all about ethan

occasionally, this little boy, who is not so little any more, will snuggle with me and let me count his freckles.

really this is code for letting me kiss his face off, but he knows this about me, and is usually willing to submit to my lips any way. a few times, he has even said out of the blue, "mom, will you kiss my face off?"  uh, YES PLEASE. any excuse i can get thank you very much.

the kids and i have been commenting lately on how he is losing that baby face and looks more like a little boy all the time. it's fun to see him grow up, but gosh it's hard to let that baby stuff go! every day, something funny is said, i try to write them down, but it doesn't always happen. yesterday while eating a churro he exclaimed, "i LOVE my lips! they're just so yummy!" probably because they were covered in sugar and cinnamon, but still. and he's asking lately, "what means 'couple' ", and "what means 'blu ray' "? he also loves to finish his stories with the phrase, "...and i was like WHAH?"  ya, i think he lives with teenagers.

his style of posing for the camera has evolved as well. lately, he feels the need to push out his hips one way or the other - 

or throwing his arms out like he's singing on broadway

or giving me his best dinosaur impression.

this one is the kids' particular favorite, every time this photo pops up on screen, you can hear laughing in the form of howling coming from our house. it's embarrassing, i hope the neighbors don't think we're weird. oh who are we kidding, they already know.

the last couple of days, ethan hasn't been himself, he's been kind of grumpy and winey, which is a frequency my ears just don't pick up, so you can imagine my frustration. then i figured it out. he misses henry. and who can blame him? for nine days he has a built-in brother, perfect for all kinds of good things...

like cracking each other up
which they did, constantly.

and puzzles

and secret telling, henry's a very good listener

and mario kart racing
(i love how both of their tiny bottoms fit on the love sac at the same time)

and racing (but mostly crashing) a billion match box cars down the hallway

and making pizza

and just plain old buddy time

he's asked me every day when henry is coming back to our house. poor guy.
i miss him too buddy.

fresh air

poor april, she's been making that crazy face on my blog for two plus weeks now. it's time for a change.

it's been a long couple of weeks, for starters, i tended my two nieces and nephew for nine days while their mom and dad were in hawaii on vacation. we had a lot of fun being a family of nine for that time, but i was so tired at the end of each day, that blogging took a back seat in my life. we're back to being a family of six again but i feel overwhelmed at the task of "catching up". i decided to just take it one little random thing at a time. so here goes...

i finally bought something i've been coveting now for two years, i've been thinking about since i first saw it. but it's a frivolous purchase and i could never really justify it. well, since all of our money is going towards fixing up and beautifying this house of ours lately, i decided it could really fall into that category. right? beautifying the deck? it's totally justified.

isn't it lovely? i know! i don't even have to sit in it to feel the love, i just peek out the window and there it is all inviting and sweet. i have a weakness for rocking chairs.

the best part of this house is the awesome view (although this day was over cast and gloomy and you can't see the mountains), but most days, it's really the perfect spot to relax and unwind. (by the way, that thing in the sky is the bottom of our bird feeder, not a UFO)

so a new rocking chair is not really a home improvement project per say, but it does feel like an improvement to my day to sit outside for a little while and enjoy the fresh air. i highly recommend it.