nerds in love

date night included, but was not limited to:

lordco

staples 

cowboys and aliens

popcorn toots.

... 

case in point.

fact:

 girls with princess faces

can also be fearless on the 24 ft climbing wall

at daddy's work picnic.
multiple times.

i'm a little shocked 

but mostly, not surprised.

thank you Eagle West  for the super fun time on saturday.

my boy

bodhi is our sensitive, tearful child.  

you know, the kind that can cry at the thought of a recent paper cut.

so i'm trying something.

lately, i've been telling him, he's sooo tough and sooo strong.

thinking if he hears it from me, maybe he'll believe it and then maybe he'll start acting it. 

and then books and paper cuts wont be such a threat in life.  

i think i'm on the right track. 

because for the last couple of days,

he's been insisting on going shirtless so he can show off his muscles.

...

happy face.

 

thursday together

i have to admit,
one of my greatest joys in life is that
my children
like each other.
a lot.
and they like me.
and i like them.
a lot.

most of the time.

the end.

space, dino's

and a fit.

just another day at the library.  

moons and pits

this morning i opened my eyes to find this kid, nice and cozy, and tucked in to my armpit.  

i'm not sure how he gets into bed with me without me knowing it.

it's a little cute and a little creepy.
anyway,

 this morning i opened my eyes and 

bo's first words to me were,

"mom, you smell ok.

last night i smelled you and now

i got the moon stuck in my nose."

it sounds real sweet, right?

except, i have a feeling, what he was really trying to tell me was

my pits were "humm'n." 

art

"every child is an artist.  

the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

- pablo picasso

so true, i'm not so sure daddy is going to see the "art" here.

chore-day magic

this kid

in those overalls

plus 

this song

played over and over

plus clean floors
and clean undies in everyone's drawers

equals

magic.
...
it really could make me cry.

all about bikes

that's right, we are psyched about bikes over here.  

the other day we even set up a bike gas station/ work shop.  

it was totally rad.  also, it preoccupied my kids and a friend for at least 2 hours.

our bike station was fully equipped to 

provide the following services:

bike gas and oil,

bike wash,

tune-up,

 lemonade for the parched workers

and lounge.

...

in other big bike news,

char has graduated to a 

two-wheeler,

(photos to come)

which required we find a new, non-pumping-down bike for bo.

he was pretty "pumped" himself when we found a sweet boy bike for 

5 bucks at a garage sale.

(i'll never buy new again, or at least until they are much older - like teenagers). 

happy girls

"happy girls are the prettiest"

- audrey hepburn

sure audrey, we'll take it!  

images via 

a good morning

this kid is my "goodmorning"

every 

single 

day.

and sometimes... 

she my "goodmorning"

at two am.

lucky indeed.
that's two "goodmornings"
for the price of one.
or something like that.

confession

this

takes me to a 

happy 

place.
fast.

weekend

friday

we had something to celebrate friday evening.  

jane-z pie is picking up the potty thing with more success than disaster.

we headed to walmart to let her pick out her own undies.

not surprisingly, they were out of size mini undies in the brand we were looking for.

but they did have these awesome lighting mcqueen britches and bodhi was pretty pumped.

ka chow

saturday

yep, we went here.

we went with our tried and true, adventure friends
and the end result was, as usual, awesomeness.
all i can say is,
 lack of photos = we were having too much fun to get the camera out.

sunday

sunday, august 14, 2011
marked one year
since matt went to live with jesus.
...
in the evening we picked up "peanut" buster bars from dq
and went to the remembering place
to do a little remembering.
we remembered matt's sounds and the way he liked to shake hands.
we remembered his spot on the couch and how he held each one of the kids when they were new.
we remembered how his smile would start small, linger at grin and then take over his whole body.
we remember...
  and we miss you, matt!

sidenote
i'm thinking of sending the little family photo in the middle there to this website.
what do you think?

the upside

i'm trying to stay positive with all this low cloud cover and 

 threats of rain and rain. 

so... i thought i'd share a few "upsides" of the "summer" we are having, 

...

1. the grass is still green and i have not watered it once.  

2. one pair of shorts has been sufficient.  

3. i have been baking without the worry of making the house too warm.

...

it's not too exciting of a list.

sun please.

because...

it's the last freak'n crazy place you want to find your kids playing.

and that's just our crazy freak'n style.

sidenote: jane had a rough weekend.  

she had a little "face to face" with the driveway.  

fortunately, scars are cool.
she also learned the hard way that she will never be able to pee in the bushes like bodhi can.

finally

i feel like the summer-me is coming out to play.  

i'm not sure what to think or write about june and july.  

i tend to conceptualize the time period in list form:

living room floor - check

kitties born - check

wedding 1 - check

dental work - check-ish

char and jane's birthdays - check, check

respite - check

visitors - check, check, check...

wedding 2 - check

flu and colds - check

the hunger games - check (out my messy house!)

and although the list stuff continues into august,

gary's surgery - check

deck railing - checking.

find kitty homes - check pending

i'm starting to feel like it's ok to breathe a little

and play a little at the lake and the library

and like i have time to take pictures of my kids 

and make fruit tarts

and then share them with my neighbors.

this makes me happy.   

this evening i decided, i reeeeally need august to be a reeeeally long month.

ok.

and i need to go to the beach.  

i do believe,

charlee is teaching janie pie the tricks of the trade.
looks like they have the cheek to shoulder move down. pat.

um, what a minute.
is jane making pouty lips
or is she's sucking on that penny she found on the ground?
...
dang it.
  

remember when i use to do this?

those were the good o'l days.

...

hey momma, this one's for you

and for old times sake.

...

the other day i took just bodhi out for an ice cream sandwich date.

it's been a long couple of months and i've been missing my kids 

and feeling like i need to connect with them in a special time kind of way.   

we sat outside of Lepp Farm Market and took turns with our little melty cookies and cream, 

except i could only take bites like a baby - "not big."

if you've ever shared food with bo, you know the drill.

because we don't live far from Lepps, i decided to let bo put his booster in the front seat for the drive home so we could keep talking and hold hands.  it's a real special thing we do sometimes.    

almost as special as what transpired as we were driving.

...

we were driving past a hobby farm with a densely tree'd hill looming behind it.  

bo: hey mom, guess what's in that scary jungle.

me: what?  

we both made scared big eyes.

bo: big. scary. monkeys.  

with cymbals. that go "aah aah aah."

i died laughing and he loved that.

me: you know what else is scary?

bo: what?

my first thought was "dinosaurs" or "monsters" but i didn't want to give the sensitive kid nightmares so intead i came up with 

me: girls. with short shorts.  

bo: how about girls with cymbals that go "aah aah aah"

me:  yes, bo!  sooo scary!  

we went on for a little bit more, shaking our heads and making more big eyes.  

me: son, this might be the best conversation i've ever had!  

bo: yeesh, scary stuff.  

that's right.  he said, "yeesh, scary stuff."