

Three days before the wedding, this is what I'm doing:

Coffee and cake batter for breakfast...

8.5 batches of Willies cake, 7 layers, 12 hours...

Boys got $$ from Mommanam (my grandmother who is visiting from Iran) to buy themselves a gift - the cute guy in the brown uniform (it's a joke, says Matthew - 'brown like a box') brought Amazon purchases to them this afternoon...

Andrew played a great game of baseball...

Catcher...

Batting and running bases...(about to steal home?)

And pitcher...(we have quite the talented little ball player!)

This one was super excited to have his own cup...ha! Not required at his level of ball playing, but he always wants to be just like his big brother. Mom found itty bitty cups on clearance (end of season and all), so why not? It made him smile...that was worth the $5 right there - especially since the little dude was fighting off a migraine all day. :(

Whew. Never again will I make THAT much Willie's cake. It wasn't as fun as I thought it might be...then again, I wasn't counting on my little guy to be feeling so sick, nor did I think to turn the a/c on before it got to be 90 degrees in my kitchen. BUT - I think the cake is going to be edible, and might even look decent. I'll leave that up to my florist (who just informed me that her water broke...oy...fingers crossed that her backup is as talented as she is! That's definitely NOT what a bride wants to hear 3 days before her wedding!)

Random

Camera dump.

Auntie blowing bubbles - originally to watch the dogs eat them - turned into the kids eating them (that kiddo in the red shorts isn't Matthew, for those who are wondering - it's one of Andrew's buddies.)

Saving some rice for later.

Mama gettin' straight.

Baba's Day

Happy Father's Day, Baba. You are the best. Really, truly, such a special daddy.

Celebrated him by replacing the coffee mug he loved so much that broke last month...

...and snuggles, of course...

Last Days of School

Photos from the last days of school, in no particular order...

Silly string to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation!

Andrew and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Kirchofer...

Matthew's class celebrated the end of kindergarten with pinatas. Baba was brave to help man the bat.

Sweet congratulatory hug from Ms. Tina...

Partying it up with buddies at The Yogurt Shack...

Andrew with Mrs. K and Mr. Duncan (student teacher for half the year - Andrew adored him!)

Boxes

We came home to two huge boxes on our front porch...the wedding gifts are arriving! The boys were so excited to open them, even though we warned them that wedding gifts can be terribly boring (for a 6 and 8 year old!) They were quick to agree upon discovering their contents...but were still thrilled with the large boxes.

...especially when emptied of their contents....

This one made a great safe spot for a puppy during a thunderstorm...

...this guy got to relax for a little bit this afternoon...rare happening these days!

Brotherly Love

I'm pretty sure this post has the sweetest pictures ever in it. Even sweeter than the baby chicks. All of these were taken over the course of just today, and I'm positive that I didn't catch all of the sweet moments, either. Just a few. These two boys are my heart - I feel like I should be celebrating THEM on Mother's Day, for coming into the world and making my dream of becoming a mother come true.

Matthew had a very sudden moment of deep sadness. I was concerned about what happened; if he was hurt, sick, scared - what was going on? He responded quietly, "It's my Grampy. I miss him." Grampy Steve passed away just one year ago. Over the past weeks, there have been tears from a lot of us. We miss him and the overwhelming love and support he showed these little guys. Matthew said, "Grampy usually comes to my soccer." I know, buddy...and I hope he's still watching.

This picture shows what happened when Andrew learned why his brother was suddenly sad. The hand holding was followed by words of wisdom, understanding and a little bit of gentle distraction. I'll never be able to look at this photo without getting choked up. They are amazing.

The rascals were due for bedtime a half hour before this next photo was taken - but how do you end this kind of fun? I'll tell you how: let them freeze their tushies off and they'll come begging for a shower and warm bed in about ten minutes! Between baseball practice, a soccer game, a zoo trip with their father, swimming with the neighbor girls and an almost 90 degree day, they were ZONKED at the revised bedtime. I wonder if they'll actually sleep past 7 tomorrow morning?

Instead of traditional bedtime stories tonight, they opted to lust after new Playmobil sets together. They were plotting and planning, deciding what goes on whose wish list and who had enough money in their wallet to buy what right now!

Little Andrew was so tired - he could barely get up and make it to bed. Matthew took full advantage of non-wrestling snuggle time with his big brother. <3

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there. It's the hardest job in the world, but the pay is overwhelmingly generous...especially on days like these.

Catch up

My grandma always told me that busy people are happy people. I must be ecstatic, then - because I haven't stopped to catch my breath since last Friday! Here's just a part of what's been going on:

Matthew took Mom on a field trip to downtown Portland's waterfront for a Cinco De Mayo cultural celebration...

We had a graduation party for Auntie Mel (where Matthew blew up ALL of the smiley balloons for us!)...

Pop and Grandma Margaret (and Emma!) visited...

Baba told funny stories while we drove from Matthew's soccer game to Andrew's baseball practice...

And on our third gorgeous day in a row, my little leprachaun enjoyed a SOUR popsicle...

And then played a baseball game...

And walked off the field with an injury. Poor Right Arm takes a beating every May...just a bruise and some (ball) stitches this time...nothing beyond skin is broken!

Green

What to do with the massive amounts of parsley growing in your garden? Ghormeh Sabzi, of course! Yum! My favorite Persian dish as a child...and maybe even still! (It's better when mom makes it, though.) Matthew actually requested it this time!

(Not my picture - we always eat it before we remember to take a picture of the presentation!)

And what color did we paint our chicken coop? 

         

....................Green, of course! (Photography by Matthew)

Andrew helped out a TON! Matthew did at first, but we needed a photographer so he traded in his brush for a camera...

Some super cute videos of the chicken coop adventures, taken by Matthew: