oh hey, friday! is alive and well. we love that more and more of you are linking up each week. it makes us feel real REAL good.

if you're new to these parts, here's how it all goes down:

1 | write up a little post about five things. anythings. five dreams. five things that happened this past week. five goals. five of your favorite recipes...literally anything you want. 

2 | head back over here and enter your link at the bottom of this post.

3 | link back to our blogs and add the oh hey, friday! button (found just below) to your post so that others can link up as well! that's it. get busy.
MY FIVE

 you guys. normally summer time is a rough time for this farmer's wife.

we usually say, "so long, see ya!" to my farmer sometime in june and then wait for him to reemerge in late october.

last summer was balls because i had a new-ish baby that i was totally freaked out by. i mean...i loved her, but i was scared of her. mothering didn't come naturally to me. it still doesn't...but i keep trying. also, i was still nursing all the time and felt all awkward with my body. throw in a pinch of hormones and a dash of insecurity...i was a hot mess.

it certainly wasn't a recipe for like, the best summer ever.

but this summer - it's been great. not to mention this week.

let's talk about it-

1 | i got to ditch the turtle and go for a full day of pampering on monday to celebrate this gal's 30th birthday. we're talking pedicures, facials, massages, haircut and color...and even a new shirt (or two). and that was just me! amy was absolutely spoiled for her 30th...and she deserves all of it. she's a hardworking mama of two busy boys...and her farmer.
naturally...we captured some shots of our new hair and new duds in an alleyway in boise.
2 | on thursday i got to meet up with my dear, sweet gal-pal, cathie, and her darling daughter (aka - kaye's bestie) claire. we headed to the water park where i had the very very best time and kaye got more than her fair share of near drownings. but you know what...when you're shooting off the end of a kiddie slide with a turtle on your lap...it's hard to keep her turtle-face above the water line.
and let's talk about those kiddie slides...built for speed is all i'm saying.

3 | totally worth mentioning - i grilled steak for the very first time. this is big because you would be hard-pressed to even find me cooking something that resembles dinner let alone grilling. but you know what, i think i'm in love.
with that steak we had garden-fresh corn on the cob brought to us by one of our employee's wives. it would be a safe bet to say i enjoyed it the most, but then you would lose. just look at this gal's gusto.

sorry she's not sorry.

4 | quite possibly the most notable event of the week - our turtle has officially transitioned to her big girl bed.

here's what we did: randomly on tuesday i stopped by costco, and like a slap in the face, there were the twin mattresses on sale. count me in for a $100 mattress. they loaded it in my car with my steak, fruit, and turtle and we were on our way.

once home, i busted out kaye's bedding (that i had been dying to see all put together) right on our living room floor. girlfriend was instantly smitten. she crawled, cuddled, jumped, and rolled all over her new bed until bedtime.
do you see kaye? it appears she's being squished by the mattress, but rest assured, she's napping on the car ride home.
then farmer and i maneuvered her crib into our bedroom and replaced it with her mattress directly on her bedroom floor against the wall...for transitional purposes. (her big girl bed frame arrives next week.)
i was super nervous and monitor-stalked until she was asleep. luckily it took all of about five minutes and she was out. the next day at nap time i was nervous again. five minutes - lights out for a solid 3.5 hours. night #2 came and went and we have concluded this is the best/easiest child-rearing feat we've encountered to date. much better than last weeks potty-training fiasco. thank god.

5 | aaaand...welcome to august. can you believe it's august? this means i am getting my monthly group giveaway organized once again! should you want to get in on the action i'd just love to have you! check out my ad page...any spot you choose gives you the option for the group giveaway!