Tea Parties and Ballerinas

You should always buy an old lady house.  Old lady houses are fabulous, not just because they've usually been meticulously maintained, have excellent taste in velour/foiled wallpaper, but because the gardens are FABULOUS.  Right now in the planter behind the pear tree we have a riot of hot pink roses in bloom.  To celebrate, the girls made a fort (which means I made a fort for them, then they made a butcher paper sign for it & dragged all their crap outside.)

In case you don't know already, I am an idiot.  We had two spectacular things going on this week.  And somehow I didn't realize till last Friday that they were BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.  I was so sad.  I look forward to the girl's dance recitals all year.  And we definitely weren't going to miss Gretchen's BFF's birthday party.  It was Alice In Wonderland themed.  And is was amazing.

Thanks to Auntie Krista, and waaaaaaaaay too much coordinating, we were able to make it work.  Gretchen & I went to BFF's house to decorate at 8:30 am.  Colby took Ella straight to the recital.  Krista came & got Gretchen & dropped her off to the recital. 

 I stayed till the cake (DUDE, CHECK OUT THAT CAKE.  BFF's mom must love her.  And be awesome.  {yes to both}).

 Hannah approved.

 Then I raced downtown to the recital.  I got there literally LITERALLY 15 seconds before Gretchen started her dance.  Thanks Jen for sending me this backstage photo!

 I made it to a seat by the time Ella went on, 5 minutes later.  Awww, look at how graceful she is!

 Apparently this is how Ballerina's stand.  Cause when I told her to do a Ballerina pose, this is what I got.

Thanks to Jennifer, we also now have this AWESOME VIDEO of the recital's Grand Finale.  Now....can you find Gretchen?  (HA!)  (PS - Gotta love that somewhere in that crowd of ballerina's some poor kid is just sobbing her heart out....)



Then we collected Gretchen's car seat from Krista and raced back to BFF's house to help clean up (below is their version of a ballerina pose).  Gretchen was sad her hair wasn't hot pink, so BFF's mom painted it right after this photo.  And it didn't all come out in the shower this morning, so her hair was still pink for church.  It was cute.  Maybe that's why her friend in Sunday School couldn't keep his hands (or lips) off her today. 

That was our first real week of summer.  Not quite as much sitting around and relaxing as I thought.  But still fun.  Maybe THIS WEEK we'll sit at home all day and do nothing....  (ha).

The Graduates

Gretchen and her BFF got glammed up for their playdate.  She looked so awesome in the earrings that we had to send them home with her.  Luckily Adrianne will restock our glam-box with a new stash of AWESOME at next sample sale.  Are you jealous of how fun their playdates are?  I know, I am too.  I want a weekly playdate filled with this much entertainment!  (Though to be honest, just watching them play is entertainment enough.  Their drama could put the telenovelas to shame.  For reals.)

We've found a lot of treasures as we clean out piles of stuff from storage.  Like this swing, now hanging from a beam over our covered patio.  This swing has provided hours of entertainment. 

It's also provided some pain too.  It came untied and dropped Ella's BFF onto the patio mid-swing.  We now have a No Friends On The Dangerous Swing rule.  My kids are ok, of course.  Because Danger is a middle name.  In our family.  For certain babies.

I found some big 'ol canvas in storage (see?  Storage is the gift that keeps on giving.  All you have to do is put stuff away for 5 years and you'll be amazed at what comes out.)  Gretchen & I made a Jackson Pollock painting for the living room.  She was ridiculously good at it.  Far better than me.

Speaking of art, if you're in the Seattle Area, you might accidentally bump into some graffitti art that looks strikingly similar to Ella and Gretchen's dad...

Apparently Uncle Tyler & Auntie Meghan saw a poster very similar to this one on their way to the store the other day.  "Hey, is that COLBY?"  Yes, yes it is.  Obey Colby.  Obey him.  We got our own copy in the mail this week from the artist's wife. It's going on our picture wall tomorrow.  And then maybe the 2nd copy will end up downtown near the river.  If I can bear to part with it.  (I don't think I can.  I love it too much.)

Who knew that 3 miles from our house there was a super cool nature center?  Not me!  But luckily someone at Ella's school did!  I helped drive for the field trip.  Here they are looking at pond water.

This may or may not be the boy who held her hand secretly under the table... Also, I'm not sure who's backpack that is.  It's not ours. 

Ours is pink with hearts.  See?  Yeah, the one with random stuffed animals hanging off it.  That I am carrying.  Not my kids.  Uh huh. 

Second grade ended on Tuesday.  Can you believe it?  Neither can I.  The kids were really upset about it, as you can see.  Ella had a speaking part in the school play.  She was a Gardener in the Garden Show.  I think we could all pretty much recite the whole play by the time her performance came around.  We'll be singing songs about compost for years to come.  It'll be like when Aunt Adrianne was the Shoemaker's wife in her school play.  I STILL REMEMBER HER LINES!!!  "Oh Hans, we are so hungry and there are still so many shoes to finish.  Whatever will we do..."  (Shoot, maybe I don't remember.  I bet she does though...  Adrianne, type your line into the comments section, will ya?)

 Speaking of Adrianne, look at that adorable baby bump.  Don't you just want to walk up to her in public and invade her personal space by rubbing your hands all over it?  I know, right?

Gretchen had her Preschool Graduation this week too.  Wait, doesn't she have one more year of Preschool?  Yes.  She does.  Maybe that's why she decided she didn't want to wear her Graduation Cap.

Or, you know, pay attention during the song performance.  (She really did very well.  She sang the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of that teapot song.  And the baby bumble bee song.  And the months of the year song.)  But you know Gretchen, always has to do her own thing. 


And so our summer begins.  Ella just got out of bed to ask me what we're doing tomorrow.  I told her she'd be cleaning the bathroom. That'll teach her to get out of bed (insert mad scientist laugh here).  What will we ACTUALLY DO?  Stay tuned, when I figure it out, I'll let you know...


xo

Interviews

Gretchen's Interview 
Me:  How old are you?

G:  Four.

Me:  Four and what?

G:  Four and I love snacks.

pause

G:  451

Me:  That's pretty old.

G:  When I get old than I'm 451.

Me:  What are you afraid of?

G:  I'll be afraid of monsters.  Flying monsters that have wings.  They're green and white.  When they're white then they're shiny.  When they're dark then they're dark green.  They eat bad bugs.  They're my nice monsters that eat bugs.  And they be nice to me.  All people, little kids, babies, big parents and mommas and daddies.  They are my helpers and they sent me some stuff.

Me:  What kind of stuff.

G:  Just stuff.  They help me and protect babies so they don't get scared.

Me:  So they're not scary monsters?

G:  So I'm not afraid of them.

Me:  What makes you feel happy?

G:  That the monsters help babies.

Me:  What in real life makes you happy?

G:  Yes.

pause

G:  In real life makes me happy when butterflies move.

Me:  Do you mean fly?

G:  MmmmHmmmmm.  Butterfly.  They fly all morning because they likes too.  And they sleep all night.

Me:  Do you sleep all night?

G:  Yes.  Can I have an egg?

END INTERVIEW (because Gretchen is concentrating on trying to peel a hard boiled egg.)


ELLA INTERVIEW
Me:  How old are you?

E:  SEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!  HA HA!  SEEEEEEEEven.  Ha ha ha.

Me:  What makes you happy?

E:  Mushu

Me:  How do you spell that Colby?

E:  M-U-S-H-U

Colby:  You haven't even had it before!

E:  Yes I have.

Colby:  What is it?

E:  Chicken!

Colby:  How do you eat it?

E:  With a fork!

Colby:  You don't even know what mushu is!

E:  (giggles)

Me:  Is there anything you want to say?

E:  Yes.
 
pause

E:  Um.  I like to play with my stuffed animals!

Me:  Why?

E:  Because it's fun!  I play family.

Me:  I have a question.  How come every time you play "Family" there's a sad abandoned kid who has no one to take care of them? 

E:  That isn't true!!!

Me:  Yes.  It is.  "Someone get the door!"  "Hi!  I'm Strawberry Shortcake/Random McDonald's toy/Stacie Doll and I have no family.  Can I be in YOUR family?"  "Sure!"
(End Scene)

E:  That's what Gretchen made up.

Me:  Did you make that up Gretchen?

G:  Yes!  Because I like eggs.  They're very yummy.

Me:  But why do you always have kids in your games with no mommies and daddies?

G:  Because.

Me:  Do you just want them to be adopted in so they can have a family?

G:  MmmmHmmmmm!

E:  No momma, that's my interview!

G:  HEY!!! MOMMA!!! I LOVE YOU!

Me:  Ok Ella, what do you want to finish up with.

G:  N-O-E-N-O-E-N-O-E
(I assume she's spelling because she wants me to continue typing her words.  It worked.)

E: Momma, why are you doing this?

Me:  Just for fun.  For posterity.

E:  What's posterity mean?

Me:  Posterity means you leave something for the future.  What do you want to leave for the future?  So when you're a grown-up you can come back and read this...

E:   Ok!

Me:  But what do you want to remember about being 7?

E:  I want to remember that I am a good artist.  And to remember that I love my family so much (giggle).  I want to remember my friends. 

Me:  Are you a good friend?  Are you kind to everyone?

E:  Mmmmmhmmm!

Me:  I love you.

E:  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU.

Spring Break: And This is Why We Can't Go Anywhere Nice

Hello Family & Friends.

After the craziness of Christmas, we decided to save our sanity and the $1000 we would have spent on gas and just stay in town for spring break. Stay in town so we can appreciate the little things. Like finding the Easter hats and white gloves and having an impromptu tea party (the gesture of Gretchen's hands in this shot just kills me. So very proper.)



A few weeks ago, Colby turned the big 4-0. I was pretty proud of myself for thinking up an awesome present, but then I possibly ruined it & asked him if it was really what he wanted. (What if I dropped all this $$$ on a gift and I got the wrong thing?) But he liked it. And it's changed our life. Here he is opening his brand new PS3.



We also got him Rocksmith, which is like Rockband but you use AN ACTUAL GUITAR!!! So you, you know, actually learn how to play an instrument. UM, AWESOME. Also awesome? That we can stream netflix directly to our TV now. Yeah, our basement is going to be so amazing one day...when we get the stacks of boxes sorted out.... All the makeout parties will be here. In the windowless basement. With two turn tables. And a fireplace. What could go wrong?

Amber, Dan, baby Lucy, Krista & Jimmy came over to sing "Happy Birthday" at Colby. Gretchen played with fire. Altogether, a successful evening.



Then came Easter.

"We've been eating Easter Candy all morning! Take our picture! Then take us to church for three hours!" Perfect plan. Again, what could go wrong?


I did hear one of the older ladies audibly gasp when she saw Gretchen's outfit. A gasp of being overwhelmed with cuteness. Yeah, that's why I go to church. Thanks Aunt Terry for passing this lovely dress on to Gretchen. We'll send it to Teagan next so she can overwhelm the ladies in her ward with her the cute.



Since we didn't go anywhere big over the break, we went lots of places small.

FIRST UP - The Crystal Mine. Or, rather, the crystal hill that you can find crystals on. If you look under the snow. 5 miles on a dirt road, plenty of snacks, 1 leaky water bottle, and a whole lot of crystals = good, good times.





I love this picture because we all look like we're having fun. Even the dog. She's totally smiling. Even though we made her climb to the top of the crystal hill to look at the view.



Woo hoo! Crystals!



Pensive, thoughtful Crystals.



That fabulous adventure almost doesn't happen. Here's the back story, lest you think that we actually, you know, have it together.

Sunday - spent 1 hour+ looking up directions to the Crystal Mine. Which is hard. Because it is on unnamed dirt back roads. And the 3 places I found with directions were all slightly different. Huh.
Monday, 9am - printed out maps; topographical AND road maps. Printed out the history of the mine, educational information about the crystals, and 3 sets of directions. Colby is not excited about the 3 sets of directions.
10am - Packed snacks and water bottles. Told the girls to get dressed.
10:30 am - No really. Seriously. Get dressed girls.
10:45 - Ella decides that she doesn't want to go because she doesn't want to wear jeans. Gretchen can't find her boots.
10:46 - Tell Ella she can just wear pants. Ella doesn't want to wear pants. Gretchen is "looking" for her boots on her bed. Well, actually she's just reading.
10:48 - Ella throws fit when I agree that maybe we shouldn't go after all. Gretchen cries dramatically on the floor. Tears. Sobs.
11 - I take a walk around the block. Possibly slam the door on my way out. While coming back home, I resign myself to the fact that this outing will not be happening.
11:10 - I come back home. "Mom, there you are! We're ready!" (Apparently I need to leave in dramatic huffs more often.)
12 - Finally make it to the mine. Fun times ensue. Forget drama of the morning and wonder why we don't do more fun stuff like this. Gretchen is so excited to pee outdoors, she does it twice in one hour. She is thrilled to be making yellow snow.
2:30 - Arrive home happy with a small collection of crystals.
Tuesday morning - find Gretchen's boots in the bottom of her dirty clothes hamper. Sigh deeply.

Besides the crystal mine, Ella also played Laser Tag for the first time. Gretchen was so, so sad that she wasn't big enough. Soon, my darling, soon you will get to run around in a dark room and shoot at people. I know, life isn't fair.

Wednesday we drove to Sacramento for two exciting things. Ikea and Aunt Bonnie. Aunt Bonnie is awesome.



Thursday we visited Alicia who's on week 6 of maternity bed rest. I am no longer jealous of the amount of time she gets to sit in bed.

Friday we went to the library and the Minden Pool (which is indoors and super fun and SUPER far away) and the Chocolate Nugget candy shop. You know, cause we need more candy.

Saturday we sat at home and watched movies and played Little Big Planet.

And today I took a nap.

So how was your Easter Break?

Making Some #%&*# Pasta

Hello! Look at me, updating our family blog again.

Here's what our kitchen looks like. I staged this photo just for you, including that box of tupperware that I've been meaning to sort out for.....three months? Gretchen crafted this seat herself.


Like this look? You can match it yourself with bulk paper towels and TP at Costco. Simply leave them in the corner of your kitchen for a week while you figure out where the h you're going to fit them, then see what happens! Easy peasy! (You can add it to your pinterest account under "Decorating Ideas")

I handed Gretchen another fudgesicle on the way to pick up Ella on Wednesday. By the time we got to school she was (of course) covered in melted chocolate goodness. The teacher on duty said, "I swear every time I see that kid she's covered in something." Yes, yes she is. After brushing her teeth tonight her cheeks were still smeared in something red. And I'm not sure what we ate that was red today. Colby and I both had to send her back twice to "try again" to get her face clean.

After church last week Colby pulled out his pasta roller.



Ella helped.



My old dish rack helped.



Gretchen helped.



And I helped eat it. It was good. We had leftovers, but they didn't last very long. They got all et up. It also took a long time. I'm not sure how pasta ever really took off. "Hey guys, I have this idea. We'll take dough, roll it out really thin. It'll take about three hours to make enough for all of us. Then they'll all be gone in 10 minutes!" "Brilliant! Let's do it!"

BECAUSE ELLA DOES NOT READ THIS BLOG...
EMBARRASSING STORY ALERT!!!!
Ella and I were sitting at the dining room table working on homework when she dropped this little nugget on me...
Ella: I think K likes me.
Me: What makes you say that, sweetie?
Ella: (Giggles hysterically, covers her mouth Harajuku-girl-style) I can't say! (giggle) I can't say right now!
Me: Ok....
three minutes pass
Ella: Well, you know what I said about...K? (giggle)
Me: Yes....
Ella: We sort of held hands!!!!
Me: How did that happen?
Ella: Um, well, it was 'silent reading' time, and we were sitting next to eachother...
Me: Yes....
Ella: And he put his hand on my knee, and then we held hands!!!! But under the table. Because we didn't want anyone else to see.
Me: !!!!!!!!
Ella: I know!

She brought home his number so they can plan a playdate. Colby is not pleased.

And now here's another embarrassing story. But mostly embarrassing for me. Ella dropped something on the floor the other day and said, "Oh da.....Oh mom! I almost said a bad word! The D word. Not the D-U-M-B word, the bad word that YOU say...."

I'm such a good mom. And don't tell Ella I told you that story. That's right, I'm gossiping about my own daughter AND teaching her how to swear on one blog entry. Woo hoo!

Hey Look! We're Still Here!

Hello loved ones. It's been a LONG TIME. Things are finally getting back to a "normal" level or busy instead of a "GOGOGOGOGORIGHTNOW-5DEADLINES-PAINTTHEHOUSE-MOVE-HOMEWORK-UNPACK-CHRISTMAS-TRIP-FUNERAL-TRIP-FUNERAL-SCIENCEFAIRPROJECT?-OMGKILLMENOW" busy. I'm almost recovered. I've been spending my Sunday afternoons either rocking back & forth in the corner muttering to myself or sleeping. But now I'm feeling almost like a regular person again, and I can commit to a blog post! Hooray!!!!

So we'll have to do a little bit of the online-house-tour at a time. Right now there's about 3 square feet of our house that is presentable. So you get a shot of the outside. Look at how cute that architectural detail is! The sweet little story-book roofline is pretty much what sold me on the house. Well, that and and the other awesome things, some of which we are still discovering (like daffodils, iris and tulips coming up in the yard. Awwwww!).



Most of you already know, but we are now Dog People. We take our new dog everywhere. But seriously, LOOK AT THIS FACE.


Can you blame us? She is amazing. Hannah is a six year old English Bulldog. We like to call her "The Most Expensive Free Dog In The History of Free Dogs". But she is 90% recovered from her ear surgery (you can see the stitches and sad nastyness in some of these earlier pictures). And right now she has NO OUTSTANDING VET APPOINTMENTS!!!! That means we won't have to go see our friends at A+ Animal Hospital on a weekly basis anymore! (We heart you, Animal Hospital! But we like having a healthy dog even MORE! THANKS for getting her there!)

I love her so much.


Not enough to make out with her like Gretchen though....



Here's a picture of her from today. Ears all better. But oh so tired.


And here she is with Gretchen & her BFF playing dress ups. I think we may have a whole new William Wegman project coming on... She LOVES DRESS UP!!!


Colby took Ella to her school's "Sweetheart Dance". Oh, and bonus, here's a shot of the finished birch trees in the dining room. AND the amazingly awesome mid-century teak dining set that I scored at Savers. (One of the great things about Reno is that no one here has really caught on to the mid-century modern trend. So you can get stuff like this at thrift stores FOR SO CHEAP. Seriously. I'm in love with Reno Thrift Stores. But don't let the word get out. I don't want all the hipsters from the Bay Area coming over. Let's keep Reno SECRETLY AWESOME.)

Oh yeah, the point of that story is that Colby took Ella to the Sweetheart Dance.


Ella wants to be a photographer when she grows up so that she can take pictures of her friend who will be a movie star. (This makes me so happy.) To assist her in reaching her dreams, I gave her my old camera. She is a GREAT photographer. Just look at the portrait she took of Colby & I on our anniversary. (This is before we dropped them off at Auntie Amber's house so we could go party.)



We're slowly getting things set up. The weather has been so nice lately, I pulled my beloved hammock out of the garage and strung it up between the cherry tree and the plumb tree.


Hilarity ensued.


(Don't worry, she was laughing the whole time)

Gretchen at the river this afternoon. Rockin' Aunt Adrianne's early 80's era hand-me-down.


That's it for now! I hope y'all are doing well!

Church Bells

Sorry we've been MIA this past couple of weeks....

• We have now been homeowners for 9 days. Woo hoo!
• You can hear church bells chime from our house. They're so pretty!
  
• We're 90% done with the painting. So far we've painted the dining room, living room, most the hallway and the 3 bedrooms.
• Why yes, I AM tired...
  
• My fingernails will never ever ever be paint free again, my skin looks and feels like sandpaper from paint exposure, being scrubbed clean & more paint exposure. You'd think I'd learn to wear gloves or something....
  
• Did you know that Home Depot carries Martha Stewart paint? I didn't want to love it. I really didn't. But oh that Martha! Every color was perfection!
  
• I had Ella take a bunch of pictures of our finished painting, but then I left the camera hanging in the coat closet. You know, cause I'm awesome like that...
• Colby pulled up the carpet in the 3 bedrooms and the floor is BEAUTIFUL!!! I don't think it's ever been exposed. I'm giddy, I'm so excited. I think we just need to maybe put a coat of something on it. SO AWESOME.
  
• WE HAVE A NEW WASHER AND DRIER!!!! We got it at the Pre-Black-Friday sale. It stacks. It chimes. It washes clothes without leaving lint behind (curses apartment laundromat! I scorn you!)
• We bought a fridge off craigs list, so hopefully this week we'll also HAVE A NEW FRIDGE WITH AN ICEMAKER! HOORAY! (I never believe in a craigslist purchase until I actually have the item in my hands. But still, kind of excited!)
• We also have a new baby niece! Lucy Marie is awesome and tiny and we hope she starts to sleep more so that Auntie Amber can remember what more than 3 hours of sleep at a time is like.
• Gretchen likes to "pet the baby".
• Cousin Kate doesn't want you to hold the baby if you're her mom. She started crying, broken hearted while her mom held Lucy, "I TRUSTED YOU!!!" (Meghan, she trusted you!)

I think that's about it for now. My head has been spinning with all the things to do, get done, work projects coming up, Christmas, Ack. But it's all good. All good, my friends. And I'm going to bed at 8:30 tonight.