Monday, November 23, 2009

A Lost Weekend

No, not like on Gossip Girl. This one was lost to stomach flu. Bluuuuuuh.

We are resurfacing here, Monday morning, and looking around the wreckage of our home. Towels on every bed instead of sheets, piled up laundry and dishes and trash, sticky half eaten jello containers and watered down orange juice glasses on every table...

Also, the girls have become strangely territorial about their bowls. You know, the bowls we've insisted they take to their beds and sleep next to for the last few nights. Janey will cry and scream if you try to take the bowl out of her bed: "NO don't take my trow-up bowl! NOOO!" Um... okay kid you can keep it. Just let me give it a good rinse...

And since, in one of the mysteries of the universe, kids seem to kick this shit faster than grown ups, Chase and I were still debating suicide pacts in bed on Sunday morning when the kids were both up and raring to go- bouncing around the house, screaming, demanding to eat food that Chase and I, had we the strength the get out of bed, would surely not have been able to smell without dragging ourselves to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure Wren played about 7 hours of games on the computer yesterday. Parenting FAIL. On the upside, I'm pretty sure I now know where my kidneys are. Thanks dehydration!


Anyway, before we descended into hell, we had some industrious plans for this weekend. The girls and I found some pretty leaves and made some prints.


This is part of a Christmas present for someone who made read the blog, so I'm being cryptic, but I think they came out really beautifully. This is from the Betz White book, and it was a great project to do with little helpers. Wren is really proud of her work.

And in other adorable news, before food became the most disgusting thing imaginable, Chase made this egg heart for Wren.


He's a pretty great dad.

Monday, November 16, 2009

BFFs

There's something special that separates the average F, or even BF from the true BFF. In the case of me and my BFF Kelly, that something has frequently been thousands of miles, since we haven't lived in the same city (and often not in the same state) since high school. We met up at the Renaissance Festival, walked around, ate things on sticks, admired each others' children and briefly considered getting our hands dipped in wax. And then... just as I was mourning the absence of any pictures to document it, she came through again with this lovely gem:


Yes I'm truly a lucky woman. Lucky in love and lucky in friends. I am never going to Plantersville without my BFF again.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Blurgh

Ah! No Halloween Pictures! I am THE WORST.

Actually, to really secure the title, it would help for you to know that we went to the AWESOME and wonderful Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersvile last weekend and forgot to bring the camera. Dozens and potentially hundreds of hilarious photos were lost, including documentation of various knights, moors, pirates, wenches, and other people you would not, the rest of the year, trust within a 20 ft. anti-molestation radius of your children.

Hey guys remember that cold I had? The really awful one? The kids have that now. And the immunization police have chosen sick week for their crack down, so I am having to decide whether to immunize sick (GRUMPY) kids or not be allowed to send them to school. Which is pretty moot, since they can't go to school anyway, because they're SICK.

Anyway, over the cacophony of whines in my house right now, I can't tell if I'm being coherent at all. I did find one picture from Halloween:


Perfectly representative of the evening as a whole. Imagine Chase in a big red gnome hat, and it's like you were there.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

feeling better

I'm finally kicking the cold, thank goodness. Every time I'm sick I remember that not being sick alone is one of the chief comforts of the family unit. So even though it can be annoying for the un-sick one, and even though one might have been woken intermittently for several days by snorting and piteous moaning, and even though caretaking might not come naturally to some people, I still am REALLY GRATEFUL for all the patience and kindness from my loved ones. Moving on...


Hey that looks familiar! Just like that header up there! Only more of it! And all together.

I decided not to machine quilt this one, mainly because I've been cold at night and I want a new blanket. I'm tying it with what I sincerely hope are square knots. I guess I'll find out the first time I wash it.

And getting back to work on this has also made me come to terms with the fact that I really hate my bed. And I'm not going to be able to buy a new bed for a long time.

I love my quilt and I want to put it on a bed I love, so I need to find a cheap fix. I'm thinking sandpaper and paint, probably. If anyone has some inspiration, please give me advice.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Since I've Been Gone

Among other things, we made pear butter. It went well, although Chase maybe got slightly too into the whole canning process. I had to leave at one point, and there were repeated texts on the aspects of vacuum seals and jar tongs.


We made pumpkin bread which was great. I also made two loaves of banana bread, which will give you an idea of what the fruit fly situation in our kitchen was prior to baking/pear butter day...



We did this -



Before we came home and did this-


I like that you can see Wren directing the action there. She's pointing out the eyelashes on the jack-o-lantern schematics she had drawn up.

I made a red gnome hat for Chase's costume, which I sadly took not one single picture of, apparently. I made this, and if you are looking for a huge fattening new favorite dish of comfort food, it's a good bet.

I finished up the pressing school work, and now I just have to get a jump on the next big school thing. Chase and I went on a date, and saw Where the Wild Things Are. Which FAILED as a date movie. FAILED. I had to drink a few glasses of water to rehydrate myself after all the weeping. Sorry hon. I think it was the double punch of reliving the worst of childhood, and then looking at my beloved Wren, right on the cusp of encountering all that in her own world.

I mean, you know, except for the part where her parents divorce and her mom starts dating new dudes. Anyway, thanks to the Ruperts for babysitting. You guys might be the only people I know with a tumbling mat in the living room.


In other news, Jane ate my lipstick.