a study in domestic bliss

cold toes

2012-02-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

Confession. Before Christmas the LG made these with me (her first sewing machine project!). They are hand warmers - fleece filled with rice that you pop in the microwave for 30ish seconds and drop into your pockets to keep hands toasty. But, well, we still have a few left. And each night I've been warming them up and making a line of hearts under the covers, at the bottom of the bed. No more cold toes. Happiness forever.

february already?

2012-02-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Lots of snow here lately.

Surveying the wintry wilderness.

Enough snow for a snow cave!

Our bears, coming out of hibernation. ROAR!

Two peeps desperate to go camping. They've been playing campout with pillowcases for a few weeks.

Baby A, ready for the latest episode of New Girl. He's an excellent couch companion.

what we've been up to

2012-02-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

Scooting around outside. Presnow, of course.

We made it to the park on a nice, warmish day.

He is insanely happy when we let him up on the couch.

Lovin' his blocks.

S has been busy word building and Lego creating.

She's still falling asleep in strange places.

And lots of sibling ~~germ sharing~~ love. We've mostly been under the weather, but it's nice to have good moments in the midst of all the sickness.

the inpatient

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

When it was time for bed yesterday, we did the usual is-everyone-in-the-right-bed and did-anything-happen-that-we-were-totally-unaware-of checks. The latter applies to large scale messes that our girl has managed to make with a modicum of noise in the past.

Looks like S got tired waiting for his appointment with the doctor.

And looks like P totally ignored her patient. Do you ever wonder if real doctors are sleeping somewhere, while you are in a waiting room, ready for them?

ouch

2012-01-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our little girl isn't having the best week, and her face is bearing most of the proof. She's had the worst cold, and rubbed her upper lip raw from the frequent nose blows. She fell today and scratched up her cheek and chin. And it might be hard to tell, but look at her poor, swollen nose. She and Baby A bonked heads and she must have caught the bridge of her nose on his head. Her black eyes are getting lots better.

Smoothie time here, so no, her mouth isn't bleeding. Thank goodness.

underestimations

2012-01-15T14:42:00.001-07:00

This past summer I canned peaches. It was my first try at peaches, and at canning. The process wasn't so difficult, and we came out of it with 12 quarts. Nothing exploded, nothing failed to seal. I felt like I jam packed them in there, but I'll have to do a better job of that next time as there is a lot of liquid space along the bottom (the peaches float, of course). We opened the last jar a few days ago. Gobble.

We also made jam. A batch of strawberry, one of raspberry, and then my mom & I made strawberry and peach-black raspberry while we were in Tennessee. I tried the little/no sugar added recipes this year and they were super yummy. Much, much better than the regular. They all turned out really good. The last jar of raspberry has been opened, and we have 2 more of strawberry. Gobble, gobble.

And then we made applesauce. Lots of applesauce. No sugar, just apples. 26 quarts. Baby A finished the last one off this past week. Gobble, gobble, gobble.

What is the point of this, you wonder? The point is that all that stuff didn't even last 6 months! And I doubled the amount of applesauce & jam this year!! How could I have been so wrong? And...how much am I supposed to make next time?!

new things

2012-01-13T15:36:00.001-07:00

Most of you probably know that my mom is a super talented seamstress. And while I've made a few things, they've mostly contained straight lines. And no pattern. But I told Dustin that this was going to be the year that I learn to sew some form of clothing.

So I found the easiest pattern I could. Patterns are supposed to make everything easier, did you know that? It took me almost 3 hours to make a dress - 1 to cut everything out, 2ish to sew everything together. For a first attempt, I'm totally happy. But these are the things I forgot/learned:

It turns out that all those years I spent watching my mom, I was just watching her hands. I wasn't actually paying any attention to what she was doing
I forgot to keep the fabric folded, therefore doubling my cutting time
I was totally intimidated by piecing/interfacing a neck together, and since I didn't pay attention and doubled all my torso pieces (only needed one of each), I decided to skip the neck and just line the torso - this is actually better, in my opinion
I saw all those triangles on the pattern, but couldn't remember if they meant to cut in or out...so I skipped them...turns out they're for lining pieces up together. And you cut them out. Always.
I didn't cut nearly enough ticks in the neckline/arm holes, so while it worked out, the dress doesn't look really good unless I iron it. Pfft.
I had no idea how to baste the skirt to gather it, and after reading my 60yr old sewing machine manual, I totally fixed my tension problem! It was super simple, I should be embarrassed that I didn't figure it out myself
I'm still not so great with the straight lines.

So here it is. I told my mom that it was very Sound of Music. There was a pause and she ventured a guess...You're making it out of curtains? Nope. Out of a sheet, though! I didn't think a first attempt warranted an actual fabric purchase. And these colors are perfectly P. Recycling/upcycling at its finest.

It's too big. Better than too small. Maybe I'll take up the sides. But it twirls very nicely.

As for other new things, we got a new table! Ever since Baby A took over a booster, one of us (Dustin or myself) has been using a folding chair for meals. But I found this table, along with 6 chairs and a leaf. Whew. We all fit now.

it's official

2012-01-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

This boy loooooooooooves snow.

And this boy is starting to love preschool. Especially his Star Wars lunchbox.

i can sleep with anything

2012-01-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, that would be a yoga mat she's sleeping under.

mirror, mirror

2012-01-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

In December my friend Andrea took pics of the peeps. She just reopened her photography business.

She took this series of Baby A and I look at them all the time. Love him.

won't be long

2012-01-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

All that fun wears him out.

goodbye 2011

2011-12-28T22:16:00.005-07:00

So I'm a goal oriented person. And as we were meshing our objectives for 2012, we had to revisit some for 2011, in no order whatsoever. These are the ones we remembered off the top of our heads:

have Baby A. check.
learn to can. check.
fence by back door. check.
cook with the peeps, often. check.
indulge the peeps' imaginations. check.
give to others in ways that seriously stretch us - financially, socially, emotionally. check.
go to Oregon, go to Tennessee. check, check.
write letters. epic fail.
see hot air balloon festival. check.
earn more money. check.
learn to make salad dressing on a whim. still not quite there. fail.
have a garden. check.
see the peeps start to swim like fish. check.
make wise financial decisions. so subjective. check.
be realistic and specific about our possessions. downsize if needed. check.
finish replacing baseboards. fail.
wallow in joy, always. definitely not always. fail.
be more careful with haircuts. no buzz cuts this year - check!
wrestle with the kids. check.
live in a state of gratitude. always a process. check.
smile at strangers. check.
Christmas cards. fail.
make an effort to earnestly listen to our children - their needs, wants, dreams. sometimes this is a hard one, as they talk all. the. time., but definite improvement has been made. check.
keep our home cozy. check.

And we'll stop there. Obviously, not all the goals were met. I have the actual list, but I guess these were some of the more important - and, of course, we probably didn't achieve the ones we've totally forgotten! Priorities, priorities.

We have had such a splendid year. You should see our goals for 2012; we're bringing out the big guns.

new best friend

2011-12-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

i love her eyelashes

2011-12-20T16:46:00.001-07:00

and her little hands

on the bookshelf

2011-12-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

We have been slowly trimming our possession of books. Mostly we're just donating a bunch to the library, and giving some to friends. And if we are keeping it, but don't really remember it, I'm reading it. You know, to figure out if I actually want to keep it.

This means I'm reading a strange selection. I just finished one on frontier women (was my grandma's) that was super interesting. Can you believe what those people went through to settle the West?! I am ever so thankful for warmth, shelter and stability. So I am rereading the bottom, Dustin & I are finishing up the AP, CS Lewis stands to keep me busy for a while (does anyone else have to read each paragraph of his ~3 times?), the Ann Voskamp book is new (have you read her blog? it's rich), and I don't remember the mystery up top at all so far, which means I'll send it off to the library once finished.

And now you can read library books on the Kindle! So Dustin and I are sneakily trying to dominate its usage...

'Is the Kindle on the dresser? I thought I left it there. I wanted to finish _____'

'I don't think so. You could look for it.'

'Yeah.' walks away

*Chortle* lifts pant leg and pulls out Kindle.

coconut snow

2011-12-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

S chose this yesterday.

And so I got to work.

And then, well, they got to work. I mostly sat across from them, eating coconut and mixing more frosting when needed.

P helped with clean up.

Almost Christmas!!

into everything

2011-12-12T23:47:00.002-07:00

This little guy is curious for sure. And definitely don't leave the dishwasher door unlatched when he's around.

garlands

2011-12-09T00:04:00.001-07:00

She woke up one morning and got to work.

While Baby A had a morning snack

Then he got up and joined right in

By this time Baby A was busily exploring an open drawer

And then they finished. It sparkles! It shines! It hangs in the archway, looking divine.

Our girl says each night with a gasp, 'It's so beautiful!' and I have to admit, they did an awesome job.

snow schmow

2011-12-06T07:14:00.003-07:00

It has been crazy, super, insanely cold here. This is from the desktop early Monday night. I saw that it was supposed to get down to -25 in the mountains last night - and that doesn't include wind chill! Brrrr.

So no playing outside for us. This was from the weekend.

tiny pears

2011-12-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

I found the cutest pears this weekend. Forelles.

And Baby A had his 9mo check this morning.

Dr couldn't hear his heart murmur anymore. Hooray!

winter gardening

2011-12-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

No surprise, found her on the couch 10min later.

the advent calendar

2011-12-02T09:17:00.001-07:00

I usually think about how handy it is not to have a fireplace. No danger, no soot, no crazy children chasing each other with the poker. But a mantle would be good for this - right now it's strung across the bookshelves. Maybe in the next house. I rather love it, actually. Came out just like I was hoping.

No tree yet. This weekend, I think. But we got the dishes out a month ago. It's nice eating on plates we can actually microwave (our non-holiday ones don't go in there). Holidays. Love.

a list i won't lose

2011-11-30T14:20:00.001-07:00

We made our list of things we wanted to do this winter (build snowman, make ornaments, etc)

Wrote each one on a circle of card stock

Glued a bunch of tiny clothespins onto a hoop

Clipped them up

Now whenever a fun day comes, one of the peeps gets to choose a circle and we do whatever it says

And we reattach it, word side up so we can remember all the fun things we've done.

The only thing is that you have to be ready to do which ever activity is chosen. No backsies, right?

the barbarian

2011-11-28T14:50:00.003-07:00

Sometimes I have to lure Dustin to the couch with a movie that I would never, ever choose. Such was the case this weekend. We watched Conan (aside from the gore, it was okay - we tend to do a lot of voice overs when we watch movies, so it makes it much more entertaining) and I played with buttons. I was going for something that can hang low on the tree and is fairly sturdy since Baby A is likely to rip it off and whack it on the floor.

But until the tree is up, they'll just hang out on the curtains. Happiness is a colorful house.

the mindless tasks of good nutrition

2011-11-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have spent many minutes trying to estimate how many sections of grapefruit I will liberate during my tenure of parenthood. Still have no idea. Thousands, definitely. Scoop scoop scoop.

snappy naps

2011-11-26T09:55:00.001-07:00

There comes a time in everyone's life when taking naps is detrimental to sleeping at night. Our girl is at that point. She stays up until 9-10p if/when she gets an afternoon snooze.

And she loves her naps! At lunch we usually talk about whatever we'll do and get done for the rest of the day. Her eyes light up and she says, 'After lunch is nap time?' And I say, 'Not today, crazy peep! No more naps for you! Yay!' She isn't buying into the excitement yet.

Unfortunately, she also isn't quite at the quiet-time-for-two-hours-by-myself point. This means I have to keep a super close eye on her, or I find her collapsed and snoozing away. She sneaked quite a few last week when I was changing A's diaper, filling a glass of water, getting the mail, taking out the trash...she can be completely out in less than 2min - I've started watching the clock.

Hopefully one day [soon] she will in fact be ready for by-myself-quiet-time. One day.

i like fiction

2011-11-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

So we spent the first 7 years of marriage reading at night mostly by the light of table lamps, and then headlamps if one of us was sleeping. Awesome, right? Try it, it works. But my parents, my wonderful parents who know me so well, got us reading lamps from Ikea last Christmas. While I was preoccupied delivering that sweet Baby A in March, my dad spent an afternoon getting them all set up. And they. are. fabulous!

That was so not the point. But I do love those bed lamps from Ikea. Get some! The point is...I really don't like to read nonfiction. I don't, in fact, often read anything other than stories. And those I read in abundance - quickly and often. But I keep feeling like I should be reading other stuff. If I can read thousands of pages a month, it just seems like a portion of that should be spent on something...productive. And I don't mean cookbooks. They're like an instruction manual for domestic bliss, and therefore always necessary.

I also have this strict thing about only reading one book at a time. And a thing about finishing a book unless it is so super bad that I just can't bear it (usually I can suffer through). One of my greatest dilemmas with nonfiction is that it's always a lot to take in at once. I just want to be entertained. I might really want to know that a thirsty camel can drink 30 gallons of water in less than 15min*, but I don't want to know everything about camels in one night. I don't think I ever want to know everything about camels.

But this strange thing is happening. I have been reading 4 very interesting non novels. And stranger still, I'm just interspersing them with my regular fiction. What is happening?! There is usually a 'to read' stack and a 'to return' pile, but right now my nightstand is all confused.

And on a fun literary note, this was one of my favorite books as a youngster. We just got it from the library last week. So great. Though now I wonder if it somehow fostered my deep and abiding affection for ketchup.

* That was merely the first random fact that popped into my head. I haven't actually read a book about camels. Though maybe I should...

five

2011-11-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

With a birthday falling on Thanksgiving this year, we celebrated with the traditional donut a day early. He's already embarrassed when we sing to him ('You're making me crazy, P! Stop that.').

Someone was s u p e r excited to be at the donut shop in his jammies. And no, he isn't eating one - he's eating Cheerios. C'mon.

a typical morning

2011-11-17T00:00:00.002-07:00

fall leaves

2011-11-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

The peeps did some painting recently. Ever since That Day (you know, the one when our boy got all the paint out during quiet time and painted a bedroom), I don't really let them paint. Ever. I'd rather use glitter - and surely you understand that glitter is a major mess fest.

This summer I set up the easel in the backyard and they painted, having a wonderful, naked time. That's right. Naked. S stayed dressed but P usually came back inside without her clothes, and with some very nice stripe work. I guess even artists can be concerned with tan lines.

So we painted with q tips instead of brushes. Leaves on trees for fall for them, but I used green because I like green trees and thought it would be entertaining to paint alongside S&P. The idea was to put dots down for leaves. They mostly followed the directions, except for the lines & whirls where he told me the leaves were dancing.

And then S made me a heart! Swoon. He'll be FIVE next week. Gracious.

look ma, no hands

2011-11-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

I expect him to balance spoons very well.

snowmen

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Colorado snow is not easy to pack, and we don't really make snowmen very much. But the peeps always want one, so they made these instead.

The idea was inspired by this little snowman-wearer.

cutting

2011-11-09T07:24:00.001-07:00

While I have been busy with the scissors

Baby A has been working on a cutting all his own (& much more important). He likes to grind his new top tooth on his bottom ones...hate that sound.

He was hanging upside down during this - I don't think his cheeks have ever looked this chubby!!

bread bears

2011-11-08T08:29:00.002-07:00

Growing up, we had these wonderful family friends, the Hangstefers. They have 6 kids, and a really great kitchen table (with a bench!) that I've been looking everywhere for and have yet to find. But that's not the point. And once we got snowed in at their house and ate lots and lots of potatoes. That's not the point either.

I remember how their mom, Pat, would bake yummy bread. And then with a nod to the kiddos, sometimes we got to shape some of the dough into our very own creations. I think bears (and turtles?) were my favorite.

They're perfect with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drop of honey.

showering shay

2011-11-07T06:32:00.002-07:00

We had a little party this weekend for Shay, who had her fourth (!!) boy two weeks ago. She's pretty much a pro at this baby thing. Nursing while opening presents: multi-tasking at its finest.

Forget pics with little kids! Apparently grown women can't take a picture together either. Fun times.

hand turkeys & numbers

2011-11-05T22:47:00.000-06:00

S&P made turkeys a few days ago. You know, you trace their hand and then they glue dry stuff (corkscrews, lentils, cheerios, chow mien noodles, couscous, rice) all over it? It was entertaining. They added something they are thankful for - in case you can't read it, P chose shoes and S picked his puppy.

And I've started the advent calendar! Woo.

more of the white stuff

2011-11-03T14:55:00.001-06:00

I wasn't particularly pleased (can't find the snow shovels ANYwhere, which makes sidewalk-clearing difficult) but since I am now old enough to keep up with weather forecasts, at least we realized it was coming.

So we woke up, made some muffins

Drank some milk

Examined the boy's split lip (he fell over the side of his bunkbed while he was ~~dinking around~~ going to sleep)

Took my butterfly outside

So that we could build Baby A a snowcave

And then we played and played and played.

apples for baby A

2011-11-01T14:44:00.001-06:00

If you've never noticed, Dustin sort of dances in his seat if he eats food he really likes. So does P. And Baby A, well, his feet seem to be following suit. He bounces for sweet potatoes, apples, pumpkin, and soy beans. It's his happy meter.

Like this

fall party

2011-10-31T14:50:00.000-06:00

Last week we made some of these

and took them to our friends' Fall Party. Where they made crafts, painted pumpkins, had lunch, ran around, and munched on carmel apples (which they also made). Super fun.

They wore their costumes, too, but I didn't get any pics of that.

seeing triple

2011-10-30T08:15:00.000-06:00

Really. I'm on my third Powershot. The flash circuit died on the first. The lens wouldn't protract/retract (just tract?!) and/or focus on the second (this just happened last week).

I do so love this little camera. Guess I should already go ahead and start saving for another.

brr

2011-10-27T10:46:00.001-06:00

It snowed here yesterday.

We went from this on Tuesday...

...to this on Wednesday.

Hello, Winter.

messes schmesses

2011-10-25T15:16:00.001-06:00

I think it's funny, how much it used to seem like I was in control of my life, before children. Hah! I wasn't, of course - and n e v e r will be - but it seemed like I was. Then again, I also didn't have small people thwarting me at every turn.

Like this little guy. Baby A is subscribing to S&P's 'Go Big or Go Home' attitude towards mess-making.

I've gotten precious little done the last few days, courtesy this under-the-weather sugar bean. Oh well! The greatest of these is not to-do listing. The greatest of these is love. Snuggle. Snuggle. Snuggle.

page break

2011-10-24T14:08:00.001-06:00

As much as I love summer, autumn is my favorite season. I appreciate that it's an actual season in the East - here in Colorado it's like a page break between summer and winter. A glorious, short-lived page break.

We've been making pumpkin muffins, drinking tea and snuggling under lots of blankets on the hammock. There are leaves to jump in, crafts to create, bread to bake, and costumes to wear.

We're expecting snow this week. But for right now, it's still fall.

the helpers

2011-10-20T21:09:00.000-06:00

S&P are slowly taking over the breakfast duties for their little bro. Is it possible to feed a baby without opening your own mouth??

We had to have some appropriate-bite-size demonstrations, but they're getting the hang of it. And for the most part, as long as the cereal keeps coming, he's good with it.

summer was good to us

2011-10-19T16:24:00.000-06:00

At least as far as produce is concerned. If you could show a phase in life through pictures, it seems like food would be the ideal subject. So that was our summer: vibrant, sweet, beautiful.

yo ho

2011-10-18T15:04:00.000-06:00

We went to a birthday party this weekend (Happy 5th, Ry Guy!) at a nifty pool. It was a pirate party and S thought the gold doubloons were awesome. And then he figured out there was chocolate inside and he thought they were totally awesome. Baby A was the only one impervious to the chillier water.

No surprise, P was enamored with the water slide! Again, Daddy, again.

many hands make light work

2011-10-15T19:30:00.000-06:00

determined

2011-10-13T16:21:00.001-06:00

I am determined to make an advent calendar this year. I will. I must.

Only trouble is, the one I see in my head needs a mantle. And, oh yeah...we don't have a fireplace. Hmph.

Fall projects have begun. I made this one evening recently. Quilling is so something that is better to do without little children.

cooler mornings

2011-10-12T10:40:00.001-06:00

Who can resist baking in fleece booties and steamed milk with peeps? Not me.

laundry with the LG

2011-10-10T09:13:00.001-06:00

P has started helping me more and more. Her clothespins always want to be friends.

a few of my favorite things

2011-10-06T13:52:00.000-06:00

Sleeping on couches and bleaching the walls

Changing the sheets and washing the dolls

Love cooler weather and the sickness it brings
These are a few of my favorite things

Pale tired husbands and lackluster children

Dizziness, night sweats and days feeling frozen
Heads that are aching and a stomach that wrings

These are a few of my favorite things

Dustin telling of germs we must duel
Teapots and cold toast and chicken with noodle

Tummies that rumble and a baby who sings

These are a few of my favorite things

When the flu comes
When the bugs camp
When we're feeling bad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

trippin': portland

2011-10-05T07:08:00.001-06:00

We finished up the week in Portland, seeing brothers, sisters and friends. We stayed with Chris & Tanya (we love them, and they have room for us) and spent the days being silly.

Our Baby A and their Baby A are 1 month apart (she's older). They got along rather famously...*cough* arranged marriage *cough*.

I got to hit up Trader Joe's not once but twice. Unfortunately, we ate a lot of the yummy goods already. The mints! If you haven't tried the dark chocolate mint creams, try them.

Uncle Matt & Aunt Jamie got to spend lots of time with us (but it's never enough time).

The game nights were intense.

We made donuts one morning and by the end of the week, the peeps were toast. Look at them zoning on the couch.

And new nephew Baby M!

Brian and Roxie fed us and Aunt Roxie scored major points for letting P feed their fish in the backyard. After dinner with the sibs, we stopped by Matt & Jamie's place and took off from there. It was 8ish. The ride home was uneventful, except for when Seth started wailing in his sleep that I needed to stop driving because his back was on fire. I don't know if a dryer sheet had made it into a load or if it was just using different detergent, but he and I were both covered in hives by the time we hit Wyoming. Thankfully I had an 'untouched' outfit for everyone (as I did wonder if this would happen), and we just stopped and swapped him out of his jammies.

The Blazer was sporting a completely flat tire (nail) and our kitchen trash can was harboring an unknown liquid that was spilled all over the floor (*hurl*), but otherwise we were all good. I had to wash everything once we got back, which was a disappointment since the entire thought behind doing laundry there was so. I. didn't. have. to. do. it. here. but whatever. We made it home! It was wonderful to see everyone.

This is really dark, and you might have to turn up the volume. It was just before we got to Denver. Hilarious.

trippin': florence

2011-10-04T07:42:00.000-06:00

We made it to the coast for a blissful afternoon/evening. Very little wind, pretty warm, lots of clouds. Baby A had his first (literal) taste of the beach and then had the best nap of his life, listening to the waves. S&P were soooooo happy. I think they actually frolicked. Fish & chips for dinner, coconut ice cream for dessert and we called it a good day.

trippin': corvallis & eugene

2011-10-03T10:28:00.001-06:00

We spent last week in Oregon, visiting family and friends. The drive started like this...

Then we drove all night long. We stopped for breakfast and the peeps rode their bikes in their jammies.

Starting to look like Oregon! Getting closer.

How to picnic in the Northwest

With the grands & great-grands

We had a really great time. Spent a day at the coast, but that gets its own post, along with one of Portland. More soon.

one happy girl

2011-09-27T22:33:00.001-06:00

teething, take 2

2011-09-23T09:51:00.000-06:00

Now that Baby A is working on his top teeth, he's getting lots of extra snuggles.

Lots of 'how does this feel on my gums' practice

But this is pretty much how he feels about it

yoga with the bear

2011-09-20T19:13:00.000-06:00

Or maybe I should say...yogi bear

we had to make more jam

2011-09-18T01:32:00.001-06:00

Have you ever read Jamberry? It is one of the best board books. Ever.

We tripped back to the Berry Patch for raspberries. It is their peak here and we wanted to make some jam.

This spider was seriously huge. And he was eating (drinking?) bees for breakfast.

One day soon this sucker will be a beautiful ~~butterfly~~ moth. Or something. I'm not an entomologist.

These guys were zinging from bush to bush. If you looked carefully down a row, you could see them bouncing like popcorn kernels.

S was convinced all the really ripe (read: darker) ones were boysenberries. There was no convincing him otherwise. P downed an entire pint while I was trying to finish so we could go. She was very literally caught red-handed.

And this is kinda what autumn looks like in Colorado. Clouds in the sky. It's been raining here quite a bit (for us, at least), which is great except for the times I leave diapers on the line outside. Which seems to happen a lot. The garden caught its second wind and is busily growing crazy amounts of squash and zucchini. Along with a 4" watermelon! As I told my mom this afternoon, it's a wild success, as it is approximately 4" larger than any other watermelons I've grown.

yay!

2011-09-15T17:02:00.000-06:00

Making his mobile debut

Then we had to watch this one

And this one

just another day

2011-09-14T16:17:00.000-06:00

P got her first pair of 'tie shoes'. Stylin'.

Baby A is learning the art of wave making.

oh cheerio

2011-09-13T08:23:00.000-06:00

Toe-curling fun

Sharing? What's sharing? Mine.

It's nearly bedtime. Don't I look so very tired?

I need some more practice.

sundaes on sunday

2011-09-12T16:07:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we invited friends to meet us at the park after dinner for sundaes and a water balloon fight.

We were sad that everyone couldn't come; we had so much fun! Ice cream sundaes first...

And then water balloons...

A little hill rolling...

And it was time to go home! Thanks for coming, friends!

195

2011-09-10T07:56:00.000-06:00

Cake balls, that is. I made 16 dozen of these for a friend's husband's birthday party. So so so good. And so fun! If only I could make these for an hour every day - the baking is therapeutic and surely I could become much more competent with decorating.

my dad, the cop

2011-09-09T07:53:00.004-06:00

Last night I had a dream that I got to see my dad at work. He was at a nondescript restaurant, sitting with his laptop open. The guys that met him were in pinstripe suits (this is important, I love pinstripes). And I guess they were there to negotiate.
So my dad said something.
And then the guys got all huffy and made like they were leaving.
My dad just sat there, looking at his laptop and pecking away on the keyboard.
The guys settled back down, argued.
My dad was silent.
The guys yelled.
My dad: quiet.
The guys pleaded.
My dad sat, pecking away.
The guys acquiesced.

My dad closed his laptop, gave a nod their way and walked out.

He was awesome!! Of course, he's really an engineer, and this has no bearing on reality whatsoever.

sleeps

2011-09-08T09:06:00.000-06:00

I just don't understand how she comes up with this stuff...

Maybe it is her attempt to emulate this:

In which case, I think she does an excellent job. Or maybe she's just a little crazy.

state fair

2011-09-07T14:31:00.002-06:00

My parents visit grandbabies on their first birthday, and cousin J is 1! Happy Birthday, silly girl! We love you. Kiss kiss.

While they were here we made our way to Pueblo and puttered around the fair for a day. It was super hot.

sun hats

pig races

baby naps in front of a fan, while S&P...

played in the corn box

ice cream cones!

P's first roller coaster ride (!!!)

totally awesome quilts

insanely beautiful work

and lots of fun. <sigh> I love going to the fair.

fifteen

2011-09-06T11:39:00.000-06:00

Pounds, that is. Baby A had his 6mo check this morning.

baby's version

2011-09-01T08:41:00.000-06:00

of throwing one leg out of the covers to cool off on hot summer nights

swoop

2011-08-29T10:46:00.003-06:00

I saw these on Pinterest and thought it would be a great corral for the Legos overtaking our house. I also (naively) thought it would be a relatively easy project. Why is it so difficult to sew in a circle?

First it looked like this (S got to choose the colors)

But the sides wouldn't stay up, so next it looked like this

Then I added interfacing and it looked like this

And finally it looks like this

It's a little ginormous. But whatever. This is a small fraction of the Legos stashed in the basement for future use. If it keeps me from stepping on those tiny ones that kill your feet, then this was a success.

bedrolls

2011-08-28T14:32:00.000-06:00

Why did we buy them beds again?

jam

2011-08-23T22:02:00.006-06:00

I just finished a book and one of the main characters was addicted to his word-a-day calendar. The author worked it into his thoughts and daily attempts to use and expand his vocabulary. It was entertaining - and it kept reminding me of the episode of Friends where Joey is explaining what moo[t] means. So funny.

Joey: All right, Rach. The big question is, "does he like you?" All right? Because if he doesn't like you, this is all a moo point.
Rachel: Huh. A moo point?
Joey: Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo.
Rachel: Have I been living with him for too long, or did that all just make sense?

I dropped the camera for the umpteenth time a few days ago and did some damage. Sadness. It puts me in a photo jam, right? So I looked up jam and was once again reminded how ridiculous the English language can be...like 20 definitions for jam?! Let's see how many of them I can cover. I'll even use them in a sentence! I was just telling Dustin that it's becoming exceedingly obvious to me that I haven't 'worked' in nearly a year...can you tell? My poor brain.

And no, this was not planned, and yes, these are in fact just random pictures I've taken in August.

to press, squeeze, or wedge tightly between bodies or surfaces, so that motion or extrication is made difficult or impossible: P jammed Baby A so tightly to herself that he couldn't. get. away.

to bruise or crush by squeezing: If P is alone with Baby A, she usually jams him with love.

to fill too tightly; cram: Sometimes I feel like I'm jamming food into Baby A's mouth as quickly as possible.

to press, push, or thrust violently, as into a confined space or against some object: Poor Baby A has twisted, further jamming himself between his belt and the swing.

to fill or block up by crowding; pack or obstruct: The pillows jammed in a circle around Baby A kept him from rolling about the hotel room floor.

to put or place in position with a violent gesture (often

followed by on ) Baby A's teeth jammed their way through his gums with gusto.

to make (something) unworkable by causing parts to become stuck, blocked, caught, displaced, etc.: P jammed the cherry in her straw and then cried because she couldn't drink any more of the milkshake.

Radio .

to interfere with (radio signals or the like) by sending out other signals of approximately the same frequency.

(of radio signals or the like) to interfere with (other signals). The Lego Spaceman and his trusty robot were on a mission to jam radio signals on another planet.

to play (a piece) in a freely improvised, swinging way; jazz up

10.

Nautical . to head (a sailing ship) as nearly as possible into the wind without putting it in stays or putting it wholly aback. If this ship was real, S would undoubtedly jam it.

11.

to become stuck, wedged, fixed, blocked, etc.:

P jammed a bunch of buddies in her new stroller.

12.

to press or push, often violently, as into a confined space or against one another: P jammed the dental floss between her teeth.

13.

(of a machine, part, etc.) to become unworkable, as through the wedging or displacement of a part.

14.

Jazz . to participate in a jam session.

noun

15.

the act of jamming or the state of being jammed.

16.

a mass of objects, vehicles, etc., jammed together or otherwise unable to move except slowly: P had a picnic for all her buddies in the doorway, creating quite the [foot] traffic jam.

17.

Informal . a difficult or embarrassing situation; fix: Whenever Baby A gets tired or is in a seemingly overwhelming jam, he puts his finger in his mouth to self soothe.

18.

jam session. Baby A participated in a jam session - he was the drummer.

Origin:
1700–10; apparently imitative; compare champ¹, dam¹

noun

a preserve of whole fruit, slightly crushed, boiled with sugar: P loves jam.

Idiom

put on jam, Australian Slang . to adopt a self-important manner or use affected speech. When S talks about Legos, he can totally put on jam.

Origin:
1720–30; perhaps special use of jam ¹

quirky

2011-08-22T08:47:00.000-06:00

Last night after Dustin had settled P back into bed (she woke up when Dustin was in the bathroom - it shares a wall with her room), he flopped back into bed and whispered, "She is so weird. She's already so quirky." A good example would be shown below - I found her like this one night last week...

But really, how great is it for a 3yr old to sleep in a tunnel on top of her bed? It's the best of both worlds: a tunnel of fun + her comfy mattress. Pretty much awesome.

squash

2011-08-19T07:54:00.000-06:00

He already gobbles down sweet potatoes. And once he starts on carrots, we fully expect Baby A to be sporting orange skin in the near future. Eating only orange foods will do that to you. Yay carotene.

cause & effect

2011-08-17T15:12:00.005-06:00

When I look like this...

Daddy looks like this...

And when I look like this...

Daddy looks like this...

I like to make him crazy by sticking my fingers in my mouth when he feeds me.

scoops of fun

2011-08-16T09:33:00.000-06:00

accessorizing

2011-08-15T08:44:00.000-06:00

Oh, the perils of having a big sister.

pickles

2011-08-13T15:43:00.007-06:00

S made some pickles last weekend. He was very put out that the onions made his eyes water. And we threw in an ear's worth of corn to one jar just because, well, we love corn around here. And it's pretty.

jumpjumpjump

2011-08-12T13:46:00.001-06:00

Happy boy! Shout out of thanks to Virginia, for loaning us the bouncer.

slow down, baby

2011-08-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

Thankfully, he only scoots 4ish feet so far. Guess I should babyproof again soon. He's almost mobile, folks.

cartography

2011-08-10T15:42:00.000-06:00

We drew maps today. The Boy drew an intergalactic treasure map - which he folded and said, 'It's a treasure map, Mom. I can't show it to you now that it's finished. I hided it.'

And Little Girl whipped up this stellar zoo map. I left it as a link, so you can enlarge and learn. Can you find P? She didn't want to be labeled.

Hint: look right above the aqua tiger.

shrine pass

2011-08-08T14:12:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago we spent the day in Vail, hiking & playing while Dustin was at work. It was b e a u t i f u l and we had lots of fun. A buddy of mine had recommended Shrine Pass as a good wildflower spot and it didn't disappoint.

There was one point, though, when we were trotting up to the Mount of the Holy Cross, that I suddenly wondered at the wisdom of hiking alone with 2 little peeps and a baby. Thankfully the only critters we encountered were deer, bunnies, birds and squirrels. Ravenous squirrels. If you've ever come across them, you know what I mean. Like the ones up in Rocky Mountain National Park? Those suckers are so pampered with all the visitors feeding them. What is the point of this? Oh, right - the squirrels. I stopped to tie a shoe for S and by the time I stood up, they had dragged off a bag of trail mix P had next to her while she tossed rocks into the creek. Like I said, ravenous squirrels.

someone is still teething

2011-08-04T20:22:00.000-06:00

Can you possibly tell??

another first

2011-07-28T20:28:00.000-06:00

So his lip is mostly covering it up in this, but can you see it?! It's totally there. That tooth is little and sharp and o-u-t. Baby A has been less than thrilled at its appearance. I (mistakenly) thought he wasn't sleeping well because I was eating too much chocolate (wahhh? me?), but apparently that wasn't the case. Grow, Baby A, grow!!