good things, cupcake friday

last night we had cauliflower crust pizza.

i can't help but take a picture of it.

we love it, each and every time. what can i say.

this sweet face before school today.
all he wanted to do was sleep in.
i promised him that he could do it this weekend,
which we all know won't happen.

a last minute coffee date with a neighbor today.

cupcake friday.

dark chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter.

i don't think life gets much better than that.

pretty much this is all i've heard since i picked boyd up from school today...

what if everything looked like a butt?

that bus looks like a butt.

pretzels look like butts.

what if pretzels tasted like butts.

mom, you're a butt head.

{he got into trouble for that one}.

butt farts, 

butt butt butt, 

butt 
butt 
butt 
butt 
butt.

and then when i was getting him out of the tub tonight, i made the mistake of saying,
stop farting around.

i LOVE having a little boy.

i truly do.

good night.

love,

nicolle

where did the week go?

i haven't kept up here lately, i've been pre-occupied with life, over-thinking medical stuff, enjoying night walks and decaf coffee, and trying to figure out why our sweetest boy likes to get into trouble at school. 

boyd played with his cousin last weekend, and i had a good chat with his mama.

and boyd got a little bald spot cut into his hair, we later found out, courtesy of his neighbor friend.

who also thought it was a good idea to take the safety scissors and mark up the wood on boyd's bed.

i don't want to tell all of boyd's business on here, because he is growing up, and i don't want to embarrass him one day...but he was extra naughty in class this week.
he is usually a sweet boy full of hugs and thank yous and all of the good things.
i had him write this note out for his teacher.
he told me he messed up on one letter, so he just turned it into popcorn.
you can always count on kids to make you laugh, even when you are a little upset.
the note says, i am sorry for being unkind in class.
{although a few friends thought it said, i am sorry for being a pain in the ass. which is kind of funny}.
i did write it again, in my handwriting, at the bottom, so there would be no confusion.
that's all we need.

i met a friend really last minute today, at a new coffee shop.
we had the best conversation, and i love that my friend kathy pushes her coffee cup next to mine and knows that i'm about to take a picture, without me even saying a word.
and, although i have a strong love for one local coffee shop in particular, i think this one might have stolen my heart today. it was the cutest place. i haven't had caffeine for a couple of weeks now, and i had a cappuccino today, and boy did i feel it.
but i was good and followed it up with a cup of decaf, that was amazing.

i picked boyd up from school, and when we got close to the house, he picked up one of those feathery round weeds and blew on it and made a wish and said, i want a dirt bike and a truck.

we ran for a quick cupcake date, that we haven't had in a while.
pumpkin for me, chocolate for boyd.

we spent the rest of the evening outside.
boyd got extra dirty, and his bathwater was so gross tonight,
but i sure do love this messy little boy.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

i hope you've all been well.
have a good weekend.

love,
nicolle

cupcake friday {we made it}

day 4 of kindergarten.

boyd picked out his shirt. even though he has quite a few new clothes, he wanted to wear this one, and that was fine by me. we talked to him quite a bit about listening to his teacher and following the rules and doing what she asks him to do. 

i don't believe in bribes, but sometimes i believe in bribes, if you know what i mean. 

he had a good day at school, so we went for a small treat after i picked him up. 

day 5 of kindergarten.
today.

whew, what a week. we did it. it was pretty smooth all around. i think it wound up being much harder on me than on boyd, and it wasn't that it was that hard, but it was a big adjustment for me. like my friend megan said, i still have the same role and responsibilities, my hours have just changed. i really love that.
boyd was especially happy that his daddy walked him to school the last 2 days.
that meant everything to him. 

i had a last minute coffee date with a good friend today.
thank you kathy s. for meeting up with me. 
i'm not sure what was up with this garland, but most of the pieces had bible verses written on them,
so i kind of loved that. and we loved our pretty cappuccinos.

and i picked up cupcakes that boyd and i had at home, after school.
so maybe i will carry on our tradition after all.
boyd asked me yesterday if we were going to have our cupcake date, and i couldn't refuse. 

we survived. yes we did.

{and i bet the teachers are extra thankful to have a 3 day weekend}.

  it's been a week full of treats, lots of walking to and from school, bicycle riding after school,
a crazy end of summer heat wave, early bedtimes, tying shoelaces and untying a million knots,
lots of coffee and prayers.
i would say we did ok this week.
i hope you did too.

 happy weekend everyone.

love,
nicolle

the last few days

we finished up our summer movie series with friends on monday, and even though we only made 3 out of the 10 movies that we had passes for, we still enjoyed it.

tuesday kevin and i started the bowling league with friends, and had a blast.

thankful that kevin's mom and my mom are hanging out with boyd for the next few tuesdays so that we can bowl. it is more fun than i could have imagined. the night was full of friendship and laughter and skunky beer and cheering each other on. i just loved it. 

i had a little bit of alone time this morning, so i went and indulged in a fried avocado taco, that my sister had told me about, and it was amazing. i grabbed an iced coffee at my favorite coffee place, avoca, and walked around for a bit, in spite of this crazy humidity that we have right now.
i thrive on those little nuggets of alone time.

 i drove through downtown and i'm still in awe at the beautiful buildings that we have in our city.
i adore where i live, and sometimes i wonder how i got so lucky.

i rarely use my big camera anymore, and it feels strange because i used to take it everywhere, but for now i like the simplicity of the camera on my phone. simplicity is my middle name. and so many times i want to apologize for my pictures, but then i realize, this blog is not that serious, it's a record of our days, and to be honest, i kind of like these pictures. they are simple and easy and fun. and for a picture nut like me, that is all i'm going for right now. makes me happy, and happy is a good thing. remember, it's all good.

boyd and i pulled up to walmart the other day, and out of the blue he asked me, are you sad that your daddy is in heaven? and i said well i'm not sad about heaven, but yes i do miss him a lot. and then he said, do you think they have walmarts in heaven? 

oh, boyd.

on cloudy and rainy days like today, i can taste fall, even though i don't want to rush time,

i'm about to turn 40 years old, {and now i have a very handsome 40 year old husband},
and we have a week and a half until kindergarten.
my mind is swimming with so many thoughts on how it will all be.
as human beings, our lives are constantly in motion, change is natural, we are ready.

for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
ecclesiastes 3:1

love,
nicolle

this week

we've been...
swimming with friends in our neighborhood pool.
swimming at memaw's house. we had a really nice day over there.

drinking iced coffee. or mocha as boyd says. he always tells me i'm drinking a mocha,
and i just go with it.
school clothes shopping. i'm not a shopper. we spent about 5 minutes picking out shirts and shorts. and i was happy with everything that we got. his closet is full of big boy clothes. sigh. and when he's 18 i will look back and laugh at this, and then i'll really think he's wearing big boy clothes.
school supplies are purchased, and boyd is the proud owner of an angry birds backpack, which he won't stop wearing around the house. 

playing with a good friend from pre-school, and eating super hero bomb pops.
boyd is a hugger, and i love that.
however, he loves to bear hug his friends, and lift them off of the ground. he did that today, and sweet ethan got a little upset, which left boyd boohooing off and on for an hour about how he'd hurt his friend. i told him it was ok and ethan was not mad at him, but not everyone wants to be hugged like that by him. maybe only his daddy.

eating brown bag popcorn, with sriracha.
{in my mind i always thank my friend sealaura for this combo, each time i eat it}.
it's my go to dinner, in this heat.
along with a sparkling water that i'm now hooked on.

 my sweet babe fussed at me all day long today. i don't like to vent about parenting too much because no one ever said it was easy. and what i have to say about it has already been said a million times.
and maybe i vent too much, i don't know, i'm frazzled tonight.
some days it's so complex and confusing and exhausting and emotional.
bedtime was a big blessing tonight. that is the truth.
 

kevin is at the office late tonight, it's now 9 pm, and i might have just texted him and said, i need tacos.
another truth.

boyd and i were out somewhere the other day, and some men behind us were talking about the king of beers {i'm assuming their conversation was about budweiser}. boyd asked me, who is the king of beers mom? and before i could answer he said rather loudly,
i know, Jesus is the king of beers. 
i teach boyd that we should be thankful to Jesus for everything in our lives, and that he has made everything good. beer is good. maybe i have misled boyd in my teachings, but i guess his reasoning skills are right on target.

i'm going to bed.
i'm exhausted.
waiting on the tacos first though.

love,
nicolle

cupcake friday {with my sis}

our day...

cupcakes from central market

{my tres leches cupcake was amazing},

lunch at esperanza's, coffee at avoca.

candyland, visiting, laughing.

trying to tame a 5 year old. 

two pair of new shoes for boyd. he's officially out of the toddler sizes,
even though i've been trying to cram him in them for a while now. because i am frugal.

he told me his new shoes are handsome.

playing outside. bike riding. sweating buckets.
fresh tomatoes for dinner, to make up for all the above.

in for the night. decaf. espom salt bath. cartoons.

relaxing. waiting for daddy.

happy.

i loved what my jesus calling devotional said this morning. 

Bring Me all your feelings, even the ones you wish you didn't have.

there is so much freedom in those words.

it might not have been a perfect day, but it was a good day.

love,

nicolle

{skinny} mocha frappe

what do you do when you drive 30 minutes in the pouring rain,

to meet your friends for the movie, 

only to pull in the parking lot and have your sweetest child throw up all over the back seat.

you sulk for just a minute, 

drive back home in the rain, clean up your baby, dry his tears, clean your car, and make a mocha frappe.

because you can, and because it makes you happy.

{and because it's cheaper than buying one every day}.

i've made them before, but i changed up the recipe a little this time. 

3/4 cup brewed coffee, cooled in freezer

1/2 cup of half n half 

1 1/2 cups of crushed ice

1 packet of splenda

2 T of sugar free chocolate syrup

mix well in blender.

total of 187 calories. you can obviously save calories by using something besides half n half, but i can't give it up. it's my one weakness. still beats the 450 or so calories in a regular mocha frappe.

enjoy.

love,

nicolle

a few things

since we didn't have boyd for most of the weekend,
kevin and i went out for a date on saturday night.
i took him to my coffee place.
i usually get a mocha, but i had a cappuccino and kevin had a latte. yum.
my favorite coffee shop 2 days in a row, i'm lucky.

 then we did a little shopping, and had some delicious mexican salads for dinner.

boyd came home on sunday, and i was so happy to see him.
he had a wonderful time with his lala and papa over the weekend.
we played outside, had popsicles, swam in the neighborhood pool, it was a good day.

 {truth. sometimes that anonymous blog comment that i had a few months ago still pops in my head when i post a picture of myself, but then i remember what my dear friend suzette taught me about being in more photos with boyd, and then i am ok again. but, it's funny how something negative can stick with you, for a long time. so, be kind, always}.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:12

i am loving this watermelon for breakfast this morning.
what are you having?

have a good week.

love,
nicolle