eating for two.

Who says you can't enjoy Thanksgiving without a stomach?

How thankful we were to have our sweet mother released from her month long stay in the hospital on Thanksgiving day!  We found "out of the box" ways to entertain mom {besides eating all the deliciousness in front of her}...

This is NOT what it seems... ...hits off the Incentive Sparometer.

{Even the babies got in on that action}

Three examples of things I'm grateful for:

1. Children who still like to smooch their mom.

2. Capturing the one time in history my brother has actually smiled for a picture.

3. My husband's killer sense of appropriate thanksgiving dinner attire {in his defense we did, for the first time ever, eat off paper plates}

What would a feast be like where elyott DID like the food??

Hope your holidays find you well {with or without a stomach}

**also...what's up with my orange oompa loompa face?!?

♥ team boo

xmas icebreaker.

Thanksgiving day...

...roughly 67 crazy turkey impressions later (per Elyott's request)...my head is throbbing and i am ready for a new holiday.

Onward!

**our first xmas craft. maybe our last? i'm tapped out.

kids are weirdos.

What's that? you don't watch TV with a cage on your head?

26'ed.

*Yesterday morning I woke up and discovered that I had lost ten pounds. Deb had left a half dozen cinnamon rolls on my doorstep...and Adam stayed up all night scrubbing the house top to bottom.  That's cause it was my birthday and things just go your way, you know. 

{*untrue}

Ah, hopes and dreams.

Well actually, i rolled out of bed pulled on my brand new shirt from my thoughtful husband {wink} and went to gain 10 pounds at the Farmhouse for breakfast were i took pictures of my husband and i eating {weird} with me sporting the same unwashed and untouched hair with green spray paint in it from Sunday (because i could!).

There began the foodfest that is an adult birthday. Here are the things i ate (as if my life depended on it) in no particular order:


1/2 of a steak and blue cheese panini
1 enormous cinnamon roll
1 biscuit with gravy
2 slices of sourdough toast
2 pounds of egg white only avocado and swiss scramble
3 slices of white pizza
4 cups of diet coke (oh the absurd contradiction)
5 mouthfuls of sweet potato salad
6 bites of chocolate cake
...aaaand an entire 12 ounce Nielsons chocolate malt custard.


All was well in my abdomen until i watched the low budget cheesefest that was Twilight (are you kidding me?) I was laughing so hard i nearly threw up. At home I returned to a sleepy husband and a clean(ish) house where i could ponder my day of celebration:

"Why, (my suffering digestive track pleaded) why do birthday's always amount to such uncivilized amounts of food inhilation?"

"Because, {croaked a tired yet trusty pair of spanx i was sporting under my skinny jeans} just because."

**Spanx...for a birthday feast that won't raise eyebrows. Looks like my birthday went my way after all :) Nothin' can stop me now! (cue tap dance).

yee haw i'm 26!

sibling shout outs.

In keeping with my "love kick" I realized that after almost 100 postings I have never let you in on some of my best kept social weapons....my unmatched siblings.  Let me list a few reasons why i prefer them to almost anyone else.

Steph 

(the "redhead")

1. most hilarious girl i know {also the loudest...ie. pterodactyl scream}

2. reflective and kind hearted

3. can make anything amazingly beautiful {seeeriously anything}

4. magnetic

5. passionate and inspired

6. drops BFF's like its hot {but can't drop me cause were seesters}

Liza 

(the "middle" sister ;)

1. creative and beautiful

2. generous and loyal, an amazing friend to anyone

3. supportive and a wicked good secret keeper

4. honest and genuine

5. gives the best reactions, and easiest laughter

6. most entertaining storyteller {complete with signature pelvic thrusted walk}

Chris 

(the "baby")

1. reserved yet retarded on cue

2. the smart one 

3. selective and independent

4. funny and also cooler than me {which isn't hard}

5. got the "butt" and the "lips"

6. secretly loves and wants to be like me and he knows it ;)

Spence

(the "golden child")

1. insanely imaginative 

2. amazingly outgoing and interesting

3. sweet and thoughtful

4. entertaining and clever

5. tenacious

6. has put up with all 10 of his parents for 11 years (you rock the house brother)

*this glorious picture of me has been re-posted to ensure no sibling accuses me of posting a bad picture of them (feel free to click to enlarge, its a doozy)...

In the name of love...

I know i know i've been all gushy and lovey dovey with my posts lately. Fortunately this is really how i feel. In the face of great divide in the world, i choose to love as many things as i can. Be it my family, my church, sweet pork salads, or these darling strangers...

(with their yellow accessories, and their tiny balloons.)

Love them with me...

This beautiful couple just got married...and frankly if i could french kiss their adorableness I would.  Are you from a magazine??...No, your just really that quirky and cute and spunky and in looooove.  You know there are people like me that would love to hate you. {jealous bastards}. As for me i choose to adore you and the amazing photographers that captured your magical day.  You see, i have a soft spot for weddings. More specifically, for girls who get to wear yellow shoes and calf length dresses on their wedding day. Some dictionaries would argue that a girl like me (who had a wedding like mine) was, well "bitter"...heck, it might even go so far as to use me as the example sentence: 'with each wedding she envied, the bitter young bride's soul turned a darker shade of black'.

But not this time fools...today i shout "HOORAY to your adorable and equally impossible for me to pull off wedding head band! HOORAY for your husbands willingness to wear a skinny tie! and HOORAY to your killer style and sweet love!  May all your wedded days be as blissful as this one" (cracking psychotic smile).

church words.

Elyott:  Dad...you just...look good.

Adam:  Do I look handsome?

Elyott: {laughing}  Daaaad! 'Handsome' is a church word!...you have to use words when you're at home like 'fun' or 'good'....like 'it's good to be home'

:) I love her.

like a glove.

You know when you've just squeezed into your classy spandex pants, and you just can't find any shoes to complete your outfit? That's so frustrating.

You can imagine then, my pure elation when i stumbled upon these suede beauties on Etsy. Had I been a hooker on the prowl for some comfy red thigh highs, and not so busy looking at the garbage in her fireplace OR her hungry spandex butt, I might have noticed the boots for sale. Ya ya, we've all heard it before: "they are just so comfy" or "what else do I wear with my sequence tube top?" Just promise yourself that next time you will acquaint yourself with your photo crop tool, or at least buy a reliable rear viewing full length mirror. Lesson learned: no matter how fabulously you think you can rock a pair of black stretchies, sometimes its better to let your butt...er...boots speak for themselves (har har). All things considered...I ultimately settled on this more versatile, slightly less distracting pair...

(not actual boots i bought, but close enough. You get the idea)

shiny happy people.

You can be shiny too!

...all you need is one of these.
and a couple of these...

{okay so, you'll probably need a few of these too.}

hint hint...

Dear Husband ♥

In case you were wanting to get me another present besides the fabulous one you have already picked out on your own {wink wink}, here are a few items that would make my heart sing come my morning of breakfast in bed {in exactly 14 days from today}.  And since you SO hate to see my birthday overshadowed by a larger and drastically more important "holiday" {clears throat}...Thanksgiving, i thought i would make it easy and share each idea in order of "wanting" (1 being lust, 5 being would relieve my guilt of just buying it myself ;) with a one click link for your convenience.  Thank you my dear...i love it already!

1. 

droooooooool.

JK. these are $400. And though i would LOVE you...i'd have to kill you :)

(sigh)

2. New art...

(cause we so are}

found here 

3. the Holga

this is only #3 because of price {perhaps would be better suited for xmas, eh?}

lookie here 

4.

look here. 

5. Rose Linen Water

aaaand here. 

{don't forget the spray nozzle my love!}

post partum entertainment

this is me indulging heather's wishes... 1. where is your favorite place to people watch? - Disneyland...Crazy parents with their front butts, and all those horrible Character shirts. 2. where is the best place to get a soda? - QT. Their "turd" ice is way turdier than Sonic's. 3. what's your nickname for your inlaws? - Adam affectionately refers to them as Jeannie and Spence Nuts 4. what celebrity do you least resemble? - Flava Flave.  He's a celebrity, right? 5. if you got to watch your husband make out with another man, who would it be? - To avoid destroying any of my personal fantasies, it would have to be someone horrible and awesome like...Mario Lopez or Nicolette Sheridan (or should i say "NICK"...who's not fooling anyone.).  6. if you had to hit one animal with your car, what would it be? - a ferret 7. tell us about the sweatiest day of your life: - every night while i sleep. (and the drool doesn't help either) 8. what is the worst outfit you've ever worn? - my last minute wedding dress.  I had to go Braless with size H knockers {Lesson learned: Abstinence before marriage.} 9. if you had to spend $10 at Home Depot, what would you buy? - Spray paint and a 3 King size Milky Ways  10. please post a very happy picture of yourself:

{you said happy, not cute} *by the way...sheamus just climbed up on my lap and said {referring to this picture}:

S: "Can i see his dress? {giggling} He looks so silly!  What is his name?

ME: No honey, that's mommy :)

S: Her is so bad!

the fastest thing

Me: What was your favorite part about the fall festival at school?

E: oh, the 'slider one' {bouncy house}...I went faster than the two babies that were on it!

Me: You are so big and fast cause you're 5 years old. They are still just learning how to move their bodies, huh.

E: I know and i went so fast like 'fpth!'....like as fast as a fart!

Me: {laughing} Wow, i don't think there's anything faster!

{Then we both secretly coveted these pants}

cheap thrills

Dear Autumn,

It seems that you’ve come a little late for our liking.  We'll forgive you….as long as you bring lots of cold nights for fireplace usage, but promise not to freeze all of my trees (again).  In return, we (in AZ) promise to spend all our waking hours outside in your crisp air. Freak. I'd drink  a vat of bacon grease if it meant you'd stay until June. You won't. But thank you in advance for finally letting us use all the cute leggings we’ve been stockpiling, cause frankly we are tired of shaving our legs.  

Still slightly overheating in our hoodies (but loving you anyway),

Team Boo

flavor of love

Love this.

Love them.

Love him.

big kids.

this is me voting...eh eghm...for the first time.

for British eyes only...

choice: 

1. an act or instance of choosing; selection 2. the right, power, or opportunity to choose; option: {Her choice to shower was made in deep regret that her husband had such a scuzzbag of a wife. The child's parents were not happy when he chose to poop on the basement floor.}

And so began my day of big decisions.  I chose to be clean by way of a shower, only to be covered in the feeling of that the poo smell has absorbed into my hand skin {even after the smell was vigorously scrubbed and gone}.  I chose to begin potty training my kid despite my major defeat with child #1.  This morning I chose a healthy breakfast instead of the traditional {and amazingly satisfying} Marshmellow Maties.  I chose to drive my daughter to school shoe and bra-less {even after forgetting that my car was parked down the my street due to overnight road repairs} because otherwise she would have been late, and I'm a good mom like that ;)  I chose to skip the gym today, because on day 1 {yesterday} of my body cleanse i got so low on blood sugar after my workout that, were it not for the emergency {and very un-cleanse worthy} hot pastrami and swiss from Schlotskys, i'd have passed out and veered into oncoming traffic. Also today I am choosing to vote, here's why....

a. i have never voted before 

b. i am blessed with a god that gives me the right to choose and a country who lets me do so.  

c. i needed an official reason to wash my hair.

**Show confidence in what you decide {for example...I am proud that i smell like soap instead of pastrami.  Try it}  And for heavens sakes, go vote!

mask the problem

This is normally the time of year where my creative juices come alive and i want nothing more than a reason to transform life into make believe...but this year it was like pulling teeth to get me in the mood (yes the day has come).  Apparently all the pre halloween hoopla found me too tired to "trick" myself out. Despite my munchkins looking adorable as ever, I could not have been more sick of looking at my house covered in black and spider webs. You see, i have started a mind shift of eliminating "clutter", and all those skulls and spanish moss...well they just made my house dark and annoying. I don't even think i was awake 1 hour November 1st before i began tearing all the spooky crap down at a crazy lady pace.

Call me a scrooge if you will....It's not that i don't love the candy and the costumes, i do, but each mini snickers bar i handed out to the "skank" themed trick or treating teenager, grew my fantasy of ambushing her with raw eggs. Perhaps it was the combo of my complete disappointment with the Halloween presentation at Target, and the fact that Joannes was out of haunted Gingerbread houses. Maybe it was solely the fact that i bought some awesome clown pants at a thrift store this summer only to find that my butt was a little hungrier now than it was in July.  

Regardless... it came, it went and i am left with my sweet picture memories of my kids loving every minute. Also, enjoy my super fake smile...

the end.