hi friend!

missing you
& our little times together...
i can't wait to have a little time
to sit
& find out about your christmas
& tell you about mine...
but for now
i hope it was fun
& that you got everything you wanted
& had a cozy
wonderful time with your family
& friends

talk soon...
:)

& hurry down the chimney tonight...

we are crafting our way
through the days...





& loving every minute of it...
hope you are too!
:)

oh, art...

one thing i love is to look at art
i love to look
& study
& feel
& touch
(note: do not try this with the mona lisa
those alarms are very loud)
& just enjoy it
& yesterday i got to do that very thing
& who would i go do this with
but my artsy friend
jessica?
& so we did...

it was an open house & studio sale
on 2nd & blair in eugene
perhaps not the place you want to hang out
at 1am on any day of the week
but on a sunday afternoon?
perfect!
in addition to loving to look at art
& crafty things
i love to see pictures of people's studios
so the fact that this was in the studios of the actual artist?
heaven!
heaven i tell you!

the place is a big huge old
warehouse
with little studios tucked in here & there
& then there is a one side of the block
that is lined with big garage doors
each one is the street side wall for each studio
they each have their own regular door
but the big garage doors just make them all super cool
(one time i went to a tour of these
way back when aka pre-kids
during the summer
& everyone had their garage doors open
it was way cool)
& wouldn't a picture of these cool doors be just about right at this moment?
of course
but the two art lovers/bloggers who always use pictures
did not bring their cameras
well
one did but it had no memory card in it
& we will not point any fingers...
& we will now stop talking in third person...
jess & i saw some beautiful things
& some cool things
& some funny things
all great things

anyway
i picked up some business cards
& postcards of artists i liked
(& who had cards)
& also the print pictured above
an etching by michael dibitetto
(i couldn't find a picture of his stuff
or even of him anywhere to link to)
which i bought from him in the
smallest tiniest studio available i would imagine...
but it was all his
& that is marvelous!

so many cool things
& places to see
& i loved it!
& i was energized
& happy that i got to spend a day
with art
(& jessica:)

how do you like to spend your free time?
:)

where the cool kids hang out...

just toodling around etsy
(yes, again)
& look who i found...

some of you know her
& if you don't well it's about time:)

hooray andria
love seeing your stuff online:)

also
i love this little online magazine
small
& was reminded of it's adorableness
this morning by one of my favorite bloggers
just passing the goodness on to you...
cause i'm nice like that
too nice
right?
:)

there's no basement at the alamo...

on friday
i got to go to a christmas party
a real live adult christmas party
with martinis & everything...
ladies only
the invitation said that we could invite
a creative friend
& though i have many creative friends
(you know you are!)
my first thought was my friend
jessica aka jmbmommy...
some of you know her
& all of you should read her blog
it is always so funny & inspiring
& creative & fun
she quilts
she gardens
she bakes
she mommmies
she wifes
among other things...

i met jessica in 7th grade
the same year that i met
angie, darci & emily f (that's who she was then:)
but jessica & i were in mr. schroeder's home room
in nehalem
(i will not take time now
to explain what that means...
if you didn't go to
oaklea middle school
you will just have to remain puzzled...)
ah mr schroeder
he was a handsome, funny teacher
reminded me of my favorite teacher
mr. dunn
fourth grade
did kermit the frog impressions...
but this is not about the fact
that all of my favorite teacher were males
no not another counseling session
(though ironic that i am now
married to a handsome male teacher, no?)
this is about meeting jessica

i was new to the school that year
my 8th grade year
at my other school
i had gone to school with the same people
for seven years
& beside the fact that i made
friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss
& sold them out of my swatch case
i was a pretty normal regular girl...
oh & the fact that about halfway through
my seventh grade year
two of my friends took me aside
& said that they didn't want
to be friends with me anymore
because i was too nice
yep...
they are both in jail now
for being big meanies
or that's what i like to think...

anyway
back to the
the new school
i didn't know anyone
& apparently this is a good thing sometimes
i was really tall
& i wore three or four swatches at a time
i loved to wear earrings that
were different but matching
like i had one pair that was a fly & a fly swatter
i loved gumby
& i had these converse tennies
that i had decorated with paper clips
& puffy paint
&
(i swear to you this i the truth)
to this day if i run into someone
& we start talking about middle school
they will always bring up those shoes
hello
yes
that's me
kooky from day one...
anyway
all of this did not scare jessica away
we were in a home room with some of the coolios
tekoah & mark & dave & tracy
but we decided to march to our own drummer
& often that drummer would be pee-wee herman
(& please give us a little credit
this was before 'the incident'
& no i will not be linking to the incident)
anyway
one day
jessica came to school, with a brown bag
& told me that from then on
we would have a word of the day
& we would draw it from the bag each morning
& so
(i am so serious)
we started having a little group of people
who would crowd around our lockers
to find out the word of the day
& then when someone said it
during the day everyone would have to scream
so you would walk by someone in the hall
& say 'that shirt you're wearing is very BRIGHT'
& you would both scream
yes other people thought we were nuts
yes maybe we were
but having fun in middle school just being yourself?
priceless


we were friends through college
& even lived with each other
twice
& then we didn't talk for quite a few years
(yes, i was that good of a room mate
we lived together & then we never spoke again.
nice)

& then as luck & God would have it
(oh i guess that should be the other way around...)
we met up again
& are back to friends
we emailed about those apart years
never actually speaking about it
just back & forth emails with some healing
& crying stuck in for good measure
is that a girl thing?
or just a girls-who-loved-pee-wee thing?

anyway
our two youngest kiddos are one day apart
& we are crafty friends now
emailing great links to each other
& talking about podcasts
& quilting
(i talk about it, she actually does it)
& kids
& life

so friday night
we drove together to the party
& got to talk
& then inside the party
she just was the greatest plus one ever
(i think i will make her a shirt)
i never worried about going to get a drink
& leaving her stranded
she would just strike up a conversation
with who was around
& then i would come back
& she would introduce me
& she is just so funny
& totally likeable
& asks people about themselves
she is just great

as we were driving home
i mentioned this
& she said that she gets nervous
doing that
but she does it because she knows
that other people are feeling
nervous too
or out of the loop
or just don't know anyone
so she just steps out

i love this about jessica
she is herself
doing what she does
but not to the detriment of other people
not in a
'this is just who i am
& if you have a problem with it you can suck it'
kind of way
but more in a
'can't we all just get along'
sort of way
but not at all smarmy...

okay
so bottom line
i love my friend jessica
& i am so happy to know her again
minus the converse & word of the day
(though you won't be surprised to know
that i do have the shoes still...
& if i dig deep enough i just might
find that brown bag too...)

ps i searched for a picture of us in middle school...
no luck
what?
this is not possible
they have to be someplace
oh well
college will have to do...
odd fact:
i could not find a single picture of us
just smiling
& looking like normal girls
we were either squished in with others
or eating corndogs...
come to think of it
maybe that is normal...
:)

pps reading this over
i am thinking of so many great times we had
maybe i should start a 'my friend jessica' blog
i'll call it 'my favorite plus one'
:)

love you jess!
friends forever:)
& since there is very little chance
that we will live together again
i think it will stick this time:)

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!
:)

boys don't make passes...

so i know you've been wondering...
just dying
can't wait to find out
what i am going to be for halloween
because in the past
i have really done it up
1990- grumpy old lady

1995-noah's wife

1996-night & day
i was a wild one...

2000-vincent van gogh
(missing ear & everything
& i can't find a picture
grrr....
makes me want to
go paint a picture of sunflowers or something...)
2004-tired mom

2005-tired pregnant mom

2006-tired mom of two
(the little dino ran away gefore we could get his picture)

& also this
circa 1980 age 6

& i know there is a picture that proves that i was right!
but i can't find it
of course...

well, it seems that this year
the universe has given me a costume
& i didn't even have to ask...
thanks, universe!
on the way to church on sunday
i reached up to adjust my glasses
& CRAAACK
they broke in half
(actually it was more like
*tink* they broke in half
but as my life flashed before my eyes
the fact that i have no contacts
& that i have been thinking that i need to
make an appointment to get some
& the little fact
that
i
can
not
see
without the aid of glass or tiny pieces of plastic
(or whatever contacts are made out of)
the sound might as well have been earth shattering)
change of plans
to safeway we go
i wait in the car
holding both sides of my glasses on
with both hands
so that i can tell the two kids in the backseat apart
(i told brian
'if i didn't have to carry a purse
or hold a child
or open a door
or exist in the outside world
i would be just fine!')
my knight emerges from the store
with his crafty self
& some white athletic tape
& proceeds to fix me up
merging the two sides in a lovely wrap around
& around
& around technique
my hero...
i added my own craftyness
black sharpie
(this resulted in a little example of
the difference between men & women...
i was ever so artfully coloring the white tape with black sharpie
& brian said that it called attention to it
exact words:
'when you have a really big zit
it's better to just leave it
than to put a bunch of cover-up on it.
the cover-up just calls attention to it'
i say bless his heart
with the utmost sincerity
& i know that he believes it is better to not do the cover-up
but ladies?
hello?
are you with me?
sharpie it is!)
anyway
i need your help...
& i know you are quippy, quirky little lads & lassies
(broken glasses turn me irish...)
so help me out
with a gift like this:

what should i be?
(& no 'revenge of the nerds'.
it is obvious
& i already said it
pretty much the moment i
put on my glasses & looked in the mirror

:)

ps now you can see why i said the universe gave me the gift
& not God
i like God too much to blame this on him...

pps the odd angle is because i was
holding the camera as far up & away as i could...
no need to add double chin to this unfortunateness...
also you may ask yourself
why am i looking off to the side?
the world may never know
but the looking straight on one was a little creepy
oh!
it's halloween
shoulda done creepy!
darn!
next time!

ppps title of this blog:
not true

:)

i keep on fallin'

in

love

with

you...

happy fall!

see you soon...

:)