3.31.2013

the easter bunny hopped right 

over our house this year for the first time in 

fifteen years.

it was kinda sad.

no more tooth fairy.

no more santa.

now no more bunny.

end of an era i guess.

-

at least we had a cute centerpiece!

3.31.2013

Hoppy Easter y'all! 

The Easter bunny delivered these cute pictures in my basket today!

3.30.2013

our search for the perfect burger in central austin continues.

(it looks like austin magazine heard about our project!)

tonight we headed to phils icehouse in the city.

we are exploring parts of town we have never been to.

we are taking in the atmosphere.

we are enjoying the environment.

we are becoming picky food critics along the way.

justin & i loved the rolls.

nathan loved the bags of water with pennies hanging

from the ceiling.

colin liked little today (ortho situation)

justin liked having amys ice cream next door.

i loved the eclectic surroundings & sweet potato fries.

our search continues.

good burgers but didn't break into the top five!

3.30.2013

 the lions are off to a roaring season.

the parents are dressed in their matching team shirts.

the weather is perfect for football - 75 with some clouds.

the dual teams have dual wins again.

nothing better than saturday memories on the fields!

3.29.2013

6 great things about today:

no school

 sleeping in

no school 

sleeping in

finishing lego projects

cocktails at the domain

3.28.2013

nothing better than tracking a ups package online.

nothing better then hearing the truck pull up to the house.

nothing better than opening the front door to find this.

i am a project life girl now!

i finally broke down and ordered this on hsn tv sunday night -

i couldn't resist such a great deal.

can't wait to fill this up with great everyday memories.

off to make memories so i can fill my new binder up.

3.27.2013

just finished reading this book.

i loved it.

i found it hard to put down.

i carried it everywhere for the last week,

even to work just in case i had a spare minute or two.

sometimes you just need a good book to get you through

a car pick up line, a bout of insomnia 

or an evening at football practice.

3.26.2013

this is now.

this is today.

this is life.

filled to the top with packing lunches, 

driving to and from school,

constant spinning washing machines,

never ending to-do lists,

countless meals and

i wouldn't change a thing!

3.25.2013

{hsn tv today - project life binder}

-

favorite blog finds today.

to organize the photos, i'm printing this.

to get me in the easter mood, i'm liking this.

to use that pair of old socks, i'm loving this.

i actually stayed awake till 11pm last night to order this. (my very first hsn purchase ever!)

colins busy studying for test tomorrow here.

 (what ever happened to those old fashioned composition books?! 

cool stuff these days and colin loves anything thats on the computer!)

whats not to love about this recipe for butterfinger cupcakes!

love these journal list ideas here - a new one each week.

happy monday.

3.23.2013

congratulations to both justin & nathan for getting up

at 430am today and boarding buses at 515am to head

to san antonio for the texas state junior historians meeting.

justins paper on the immortal ten won him a medal

and check.

well done j-dog!

3.22.2013

i didn't even know what an aurora borealis was 

BUT i do now!

thanks colin.

nice job.

3.19.2013

because somedays you get lucky when cleaning the house 

& find your favorite episode of sex & the city on.

3.18.2013

things that make me smile:

++ watching colin at sunday school yesterday as he attempted to get an oreo cookie 

from his forehead to his mouth without using his hands.

++ sitting on the back patio at sunset watching the flames jump around.

++ sunday night papa murphy pizza tradition.

++ "oops ! you have too many active games.

++ entertainment weekly is still appearing in my mailbox on fridays.

++ nates ability to plan mindcraft with his headset on 

and hear me talk in the next room.

++ when justins can fix my iphone problem in two seconds

after i tried for 20 minutes.

3.17.2013

read many reviews about this book.

often compared to gone girl.

really?

2.5 stars out of 5 stars for me.

probably disappointed after all those reviews....

3.15.2013

spring break = road trip

spring break = north bound

spring break = allen texas

spring break = hudson hood

spring break = family fun

spring break = washer games

spring break = football fields

spring break = splitsville lanes

spring break = great memories!

3.14.2013

i read this book in 6 days and want to backpack 

thru the pacific crest trail solo over the next four months.

(ha - not really!)

impressed. i could have never done this. ever.

4 out of 5 stars

3.12.2013

hello flag football practice.

hello green grassy fields.

hello cleats, water bottles & mouthguards.

we missed y'all!

3.11.2013

todays gratitude journal:

a good weekend at work.

picking up a pile of reserved books at the library.

three boys on spring break this week.

sleeping in today - see above.

started watching season two of homeland.

saturday night live this weekend.

sonic happy hour today.

grocery shopping is fun with 3 guys to help today.

season finale of the bachelor tonight - finally - will not waste 3 hours watching it!

3.7.2013

blogging from the iphone today. just had to quietly pull my phone out of my pocket to capture this simple moment. while running thru my to-do list, multitasking at its finest, folding laundry while talking - i had to stop and find the source of this noise and there it was - sitting on the kitchen window sill - a beautiful dove just basking in the afternoon sun. it appeared not to have a to-do list nor was it multitasking. it was just sitting and enjoying the quiet sounds of the blue sky and the warmth of the rays sun. so i stopped for a minute or two and soaked in the joy of the day, the smell of spring seeping in thru all the open windows, the light of the sun streaming in and the quiet blessings of life. it's my reminder to slow down once in a while and just breathe! enjoy your dove outside your window today!

3.6.2013

gratitude journal for today:

1) whipping up a batch of reeses bars for dessert tonight. my sil erin introduced these to us last summer and its still justins favorite. quick. easy and perfect for those late night cravings. it reminds me of baking a treat in my little blue easy bake oven as a kid.

2) reading a quick excerpt from the dinner online today. even better, just reserved the book at the library via the online request account.

3) early release day today. something special about getting out of school early on a sunny warm day.

4) watching season one of homeland on our free showtime offer - nothing better than actually finding a great series on tv.

5) starting a new book today. wild by cheryl strayed. i'm plowing thru it - 

its an eat, pray, love kinda book.

3.5.2013

{tonights treats}

justin rarely askes for anything besides 0.5mm pencils and chicken parm for dinner so when justin asked if we could go to a college fair, i said sure.

little did i know that it was on a school night.

little did i know it was at the austin convention center.

little did i know how informative this night would be.

justin, nathan & i jumped into the minivan &

headed downtown at 5pm.

we arrived at the sxsw edu event and found ourselves

the center of attention.

we had walked into an event that was not highly advertised.

we had walked into an event that was filled with promo pens, advertising backpacks and handouts galore.

we had walked into an event that was starving for people to share their brochures, their schools and their financial aides.

we had walked into an event that was ready to share with us.

we were wined, dined and loaded down with books and t-shirts.

we were able to talk one-to-one with harvard, rice, ut and texas tech.

we were slightly overwhelmed.

we were exhausted from filling out our email address.

we were tired of actually having to say 'ummm, not interested.'

-

we already have this marked on our calendar for next year!

3.4.2013

{what a difference a day makes - justin is in his organizing mode - watch out}

a little sippel story.

in a time long, long ago 

back in the year 2004

three sippel boys saved their money

 to buy a ninetendo game cube together.

they enjoyed their video games and

super mario music filled the house.

then along came wii

and three sippel boys saved their money

to buy a wii system together.

they enjoyed their video games and

guitar hero music filled the house.

then along came playstation two

and three sippel boys saved their money

to buy a playstation two system together.

they enjoyed their video games and

football cheers filled our house.

then along came xbox

and two sippel boys could afford it

and a third had to buy into it after he saved

some money.

they enjoyed their video games and

silence filled the house as they wore their

video headsets and played with all their friends

near and far.

-

now their closet shelves are overflowing 

with outdated gaming systems

and hundreds of video games

so yesterday, three sippel boys packed up

all the games they didn't use, controllers they no longer

searched hours for and game systems that are now

classified as antiques and headed up to our

local gamestop to sell them.

we traded in yesterdays memories

for store credit.

we traded in yesterdays memories

for space in our closets.

we traded in yesterdays memories

for less cords on the floor.

we traded in yesterdays birthday and christmas gifts

for an external hard drive for xbox

to save more xbox memories!

well done guys!

3.3.2013

{ march 2008 }

{march 2010}

{march 2012}
-

i love traditions.

i love pictures.

i love stories.

i love looking back and finding these old photos

of the boys from our prior visits to explore UT.

it scares me how fast time flies.

today the boys decided to gather up all their old gaming systems,

video games and controllers and sell them to game stop 

instead of letting them collect dust in the closet.

they bought their first gamecube in august 2003 and

now almost ten years later they are selling it off.

life is a circle.

life is a never ending story.

life is constant.

enjoy.

3.2.2013

thing one and thing two - rudys breakfast tacos to start our day.

we haven't had one of these in ages.

then off to explore UT -

build a boat, check out the orange patio at the new dell building

and walk the campus.

wonderful yearly tradition carries on.

our quest for the best cheeseburger continues.

today we hit dirty martins - good burger but didn't win 

a spot in any of our top five lists.

the quest continues.....

tonight we watched the first four episodes of 

homeland on showtime.

ok - we're hooked....

i can see what we'll be doing this week...