Dress #3

Are we still doing this?

This one brought to you (almost)

live in living color!

And Now, The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Found some photos of our first house in Cedar Fort. I'll go ahead and re-post the scary "before" pics too in case you missed them the first time around.  I loved that old place!

Living Room

Family Room

Kitchen

This room definitely deserves two photos.  Wallpapered cupboards, pink brick, and a spray painted oven. Oh yeah!

Guest Bath

Master Bedroom/Bath

That's right, it was one big room.  Sick.

For Reals

I am not a farmer.  I know it says so on my sidebar, I wrote it.  But I will be a farmer, and I say that counts.  I believe that you can want something into being.  With lots of practice, study, and desire it can happen.  I am willing, and practicing, and studying my dream into being.

Folks, I live on a cul-de-sac, in the middle of the city.  My hands are tied by city-ordinances and practically no first-hand experience.  But God told me to do this.  That's right.  God.  So I killed a Tom.  I raised some Khakis.  I trained a dog.  I robbed some bees.  It's the best I can do with what little I've got.  It will get bigger.  I will get better. Can't wait.

EM Goes Head to Head with T. Pain

We love Elizabeth Mitchell. So when Asher started humming "Little Liza Jane" this morning I offered to play it for him on iTunes.

After singing along for a minute, he shook his head and said "Actually, I wanted to hear 'Shorty got low low low low.'"

 A'ight?

Overheard: An Auntie's Scolding

Asher stop that...

Asher be nice...

Asher stop licking your lips at her!

Gum

So much for growing it out.

PS.  This is definitely the last post about hair.  Even I'm getting tired of them.

Profile Pic

Literally.

It's been raining for weeks and I can't get a grip on these hairs.  Frankie comes by her crazy waves honestly.

I'm Usually the Last to Know About These Sorts of Things

but just in case you're as behind the times as I am, I thought I'd let you know about One Charming Party.  It's swell.  I'll never throw an elaborate party (too lazy), but the pictures are pretty and there are lots of printable invitations and goodies.  Jensie took these to all of her friends at girl scouts-

Cute and free!

Not Your Typical Saturday

As a parent, it's reasonable to assume that at some point you'll be called upon to dig something weird out of your kid's nose.  I don't mean boogers.  I mean, like, thumb-tacks or matchbox cars.

But have you ever imagined having to tweeze a foreign object from a goose nostril?

Me neither.

Life is full of surprises.

One More

That was awesome!  (How, I had a question, and you had answers.)  So here's another one for ya.

Frankie wants to grow her hair "all the way up to her feet."  We haven't cut it in a while, which means a little of this

and alotta this.

Any ideas about how to tame fine blond baby hair that's half straight, half curly, with a little wave leftover?

Question

Yesterday, at Barnes and Noble, the woman ringing us up asked "Do you homeschool?"

"Sure do," I replied.

"I thought so," she said. "I could tell by the books you're buying."

The kind of books homeschoolers pick up at B&N

 Huh?  You can tell we homeschool, not by the fact that I'm at your store on a Monday afternoon during school hours, but by the books themselves?  It really begs the question, what do you normal moms buy?

New Bird on the Block

That title is sick.  Makes me think of a chopping block.  Not what I meant.

Got a guard goose.  She's fierce--a regular honking ninja.

Turns out, geese are loud and intensely annoying.  Miss Daisy be driving me crazy.

Other things you might not know:
Daisy is a Chinese goose, they are generally tame and very nice to children
Chinese geese have pretty blue eyes
That bulb above her beak?  It's soft and squishy, like an earlobe.

Excuses

I am so good at making excuses! This morning when my alarm went off at 6 for me to go running,  I immediately thought of like 20,000 excuses to hit snooze and keep sleeping.  But I didn't.  I dragged my lazy bum out of bed and went for a long hilly walk.  Also took a picture of myself to prove I was up before the sun.

I've been running with the Columbus Road Runners three times a week, doing the Couch to 5K program.  My first 5K is next week.  Yikes!  I have never run that far in my life.  I'm gonna make it though.  Nat and Nate are running with me.

Those runs aren't quite enough to help me meet my fitness goals, so I've added daily early morning workouts to my routine.  After only two mornings, I already have more energy, am happier, and am more motivated than I've been in long long time.

The moral of this story is...don't let your lazy self take over your determined self.  The determined you will rock your world!

Diggin'

I am so out of the loop. I seriously never listen to the radio and know nothing about new cool bands.  I wanted some good workout tunes to go running (alright I'll be honest, walking) with in the mornings, but didn't know where to start.  Enter my kid sister with an extra iPod.  Hallelujah.  You guys!  Do you know about Kings Of Leon?

They are a little sweary and I've only heard each of the these songs once, so I don't know which songs are really bad.  Don't listen to this with your kids.

Small World

Stole this pic.
I don't know if she minds, I didn't ask.

This is Errin.  I met her at an ACLU party five years ago, and liked her right off the bat.  I often passed her in the halls on campus, so a week later when we passed I waved hello.  She didn't remember me and failed to wave back.  The end.  (For a little while).

Fast forward to the fall of 2010.  I'm in Utah to be with family while Nate is deployed, and spending a lot of time with a friend from high school, Ashley Thalman.  This you already know.  Babies (the movie) is about to be released in theaters and promises to be an amazing documentary.  Who doesn't love babies?

"Let's go!" I say.  "Save the date."

"Oh definitely," says Ash.  "and I'm gonna bring my neighbor, she wants to see it too."

And who's her neighbor?  Errin!  Whattdya know.  We see the movie.  We talk, we laugh, she likes me back.

Now, we're bona-fide friends.  She's awesome.  She's also going to lose 100 pounds this year.  That's right O N E  H U N D R E D pounds.  She's keeping track of her progress on a new blog THINCREDIBLEJULK.  (Her maiden name starts with Julk, is long and Scandinavian, and I can't spell the rest of it).  So many clever plays on words in the title alone.  Her blog's incredibly motivating.  When I want to sleep late instead of go running, I remember Errin's gonna lose 100 lbs this year and get my lazy A-- out of bed.  You must check it out.