dinner time....

the worst thing about being a stay at home mom
is deciding what to make for dinner
let me rephrase that
the worst thing about being a mom
is deciding what to make for dinner
oops
one more time…
the worst thing about being the person who cooks dinner
is deciding what to cook for dinner

in my opinion
(which i guess is kind-of what this blog is about:)

beyond
laundry
(& believe me we have lots of it)
& diapers
(2 sets of those)
& vaccuming
(brian does that)
& general cleaning
(i try!)
& picking up a matchbox car every foot & a half
(more like inch & a half)

the dinner thing kills me

the funny thing is that it sneaks up on me almost every day
(as if we only eat dinner every once in a while)
usually while i’m making my own lunch
(which i have ever so cleverly designated
to be right after the kids go down for afternoon nap
so that i may dine in peace
while reading blogs:)

so I’m trying to figure out what i want for lunch
& what i want to eat in 5 hours for dinner
& what brian will like
& what Q will eat 2 bites of & then
‘scuze pees?’
& can i also put a prayer in there
that miss M either sleeps or just hangs out happily
in her bouncy seat
(on the table where we are eating)
instead of starting to cry the minute i sit down to eat

i know that all mothers know this
but i still find it very fascinating
that if it took me 5 minutes or 5 hours to make dinner
she would be happy bouncing until
the minute my butt hits the dining room chair
mystery of the universe…


anyway
before the 2nd love of our lives entered
i was making Rachel Ray stuff
it was so fun
now i can’t even think about dinner
until it is actually dinner time
‘hmmm
what can i make with
tortillas
spaghetti sauce
graham crackers
& canned fruit cocktail?’
(want to invite me to your next potluck don’t you?)
i’m not blaming merra, of course
i’m blaming whoever stopped bringing us meals when she was born
i think that should last at least the first year:)

i know i should plan meals out months in advance
& shop for everything at once
but when i’ve got a minute to myself
i would rather do something selfish
like brush my teeth
& going to costco…
forget it
i get way too distracted to stick to the list
(you can eat the 2nd season of ‘house’ on dvd for dinner right?)
any tips from my friends out there?

have a lovely day
i’m off to make
fruity spaghetti burritos with graham crackers for dessert….

:)

a new one...

two sweet daughters already
&
a third pregnancy
with
a surprise ending

new things
& experiences
a girl would never know
if God
had not sent
a boy
of her very own



allow me to introduce
henry owen
8 pounds 3ounces
20 1/2 inches
of pure love
:)
congratulations to my dear friend, rachael
so happy for you
you are going to love having a boy:)

one boy's prayer...

said during night time prayers
by mr. Quinn:

'God bless the garbage truck"

amen...



:)

Subscription addiction...

i love magazines
oh how i love magazines

they are the reason i love design

they are the reason i know celebrity gossip
(okay granted I was out of the loop for a few weeks
so much so that brian casually said to me one day
'did britney get in trouble for her kid not being in a car seat?'
'‘what?' i said
'‘you don'’t know about that? wow, even i knew about that...'…see? have some kids
& the random-facts-about-celebrities part of your brain vanishes:)

back to magazines....
they are the reason i haven'’t read a book for my book club in 3 months
(oh but i still go to the meetings
just for the adult conversation without toddlers quotient)

they are the reason i know that sarah jessica parker wore a $4,000 dress to p.diddy'’s party...…
they are the reason i still haven'’t put pictures up in our living room
(too many good ideas)...…
they are the reason i know that if merra's poop is blue I should call the doctor...…
they are the reason i know the best mascara to buy ...…
they are the reason i know that stitching on scrapbook pages is big right now ...…
they are the reason i know that
if we ever have a pool in our back yard
there is a really cute floaty chair at crate & barrel
that also has matching place mats...…
they are the reason i know that you shouldn'’t wear horizontal striped pants...…

goodness
where would I be without them?
(reading my book club book I suppose)

so thank you to the publishers of
US & people
Creating keepsakes, simple scrapbooks, scrapbooks etc & scrapbook answers
In style & lucky
Home companion, cottage living, country home, blueprint & domino
time & newsweek
parents, parenting, child & American baby
real simple & redbook

you make my walk to the mail box
& my solo outings to barnes & noble
wonderful trips indeed...…
:)

happy mama day!

mother's day is always bittersweet for me
my dear sweet mom
died in 1997
almost 9 years ago
wow
can't believe it's been that long...
she was just wonderful
a great mom
role model
& friend
here's to susan thayer bressi
she's having fun where she is
making heaven a better place:)



now that i am a mom
it is different
it's not as much about loss
as gain
i gained those two little sweeties
who make me a mommy
thanks Q & miss m
you make everyday better:)


& a few other moms i want to mention...


my step mom, tam
oh boy
she is a gem
we are so blessed
that God sent her to my dad
she would do anything for any of us
(& pretty much has:)
she is a good friend too
don't know what we would do without her:)
tam, you are a gift
sent straight from heaven:)






my mother-in-law, rona
besides the fact that she gave birth to & raised
my favorite guy
she is a great woman
& she is just so good to us
drives down just to see us
& cooks
& plays
& talks
& cooks
& laughs
& watches
& tickles
& shops
(one time she went grocery shopping
& brought back enough groceries
to fill our freezer
fridge
& cupboards
can you even imagaine?
it was awesome)
& gives
& is going to wash our windows this summer
(she likes to do it!)
& loves
& loves
& loves
thanks rona!
we love you!



my grandma
oh goodness
what do i say about her?
too much to write
she is just precious
our family is so lucky to have her as our matriarch
(she would laugh at that description;)
she reminds me
that i need to just be myself
& enjoy life
& not apologize for it
(& to watch cooking shows even if i don't actually cook;)
i love you grandma!



& my 2 best mama friends
(though to be accurate
we were friends before we were mama's too:)





angie & rachael
they help
& laugh
& give advice
& make it fun
& are honest
& get me through
& show me how it's done
thanks girls
being a mom
would be so much less fun without you!
i love you guys:)

sleep is overrated...

last night i stayed up until 2am
(is that really how you say it?
or should it be
i stayed up until 2am
yes
i think that's it!)

why would i do such a thing?
you ask
or you may assume
it has to do with the 7 week old bundle
sleeping in the next room

nope
i was scrapbooking on photoshop elements 4
& i gotta say
it rocks
i am totally hooked

i will never stop scrapbooking traditionally
(you know with actual stuff)
but playing around on the computer
totally brought me back to the days when
i wanted to be a graphic designer

i love fonts
i have 350 right now
& i want more
give me more!
(gee i wonder where Q gets
his hoarding of matchbox cars gene?)

so here are a few i've been working on
not too amazing
but a boatload of fun to make

love it
love it
love it
:)

big trouble...

oh goodness
i think we might be in trouble
i think this face is going to get us

before you were born it was bad enough
walking into old navy
(or target or the gap)
all those dresses
& sweet little shirts
& perfect little jeans
& the shoes
i could write for days about the shoes
(& probably will later…)

but now this

the face
sweet little nose
perfect little lips
& the eyes

grandma ro has wondered out loud what you will be into
your brother
is all over matchbox cars
there are not enough matchbox cars
in the known universe for him
(& by the way they hide & multiply & then reappear in our house
I wouldn’t be surprised
if there is a yet to be discovered planet
just piled with matchbox cars)

of course a few things come to mind
my little ponies
polly pockets
barbies
(to the horror of grandmothers everywhere
who fought for the feminist movement)
& bratz
(to the horror of any mom
who doesn’t even want
their little girl to know
that halter tops & low-low rise jeans exist
much less on a doll)

personally I’m secretly
planning to get you into art supplies
first, of course, crayons
then play-doh
then paint
then the ‘make-your- kid-into-the-next-picasso’ art set
I’ll buy you
as many paint brushes as you can handle

but back to the trouble

the truth is with that little face
you’re going to be able
to get just about whatever you want
& when your brother teaches you
the thing that gets him
the legions of cars/trucks/vans/tractors
(“just look up at them sweetly & say ‘peas?’
even if you know how to say the L
DON’T
they fall for the peas every time”)
well, you’ll be the CEO of Toys R Us
by the time you’re 5

& I’ll be cheering you on
from the art section…

inside the box...

you look at it
you see a box
a white box
a box that held some stuff from costco
a box that is now empty
a box that is sitting by the door
a box that is ready to be recycled

you’d be wrong though


it is a vehicle
(“push! push!”)
it is a matchbox car storage place
it is a new place to relax
it is a place to explore

It’s not just a box
It’s a 2 year old experience

paper+glue+pictures=love

i love art
i love crafts
i love taking pictures
therefore
i love to scrapbook
it just makes me happy
to put together pictures
& paper
& glue
& history
& paint
& ribbon
& words

so i will be sharing
scrapbook pages periodically
because
did i mention?
i really love to scrapbook

david scissorhands

Q got his haircut yesterday
third haircut
first time that i took pictures

the first haircut
was pretty bad
the cut was fine
the experience...
not so good
first off
their rule is
kids can't sit on parents laps
what is up with that?
'okay honey, i'm going to leave you in this giant chair
while some one you've never seen before
covers you with a big sheet &
points scissors at your head'
nice
he had to be bribed
but even that didn't keep him from crying the whole time
poor little guy

second time
3 days after miss merra was born
b took him
& he did great
but alas no pictures
except
(there is always an except isn't there?)
the girl hardly cut the back
not only was that putting him on a one way train to mullet townbut
it's a consperacy i say
to get us back there every week
cause it grows fast

this time my step mom was getting her hair done
by the guy who has cut her hair
for years
so she said
bring him by


& it was so good
david just had him sit in my lap
then he went into
fast forward mode
i like how in this picture
his hands are blurry
cause not even a camera can catch his hands at rest

Q might not look so happy
but believe me
it's 80 times better than:
scared
crying
sucker
bits of hair
not a good combo

it was done so fast
& then he got to sit on grammy's lap
while she got hers done

so good
thank you
to hairdresser david
& your robo scissors
;)

ps while i am very happy
that Q is no longer
in the first stages
of a mullet
it is always a little sad to see
a new haircut
makes him look like
such a big boy..

you might be an oregonian if...

on the first sunny week of the spring
you plan a trip to the coast
it's not like there won't be other sunny times
like usually the whole summer
but never underestimate 6 stir crazy moms
& a sunny day

~~~~~~~~~~~
we drove over
to the coast
6 moms
11 kids
on a mission
to forget
to run
to laugh
to play
to explore

we drove over
& talked
& remembered
& smiled
& found out
& thought
& reveled

we drove back
happy
refreshed
ready
for more
~~~~~~~~~

i love this picture...
doesn't it just say
come join us
we are cute & ready for anything...


& we were cute
& happily i was ready for anything
namely
my dear little Q
getting absolutely soaked in a tide pool
& once again ending up bottomless
on the beach
(also happened in cali at thanksgiving;)

b & i were talking last night
about mr.Q
& the best way to describe him is
that boy loves life
no worries
no cares
no rules (until i arrive & spoil his fun:)
he just loves everything


miss merra
slept the entire time we were on the actual beach
in the bjorn
that was a blessing on top of a blessing
breastfeeding on the beach
not in my top ten

it was a fun time
we have a great play group
pretty laid back
up for fun

i am quite thankful for it too...
:)

so them

these are my guys
brian & Quinn
& this picture is so them
they are
wild & crazy
loud & fun
teasing & laughing
screaming & hugging

every morning when Q wakes up he says
'daddy work'
& he says it every once in a while throughout the day
i just love that he thinks of his daddy
between the
trucks
& balls
& snacks
& elmo
daddy is right there
top of the list

& brian has said more than once
that he doesn't have the same need to stay
at school
& plan
as he did before Q arrived

he wants to be home
to hang out with
Q
& just be my guys