toddler's eye view

funny little surprises from the camera tonight.

ethan must have gotten ahold of my camera.

spencer is composing a song, taylor is doing his homework, very observant.

some artstic takes on ordinary things around the house

even some self portaits!

(he must be taking lessons from mom)

this is my favorite - what is he trying to say with this face?

over all i thought it was so funny how i could tell from these photos that he really was trying to take photos of specific things. i don't really think of his brain working like this, but i was wrong.

he must get his great eye from his mother.

i'm a quilter! i quilt!

tonight, i'm feeling a little like bob when he went sailing for the first time.

i'll tell you why...

for about a month now, i've been seeing a lot of this...

...and i love it!

i'm not much of a sew-er, but i've always wanted to learn. especially quilting, i just adore a well-made quilt and have always wanted to learn this beautiful skill.  about a month ago i was in our local quilt shop admiring all the stitched up goodness, lost my mind, and signed up for a quilting class! what the?! the lady promised it was a good class for a beginner, a very "forgiving" quilt because at the end you throw it in the wash, let it frey and it hides all of your mistakes.

and so, i picked out the fabric, went to the class, and tonight, i finally finished my

VERY FIRST QUILT! 

it was not easy, especially going to the class. it as a panic attack waiting to happen.
i was so intimidated, especially by the sewing machine, and i knew immediately that i was a fish out of water. i had butterflies in my stomach, and allie, the real sewer in our house, called me three times during the class to make sure i was doing ok. i should have checked her out of school and made her come with me!

but, like bob, i conquered my fear, wrangled the sewing machine and got it done. it feels so good!

i pulled it out of the wash tonight, and the lady was right, all the freying that took place added a ton of charm and made it harder to see all the bumps i hit along the way. it's adorable!

i am so happy with how it turned out, i already bought fabric for the next one.

i'm quilting! i'm quilting!

thanks bob.

just plain silly

after a night of panini making for dinner,

ethan found a funny mirror in the top of the panini maker.

he found it particularly hillarious to pinch his bottom lip and chin together.

and he kept making this same face over and over.

cracking himself up every time without fail.

you could say it was his favorite.

but this one was mine.

he keeps us young

it's a good thing we have a four year old around the house on a day like halloween.

the teenagers all went in different directions to go to parties of their own, mom had to hand out candy, so someone has to stick around to take dad trick-or-treating!

otherwise, he might get bored.

how about the cutest buzz ever? that should keep him busy.

to infinity, and beyond!

sixty nine inch legs

it was really nice and helpful of allie on saturday to rake up a giant pile of leaves.

ethan thought so too, and wasn't intimidated by his pajama wardrobe one bit while he jumped...

and jumped....

and even dove.

a few minutes later, allie comes in to tell me that she thinks ethan has grown a lot lately, his legs seem especially long. which i'm thinking to myself is ridiculous because he's kind of small for his age.

then i looked outside, saw the sly look on ethan's face and giggled.

it was all taylor's idea. and all of taylor's 5'9 body.

sometimes i worry about ethan being the tail-ender in this family and spending his days without other playmates around him.

other times i think he is the luckiest kid in the world to have three much older sibblings who enjoy entertaining and making him laugh so much.

camouflage

this studdly guy, my youngest brother brandon, turned twenty-eight last saturday.

he celebrating his birthday during his first weekend at boot camp in fort knox, kentucky, because he joined the army. that's right, i said JOINED THE ARMY. at first when he told me his plan, i really questioned his sanity. then, i realized, it's something he just feels like he needs right now in his life. something he just needs to do. and i respect that. i mean, who can argue with that?

we had a big family party on the saturday before he left as a sort of send-off to one of our favorite people.  lots of silliness ensued. (more photos  and videos coming later)

 we also had brandon and my parents over for a little family dinner on sunday, we laughed, but we also cried, because seven months is a long time.

lucky for us, we found out that he gets a two-week break from boot-camp over christmas, so that made it a little easier to see him off at the airport.

i think he'll be wearing his camos next time we see him though, so we might have a hard time finding him.

love you little bro.

take care of yourself.

the big trade in

happy big guy birthday to little E.

we've been talking about this big guy birthday for months now - mainly me trying to explain that his birthday is after taylors,dads, moms, allie's and halloween. and him telling me what kind of toys he wants as presents. also, that four year olds don't have binkies, and that on his birthday he would need to throw them in the garbage in exchange for his gifts. sort of like a toddler version of the "cash for clunkers"  ya, i know, we are the meanest parents ever.

except, he did fine. took the whole bowl of binks out to the garbage can and pitched them in one at a time.

(i can't believe i'm posting a photo of my disgusting garabage can.)

he was excited actually, he even did that funny little dance he does when he sends the cars down the little garage track. he got to the last one, gave it one last suck for old times' sake...

...and then pitched that one too.

i was most worried about bed time, but i just got him tucked in, and other than that it took a little longer to settle him down, so far so good. thank goodness we still have blanket - blankets don't affect your orthodontia bill.

but i think he thought it was worth the trade in-

for the woody and rc car from toy story that he's been asking me for since he saw it at the disney store in JUNE! he's nothing if he isn't persistant. at least he knows what he wants eh?

love this little guy.

happy birthday little e. you've made the last four years a lot of fun for our whole family.

i love you.

resistance is futile

first, i saw the puppy sweater.

and i tried to resist.

the cute little shoulder buttons.

the brown patches on the elbows.

oh man.

and that cute spotted puppy kept looking at me.

you know, with those puppy eyes?

he wanted to give ME that paper i just know it.

he wanted me to take him home.

i picked it up.

put it back down.

picked it back up.

then put it back down for good.

"too much money" i told myself, although it broke my heart a little.

i almost made it out of there without it.

and then....

i saw the matching hat.

oh that little puppy beanie!

and after that it was all over.

you see, i have a weakness for hats.

especially little boy beanies.

can you blame me?

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!)