New 'Do

I absolutely love Hannah's new haircut - it suits her perfectly!






Now she's all ready for back to school in a couple weeks. Well, almost ready - there is shopping for clothes, shoes, and supplies to be done. Yikes!

Speaking of supplies, I guess I'd forgotten how much college textbooks cost. Jordan's books for this semester would have been over $700 (even for used books at the school bookstore) if I hadn't spent hours finding them on ebay and various other sites for a fraction of the cost. Seriously? I know what I'll be selling on ebay in a few months...

Busted

Most mornings before we leave for work, I write a chore list for the kids. Stuff like: water the garden, do the dishes, pick up the family room...

Well, the other night we couldn't find the remote. You know the routine - instead of walking to the cable box and turning the channel manually, we began an intense search and rescue operation. I got down to look under the couch and discovered that apparently someone's idea of picking up the family room is shoving everything under the sofa.




(The cat wasn't actually under there, she just came over to see what we found.)

When we called the kids in to clean up this mess, Shane said, "tell me you didn't just shove all that stuff under there on purpose." Hannah answered, "I didn't just shove all that stuff under there on purpose. What? You told me to say that!"

Oh, those silly kids.

House Guests

Woke up the other morning to find this downstairs:

Four giant boys crashed downstairs in the family room. Funny I didn't even hear them come in...bet they polished off an entire box of cereal once they came to.

We were in the middle of painting Jordan's room, which is why they weren't up there.

He chose this color...


and quickly realized that painting is hard work. It's all done now and looking good!

Holy Crap!

Jordan has been working on this project for months now in ceramics class, and it's finally done. The pics really don't do it justice, this thing is amazing! The top comes off kind of like a cookie jar. Dude's got talent!

Christmas: The Aftermath

We had a nice quiet Christmas, just the five of us. Missed you Mom and Dad! Big hit was the wii - we played it all night and day, and all the next day and night, and... so much fun! I've got a bit of a cold, which is giving me a great excuse to just relax and snuggle up at home. Been reading a lot, working on a hat for myself, and making some ATCs for another swap. Oh, and blowing my nose just about constantly. Blech. Watched a couple good movies this week - Step Brothers (totally stupidly hilarious), and Trans Siberian (intense!) and ate a lot of good food. Hope y'all had a great holiday, and a huge thank you to everyone who sent gifts and cards. Love you!

Oh Christmas Tree

This is our second year with the fake tree...I love it! Couldn't be easier, and no messy needles everywhere. The decorating went very smoothly, mostly because I have stopped trying to control the ornament placement. I didn't say things like, "the balls go first!" or "no, spread them out!" or "don't put that one on top!" Nope, I just sat back and let them have at it, and guess what? It worked out just fine, and no tension. The photos are dark and blurry but I kinda love them like that.




So cozy and festive, why don't we have a tree in the house all year?

Monday Again?

Friendship Bread Day 9/10: Release any accumulated air from baggie and squish to mix several times today. Tomorrow is baking day!

Made a mini album for Evan yesterday, all about yakin'. Seeing his face light up when he looked through it reminds me why I scrapbook.

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The title letters on the cover were cut by the ever talented lpmkate. I love them! Evan did his own journaling:

Injury Report

The other day at school Evan ran full on into the swing set pole. He was looking behind him to catch a ball and...wham. Poor guy had the biggest bump I've ever seen on his forehead, right between the eyes. The swelling has gone down and now he's got a bit of a black eye. Insert horribly lit photo:

It was really just a matter of time until this happened. He is always zoning in on something and forgetting to watch where he's going, it's pretty funny. But that bump wasn't funny, it was hecka big. (Those are his words)

The scarf came out like this:

Kinda fun, kinda funky. The felting process did funk it up a bit but I like it.

Going to a part tonight with my main squeeze, it's about time we had a date!

Happy Birthday!

Look who turned 8 on Saturday!

He spent the day doing his favorite things: kayaking with Dad, opening presents, eating pizza, watching a movie, and playing with friends. Perfection!

Field Trippin'

Went on a day trip yesterday with Hannah's class. We took a hike, went on a scavenger hunt, did some science stuff, had a picnic...she declared it the best field trip ever!

It was a bit chilly in the shade, but sunny and nice overall. Unlike today - it's snowing like crazy!

PS: Thanks so much for the extended loan of your camera, Tobi!

Surfing In Nevada

Yesterday, Shane played in hole 5 yesterday while we spectators chilled out catching crawdads, checking out the freaky locals, and doing a little riverside crocheting. Good times, good times.

Back To School Pics

From the first day of school-

The first week is under our belts and we're starting to get into the swing of things. Getting ready this morning went very smoothly.

I can't even believe that Jordan is a senior this year - doesn't seem possible. Especially since I'm such a youngster myself.

School Daze

Gearing up for going back to school on Monday. As always, wishing we did more fun stuff over the summer, and thinking that it went by way too quickly. It will be nice to get back into a routine though.

Hannah and Evan got the teachers they wanted, which is huge and makes me very happy. So much more exciting for them to go back. A word about supply lists - extensive.

Overheard from the front seat of the car yesterday:
E: "Who invented school?"
H: "I don't know."
E: "Did you thank them?"
H: "Huh?"
E: "Mom! If the car catches on fire can I use the squirter thing?"

Monday, Monday

*Dropped Shane off at the airport, he's on his way to Vegas for the pool tourney. You can somehow track their progress here. Bring home the $$$, Daddy-O!

*Seven days until school starts, but who's counting?

*Vacuum is broken. Bad news: yet another unexpected repair/replacement of household item. Good news: unable vacuum.

*Today Hannah asked me why farts smell bad.

*Today Evan asked me if there will be snakes on daddy's plane.

*Thoroughly enjoying Big Brother, as always. This show never fails to deliver drama and "holy crap, I can't believe he/she actually said/did that on TV" moments.

*Ditto I Love Money. The trashiest of the trashy reality TV "stars" duelling it out over cold hard cash. Real high-brow entertainment.

*NBC Olympic coverage - besides showing a TON of some sports and nothing about other events, it hasn't been too disappointing. They seemed to hold back on the dramatic athlete back stories a bit. But, yesterday the track coverage was awful. They picked one racer, zoomed in and talked about her and didn't even show the rest of the field AT ALL. It was weird, like she was running the race by herself or something. This happened twice while I was watching. I thought it very odd.

Have a swell day.

R.I.P. Hunny

Hannah's hamster, Hunny the Hammy, has expired. She is pretty devastated. She's had her for almost three years now, which is a long time for a little critter like that. On the upside, no more cage to clean. It's been a long, tear-filled day here, thought this might cheer my girl up:




It's the grand circle of life, sweetie. Sucks doesn't it?