thank you mrs. g for being our guest speaker today
really great information...
okay class so what have we learned? whitney?

umm to renew your drivers license
as soon as the postcard comes in the mail?

good...anyone else? bridger?

not to let your 20 month old play with your wallet.

yes, yes. keely?

& if you do let her play with it
take your drivers license out first
or it will just disappear
& you will never find it again
ever

& what about timing? ashton?

remember that if your
drivers license expires in august of 2006
& you take it in to renew it in november of 2007
you will have to take the written test
& the driving test over again.
& that if you had been pulled over in that time your car would have been towed
& you would be standing on the side of the road
with two little kids
& probably it would be raining
& you would feel like a total bonehead

okay ashton, that was unnecessary
mrs. g knows that she is lucky that never happened

anyone else?
yes, braxton?

don't try to start the car in second gear during
your driving test

true.
very true.
carson?

that mrs. g should be very proud
for getting a 95 on her driving test
maybe not so much for getting 80% on her written
but hey it's still passing

thank you, carson...
well, mrs. g thanks for telling the class
about all of that real world experience
& congratulations on getting your drivers license
that must feel really great

oh totally
but now i need to get to algebra
i've heard that the test today is going to be off the chain...
that's a saying right?

:)

all information in this post is
absolutely true
& absolutely factual
& absolutely embarrassing

:)

the most wonderful time of the year...

yesterday was crafty day
for me
how happy was i?
first off i got to go to a wreath making party
so much fun
my friend shari hosted at her adorable house
fully decorated for christmas
seriously
fully...
she provided the branches
& everyone brought things to contribute
like pinecones
& ribbons
& holly
& other branches
it was so fun
i got totally lost in the making
one of my favorite things to get lost in...

& i came home with
two wreaths!
hooray!
thanks shari!
:)
(shari has pictures on her blog
of everyone & their wreaths
if you need a little inspiration...
click on her blue name up there to see them)

then i came home
all full of holiday spirit
to a husband all full of holiday spirit
in the wood shop
cutting out trees for us to paint
hooray!

(miss m does not have a head wound
by the way...
just some very creative make-up
application...)
:)


check out the green one
i primed it
& miss m just swiped at it with the brush
& check it out
kinda contemporary cool...

plus at shari's house
i saw this great quote...

crafty day
please come visit again...
:)

ps
i have officially replaced
my name is earl
with samantha who?
on my current list of favorite tv shows
seriously
check it out
online
too funny
:)

hang ten...

just wandering around the internet & wanted to share...

this is a really cute site
(i am a sucker for good design)
& their mission statement is:
a company dedicated to enriching the play and learning experiences of preschool children at home by providing families with the products, tools, and experiences they need to support their children's journey toward becoming life-long learners and confident, independent adults.
& this is too cute...
& no i am not actually buying anything from this site
but a girl can dream...
:)

this is such a neat idea!
& would be super fun to make yourself too
though i love the thought of
supporting a mama with a great idea...

& if you're having a hard time
figuring out what you want for christmas
perhaps this?
(or just send me a box
& i will decorate it
& i will do it for half the price
(generous, i know...
that's just the kind of girl i am:)

cool ad here
(i do love my honda
& i don't get any money to say so...)

& last but not least
my favorite place to get lost
love these
& this
& these
& this
& this guide
& this entire shop...so great
oh just go to my favorites right here
if you want a nice start
then start clicking
& get ready to have some fun...
it's so completely inspiring...
great ideas
& so nice to support people who are making things
with their own two hands...
i'm hoping i can buy something or two this month:)
hoping
hoping
always hoping...


:)

& bouquets of newly sharpened pencils...

"happy thanksgiving....
now you're supposed to say
happy thanksgiving back"

"happy thanksgiving back"
(you've got mail)


from connecticut to canada
(hi jamie! hi colleen!)
& all points between, around & through
(i think that includes everyone:)
have a great day!
i am thankful for you all...
everyday
so so thankful

:)

next: giant shoes...

so i've been able to be crafty lately
i've always got things floating around
in my noggin
but taking time away from
momming
& wifing
& sleeping
& officing
& staring off into spacing
& many other things
that i let get in the way of being crafty & arty
that i wish didn't...
but that's another blog
another counseling session...

last week i went to my fabric stash
& was looking for something
& came upon miss m's stocking from last year
only miss m's
because no one else has one
(gasp!)
because i gave them to goodwill
(gasp!)
because i wanted to force myself
to make new ones
this year
(gasp!)
(help i'm hyperventilating...)
i am so happy when things like this happen
usually the scenerio would be
decorating for christmas
fa
ornaments
la
lights
la
tree skirt
la
wreath
la
christmas dishes
la
stockings...
la
stockings?
la
la
where are the stockings?
oh dear...
me.
felt.
sewing machine.
midnight.
december 23rd.
(in my fake scenerio i make them in
time to hang them up empty
before they get filled)

anyway
that is not what happened
but aren't you glad i took
38 seconds out of your blogging life to
pretend?
what did happen:
i got inspired!
i got excited!
i got busy!
& i made them all
brian:

(i know...
bad lighting
& not enough photoshop...)
Q:

(i know bad lighting
& too much photo shop
or too much 1987 neon felt)
miss merra sue...

& me:


the buttons on each one
are this little idea i came up with
when brian & i got married...
we each choose one button each year to add
to our stocking
so each year the look changes a little
& we get to keep track of all of our christmases
through the magic of holey notions
so brian & mine each have ten buttons this year
pretty cool!
the neat thing too is that Q is
old enough to choose his own buttons
so i poured the buttons onto a cookie sheet
so that he could see them better
& he looked through them to find the ones he liked
'one'
'two'
& then the stagnant nature of the buttons got to him
don't they move?
don't they do anything?
i could see his brain thinking...
out comes a golf ball
& 'racing flying buttons' is born
have i ever mentioned how much i like having a boy?
a different world i tell you...

& i was so excited about my stocking in particular
because i have a big jar of buttons
& we play with them
& the kids love them
& we pick out all of the red ones
or the heart shaped ones
or whatever
anyway
i've been collecting them for a long long time
& in my card business heyday
i had lots of jars of them...
then when i was done
with that particular venture
i got rid of a bunch
but not before i went through & chose my favorites...
okay
so in the jar were some really big ones
like for coats maybe
or a shirt for a fairy tale giant...
so i was deciding each design
miss m already had fun lines
& plaid for brian
& i was going to do dots for Q
& secretly i was jealous
i love dots
& circles
but he's a boy
& i can't exactly do hearts & flowers
so fine!
first born son
you have the dots!
9 hours of labor & now the dots...
but as i was sewing brian's Q was helping
& he said he wanted one just like daddy
not circles
woohoo!
squares for Q
circles for me!
then
THEN!
as we were looking through buttons
another idea!
use the giant buttons as my dots!
oh the joy!
ten giant buttons!

& then i will add other sizes as the years come...
oh joy!
i am not being sarcastic
i really get this excited about buttons...
also
since we were working on christmas
a little of this

jt always makes everything a little better...

& really they did not take that long at all
the nice thing about felt is that it doesn't fray
so no hemming or hawwing
(sorry couldn't help myself)
but besides the felt
i'm quite sure that the reason
the sewing flew was
this

the weight that had been lifted from my shoulders...
still have that 10 inch nest of hair sitting
in a ziplock on the night table...
yummm

:)

it's a tough one...

i have this problem
this issue
a personality trait
a character flaw...
i put things off
waiting for just the right timing
i don't email back when i get awesome long
information filled emails
(hi kambria!)
i don't call people back
when they call to say 'hi'
& 'i just wanted to see how you are doing'
(hi gwen!)
because i'm waiting for a window
in which there is no back ground music that include the words
wheels, bus or round & round
& just for the sake of this having three items on the list
let just say that i put off writing
blogs because i want to have the
perfect amount of time
the perfect pictures
the perfect way to express just
how wonderful & life changing
our trip to portland
my scrapbook class
the first visit to chuck e. cheese
that one piece of pizza
or my hair cut
was
just for the sake of argument
let's say that i think
i need this perfect timing
& let's just say that i have
5 emails in a folder marked
'need to write back!!!!!'
& i have forgotten to call back dear friends
& that i have actually had some wonderful experiences
in the past few weeks
& have a great list in my head
with adorable anticdotes
(spell check says that is spelled wrong
it gives me no choices
if i take out the c it would be antidotes
maybe spell check is trying to tell me something...)
& details to make you feel like you were there
with all of the neon lights
& creepy giant mouse wandering around
the descriptions were so good
you could just reach out & touch his plastic nose
& smell the pizza & dirty socks...
glorious i tell you!

so the character flaw
waiting for the perfect moment
having good intentions
but no follow through
choosing to do other things
like sleep
silly!
this can be cured!
i can write thoughful yet brief emails to those i love
yet have not seen for months
neigh years
(i went with the horse spelling on that one
i have no idea if it's right
but i like horses
& some of you do too
i know it because i read your blogs...)
i can call people back!
actually i really hate talking on the phone
so maybe i'll wait on this one...
baby steps
& i need to keep one character flaw
to keep myself humble
(oh! my sides ache from the sarcasm!)

change!
& it will start today
watch out world...
i'm coming & i'm bringing
details & pictures & thoughtful descriptions
& spelling errors!
hooray!
i'm cured

& so in honor of this
yet another counseling session down
i will give to you
my friends
& family
& people i don't know but love just the same
the list of blog
piled up in my head no more
now on the screen
cliff's notes version

hiking through the 'woods' with captain auntie kate=fun

chuck e. cheese=wild

kate cutting off 10 inches of my hair=freeing

hanging out at sip & kranz with my ultracool friend gwen & her kids & my ubercool sister in the pearl with my super cool kids & moderately cool self=cool

visiting green frog with aforementioned coolness=incredible

wilsonville playground with grandma rona=awesome

giving grandma rona a heart attack when Q jumped off a 6 foot tall rock wall=scary (for all involved including Q)

driving 45 minutes to ikea waiting 20 minutes to return $14 worth of merchandise & then driving 45 minutes back=not worth it

getting to see & hear rob bell speak live & in person=life changing (really)

cheesecake factory with brian, dad, kate & ryan=good times

coffee & happy face pancakes with grandma rona after church at shari's in which the kids colored on paper & windows (that was the little girl elf) while parents ate happy face pancakes=pushing it a little

driving home sunday afternoon with tired, crabby kiddos=mind numbing

looking in the back seat when kids finally fell asleep=heart melting

hanging out with friends monday night=wonderful

the duck football game=excruciating (thanks for the word rach!)

the crafty playtime that i helped organize in october=really great

the one that i did in august=really great too

going to see 'dan in real life' by myself the day before halloween & loving it=relaxing

that one time i met up with friends at sweet life & closed the place down=excellent

Q's third birthday that i never blogged=rad (i'm running out of descriptive words)

the movie robots=visually stunning

the first time miss m said mommy=heart melting

that one piece of pizza=delish

getting all of that off my brain=priceless

:)

trying

to find my way back
to the computer
trying
trying
trying...

(treking with miss m, captain auntie kate & captain Q)
:)

a four thousand word essay on my life right now...

because
you know
a picture is worth...



:)

it was a dark & stormy night...

actually
surprisingly
it was not
well it was dark
but that's just the nature of night
(didn't know you were getting a science lesson today did you?)
trick or treating was too fun
(thanks for coming with us grammy!)
this house does a crazy garage display every year...
cool & scary...

our little race car man

things you can't see in this picture:
-costume...excuse me, UNIFORM has been worn every day since it was purchased 10 days before
-uniform has three big rips at the seams & one hole in the leg
from that constant love...
things you can see:
-hair slicked back to show how fast he drives his race car
-super happy boy

& race car man's sister
ah yes
race car man's sister...
originally she was to be a bee...
& you can see how well that went...

every time i would come near her with the costume she would yell
'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'
on halloween i just decided i would wrestle her into it
& see if i could distract her enough that she would forget
she was wearing it...
what that got us:
blown out eardrums for me
some candy for her
& a new costume...
valley girl circa 1984

(we trick or treated at great grandma's house...
thanks great grandma!)
notice the vans?
the leggings?
the turned up collar?
the high side pony tail?
oh how i loved putting this together...
then as we left to go trick ot treating
it was a little cold
so we got her a coat
then a hat
then she grabbed her stroller as we left
& magically transformed into
little mommy
which is the most accurate costume for her anyway...

so in all
this little sweetie had three
THREE!
costumes...
can you imagine how the first day of middle school, will be?
lord help us all
:)

halloween utterings from a three year old:
'Q what were the other kids in your class dressed up like?'
'spider man, two buzz light years & an injured turtle'
(that's a pretty specific costume, buddy)

while we were standing at the corner
waiting to cross the street
& a big group of kids walked by
'really great costumes guys! really great!'
(third grade teacher in the making...)

as we left a house
that had a little fountain near the door
'hey mom that fountain sounds like someone is peeing!'
(i'm sure that is just the effect they were going for...)

hope you all had fun!
:)

ps thanks for the costume suggestions...
i ended up going as a tired mom of two
with broken glasses
two years in a row!
:)