So I came home from work on Thursday to find Thomas hard at work building snowmen (with what snow hadn't melted yet).  After 2 hours work he was up to 6 snowmen and Catherine and her friend Lily came out and added one of their own- 'Olaf'.  He took time to show me his method of using a 'starter' snowball and rolling it, collecting snow as he went.  

Thomas later added carrot noses and tennis ball hearts.

Mustache man-- kind of reminds me of a muppet

That evening I went out with Brandon to the store and saw that the front yard was completely leveled.  What!  I was pretty steamed about the mean neighborhood kids that knocked down all of Thomas' work.  Brandon was like, don't tell Thomas tonight, he'll be too upset.  'We'll talk about it when he sees the massacre tomorrow'. 

Well, kept my mouth shut for about 10 minutes and then secretly asked Catherine if she saw what happened to all the snowman.  She was like, 'oh that.  Thomas went out and demolished them all with his swords after he finished building them'.  Really!!  Brandon said, 'How Buddhist of him'.


So the next morning, I asked Thomas to show me HOW he demolished them.  He demonstrated on my storage buckets.  We had a great video, but after 8 tries at downloading it to no avail, I have settled on these pictures.  

You get the idea:)

 

 

My fixer/finder

So I've always been pretty in love with Thomas.  His sweet hugs, coy smile, bug eye silly face.  We've always been buddies.  But recently this gem of a kid has come up with a new way to please me.  He's become my fixer/finder.  When I get to my whits end in frustration over one thing or another he'll say, 'What's wrong mom?'

'The password list is missing and has been for a week!' - that I have one copy of and is always in the desk and would be an absolute pain to recreate. 5 minutes later I have it in my hand.

'I cannot for the life of me get my bike lock open, why didn't I write down the combination!'.  Literally 2 minutes later Thomas has the combo figured out and the lock open.

'Rin's glasses have been missing for 2 weeks.  We've searched the house, the cars and the church over and under and they are no where to be found.  Time for more serious prayer!  If we don't find them this weekend, I've going to have to give in and get new ones.'  Next day Thomas is the one to uncover them.

And this is just what comes to mind right now.  Over and over this year he has saved me.  Thank you Thomas!

In response to Priceless

So according to one of my sweet, slightly younger than me sisters, I am slacking a little in the blog department.  It's true.

I am not a natural blogger, but I do value sharing a bit of me and my life with my family, so I will continue to try.  Thank you Lys, for your encouragement.

Like Alyssa, we just got family pictures taken.  at JC Penney's (I recognized her backgrounds!).  Only for us it is not a biennial event.  More like triennial, if that's a word.  Or whenever Sean has grown another 8 inches.  Whichever comes first.  I did set an 11:40 appointment...a little wiser than Lys here.  Although considering we also waited an hour to ACTUALLY get in to have our pics taken, maybe a 10:30 would have been best after all.  And then just show up an hour late.

Anyhow, we saw many an unhappy child at the studio, but not us!  One of the joys of having all children over 8.  In our hour wait we went back out into the 10 degree temps and headed over to Sports Authority to get Sean a winter coat.  Apparently I am the kind of parent that only does that every 3 years as well.  Or whenever Sean has grown another 8 inches.  Whichever comes first.

Then back at JC Penney's we still had some time to peruse the holiday section for ornaments white and ornaments sparkly and nutcracker frogs and cows and such (whose mouths, Thomas noted, were not aligned with the opening of the nutcracker.  A great disappointment.)

Finally our time came, and I actually thought the kids were fairly cooperative.  Even giggly at times.  Then we got to preview the pictures.  Sean!!!  He had a near death stare in almost every pic.  ("That's my smile!" He said in defense).  Ah well.  Luckily he's just a good lookin' kid in general.   I will say that Brandon and I looked pretty awesome in every shot ;)

Only have the little emailed order form with really low resolution pics so far, but it will give you an idea of what you'll be getting in your mailbox come Christmas.

    

My favorite moment in the day was getting our purchase summary:

Purchase Summary

(1)  16x20 Gallery Wrap

Free

regular

$174.99

savings

$174.99

(2)  8x10

$11.98

regular

$19.98

savings

$8.00

(6)  Sitting Fee

Free

regular

$59.94

savings

$59.94

(1)  6 free cards

Free

Regular Price Total

$254.91

Savings

$242.93

*Grand Total

$11.98

*excludes tax and merchandise The 'free' things were actually a $30 groupon, so Grand Total was actually a little more.  But still, not bad, eh?

Friday morning miracles

This morning was full of miracles and fun surprises. First, I woke up late at 6:15, meaning Milla was 20 min late to seminary.  The miracle was that I went to bed at 8:45 pm and slept the whole night through.  I've been exhausted all week and have had headache after headache.  Finally a day with a clear head!

2nd little miracle was our owl egg.  Not really a miracle, I guess, but we thought it was cool enough to take a picture of.  The pan wasn't quite heated through when I cracked 2 eggs in one after another.  We thought it looked cooler when the whites were still clear, but the camera was upstairs and I'm not in that great of shape. ;)

Look closely, what do you see?

After harvesting some broccoli from the garden a few days ago, I discovered a soft green caterpillar climbing up one of the stems.  So cute!  I trimmed off the part he was on and put it in a jar, added some sticks and closed it off with some cheese cloth.  Expecting the worst when I checked it a day or two later (I've seen many dead bugs in jars in my days), I was thrilled to see that the caterpillar had instead climbed onto one of the sticks and made himself a little chrysalis.  Miracle #3!  I felt like a little kid again, wanting to tell everyone I saw today about my little caterpillar.  Ahh, life.  Amazing.

Can you guess the theme?

About a month ago, someone asked Sean how old he was and he said, '14'.  And I said 'no you're not'.  And he said, 'yes I am'.  And I said 'no you're not'. And he said 'How would you know?'.  Really?

Well, now he really IS 14.  Happy Birthday to my sweet Sean.

Birthday morning...as exciting as Christmas.

The walk into birthday

Sean trying to figure out what this present might be.  

"Sean, why do you think (insert anything here)?"  "Because I'm Batman"

Rockin' the new cap from Nana and Gpa

It's just not a birthday in our house without a 'pin the something to the something'

The build

So I decided to try out something new and join a Habitat for Humanity crew for a day.  It was a 9:00-4:30 work day, but luckily we got a beautiful overcast day in the 60's that made you want to stay outside.

I was feeling fairly uncomfortable when I first showed up on site as the majority of the worker were from a handful of businesses that will give their employees a paid day to go do service.  I was one of the few individuals that went in without knowing anyone.  But once the work began, it was all okay.

On the right was my buddy, another 'individual' that I found to pair up with.  We pretty much worked side-by-side the whole day.  Hidden in the doorway is the lady who is from the 'partner family' who will live in this home when it is completed.  They are required to put a certain number of hours into their build.

I worked primarily on homes 3 and 4 in this row of townhomes in the 2nd floor and on the roof. No pics from up there, though.  I started with a group, setting roof trusses into place and holding while they were being nailed in, the end pieces of which you can see on top of the far right home.  I must have proved myself, because after that they started handing out power tools.

As I was to lazy to put a new name on my hat, I went by 'John' all day. ;)

 My second job was them handing me a saw-z-all (ok actually they held it up and said 'Who wants to..' and I immediately volunteered.  I love me a saw-z-all, even though I don't know how to spell it).  I sat on a truss on the open roof with my foot supporting me on a beam on a wall that separated two units.  My job was to evenly cut the firewall material and the aluminum bars holding it in place all the way across the length of the home (it stuck up about 2 feet too high) so that roofing material could then be laid flat across the units.  After I did that I felt I could do anything.  Not easy, and a little scary when the saw kicks and my buddy's hands and my legs were not far away.  Not too mention the floor was 10 feet below us.  So much fun.  After lunch, the rest of the time was primarily spent cutting plywood to size and hammering it down on the roof.

What the finished homes will look like.  These are next door and already moved into.

Pooka

My sweet Pooka turned 10 on Aug 27th.  She is strong and stubborn and bright and clever and hard working and still needs me hold her when life gets hard.  The song I wrote for Catherine when she was a baby starts:

 'Oh you are my baby 

who maybe 

will love to...'

Well I have since learned that she loves to try about anything.  I think she is amazing.

Woken up and ready for present time

Her theme: Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows

Milla took quite some time the evening before spinning cotton candy for this cake.  Two hours later we discovered that if you put cotton candy on a chocolate pie, it will absorb moisture from said pie and turn into jolly rancher syrup.  Try two we placed plastic wrap in between.  That did the trick.

Gifts: doll clothes for her american girl doll, my little ponies, books, headbands, and a scooter

A couple of months ago, Milla found this lady on line that made life like mystical creatures from clay, wire and fur.  She has figured out how to do her own and gifted her second attempt to Rin. Pretty cool.

I took Thomas to party city for some streamers and somehow came out with a unicorn piñata.

My beautiful girl the next week all done up after getting home from a from a friend's 'makeover party' at a salon.

It's garden time

I just can't even express what a thrill I get from planting things.  What is it?  Work, work, work then lots of waiting.  But when something grows from seemingly almost nothing and THRIVES when you least expect it (I've learned to NOT expect it and then I'm all the more excited when something happens), the feeling is just, well, giddiness. I feel like a little kid.

So this year I had too many starts going for my two 4x8 ft beds so I decided to throw some squash under my grape arbor (not yet covered by vines) and some pumpkins right in the heavy clay unamended soil under the rocks that surround my house.

PUMPKINS

June 26th

July 26th

August 9th (Hard to tell, but it is probably 75% larger that in the previous pic. You are giddy now too, right?)

I know, I know.  Things grow. That's what they are supposed to do.  But it still feels like such a miracle every time!

So last year, I think it was Thomas, wanted me to keep some seeds from the store bought cantaloupe.  So I dried them out and started them inside in March.  I had thought that sometimes seeds from store bought fruit are too hybridized and had sterile seeds.  Apparently this wasn't the case.  I've now got a good 5 or more cantaloupes growing...this one being the largest.  I've guided the vines out over the edge of my bed as the yellows squash are taking over IN the bed.

CANTALOUPE

I know, I know. I need to mow the lawn. My plans are too take all of the grass out of this second tier of my yard as it is a bloody pain to mow.  I am going to put in 3 shallow terraces edged with limestone .  A strip of DG for a path, a strip of steppable thyme, and a strip of bark with some plantings..still to be decided...next to the 'river'. And some other stuff.  Going to be so lovely.  Can't wait.  But the 'housing budget' is shot this year so it will have to wait until spring. :(

ANYHOW.  You are not supposed to be looking at the grass anyhow. You are supposed to be looking for the rear of the butternut squash at the lower left ('butt'of the the butternut. HaHa).  There are actually 2 in the pic and many more not pictured.  Yeah! Last year I only got 2 total so I'm pretty stoked.

BUTTERNUT

One of the greatest things this year is the abundance of bees.  Every squash flower I look in has a bee in it.  And they are nice bees too.  Don't bother me a bit. 

DA BEE

Chaos

After reading Alyssa's last post on Ahsha starting school, my experience at Elitch Gardens (downdown denver water and amusement park) last week with my family came to mind.  Reflecting on myself, i realize how nervous and tense I get when facing chaos and the unknown.  We got to the park, showed our tickets, had our bags searched (no food allowed) and entered the park.  I was confident and thus comfortable up to this point because I had read this process online previously.  Then we went to find a locker and get changed into swimsuits as we had decided to do the water park first.  The kids and Brandon were scattering in all directions, there were people everywhere, there was a sea of deck chairs that were quickly being claimed for holding peoples towels and we didn't have a plan.  Immediate panic attack.  I couldn't see the kids, Brandon was going back and forth to the locker.
I need the sunscreen. I need to know when we are meeting back up. I need everyone to just stay still. I just froze and when Brandon came up to me all I could say was, 'STOP! Stop moving! Stay with me!'.  I see this over and over.  Mom, do you remember when you were about to take me to my first job interview ever at Checkers?  I was in tears before we even left home because I thought we were going to be late and I just had no idea what to expect.  I think the managers thought someone had died, my face was so puffy when I went in.  I volunteered for 4 months at the Aurora School district before applying for a job because it helped me get accustomed to the environment and then it was no big deal.  That quote 'Observe then serve' applies to how I best approach everything in life.  Let me be a fly on the wall and don't talk to me for the first day or two or maybe three.  Then I'm all in.

Anyone else like this?

kidless

kidless day #1:
    1. drop kids off at airport at 6am.  wait to leave until 7:45 when their flight was supposed to have taken off.  During which time I lost Quizup 50 states quiz to a Brit.
    2. return home. spend 3 hours stripping old sealer off of my back patio with stripper, a putty knife, and a wire brush attached to my drill.  Took a break during which I calculated that at my current rate it would take me 10 days to finish stripping the patio before I could stain it.
   3. decided 'what's another hour' and picked out a spanish movie to watch on netflix called blancanieve (snow white) to use for my practice time.  was 5 minutes in before it occurred to me that I had yet to hear anyone say a word of spanish.  looked back at the movie description. it's a silent movie.  haha.  Picked a different movie.  ate an entire tupperware of 1/2 sugar tapioca pudding (shannon's idea).  decided 1/2 sugar doesn't probably do any good if you eat twice as much.
  4.  30 minutes in, paused the movie to work on the patio for 2 more hours.  tried out some different techniques to try to quicken the pace.  decided I wasn't going any faster. began to rain. cleaned up and puttered for a while. suddenly a thought.  'cover the whole patio in stripper.  wait 2 hours.  powerwash it.'  it has to work. my prayers are answered.
  5.  look around the house at laundry on the couch, bed unmade. sheets in dryer. dishes undone. etc. etc. 5pm.  but knowing Brandon had a late meeting and wouldn't be home until 6:30 decided to run to Home Depot for more stripper and clean when I got home.
  6. found different stripper in concrete section.  looked at instructions: cover the whole patio in stripper.  wait 2 hours.  powerwash it.  Seriously.  I was so inspired.
  7. return purse found in abandoned shopping cart to customer service. good deed done. check
  8. return home to find Brandon home early.  oops.  guess i'll get to cleaning tomorrow. ;)

Ever have one of those days that you work your rear off and don't feel you actually got anything done?

TEXAS in July

Well we had a lovely trip to Texas.  God was generous and gave us unseasonably cool weather the first week.  With the overcast skies and cactus in bloom, it was beautiful.  We spent the first 5 days hanging out with Nana and Grandpa Dave on their mission.  Sean thought it was pretty cool that he got to pass the Sacrament to all of the airmen at Sunday's service and also get to hang out with a couple of them as well as the young sister missionaries at Family Home Evening later on in the week.  Also want to note that the swimming pool at the parents apartment is rocking.  

We packed in a lot in five days.  Along with the above mentioned activities, we also toured a local cave and, of course, tried out Sea World.  The cave tour was probably the best I've ever been on.  It wasn't discovered until the late 80's or 90's and was hidden away from even the bats; meaning that the hundreds of delicately thin soda straw formations remained intact.  Really beautiful.

Keeping with tradition, I only remembered to take out my camera on a few occasions .

Ringing out their clothes after a couple of runs on Rio Loco at Sea World.  Sean nicknamed the waterfall on this ride that soaked us "Waterfall de muerte"

 

Thomas sizing up the fish that he is about to feed to the Sea Lions.  He and Catherine were glad this wasn't their lunch.

There is always time to stop to feed the ducks!  Don't you love that aquariums can get the public to pay to feed their animals?

So apparently I didn't get any pictures of myself or mom and dad.  Hmmm.  Mom, do you have any to send along?

The fifth day we met Shannon and her kids in San Marcos and got to climb the mound of dirt that was soon to be buried under Nana's garage.  Gorgeous lot.  Can't wait to go back when there is a house to sleep in!  We did see the model home, though, that had their floor plan.  The kids may have gotten a *little* rambunctious there, but I suppose they were just feeling at home.  Which is a good sign.  From their we parted ways with mom and dad and went to Austin with Shannon.  The kids got along as if they had never been apart.  We got to experience the 'back to earth' ways that we love to visit Shannon for: getting eggs straight from the chicken, eating pizza from the outdoor clay oven, and wandering her beautiful garden and all the surprises that it holds.  We also had many outings which included the picture documented trip to the lake and visit to the parkour course 'Hot lava'.  And, my personal favorite, got to renovate a bathroom. Fun! A little bit of everything: wallpaper stripping, electrical, contortions fitting Shannon and I under the sink at the same time (really regret not getting a shot of that one), drilling, and dremel cutting pipes when brute strength wasn't enough.  Thanks to my wonderful family for putting up with us!  We had a fabulous time.

High fives for Marc's expert speed maneuvering of the boat. 

This pic was taken before Rin and Ana were dumped in the lake.  3 times.

The kids were bummed when we had to stop swimming at the lake.  They had a blast.

Can you see the speedy hula hoop?

Seriously, raise your hand if you could do this as a kid! (my arm is staying down) Go Gwen!

Ana, sweet like the banana

Thomas doing that jump back and forth thing (is there a name for that?)

Sean ready to fly over to the net.

Rin and Eva discovering their upper body strength

Shannon was too fast for my camera in this pic as she crossed the balance beam

Gpa Dave getting his checkup from Catherine.