{You Are My Sunshine}

Today I had the privilege of hanging out with this little man. We were sun bums eating watermelon and exchanging knock-knock jokes. It was a sweet and surreal few hours in which I had the privilege of soaking up every word, every face, every exchange. Here's to living in the moment. And here's to a wonderful summer's bucket list.

{Somebody Got Older, Dirty & A New Name}

We celebrated Porter's Birthday with a race, swimming and a party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Porter has been excited to turn four for a very long time. This magic age of four symbolizes big upgrades to his little life. Like getting a full size Flinstone vitamin like his brother instead of mom biting his in half. Turning four means getting to sit in a booster seat like big brother and saying good-bye to a clunky baby 5 strap harness. Turning four means going to school and wearing a back pack just like big brother. (Sigh.) All things Porter has been excited to do/get when he turns four fingers. Happy Birthday, Big Boy! :)

Dad entered his first running race and took 3rd place! He rocked it and ran his guts out! To his dismay, his bib number goes down in the forever Google race results as Coral Coon by mistake. (Which got me thinking..is Coral Coon a real name?) Go, Coral!...

{Getting Ready}

{Waiting to see Dad}

{On the course}

{and running happy}

{and gett'n dirty}

{Fabulous race time, Dad!}

... I mean, Coral. (wink)

{I Have An Extra $36.00 In My Pocket}

Well, we made it. We did it. It was no small feet. But we are done. We are official...(well until Mr. & Mrs. Holmes require Depends) this Holmes family is diaper/ pull up free. Can I get a Hallelujah?

Two days before Porter's 4th birthday, he gave US the best un-birthday present ever!
Hand shake, high five, tator, chest pump.
Boy, you are rock'n it in your "pocket" undies. :)

{Float Your Boat}

I love living in the Pacific Northwest. I really do. And although we get our share of rain and our share of cloudy days.. I still love it. I love running in our weather. I love the greenness and the beautiful scenery.

Boat season just started. Kids are counting down the days until school is out. Watermelon and corn on the cob are in full force at the grocery store... which means summer is around the corner. And it's getting me all smiley.

{Mother's Day}

This past week has been filled with events that have helped me realize my true simple blessings. I'm so lucky to have a wonderful mother and equally lucky to be a mother to these fun-loving, personality plus little tycoons that have so much unlimited potential .

I love being your mom.

{Jump'n Super Mario}

There's a first for everything. I'd like to announce to the world that Porter is potty trained, ... but that first has not arrived and frankly if I'm being honest, I'd like to swear.

No, this is not what the post is actually about. But after attending a birthday party this weekend for one of Porter's friends, and being surrounded by children who do use the potty, I'm reminded again that perhaps my son could possibly hold the world's record for being the oldest child to wear a pull up.

We have exactly 19 days before Porter turns four. Hi, my name is Carrie and I'm determined to get there.

{Girls Weekend}

{Picking up our race packets.}

Twenty fabulous girlfriends and I got together for a fun-filled weekend of eating, shopping and runn'n! We had an absolute blast!

{Loading up on pre-race pasta!}

{Our bellies are officially stuffed. It's hang out time & sign planning for Anna's 10th marathon celebration!}

{Race day- Tiffany hitt'n it}

{The entire group}

Love you girls!

{To The T}

Caleb and I both had dentist appointments this afternoon. After we were done, we went and got slurpies to celebrate our cavity free teeth before heading back onto the freeway.

Half way through our drive home Caleb is still slurping away and says, "Mom, don't worry I'm hiding."

Totally puzzled I asked, "Why are you hiding?"

Caleb says, "Because that bill board back there said we can't drink and drive."

Thanks for making my day. I love you, buddy. :)

{A Birthday Surprise}

My sweet eldest turned seven this month. Where in the world does the time go? For months leading up to his birthday, he was determined to have his big day at a local family fun center called, Charlie Safari. When anyone asked what he was doing for his birthday, that was it. And he was excited.

Since Caleb's birthday landed on a week day we told him that we'd pick him up after school and go straight from there. But we are mean parents. And instead of doing what he wanted to do... we planned something a little bigger and crossed our fingers that our focused son wouldn't be too upset.

Here's Caleb as we passed by his school in the morning.



Here's Caleb when we tell him he doesn't have to go to school today.



Here's Caleb when he asks if we are going to Charlie Safari right now!?



And here's Caleb when he finds out we aren't going to Charlie Safari, but somewhere even better...



... somewhere even better sounds fun, eh? Oh man was that an ugly cry. For a brief minute, I thought what have we done?

We planned an overnight trip to The Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor waterpark resort. It took my husband and I twenty minutes of our car ride to console Caleb and convince him that where we were headed, he was going to forget all about Charlie Safari. We get to stay in a hotel for heavens sake. :)

Here are a few pictures from our very fun birthday surprise.















Happy Birthday, sweetheart.
I love you...