Monday, December 13, 2010

october wasn't that long ago...

hey there!  long time no see my friend.  i know that is mostly, or i guess really, all my fault, but who wants to waste time pointing fingers when we can move on to more fun things like halloween updates?  yes, halloween.  i'm slowly, but surely making my way through my vast assortment of iphone pictures to bring you up to date on our "goings on" if you will.  you have to remember that these are shot with my iphone (some at night even) so the quality is not quite where it should be (nowhere near, but some of us are awaiting that elusive camera to be under the christmas tree...one can dream).  anywho, here's the kiddos in their last minute get-ups.  i couldn't figure out what to do forever and sofi was pretty adamant about not wearing anything that i tried to force on her person.  hence, everybody went to the church halloween party as your local home depot handymen...er...people.  thanks to a certain father of mine, andy was supplied with a genuine, bonafide apron and kids have been to their share of home depot kids workshop days so they were covered as well.  add a few collared shirts and a winning smile and you've got a costume that i'm sure could at least come in with an honorable mention in a contest.  
no, my daughter is not possessed, that's just the flash on the phone.  at least there is a flash though, right?
glass half full people.
luke, showing off his skills with a flashlight.  he originally had a hammer, but that lasted until the
first sucker took its place.
showing off his "real" skills when helping dad fix a cabinet door.  i'm not sure what that face is saying.  i'm guessing something along the lines of "mom, you're totally rad."

yeah, this one is just really cute.you know that's right.



stay tuned for thanksgiving and (drum roll please) christmas and all its trappings in the sutton home.  are you on the edge of your seats?  i know i am.

Friday, November 26, 2010

alright already...

i know, i know...you've all been anxiously anticipating an update from yours truly and i've just been dangling you all by a tiny, tiny thread...or i've just been totally lazy and useless when its come to the computer and anything to do with uploading pictures and coming up with witty, semi-important things to say.  goodness, does the saga ever end.  will she write, won't she write??  i promise i will...right now, in fact...aren't you lucky?  and you didn't think your day could get any better.  without further ado, or unnecessary rambling by me--

luke's birthday:



the birthday boy after his ragin preschool party.
told you it was ragin

the aforementioned reason why i might be crazy.  this was a moment of weakness and will most likely be featured in a craigslist article near you.  we actually need to cut back, so we're going with the much slower/sane peddle bike for christmas.  it was fun while it lasted though...maybe in a few years buddy

the proverbial "before" picture of the cupcakes that joined ranks and became a candy corn cake.  thanks gray girls

"the cake."
it tasted like pumpkin, cream cheese, and heaven.  you know that's right.

apparently, i don't have any photo footage of the pumpkin decorating, present opening, or cupcake eating...but we did get a lovely shot of grandpa braving the weather and taking the train ride hungry kiddos on a ride around the plantation.  we were supposed to go to a pumpkin patch for the festivities, but the northwest sky decided to open up (after weeks of sunshine mind you) and rain all over our happiness.  we managed to have a good time though thanks to grandpa, a huge umbrella, and kids who just love a ride...whether it be on a train or a riding lawn mower


moving on...our "surprise" trip to indiana/michigan


aah...sweet slumber.  it took awhile, but the sweet intoxication of sleep finally won him over.  not for long, however.  ps yes, that is totally drool


i know you love the quality of this photo...and all of them for that matter.  my iphone is my all purpose camera at the moment (and most likely many moments to come).  this was the first pumpkin patch of the season.  there were several riding toys and luke chose the one closest to his heart...the tractor.  like grandfather like grandson.


sofi, not to be outdone, found a tractor of her own to match her cowboy boots.


need i say more...?


he finally got his first train ride of the season.


they took a break from fighting over the swing long enough to look like they actually love each other.


how to train your dragon...'nuf said


pumpkin ice cream at bruster's in bloomington, in.


did i mention that i put pumpkin in the most food possible this time of year?  luke enjoying the aftermath of the pumpkin cookies.  you can never have too much pumpkin



thanks to the sacrifice made by our good buddies the fishers, luke was able to be entertained during the 6 hour drive to uncle tyler's and mom and dad's sanity was salvaged as well.


enjoying the largest christmas store known to man in the bavarian town of frankenmuth, michigan.  was 3 football fields of pure christmas awesome you ask?  oh yes, it was awesome.


luke and his cute cousin kate


first bike excursion...luke didn't come in for 3 hours. hence, another reason why he's finding one under the christmas tree.  anything to keep that kid's attention.








to be continued...


i know i say that and i've been know to not follow through.  this time, however, i will.  i think i just might've awoken the blogger in me.  it feels good to write again.  i hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving.  i'll let you know all about ours in the near future.


Saturday, October 9, 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

party at the patch

so, this is me delivering on my promise to show you the awesome time the girls in my church had at the corn maze last week.  just remember that all i have is an iphone and a desire to be a better photographer instead of the real thing.  bear with me, people.  we can't all be ansel adams...yet.

the "fearless leaders..." we gotta have fun too, right?




the whole gang in the proverbial serious and goofy poses

makena, annie, and chelsea

definitely couldn't leave the haystack without an action shot.  thank you, savannah and chelsea

enjoying the fruits of our labors so to speak.  caramel corn and good ol h2o.  plus, sariah makes a great model.
there you have it...good times had by all.  thanks to all the girls and jenny and monique--for making this such a fab time (i thought i'd channel my english heritage for a second).  go fall!!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

3rd week in a row...somebody stop me!

well, thanks to sofi and her teeth that just refuse to surface...and luke who was apparently up at 1 am eating black licorice...oh boy....i am penning my fabulous finds friday installment in the wee (very wee) hours of saturday morning.  apparently, someone much bigger and more important than me, decided i really needed to share this with you (which is really not too shabby because i've been asleep since around 9 pm thanks to a roaring headache caused by none other than hot yoga...we won't go there today).

today's lovely, lovely little masterpiece comes to us by way of wal-mart.  aah, wally world, i equally love and hate you.  love you for your sometimes crazily low prices, hate you because you're, well, wal-mart and all the ghettoness that entails.  still, somehow i go back and find little treasures like this:


meet the gold bug pop-up booster chair aka the most amazing portable piece of baby equipment you could possibly own.  okay, maybe i shouldn't go that far, but seriously folks, this little darling has been a savior in many ways.  family reunion--so many cousins, the 15 month old is too excited to sit and eat and you're too hungry to force her...enter this little beauty and voila!  baby is strapped down and feeding...what?  herself? amazing!!  i know, a little dramatic, but it is late and i am still suffering from a minor ache just over my right eye...joy.

in short, if you have a toddler, are about to have a toddler or just want to stock up on necessary items you will need in the future, go out and buy one.  if you have moral issues with wal-mart, which we all do, some of us just choose to ignore them on occasion, am i right?  uh-huh...order it online.  in my searching for a photo, i discovered there are some other brands with the same product.  i can't speak for their total awesomeness, but that's what reviews are for.  thank you moms who actually take the time to fill those out.  i'm not usually one of those if you didn't catch that hint.

anyway, enjoy and by the way, did i mention its fall??  woo hoo!  welcome changing leaves, crisper weather, sweaters, luke's birthday, warm caramel apple cider (you little devil, you) and every wonderful, glorious thing you can make with a pumpkin.  oh, rapture.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

surprise!

this arrived in the mail today...




not so much the baby as the sweet, sweet costume.

the awesome part of the story, though, is that this was the only one left in the united states of america.  the sad part of the story is that its too big, so she can't look this fall on your face cute until next year...but, dang...that is one cute costume.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

meet the fam...

be careful though.  what follows are some seriously cute pictures of some seriously cute people.  don't scroll down if you have a tendency to pass out at the sight of pure awesomeness.

don't say i didn't warn ya...










thank you katie for needing guinea pigs!  yes, that is the only time any of you will ever have permission to call me a pig.

a look back

so, somehow i missed the entire weekend...and monday.  oops, maybe i really wasn't cut out for this blogging everyday business.  it has been fun though and i can't believe the month is almost over.  tomorrow, i'll be going to a giant corn maze with the youth group from my church, so expect some fun photos of that.  can i get any cooler?  seriously people.  while your anxiously anticipating that colossus of fun, i thought i'd ring in the season with a little reminiscing from halloween past.  oh man, those are some cute kids.


Friday, September 24, 2010

fabulous finds friday 2.0

hey, surprise!  i'm actually here for the second week in a row.  i guess i really do have some secrets (that might not be so secret, but still awesome nonetheless) to share.  this week's installment is all about food, the eating out aspect of it, and the awesomeness that is having your children be involved while you do.

unfortunately, today's deal is only accessible by those of you that live in the vancouver/portland region of our great united states.  without further ado...


yes, that does say BREWING CO. at the bottom of the restaurant title, but that isn't all it is.  in fact, it is probably the most kid friendly eating establishment in the northern hemisphere...okay, i won't go that far.  it is, however, the best place to take kids in this area.  if you'd like to know the specific locations, go ahead and comment and i'll let you know!

the specifics:  awesome food, and get this--awesome kid play area!  oh yeah, you heard me right.  while you're sitting with your man, or woman, or friends, or yourself with a good book and a hot chocolate...your kids are playing in a (semi) supervised area and are completely out of your hair!  i only say semi because you can see them, but you don't have to pay too much attention because they're having way too much fun to bother doing anything harmful to themselves or others :) so, you actually get to eat an entire meal without forcing a toddler into their chair, forcing food into their mouth or forcing yourself to not get up and leave because you're so annoyed with the fact that your food is cold and all you've done is wish you were somewhere else.

in conclusion-this place is awesome and to top it all off, they have a great happy hour.  the menu is pretty extensive and there is nothing on it over 4 bucks.  plus, it goes until 6:00...cha ching!

so go out, enjoy, and make sure and call me to tag along because, that's right, its awesome!!

in other news, apparently my son's preschool has a blog and i found this little treasure on there this afternoon.  love this little dude.  don't be surprised if he discovers the ancient city of atlantis someday.  pretty sure that is what he is so concentrated on in this photo...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

here comes the sun...

doot n doo doo.

is everybody singing yet??  i know i was this afternoon when the sun came out and the air was a "balmy" 70ish degrees.  it was beautiful, and absolute perfect weather for this:





















                                                                        
and this:


and lots of this:


and definitely some of this: