five year old trent.

on the car ride home from lego land we let trent play with the iPad.

and he found the camera app. clearly.

a few days ago, I discovered his pictures. and smiled. ok, and cried!

they capture him so perfectly.

five year old trent is so full of life.

he is silly. adventurous. and thoughtful.

he likes jumping off of stairs. riding over thrill hill. and anything that glows in the dark.

he loves legos. and little guys. you know lego men. star wars guys. all of them.

he adores his sister, and even eats his chicken to get her into eating it.

his dream day would be to watch the parent trap. eat chocolate. and sleep on our floor.

he wakes up early each day and starts making things.

he said he took this to look like he was sunshine.

usually it's little books cut out in heart shapes. with "mom & trent" written on it.

I've been madly in love with him for five years now, 

but I think of all the years five year old trent may be the coolest yet!

mr. five year old trent, I love you so.

the most wonderful time.

school is out and summer is officially here!

and we couldn't be more excited.

sunshine. swimming.

and super sibling time.

I'm honored to spend my summer days with these two.

it's the most wonderful time of the year!

happy summer!

the potty princess.

I told lila I would take her to disney once she learned to use the potty.

within a week she was potty trained and we were disney bound.

it was wishful thinking.

but made perfect sense to our aptly named, potty princess. 

and I must credit prince charming here.

he was her motivator. reminder and rewarder.

we watched the castle show.

in complete awe.

and pure delight.

she wore her disney pillowcase dress, thank you gigi.

and was quite certain that every woman. waitress. and worker was a princess.

the fairy godmother however insisted on correcting her.

but in my sweet lila's defense. she is right.

we are god's princesses.

and prince's.

he made us special, remember?

and so smart.

and I loved taking a day to celebrate that.

and big thanks and love to the special disney princess, miss a, 

who let us in her magic kingdom for the day.

it was all things magical.

clean up your legos.

have you ever stepped on a lego piece?

it only took one time and I was looking for the perfect storage solution.

in pain fury I looked around our house. and found a stack of these.

pepsi crates are like mason jars here. for anything and everything.

some even have compartments for organizing. love.

harry potter. star wars. 

and pieces we can't figure out where they belong.

lila even has one for animals.

they fit in with the rest of our home.

and can easily be transported to the table. or porch for play.

and when it's time to clean up...

it either goes in the crate. or in the trash.

and instantly the problem of little legos left on the floor, solved.

note: I cut little squares of cardboard to put inside the crates so no pieces fell threw the cracks.

chick magnet.

watching this guy of mine.

chase and yes, eventually catch.

clip.

and sweet talk.

these five chicks.

may be one of my most fave things to do.

and yes, the chicks dig him.

yoda mail.

the house is electric with excitement

and filled with star war chatter, that I do not understand.

a package came today.

from a dear friend

from Yoda... 

the package contained Star War jammies

and a letter that reads,

"Young Padawan Trent,

Look in the mail you must! Do, or do not, there is no try.

Excited you will be to find, a gift from a galaxy,

far far away.

Strong in the force it will make you,

a strong Jedi!

May the force be with you.

Yoda

The Dagobah System"

"can you even believe that? the real Yoda!"