This is Exciting

The boys have been going with us on errands since they were little. Mostly we needed to get them out of the house, and I'm pretty sure Keith worries I'll spend too much if he's not with me, so for the last 3.5 years Saturday and sometimes Sunday mornings have been errand mornings. We used to load babies into Bjorns and walk and shop and hope they would get tired so they'd nap so we could nap. Ahh, the good ole days.

Then they started talking and walking and having opinions of their own, and sometimes that is great, sometimes its downright irritating. And other times it's funny. Like this past Saturday morning, when we all went to Costco. We checked out and Keith was picking up something from the front desk while we waited. I was busy people watching and talking to the boys, but I was not really looking at them. At one point I started saying "aren't we having so much fun together?" and as I turned my head back towards them, I saw this. 

Then someone realized I was taking pictures and gave it a little extra stretch.

So funny, these two. Not sure those are faces of excitement, but we did get them lots of food samples in the warehouse, so I can't imagine why they wouldn't be excited.

Also excited: the parents. We got movie ticket at Costco for our date night later that night. Did you know you could get them there? I did not, and its apparently a lot cheaper because not much else could make Keith that happy than saving money. He's like Clark Howard.

'Nastics

We're officially doing gymnastics. Or 'nastics, if you're in the know. I had no idea if the boys would like it, honestly. Worst-case scenario is we have a little fun every Saturday morning, best case scenario is that I have pictures of the start of a long Olympic gymnastics career. Heh.

So Saturday morning, coffee in hand Keith and I watched the boys do a little tumbling and jumping. Want to see? 

Grady getting into somersault position.

Below we're on the balance beam and the trampoline.G is up, C is bouncing.

And sorry about this, lots of backlight makes it hard to get good pictures. Both boys at a bar, about to swing.  Actually, Cole is already swinging on the left, Grady is getting the lowdown on how to swing on the right. The lady on the right is grand master teacher, and I think she is very, very good.

Grady swinging. When the class was over, the teacher, Grand Master, came over and told me how good they are doing for their first class and that Cole was doing really well, and that Grady was good too but would naturally have a harder time since he's bigger, but that wow, he was strong!

Dad got bored with the action and was reading the paper.

And we ended the session with a little bouncing action. Jump Coley, jump! Next week we'll take the good lens.

Good times had by all. Things I learned: there's no such thing as too much coffee; dads, as a general rule, can watch 10 minutes of this stuff at a time before focusing on blackberries or newspapers; there is one little girl in this gymnastics class who is going to be on my nerves the entire season; there is one former gymnast mom who is on my nerves already and I need to not stand next to her again; I really wish I had learned to do a cartwheel; if I wear my blue strapless bra to gymnastics class I'll be distracted by it the whole time-that thing is worthless.

The boys seemed to have fun, and they want to go back. Success!

Bits

After all that green paint color drama, I abandoned all those custom colors. While I toil at work today, Keith will be picking up this color, but at 50% and with less black tint. Let's hope my good buddies at Sherwin Williams can make it happen. I feel pretty confident, given the number of times I've been in there and have discussed this green with them. Also, did you know that SW has 10 different tints that make up their paint colors? Interesting. They showed me (and my errand companion, Grady) the new green tint. It's really a dark dark green, not a light green as the word "new" might imply.

This weekend we have our first non-adult babysitter. Exciting! We're so suburban now. It's not a stranger, it's two of our favorite people, and yes, you can expect a full blog post devoted to that later this weekend.

Friday's used to be What To Feed "Em Fridays. I won't give the person who started this and then abandoned it  a hard time, she just had baby #3 when her first (set of twins) aren't even 18 months. I am both happy for her and feel exhausted at the thought of dealing with that day-to-day routine. And I really don't have much new food items to share, except to say that this marinade is awesome on steak. And this rub is great on fish. If you're related to us and you like grilling out, you might be getting the rub in your Christmas stocking this year.

Tonight we order new furniture! WHOOOOOO! The couches have been picked, but the accent tables are still likely to change, so I wont share any links or pictures until the furniture is in place, likely the end of August.

Tomorrow the boys start gymnastics. I am sooo excited to see if they like it. They have been doing this sporty type thing at daycare once a week, and they love it. Love it to the point of trying dribble every type of ball imaginable through the kitchen while I cook while yelling I"m SOCCERBALL PLAy-URRRR! and I go SO FAST! There really isn't a lack of confidence in Team Ellerman. Stay tuned for gymnastics posts.

Also in the works for the weekend is a viewing of this movie. I read the book on our Oregon vacation, and loved it. I am pretty sure I would have loved any book since it was the first fiction book I finished in years, but it really was good. I laughed out loud, winced at the ugliness of human nature resulting from generations of complacency, and felt like I left friends behind when the book ended. And I am thankful every day for a husband who loves a chick flick.

Now go do something productive.

Makeover

The house isn't the only thing getting a new coat of paint. Remember this jeep? Santa brought it for Sara a few years back. And she loved it. And we loved riding in it when we visited.

and the beauty of being the youngest of a set of 5 cousins is that Aunt Karen is also not a hoarder, and we get many a very neat thing handed down to us. The latest is the Jeep. Now I think both boys would have been just happy with the pink and purple, but Keith felt his creative juices flowing one Friday, and now the Jeep looks like this.

Went from pretty to purrrrdeeee.

Green is my Favorite Color

Greetings from my brain, where we are currently trying to decide on a green for the kitchen. So above are 6 samples I crafted from two samples I bought. You're probably thinking they all look the same, but you are wrong. Each is a little different and the possibilities make it really hard to pick the right color.

And makes it really hard to focus on anything else.

UPDATE: We've analyzed the colors in different lights in different spots in the kitchen.

We narrowed it down to two...

And after a length conversation with self, I believe we have a winner.

Keith thanks you for listening, because if you didn't, he would have to sit through this one-sided conversation. Or more accurately he'd have to pretend to listen while his mind drifted.