365 week 22

i have seriously thought it was friday for the past three days. it's weird. to have no concept of what day it is really makes the week feel that much longer and more exhausting.

but, i've been told today is thursday, so ... pix. and, more importantly, pix that are in totally random order for some reason:

 

the birdhouses have been hung, and birds (and squirrels) and have started snacking.

 

i really need to come up with something they can do this summer that doesn't involve electronics.

 

love love love. they have adored each other since day one, and i love love love that.

 

henry's collection of ribbons from spring track season.

 

last track meet of the season, and it r.a.i.n.e.d. the entire meet. we were soaked.

poetry day at henry's school. his turn to read a poem he wrote. see his best bud, josh, and josh's mom's looks of amusement? here's why:

"heh, heh, heh" by henry skinner

from the poetry anthology entitled "video games"

heh, heh, heh

shhh!!

i'm sneaking downstairs to play a first-person shooter!

turn it on.

wow! wooo!

ick! barf!

weird! freaky!

uh-oh ... dad wants to play now.

we have big, fat bees at our house.

 

365 week 21

(is my math right? i know i've gotten off track here and there. this may end up being a 48 week year or something ... )

time for last week in pictures:

the day we all fell in love. with the ipad.

 

the day i went to see "sex and the city 2" with a dear friend. and we smuggled in some wee little bottles of wine.

the day the kids painted birdhouses.

 

the day we saw our kids do nothing out of the ordinary.

 

the day henry's class field trip to the state capitol included going out on the roof balcony and getting up close and personal with the gold statue atop the building.

the day i took pix of twins. and my photo-taking abilities went out the window and i was most displeased with the results.

the day my youngest worked on her backstroke technique.

 

 

voila. happy weekend! we have our last track meet of the season, so fingers crossed it won't get rained out like the last one!

365/52 week 20

check it out: i'm on time!! the upside of hot, humid days during which harper and i won't set foot outdoors and all she wants to do is play with her zhu zhu pet or color.

wonder how long she'll let me do this?

 

reminder: my car is getting old.

 

our first glimpse of the new twins' stadium. it was amazing.

 

meet harper's new pet: inchy yoshi lime inchworm. she named it.

 

another nameless pretty, blooming in my yard. (i really need to remember just what it is that i plant ...)

 

ahh, lantana! you i *do* remember! aren't you sweet, with your little butterfly buds?

 

a sweet surprises awaited me when i got back from picking up harper from school: marc sent flowers. and a sweet note. guess i can dial back on the guilt trips for awhile.

 

. . . . .

maybe next week i'll get pix of stuff other than flowers. to whit, my youngest "graduates" from preschool on friday, and our dirt officially becomes ours. there may be pix from those little events. have a happy, happy holiday weekend!

365/52 week 19

just a quickie tonight ... i'm beat. we went to see the twins play in the new stadium today - awesome (i'll share pix soon), but also 90 degrees. i'm w.i.p.e.d. out.

day five of daddy being gone. i gave up on both cooking and caring about just what the heck my kids are doing.

i spent last saturday antiquing with my friend, sue, and finding some amazing new goodies for the house (i'll tell you more about them later, including the $20 chandelier for the new mudroom. remember the mudroom?). this building did not come home with me, but it was sure pretty.

sunday morning ... and my heart melted just a little.

 

(then harper gave me the stink-eye, so i took that as my cue to get lost so they could finish reading about ariel and her beautiful pony.)

ahh ... monday.

took pix of some beautiful kiddos who are getting ready to say goodbye to their daddy, who is heading to iraq soon. we'll miss you, jay!

on an errand to macy's, harper caught sight of this bed, gave a little gasp, and ran full-steam toward it and, wrapping her arms around it's atrocious brightness, delared, "mommy!! can i please please have this hawaii bed for my new room??" picked out a new bedspread for her room in the new house. (have i mentioned her new life-plan? to move to hawaii and be a fisherman by day, beader/dress maker by night?)

mchotness came home.

 

 

and that, my friends, was week 19.

365/52 week 17. and 18.

we've had interminable rain, interminable absence from marc, and my energy and chipperness have pretty much left the building. but i have pix ... so, okay.

henry and i have been watching "jamie oliver's food revolution," and henry expressed interest in cooking the stir fry jamie got the town to cook. so i bought the cookbook, harper and i chopped the ingredients, and henry cooked the entire meal. and loved it. one less chore i need to worry about, i guess.

first track meet. henry did a great job, considering this was his first organized team sport ever. he even chose to run the mile ... amazing!!

 

typical.

 

started getting prices for tile for the bathrooms next year. i'm fixated, i tell you.

 

trying to learn headstands. funny stuff to watch, truth be told.

 

we can now accessorize the ponies. it's a good day when she gets a bow.

 

i really, really, really just want to stay in bed some days.

daddy was home for three hours this week, during which we attended harper's kindergarten (ack!!) open house and rode a school bus.

another day at the track. my son has the dubious honor of being one of the only kids able to climb the goal post.

 

what i got for mother's day.

drove by our dirt. saw the new neighbor's house going up. which further solidified the fact that we'll be the smallest house in the neighborhood.

 

the unceasing rain has made the world lush and green. it can stop now.

 

mall of america sugar rush with emma.

sending my child off for yet another day of school. in the rain.

 

 

seacrest out.

no-brainer storyboards

ever since i started writing blog content for andie smith designs, i've gotten to play with many storyboard templates that she has designed to make the photography/blogging work flow so much easier and more efficient. verdict? definitely easier and more efficient. whereas posting individual photos in a post takes a minute or so for each one, and then trying to figure out how to size it so the post flows nicely, nearly always causing an apoplectic fit when words wrap strangely, i can now pop a half a dozen or more photos into one template, upload that one image, and bam: done.

this works nicely for photographers, who want to display a few images from a shoot ...

to the mainstream blogger who just wants to share photos from a vacation ...

or the artistic talents of their amazing offspring, while totally borrowing the idea from this etsy shop ...

if you think storyboard templates sound like something that might make your life a happier, less-stressful place (and truthfully ... who doesn't think that about life??), run over to andie smith designs and check out her wares!! and i hear there might be a contest coming up soon about just this sort of thing ... ;o)

first, a. then, b.

a) i have a new article up on andiesmithdesigns.com. it may involve stuff like this:

and b) my college roommate's husband introduced me to my newest obsession: mumford & sons. am i the last person to know about these guys? they are perfection wrapped up in an british rock/folk/bluegrass package. i'm in love. i bought the cd within 24 hours of mike sending me a link to a song. thank you, mike. and this is my favorite:

 

365/52 week 16 (i think)

my orderly process was waylaid by puerto rico, so my numbering is probably off, and the order of this week's pix are most definitely off.

bygones.

and i'm back-tracking a bit, starting the day after we returned home. that seems fair.

 

harper and her cousin, kayla, hugging goodbye. (yes, harper is really that much taller than her cousin, who is almost exactly the same age ... to. the. day.)

 

marc's new toy.

 

henry's track clinic. (he's in the hoodie.) he hated shot-put.

 

my 10-year-old's feet are officially bigger than mine.

harp's turn as "star child of the day." she took her most special things: her baby chuck taylors, tiny stuffed puppy, softy blanket, yadda-yadda.

first swim meet ... she kicked 5-and-under butt.

 

painting daddy's new toy's shipping box and turning it into a modest cape cod.

 

my lilacs are amazing.

 

we've been all over the caprese salad lately. can't wait until the tomatoes are fresh off the vine!

the inspiration color/porch for our build.

 

maybe next week i can be back on my game.

 

365/52 week 14

and this is all i have for you this week. the past six days have left me fried. so, you get pix and that's it. and worse than that, the last three days of the week were all technically taken yesterday ... the camera didn't come out on tuesday or wednesday.

whatever. i can't worry about that now.

enjoy, and enjoy your weekend! i know we will ... we'll actually see marc for most of it. that's HUGE.

 

harper's easter craft from preschool. i thought it was pretty genius ... especially the little flowers.

 

green fingers, a rainbow of eggs.

 

i think i already posted this one, but tough. i like it.

these pretty little flowers showed up in my yard last week. i should know what they are ... i planted them ...  but i don't. i do like them, though, and wish i had them all across the front bed.

 

a bird in hand is worth a sweet little photo op.

 

cool sculpture at the macy's/bachman's spring garden show downtown.

per tradition, we went with our friends, heather and kate (and baby evie). kate and harp even played nice for a sec, which was misleadingly sweet.

 

okay then. friday is half over, we may see marc by dinnertime, and then we can just chill for a day and a half. then, more company. then, three more days of crazy. then ... i'll tell you monday. it needs its own post.

365/52 week 13

i'm avoiding vacuuming the basement and cleaning the upstairs bathroom in order to bring you this week's photos of the day.

you can thank me later.

it's sidewalk chalk season.

 

did a little future-master-bath-hardware daydreaming.

my new favorite piece of art, from local artist/illustrator katie daisy.

 

we blew lots and lots of bubbles.

mommy's helper.

 

yesterday was so gorgeous that the play date turned into a few hours at the beach park. heavenly! (yes, buck hill's snow is still melting. give us time ... it JUST became spring around here.)

how my little helper helped this morning. yes, that's cat food. a whole bucket of it. yes, that's clean laundry at the bottom of the steps. five loads of it. i told harper it was okay if she wanted to stop helping now.

 

the plumber came and went this morning. he also said the smell was probably just a leak in the joint, and $200 later we have new pipes leading from the laundry tub. fingers crossed that there will be no more pain involved.

my parents will be here around dinnertime, enchiladas are in the crock pot, marc should be home mid-afternoon, and the sun is shining. things are looking waaayyy up from where they were at 9 a.m.

happy april fool's day! i always forget to pull one over on the kids ... maybe next year. any suggestions?