the littler cheering section

ethan loves going to the lacrosse games, he's usually part of the cheering section. i pack perfectly good snacks for him, but he mooches kristy's snakcs because hers are always better. he loves having his own tiny little chair to carry and sit in. thinks his chair is the bee's knees.

saturday we played at an elementary school, with a playground, so of course, he wanted to hang out there instead. i could only get him to focus on the game and eating kristy's snacks for so long before i had to let him go play. you know, i hear the playground is a good place to pick up chicks.

ethan: so, uh, do you come to this play ground often?

cute little girl: oh ya, i come here all the time, it's like, my FAVORITE hang out!

ethan: cool.

cute little girl: but i also really love clothes, check out my darling tights and hair.

ethan: cool.

cute little girl: oh my gosh, this wind is like, totally destroying my cute golden locks!

ethan: ya, that's why i wear a hoodie.

cute little girl: um, who is that with the camera? is that like, the paprazzi?

ethan: no, that's just my mom.

the cheering section

for the past several weeks, lacrosse has taken over our saturdays. besides the fact that i haven't had time to paint allie's bathroom, it's really ok with me, i know cheering on spencer is a worthy time investment. the painting will ALWAYS be around, but spencer will eventually leave the nest. it's been a few years since either of my boys did any sports, at least the outdoor kind of sports where you bring your own chair and cheering section. it's something that i've fallen back into naturally, i had forgotten how great it is to sit on the side lines in all kinds of weather, and yell like crazy for my kids.

from a cheering section perspective i have to say that lacrosse is one of the more fun sports i've watched.

it's pretty exciting, and i seem to have a hard time not yelling, so i do, a lot. usually too much for rich. things like, "get him!" or, "hit him with your stick!" or my new favorite, "forget the stick, use your body!" i wonder why rich doesn't like to sit with me? heck if i know.

spencer is definitely enjoying himself, although one of these days i need to photograph his bruised and beaten body the day after a game. despite the bruises, i mean, battle scars, he is loving this new sport of his. the timing has been perfect for him, he has needed this outlet in a big way and it seems to be a really perfect fit for him.

it's only his first season ever playing, so he's still trying to pick up the skills, but i see a lot of potential for him to be really good. he's such a natural athlete, tall and thick and super strong. he gets that from me of course.

one BIG bonus of being part of lacrosse this year, i get to sit next to kristy and alternate chatting and cheering for our athlete sons. just like old times.

 it's crazy to me, to think that EIGHT years ago, this scenario is originally how kristy and i met. spencer and kyle ended up on the same soccer team in kindergarten, we chatted and cheered way back then too, and we've been friends ever since. lucky for us.

so i can paint another day, for now i'll be the cheering section. it's way more fun than painting anyway, and when the game is over i don't feel like i want to burn my clothes.

yum

i spent more than half my day in the kitchen today, which is really one of my favorite places to be. at least, it is when i'm feeling creative. and today i was, so i really enjoyed myself. allie had requested white cupcakes with strawberry frosting for her birthday. what? i've never made strawberry frosting before, but i consulted with janae and decided to make a cream cheese base, minus the vanilla, and then puree strawberries in the blender to use in place of milk.  they turned out FANTASTIC!

i have to say, these are maybe my favorite cupcakes that i've EVER made, they were so, so yummy. unfortunately, i never follow a frosting recipe, so next time i crank these babies out, i'll be sure to keep track of how much of each ingredient so i can post it on blogger moms cook. until then, you'll just have to enjoy the pretty photograph. of course, it was not just these cupcakes that kept me in the kitchen. i helped lauri with a primary cupcake project and made dinner early because i knew the evening would be hectic.

as a side note, i also baked cheesecake flavored pie filling (pudding) in the middle and i think i will continue to experiment with this, it was pretty good i thought. and i am loving the giant round tip i found yesterday at orson gygi for piping the frosting mostly because it makes it look like a pile of whipped cream on top, so cute. aren't they gorgeous!? YUM.

for my muffy girl

happy happy birthday alexandra girl!

helpful

funny

hard working

smart - she's a 4.0 ya know

(say this like you're from fargo ya know)

kind

zaney

creative

talented

friendly

darling

...just to name a few things that i love about her.

i am just so crazy about this sweet young lady,

who is as lovely on the inside as she is on the out.

have a wonderful fourteenth birthday allie!

oh my gosh. i can't believe you're fourteen!

i LOVE you muffy girl!

(a bushel and a peck and a hug around your neck!)

thou shalt not covet

but i can't help it.  i'm dying for one of these right now.

and one of these, so that a certain little toddler can ride along.

what do you you think?

doesn't this look like fun?

photo pose

this is ethan's "photo pose" lately whenever someone points a camera at him. his tongue is out, trying to imitate kung fu panda po while he's having acupunture, and his fingers pointing at random things. the photo doesn't capture the sound effect though, a kind of "uuuhh?" noise like po makes. why does he feel compelled to pull this face when he see's the camera?  funny guy.

distraction

we did a ton of yard work last saturday, i'm sure our neighbors were singing hallelujia behind their closed doors. the kids were awesome, i don't know how i will ever be able to manage all that needs to be done without their help. ethan had several jobs too, but his attention span is shorter than the older kids. somewhere near the end of our weeding party, we lost him, and the older kids, to this:

sometimes, distractions are a great thing.

easy peasy

did you know, that you can wrap fabric around a frame and hang it on your wall and voila! you have beautiful canvas art?  it's true. and pretty inexpensive. especially considering that i just saw something like this in the pier 1 catalogue, each block was $30!! whatever. make them yourself for about $10.

these are the blocks that i made for my bedroom:

and these are the super cool ones that i made for ethan's room. i love that they fill up so much empty space on the wall - and that they hang so straight and perfect thanks to karrie's awesome laser level. thanks karrie!

the photos just don't do them justice, they are so much cuter in person.

 i have an idea for using old photo frames fro the DI without the glass to make a collage of little ones on allie's wall. i'll let you know how it turns out. easy peasy, just the way i like decorating to be.

more than you really want to know

i'm long over due for an addition to my 100 things about me list. so here we go.

1. i've always longed to visit the redwood forest, i think i need to see it in person because the photos are so stunning i don't really believe what i'm seeing.

2. i love to collect plates, especially salad size. i finally bought plate hangers and hung my collection on my kitchen wall. they make me so happy!

3. i feel baddly that i am NO help to my kids with their math homework. poor rich. he's their hands-on tutor and only hope of any help.

4. tiny sample bottles of perfume are one of my favorite things.

5. i have the world's best girlfriends. seriously.

6. i think i'm a pretty good cook, but i am a TERRIBLE cookie maker. it's just not my thing.

7. i try not to make my bed before i've said my prayers in the morning. then when i see my unmade bed, i remember to pray.

8. i found out tonight that i'm going to be camp director again next year. i wonder what the record is for consecutive years is? my biggest fear is that the girls will be disappointed when they hear it's me again.

9. at camp this year, i won the "dancing queen" award because of my late night partying in the cabins. it was the most fun i've had in a long time.

10. i found out this summer, that i love twitter. i don't really follow anyone on it, i just like being able to give short little blurbs about my life without the pressure of followers or comments. and i am obsessed with making each entry exactly 150 characters.

11. loving bananagrams lately.

12. i'm finding that driving lessons with taylor are not so bad. i'm more patient than i thought i would be, maybe because i remember how nervous i was at that age. of course, we haven't left the parking lot yet...

13. i recently got my nails done, a birthday gift from rich. they are too fancy for my plain jane self, but i love how feminine they make me feel.

14. i love cherry dipped cones from dairy queen, but only when they hand them to you fresh out of the dipper and the shell is still soft. once it gets hard, it's just not worth the calories.

15. i am needing a creative photography project right now. any ideas?

16. feeling TICKED that all the tickets for the midnight showing of new moon are already sold out. all the screaming fans made the mediocre twilight movie so entertaining. it just won't be the same without them.

17. i stopped drinking diet coke. i'm kind of scared to put that one in writing.

that's enough for now.

then and now

every time i remember to take a photo of kitchen with the cabinets all painted and hung, it's a total mess and i put it off for later. well, here it is about two months or so later, and apparently, my kitchen is never clean. so i'm posting the photo dirty dishes and all. just to remind ya'll what the kitchen looked like when we bought this money pit, er, i  mean house, a before photo.

green wall paper, and lots of it, brass light fixtures that made it impossible to talk to someone across the counter, super dry wood cupboards that looked like they needed a big drink of water, and of course, the gross floor. bleh. so here we are today.

new cherry wood floor, sanded, primed and painted cupboards with updated hardware, new lights that stay on the ceiling where they belong, and of course, no more wall paper. 

so there is still lots to be done, i have more plates to hang, a lot of touch up painting to be done, and i'm coveting some new butcher block style counter tops, but over all, it's finished and i'm THRILLED with the results. it was a loooooong processes and a ton of work, but worth it for sure.

ready, steady, GO!

ever since the first day of sunbeams caused such separation anxiety in the toddler, i've been feeling a little bit nervous about what pre-school would be like this year. with the older kids, i waited until they were four before i sent them, but ethan has such a hard time in the fall when everyone goes back to school, that i figured starting him earlier might be fun for him. and let's face it, with no little people in the house, he can definitely use opportunities to practice his social skills. so, in getting ready for school to start, we've been talking a lot about it, how fun it will be, his cool new backpack, singing songs, his great teacher, new friends, you get the idea. so yesterday, was the preschool open house, a good way to gauge his anxiety level since mom was invited to come along.

i started to feel less nervous when:

he marched on in like he owned the place. was THRILLED to see miss laurie and ran to give her a big hug. headed straight for the puzzles. went nuts over the big bucket of animals. dug in the sand with a new friend. tested out the slide.found a treat in the treasure box. and told miss laurie, "see ya tomowo fow pwe-stool!"

and he did.

today when i dropped him off, he waved bye to me on his way in not caring for a second that i was driving away and leaving him there.

so i'm starting to think, maybe i should try the "drop and drive" approach with sunbeams. what do you think?

for my honey

happiest birthday to my wonderful husband.

(this photo is an oldie but goodie, one of my favorites.)

if everyone were as kind, and peacemaking as rich, the world would be a better place.

i'm such a lucky girl, and i'm thankful every day for this sweet man in my life.

happy birthday babe, i love you tons!

now if i could just think of some awesome gift for you...

gLeek

hi, my name is wende, and i am a gLeek.

(no, not a fountain of spit.)

i am in
L-O-V-E
with this new show!

cheesie?
absolutely.
(but in a fantastic sort of way)

if you haven't seen it - check it out!

i heart summer photos

one of my favorite photos of the summer.isn't she beautiful?

ya, i grew her in my belly.

say what?

on saturday afternoon after i realized i didn't remember ethan ever going potty in the morning-

me: ethan, are you still wearing your diaper? (he wears one at night still)

ethan: no.

me: oh, did you put on your underpants?

ethan: no, i'm going commando.

huh? where do you think he learned what "going commando" means? i blame the teenagers.

while smelling candles at target the other day-

ethan: oooo, mom smell this one.

me: oh that's nice, it's cinnamon.

(ethan smells the candle again looking confused)

ethan: no it's not, it's hot tamales.

the other day in the car-

ethan: is it my birthday yet?

me: not yet, not until after halloween.

ethan: how about now?

me: no.

ethan: how about now?

me: no.

ethan: how about now?

me: no.

two days later...

ethan: is it my birthday yet?

me: no, not yet, it's not until after halloween.

ethan: (throwing his arms up exhasperated) but it's been dark TWO TIMES!

repeat this conversation at least three times every day since then, you get the picture. i'm remembering a time about 18 months or so ago, when the doctor requested some testing for autism because he wasn't even using one syllable. not so much a concern these days.

keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times

today was a big day, i can't really believe it's already here -

the first day of school!

(and these might be my worst first day of school photos ever - bleh!)

at the beginning of the summer, i knew it was going to fly by, because it ALWAYS does. and i end up feeling a little robbed on the first day of school. robbed of the carefree TIME i love to spend with my kids that only comes during the summer. this year is no different, worse even, because it rained all of june and i feel like summer didn't really start until july when the sun came out and it was hot enough to play at the pool.

but i guess it doesn't matter how i feel about it, school is officially back in session. this is a big and exciting year for my kids - taylor is starting high school, allie is no longer a newbie to jr. high, spencer is a newbie to jr. high, and ethan is getting ready for pre-school in a few weeks. the kids' excitement to start a new school year, see their friends and have some fun adventures makes it hard for me to be too sad about them leaving again, i am excited for all the fun that school can be for them.

but oh man, the roller coaster ride that is homework, busy schedules, volunteering, carpooling, and trying to stay on top of their crazy lives in between all that needs to be done around here....i'm bracing myself, because here we go.

fifteen

once upon a time, there was a baby growing in my belly, who was so late, i started to wonder if he would ever be born. two weeks and five days after he was scheduled to arrive, he finally decided to make his debut - phew! and although, those were the longest 19 days of my life, since then, time has flown by, and it's been an awesome fifteen years, even though i'm stunned to think that it's really been that long. and i'm grateful every day for my handsome, gentle, thoughtful, and always goofy, taylor bing, who's still not too embarrassed to kiss his mother in front of his friends. or flex his muscles for the camera.man i love this kid.

happy birthday mr. goodbar!

the little things

it's late in the evening.

the kids are in bed.

rich and i are in the office, where we can normally be found this time of the night, winding down in our own computer-related sort of ways.

we have "his and hers" computers but we share office space.

his desk is always clean.

my desk is always a mess, even right after i clean it.

rich is always listening to itunes when he's at his computer, which means, i'm always listening to it too.

it's fine, we like a lot of the same artists.

my favorite thing about rich listening to itunes at the computer is that he sort of hums/sings along to the songs. i'm not sure he even knows he does it.

but it sure is cute.

just one of the many little things that i love about this man.

i'm such a lucky girl.

reunion

i'm not sure WHY it is that janae and i haven't gotten ethan and nicolette together all summer to play. they are the best of little friends and always looked forward to theraputic thursday for some play time. summer's been busy i guess, that's my lame excuse. so when they saw each other at the pioneer parade, i was reminded slightly of the kermit and miss piggy scene from the movie (which i could find no where on youtube), where they run to each other through the grass in slow motion with cheesy music and then embrace. and then fall down. but recover quickly, and then do a happy dance. i can tell you the blogger moms are not the only ones looking forward to starting up theraputic thursday again.

pep talk

at 7am this morning i dropped off a very happy, excited, optimistic and maybe a little nervous, twelve year old at the scout master's house. i left him there with his thirty pound back pack, a kiss, a promise that he would use his hand sanitizer before eating (not likely), and a pep talk. i told him to pray when he's scared, his feet start to hurt or when his pack is too heavy and he thinks he wants to quit. besides double checking everything in his pack to make sure he has what he needs to survive in the uintas for five days, what else could i give him?on the drive home i kept thinking that this was a little taste of what my soon-to-be future life in motherhood will be like. doing everything i can to make sure they have what they need to survive and then dropping them off to let them fend for themselves. i don't know if i've done enough, but when i start to miss him too much, or worry that his feet hurt or that his pack is too heavy, or that he's not using hand sanitizer before he eats, i'm going to try to remember my pep talk and say a little prayer.