according to my lawn, I go to greenhouses for the photos

post by casey

welllllll, I'm happy to report that after 4 yearssssss. I weeded. You're welcome;)

good gawd. It made a hell of a difference. And now that I've done it...I kinda wonder why I didn't do it, let's say...4 years ago. Immediately upon moving in;)

but the kid thing slows you down. Set them up with toys and books and sun screen and drinks and food and a computer and a pool and basically ANYTHING THEY COULD EVER NEED IN THIS WORLD. 

Start weeding. Nurse. Weed. Break up a fight. Make 2 PB&J's. Weed for 10 minutes. Make another PB&J. Weed. Neighbor comes and 'chats' for 27 minutes. Weed. Someone's crying. Nurse. Diaper change. 10 more minutes of weeding. 

all in all. I got about 2 feet of weeding done a week.

now that I'm done weeding - for the most part - I've moved on to something WAY more fun. Flowers and plants. I'm struggling to keep them alive. I'm struggling to take the time to read the little card that clearly states which would be best for which area of the house/yard and time of year and blah blah blah - which then leads to me struggling to keep them alive;) BUT totally worth it cause they're so pretty and I don't care and I want them all and that is that.

so now all the photos from our trip to the Greenhouse - Frenchtown Greenhouse - where I was distracted by all the pretties and so my mom picked out everything I needed:)

oh and I highly recommend bringing 8-10 kids with;)

and proof that I'm accomplishing something at the homestead:

before

 after: we've done even more here as well...more weeding and painting

before and after

 before

after

there is still a long ways to go but things are definitely getting cleaned up and the progress feels really great! Follow along on Snapchat: me.caseysmith :)

happy Monday, friends:) 

hey, i remember you

post by casey

rocky's been sleeping in his crib for abouttttt 22 minutes...which means I'm writing up this blog post on borrowed time!!!!! - update coming on my growing children and Rocky's transition into the crib. Currently, our definition of 'transition into the crib' means: he's slept in his crib for 24 total minutes...ever.

the husband is gaming...I wish you could see my face right now. A mixture of annoyance anddddd...nope...pretty much just annoyance...oh, and some leftover Peanut Butter Krispy bar. Oops;)

anyhoo...about 30 minutes before these photos were taken, I almost called the whole thing off because of something Jacob and I were arguing about. He was annoyed because I didn't understand his explanation of something stupid and then I was annoyed because...he was annoyed that I couldn't understand whatever stupid thing he was trying to explain;)?? Something to do with our cellphone bill and me HATING ALL CELLPHONE COMPANIES (and the way Jacob insists on streaming music...putting us over our data...which incurs extra monthly charges...which make me crayyyyy crayyyyyy...la la la. I, obviously, hardly remember the details anymore;).

but within 20 minutes we had turned it around - have I mentioned our turn-around time is on fucking point!?!?!? Hug-it-out...all is forgiven...let's do this thing!:)

outtakes make me smile:)

always gotta be one pooper at the party...used to be me...I've passed the torch;)

theo's new 'smile' is one that only a mother could love;) cracks.me.up!

there's my sweet and happy boy:)

hi. my 2yr old will murder you. She's fierce.as.SHIT!!!!;)

okayyyyyyy. I forgive you about the data overage....let's just make all the babies. Forever. I love you.

*this sweet little photo hot spot was discovered right behind our own garage!!!!:)

**some of the photos aren't very clear:( Partly because of how they upload here and partly Courts is working out some kinks with her new lense and we are her kink-worker-out-test-dummies. We're more than happy to oblige, seeing as that means free family photos;) But obviously, she wants to take some more in the near future:)

courtneysmithphotographywi

how to overpack for 24hrs in a suburb outside of CHI.

post by casey

well. The subject line of this post basciallyyyyyy covers it;)

and by overpack...I mean, we didn't need our swimsuits cause I booked us a hotel without an indoor swimming pool. It's official, I've fucked up every hotel reservation I've ever made. Ever;) And I didn't need my 'running clothes' cause I for sure didn't go for a run. 

so the kids, my parents and myself took a quick trip down towards Chicago. A suburb North of Chicago, where my aunt lives. The hotel - minus the missing swimming pool - was fantastic - Sonesta ES Suites. Laid out perfectly. Mom and dad had a separate space, making it easy for them to be all: we're going to bed...good luck getting 3 kids to fall asleep, in the same room, simultaneously. Suckkkkaaaaa.

it wasn't all chocolate chip muffins and baby pandas but it went okay! My aunt did my hair and completely pampered me, which cushioned the fact that I didn't get much sleep at the hotel. The weather was gorgeous, which made being outside while Theo threw an epic fit leaving the salon (like posesseddddddd Epic. She committed:/) a little less painful. Rocky was a freaking rock-star baby on both the ride down and back, which made it a lot easier to deal with Homer and Theo's constant fighting. Dicks.

ya win some, ya lose some;)

salon mmm

my aunt does hair and she does it fabulously. Gosh, I love her skill but I love her much MUCH more. Her style. Her stories. Her passion for so many amazing things. Yep. She's a good one:)

vicki: I'll admit...our visits are 10% about the hair BUT 90% about me being able to hang-out with you and pick your brain and find out what perfect lip color you're wearing and always tryinging something new when with you, even in the short amount of time we have there. If you can tolerate more visits...I'm hoping to make them happen way more often (some with crazy kids, some without - for my sanity:).

aunt Vicki and my dad:)

i love it:) #mombob

if not for the help of my mom and dad...I'd probably have at least 2 less children now;) THANK YOU:):)