a winner and a dampened ego

so, 

out of the 3

 people that entered 

the giveaway, 

#1 was randomly chosen from random.org.

 the winner is stephanie! 

who by the way, is like the cutest thing that ever walked 

this earth. 

for real.

so congrats girl 

and email me 

your 

address 

and what you would like.

the boy and his birthday

he helped me make his chocolate cake

and let me tickle him

and blew out his candle

then devoured his creation.

happy boy. happy day.

             and i chowed down on this          

32 cloves of garlic, mushrooms, goat cheese, & basil.

need i say more?

friday freebie

i have finally updated my etsy shop and want 

to CelEbrAte with a giveaway!

thanks to kara for more amazing pics

i need to get the word out, so in order to enter, please post one of these pictures to

 your blog with a link to my shop and tell people about this giveaway.

don't forget to link back to my blog as well.

 a random winner will be picked on wednesday. they will get ANY item of their 

choosing from the shop fo free!

oh, and leave a comment telling me you did so:)

if you don't have a blog, you can still enter by 

leaving me a comment telling me 

how much you adore me. 

really.

thanks and good luck!

i dont believe it

this is my boy.

today he turns 3.

that's too old.

i don't know if i can bear it.

kavi is a piss ant.

kavi is sweet.

kavi is quirky.

kavi is hilarious.

kavi is sensitive.

kavi is elated about turning 3 today.

that means he got captain crunch for breakfast 

and will get a chocolate cake tonight.

thank you for coming into my life 3 years ago my boy.

you bring me such joy and laughter 

(like peeing my pants laughter.)

i love you kavers.

first day at the beach

have i mentioned that i live a mile 

from the ocean?

because i do.

are you jealous?

re-united and it feels so good...

i'm alive. and the route.

our travels included:

14 fast food meals

1 puking baby girl

8+ diet cokes for nana

11 gas stations 

counting crows on pandora

&

driving 

1,933.5 miles through 6 states.

from missouri 

to

to

to

to

and finally to

this took us 6 days,

27+ hours of driving,

and we took our time. 

during these 6 long days, i couldn't help but think of my ancestors.

the pioneers who crossed this country on foot.

i figured out that my journey would have taken me

26 days and 4 hours on foot.

that's without stopping.

every night i unpacked my van while my mom watched the kids.

i complained about lugging heavy luggage & a portable crib,losing sleep at night in hotel rooms, entertaining my grumpy kids (with modern day technology might i add) and eating gross fast food for 6 days. and all this without a 

husband. i felt so sorry for myself.

i'm such a baby.

but we ARE here.

safe and sound.

and i am so grateful.