ten on tuesday

1. my refrigerator might be on it's way out. We'll see what the repair man says. He gave me a lovely 4 hour window for his arrival.

2. Did you know we have a cockatiel? Yes we do, her name is Audrey. My, is she loud!

3. I need plants, lots of them. Remember the Great Sprinkler Project of '08? Well, it's done. Now I need to fill up my front planter.

4. Harrison joined the Boy Scouts. He is a Wolf Scout. He is most looking forward to, not the camping, not the activities, but the uniform!

5. These patterns really make me want to start sewing again. That, and I still need to finish the quilt I started in The Year of the Quilt.

6. Audrey got her chubby legs caught in the crib yesterday. After a moment of panic I managed to get them out and the bumper is back up.

7. Project Runway will be down to the final 3 tomorrow. Here's my take: Jerell, LeeAnne, and Korto. Any one of them could win and I'd be happy. Anyone but Kenley. I sure miss Stella and her leathah.

8. I need a haircut. Bad.

9. My bad boys from Entourage are back. I have missed them.

10. Jan '09 is too long to wait for Big Love to return. Writer's Strike, hmph. I don't think so!

weekend update

So much to tell! On Monday someone went and turned 8 months old on me. For some reason, this month more then any other it hit me just how fast she is growing. It is such a cliche, but she is growing like a weed and time is going by so fast. Here is a little bit of information on Audrey as she enters her eighth month. She had been sleeping pretty good, I was finally feeling rested, then she started sleeping on her belly. Oh boy did this throw me off. I must have blocked it out of my memory from when the boys did it because I can't recall. Anyways, she started doing this almost a month ago, now she does it all the time. the first couple of nights, I couldn't sleep at all. I was constantly checking her to see if she could breath. I am happy to report that both she and I are sleeping much better now.

This girl can eat. So far there is NOTHING that she hasn't liked. She'll eat it all. Green beans, peas, carrots, squash, apples, peaches, prunes, etc. I am so happy about that. We'll see how it keeps going.

She loves to sit and play. She takes a nap in her crib anywhere from 1-2 hours. She is quite happy to be with her brothers. They both love to make her laugh uncontrollably. She is a loud talker. By that I mean, she yells. A lot. And it's a happy yell. It usually is when it is inappropriate too. Think church or a restaurant. ;) I can't describe it, I wish you could hear it because it comes from her toes.

We bought a Mini Cooper! Well, we ordered one. Sadly, it won't be here for a couple of months, and it's already been one month. We may have it before Christmas. Robert is seriously having a hard time waiting for it. It will be for him to drive. I am tickled because I have wanted one forEVER. Way before my parents got one.

Speaking of my parents and Minis, my mom did something crazy this week. I think I have mentioned before that they belong to a Mini Cooper car club. Well their group went out to Bonneville this week to see the time trials. A couple of their friends were also going to run their cars there as well. Well my mom got the idea that she wanted to do it too and that's exactly what she did. She ran her car 5 times and went 120 mph. I am so proud of her. I don't know if I could do it. I can't wait to get pictures of it. She had to borrow a helmet! They outfitted her car with a fire extinguisher and she had to wear long sleeves and long pants. Isn't that crazy? Apparently she was a big hit, people were calling her the Salt Queen. She is very outgoing and friendly and she had people talking to her from all over the world. I can't wait to hear more. Go mom! She is already planning to go back next year and get into the 130 mph club, I bet she'll do it too.

officially back to "school" :)

We started school a couple of weeks ago and today the boys started back at their Friday school. So now it feels official. And right now Audrey is asleep and the house is super quiet!
We have had quite a week here. Besides being extra busy, we lost another friend to cancer and I've got a funeral service on Sunday to attend.
Life is beautiful! Enjoy every day.

summer, where did you go?

We still are enjoying the last remnants of summer. Today was a rare day where we all got to go in the pool. Robert has been so busy, he usually is holed up in his office doing work and can't join us and Audrey is usually napping. Well not today. We had a good time. I wish you could have seen her legs underneath her raft, they were going a mile a minute. We called her, "crazy legs". She didn't cry at all, she really enjoys being out in the water. And the boys? Well they are swimming fools. Charlie mastered the cannon ball at my mom and dad's house this summer. He would swim 24/7 if I let him. Harrison is doing well too. He is trying to master the belly flop although I have warned him against doing that.

We are starting our 3rd week of school. We had a big back-to-school-end-of-summer party at a local water park. We had a great time. Tomorrow night is my first meeting back and Friday the boys will start Friday school. It has gone easier then I thought it would. We are still working out a couple of kinks, but all in all we are having a good time. Charlie is working well. He loves to do school work, and I can see how much Harrison has improved and that just makes me feel great. A little encouragement goes a long way.

I love this time of year, it is so full of promise isn't it? Have a wonderful week.

road trip

Highlights from two days in Solvang and Santa Barbara. Update to follow because right now I need to get ready for school.

go team USA!

Did anyone happen to catch this amazing race last night, or more appropriately, the amazing finish? Is anyone watching the Olympics this year? Whenever they role around I always tell myself that I am not going to get caught up in them, and then I watch just a little and that's it. I'm hooked. The Olympics have a way of making me feel nostalgic and proud all at once. I think about my sister and I playing "Olympics" in the pool after watching gymnastics. The bottom step would be our balance beam. The shallow end would be our floor for our routine. Flips and twirls are pretty easy in the water when you are weightless. I think about the time when the Olympic Torch passed though our home town and we went out to see it go by. I won't ever forget the feeling in the crowd, it was almost electric. Everyone of us was so proud, we cheered so loudly. I need to get those pictures out that I took on my little Kodak Disc camera and put them in a proper album.
Go USA!

catch the reading bug and some other stuff

I apologize for my less then frequent updates. We have been busy, doing what I really don't know. All I know is the summer is flying by at record speed and I've got to think about back-to-school here sooner rather than later. School registration and picture day is the 19th. I've got to turn in my course of curriculum for the boys and I really would like to be started by then. I've got everything I need except a plan. That's kinda a biggie too. I want to have some sort of schedule now that I will have two at home. Don't get me wrong, Harrison and I had a routine. It may not have been set in stone, but we knew what needed to be done and we got it done in a reasonable amount of time. I feel like if I don't have something scheduled for both of them our days could very quickly spiral out of control. So that is the first thing that needs to be done.

Yesterday Harrison and I attended his Catch the Reading Bug party at our local library. It was a big shin-dig for the kids who all read at least 6 books over the summer. We both had a lot of fun. Harrison played a lot of games, (note the look of deep concentration on his face while shooting water at a duck, propelling it to the finish line) he bounced in bounce houses, but I swear the best part was picking out the prizes. See him digging through the barrel? I finally had to say, "just pick something, now." We both were hot and tired by the time we left, sure signs of a good time.

Charlie got in trouble the other day. He just would rather do anything then pick up his room. I've even caught Harrison picking up Charlie's mess. Well I got tired of it and told Charlie that he could not play any video games when daddy came home. I suggested that he get out his drawing board, he always carries it around. This is what he came up with. Don't you love that frowny face? And in case I didn't know, he wrote his name on the top to let me know it was him. As if.

Here's Audrey in a jammy that doesn't fit anymore. I had to take a picture of her in it, I loved these jammies. You can't see her thighs bulging out of them, but they are. I have a pile of clothes to sort that don't fit her anymore.

Tomorrow we have someone coming over to measure for new bookshelves and a new mantle. I am so excited! I love a house that has books in it, and I miss mine while they sit out in the garage. I have boxes and boxes of beautiful art books from when I was an art history major. I can't wait for them to come back in the house. So, hopefully he comes up with a plan and a good price. :)