a slice of heaven

After years of dreaming about it...my parents have purchased a lake home.

Last weekend we were finally able to go out and enjoy some time there.

It's perfect, with enough bunk beds for our families that are only getting larger and larger.

Here's a picture of the boys taking it all in.

We can hardly wait for next summer when we can all cannon ball into the water.

Yep, even me {but only if no cameras are present}.

a sad day in the hoverson home

What a dramatic title, right? Well, it was definitely traumatic that's for sure.

My beloved sandals. Oh - these sandals. I bought them when I lived in Chicago for a trip to Vegas...and I have worn them at LEAST once a week since.

OK - I know what all of my girlfriends are thinking..."Once a WEEK!?" but remember, there are long winter months in Minnesota...

These were the only shoes that fit me when I was pregnant with Jacks, and even they made my melons with toes have indents. The soles were FLAT. Like there was no sole left in them.

One day a few weeks ago, Beckett was playing with them and I said "Beckers, those are on their last leg, please don't break them". He thought it would be funny to pull harder. Jess pulled them away from him and said "Really, Beckett - those are not to be broken".

Then one day, as I was walking to get the mail...they popped. Boo hoo.

My beloveds...may they rest well in the trash.

Things I have since learned...
*Have a backup pair of flip flops...I suddenly find myself in a Minnesota fall season with no chance to replace them until spring.
*Man, I needed a pedicure that day, do NOT take pictures of my feet without one.
*I may have a sick fascination with pretty shoes, but this was the best $14.00 I had ever spent. What's my cost per wear on that one, Stacy London??

Not So Deep Thoughts.....

Here are a couple of quick thoughts from the weekend...

1. F3 Night is great for so many reasons
F3 stands for Friday Family Fun Night at our church and has become a night that we look forward to each month. It's great to spend some quality time with other families at church and have the kids work out some energy!

2. I really enjoy spending time with my wife
This weekend, Rachel and I went to a Dave Matthew's Band concert in Chicago. We decided to drive to Chicago rather than fly and I'm glad we did. Being in the car together for 12 hours in a day and a half was fun. It's been a while since we were just able to enjoy each other's company without having to attend to one of the kids. The time in the car allowed us to catch up on the past month of randomness and to eat a few too many Starbursts!

3. 90's on 9 is the greatest XM station out there
We decided to keep our XM radio subscription a little while longer once we found this station. This station also provided a little entertainment on way to Chicago as we took turns dating ourselves by guessing the year of the song. Pop2K and The Coffee House are a close second and third!

4. I Thought I Was Years Away From Boyfriend Talk
I actually had to compete for Rachel's attention with two other guys on Saturday night. She refers to Dave Matthews and Jason Mraz as her "Two Boyfriends" and they sure didn't disappoint at Wrigley Field. They both put on a great show and I'm pretty sure Rachel thought they were both signing for her (and not the 40,000 other people!). I'm glad I got to come along for the ride :)

5. Technology Rules
I always get grief for my love for gadgets and computers, but this weekend I felt a sense of adoption coming to the Hove Household.

On Friday we decided it was time to catch up on all of the Modern Family episodes that we had missed before it became a regular show for us, so I signed us up for Hulu Plus and BAM, a minute later we had every episode to date available to watch. They are starting to put together an impressive TV catalog.

On Saturday we went out before the concert to a place called Rockit Bar and Grill for some food and drinks. As usual, I finished my food first and starting playing around on my phone. I wanted to see how many people were checked in for the concert on FourSquare and found that you get 20% your food bill if you show your waitress that you have checked in to Rockit. It was hard to argue with that find!

Then on Sunday we were driving home from Chicago and I received a frantic call from a buddy in our fantasy football league. He needed me to approve a trade before the noon kickoff and I had to sign-in to our site to do so. Well, out comes the iPad and Droid X (my phone). I pulled over to the side of the road and let Rachel drive for 10 minutes while I attended to fantasy football.

That's all for now. I'll try and do this a little for frequently so that Rachel's name doesn't dominate the post count as much.

-B

adoration

I don't think this picture can even start to do justice to how much Finny loves her brother.

Even if he tackles her, hugs too tight, talks too loud in the morning, or just comes running at her {she's already learned to whine before he even GETS to her} she can't stop loving that little man.

And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. He calls her {his baby}.

tearing up...

One of my most fun titles in life is "Aunt Rae". Seriously, I love being an aunt. Sometimes I consider my nieces and nephews my own.
I {heart} them so much.

When I went to drop something off quick at Newmans' one day, Aves answered the door in her little dance outfit, complete with little buns in her hair and tap shoes. I don't know why, but something hit me and I got teary-eyed. Something about how grown up she looked just struck a chord with me.

She came over later that same day with her outfit still on, so I made her try out our mustaches. I mean, come on...can this girl get any cuter!?

my hunchback

For those of you who know Fin, you know she is a Mama's girl. She is pretty much attached to either my hip {which she prefers} or if I simply can't hold her while making dinner or heaven forbid trying to flat-iron my hair {I'm pretty sure both her and Brad think it takes too long} she's winding in between my legs.

Well, if I have a hunchback, it's because even as I'm sitting down, she's grabbing at me.
Apparently my necklace was scrumptious??

Maybe this just means she's going to love accessories as much as her Mama does. :)

A girl can only hope!

randomness

Today's post is random. I had a long time to think on the way into work, and every once in a while I turn off the radio and enjoy the quietness (I'm pretty sure most moms can relate).

Here are just a few things of randomness:

*Just when you think traffic isn't so bad, school starts again. It took an hour and a half to get into work today, and I even left early. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would love a job enough to drive that far, but I truly do. Thank God for the days I can work from home.

*I really want to learn how to sew. I think it would be so fun and rewarding to make some cute things for my kiddos, and be able to hem my own pants...Lord knows I would save a ton of money on hemming alone.

*Jacks got up at 3:00am this morning. I think people think I'm exaggerating when I say the kid doesn't sleep much. I'm not kidding. The only good part is he'll lay in bed and talk your ear off. He typically doesn't sit still long enough to have a long conversation, and I absolutely adore the funny things that come out of his mouth that early in the morning. Like today, he wanted to learn how to spell each day of the week. HUH?? I don't even know how to spell Wednesday at 3:15am, Jacks. Or when he said "Mom, do you know what's beautiful? You and the stars."
Yep, that makes the 4 hours of sleep for me worth it.

*Maybe I should cut my hair again. I'm getting sick of it all of the sudden. And I'm not sure these bangs are working in my favor anymore.

*I thought I would hold Finley until she was 2 to prevent her from walking. Sensing that, she is now walking two weeks earlier than her brother did.

*Even though I think it is so much fun, Halloween slightly creeps me out.

*I would like to wear a flower or feather every day of the week. I adore them.

Happy Wednesday (and yes, that's how you spell it)

:)

the result

So, lots of people have asked me to show a good picture of Jacks with his missing toof.

I finally turned my desktop pc on {it's archaic, so it takes FOREVER to get a picture from on there}

Here is is...the toofless wonder...

And no, he still isn't ready for the tooth fairy to take it away yet...

blubbering baby

You're probably thinking that I'm going to write something about my kids with a title like that...you know, a tantrum, a teething fit, a fight....but in Jack's words..."NNNegative".

This time it's me. Because Kara left. Wah. Yesterday morning she packed up her car and headed back to D-town.

This girl has seen Fin's first crawls, and she called it...she saw her first steps too.

She's learned how to make Jacks give her hugs and kisses every single day, AND how to help him control and channel his emotions {both are VERY big challenges in our house}.

{She also took a toothbrush to my baseboards and cabinets for me...a girl after my own heart}

I think the kids will miss her as much as me....what do you think, can you tell??

Fin's shirt says "my aunt is by BFF"

Tuesday night Jess, Kip, and I celebrated the last night of the summer sisters with a Redstone flirtini...

I'm pretty sure we will never all live in such close proximity again...but we had so much fun.

Maybe you should just graduate and get a job in the SW Metro, Kip....what do you think??

This weekend I'm going to fill her closet back up with my overflow and start re-decorating her room...unless she by chance calls and says she wants to move back in. That would be better.

tired and tanned

So, about 45 minutes after we went to bed Friday night, we got up bright and early {actually, when it's still dark, it's not really bright and early, just early} to get up north and meet up with the guys. They left Friday for a day of golfing, and when we got up there they were golfing again! We didn't mind...we immediately hopped in the sun and spent the rest of the day there.

Lawn games, water tramp toe-touches {I think Liz's were the best}, water guns, snacking, and delicious grilling...

There are certainly never a shortage of laughs when we're in the best company we know.

Thanks to Liz and Rog for having us!