birthday time for the bri-guy

if you have a weak stomach, just look away. it's birthday time for the bri-guy and i call bragging rights. i sat down to write 10 fun factoids, but just couldn't stop...

1. he enjoys body humor more than any grown man ever should
2. he can cook, sew, and cross stitch better than his wife
3. he thinks he and his dad are the only two people in the world who know how to properly operate a vehicle
4. he gives great hugs

5. if he ever leaves me it will be for jim
6. he never complains
7. he never has b.o. (thanks to the ridiculous amount of deodorant he wears)
8. he giggles

9. he was a cheerleader in high school (i can't even write that without laughing)
10. he wholeheartedly believes in all conspiracy theories
11. he keeps me and the kids constantly laughing
12. he has a horrible sense of balance

13. he cried at our wedding
14. he loves all things hair metal
15. he takes full credit for his children's good looks
16. he's never said a negative word about his mother

17. he is an awesome labor coach (seriously, he could do it for a living)
18. he finds movies starring talking animals wildly entertaining
19. he'll put himself, and the kids, in harms way for a good spot during hide and seek

20. he's a hunky husband, father, and best friend. he might be gettin old, but i'm seriously so blessed to be spending my life with him.

on camping

 

it's hard enough keeping tabs on the man child when he's confined to the house, so the thought of chasing levi around the wilderness was less than appealing. i did however give in to brian's repeated requests for a family camp out- the fact that he had such a strong desire to go made the trip irresistible.

we packed the truck with whatever gear we could find, and made the 10 minute drive to the creek. so close, yet so far away.

 

i won't say how long it takes a certified master technician to set up a tent, but i will say that he wasn't happy about it. brian brought his scout pack, and insisted on starting a fire without matches. luckily his trusty wife packed a lighter.

it was so much fun to look over his old merit badge books, they were filled with cute seven year old brian writing and all kinds of fun facts. we learned that in 1984 he did a front roll in august, explained traffic laws to a parent in june, and in september he borrowed 3 books from the library on his favorite subject: hot rods.

 

we roasted marshmallows.

 

the children were perfectly well behaved.

 

in the morning a dry little family headed for the cold rocky water of the creek.

 

and in the afternoon a wet and tired little family headed for home.

warning autumn

a fun blogger wrote this adorable ode to fall, and i echo her sentiments exactly. i'm not ready to retire the barefooted warmth of summer just yet. i have been trying to coax myself into happiness for the inevitable arrival of fall, focusing on trips to the pumpkin patch and apple orchards have helped.

so as the weather cools, i am warming up to you mr. fall, but do remember my blogging buddies fair warning- "all bets are off when you start messing with the sun."

drowsy note to self

just e-mailed my essay to my editor extraordinaire, 2:59 am. brian tells me my gpa wouldn't be nearly as impressive if i didn't have tiff's help, and he's right. if i'm not up in 3 hours i don't get a shower tomorrow (i guess it is tomorrow) and mia goes to school with ugly hair. it's one thing for me to be a bit stinky, but ugly kindergarten hair is simply unacceptable.

note to self: for the love of all that's holy- STOP PROCRASTINATING!

the splurge

 

counter tops were installed yesterday and they look amazing, even the bri guy was impressed!

 

how sweet is this undermount sink? if we could only get the plumbing finished, i would be one happy gal. i have a bathtub full of dirty dishes that i have successfully avoided for the second day in a row.

defining love

 

levi is starting to repeat words! today we were playing this familiar little game-

me: say thank you
levi: da-doo
me: say puppy
levi: poo-pee
me: say i love you
levi: scrunched his lips together until they were touching the bottom of his nose, displaying his famous slobbery kiss. he might not be able to say it, but at least he understands the meaning.

jill in the box

 

from the kitchen i hear carolyn singing dun, dun-dun, dun, dun-dun-dun-dun.....

 

followed by a loud pop and loads of contagious giggles. carolyn is the queen of creative kid fun. it was great watching her turn the imaginary crank forcing the cute little weasel right out of her cabinet box.

g-ma carolyn spent grandparents day brilliantly entertaining her three little surrogates, freeing brian up to finish some of his projects and allowing me to complete a few of my own (one of which happen to be an afternoon siesta with miley). thank you!

finally, a photo wall

 

i got this awesome photo wall idea from a talented stranger whose blog i find inspiring. as you already know, i have a fabulous photographer friend that takes our bi-annual family photos, like the ones featured above. sorry about the bad picture, i had to stand at a weird angle to keep the flash from obscuring the images.

 

tierd me trying to give you a feel for their massive scale. they're the first thing you see when you walk in my front door. i had been stocking the ikea by my house for months in pursuit of these clip frames. jan (mother to the fabulous photographer friend) ended up finding them for me at the ikea by her place, thanks jan!

thanks chelz for figuring out how to develop the monsters!

thanks brian for hanging them at 1am because your giddy wife couldn't contain her excitement!

bruce almighty

before

during

this picture holds a lot of meaning for me. together, brian and dan are removing the last trace of graffiti from our home.

after

jim, brian, bruce, and dan almighty! a better group of guys, you will never meet. our already overworked friends rang our doorbell at 6:45 saturday morning bringing with them a truck full of power tools, an amazing work ethic, and a bottomless supply of not so female friendly jokes. never in my life have i met people as talented at twisting innocent verbiage into nonstop rip roaring man humor.

they worked while they laughed, demolishing the existing kitchen in less then an hour and hanging these beautiful white cabinets in it's place. they worked into the afternoon never complaining about the terrible heat that had set in, stopping only once to refuel on some cheeseburgers and frosties. while it wasn't easy, i successfully went the entire day without telling jim to shut up.

bruce, thank you so much for generously offering us your expertise, we could not have leveled a single cabinet without you!

to tish, sandy, and cindy- thank you for sharing what little time you have with your wonderful husbands!

the counter tops, sink, & flooring are only a few short weeks away...

bye bye auntie tweece

 

i took katrice to meet her plane last thursday. she was pleased as punch to be flying the friendly skies all by herself. she skipped through the airport with her matching pink polka dot luggage, refusing to let me help her do anything. she had been with us for a month and she was way excited to get back to her school, her own room, but most of all her mom.

she was a great sport her entire stay, hardly ever complaining about the inconveniences that come with a house full of noisy babies, and always willing to lend her overwhelmed big sister a hand. i miss having someone that serenades me in while i'm driving, constantly hugs me, cleans the stove without being asked, slaps my butt every time i walk by, always gives brian the stink eye, and appreciates my cooking.

to my baby, before i had babies, i miss you!

pants on fire

 

mia is my talker, our afternoons are filled with the detailed comings and goings of the kindergarten class.

last week she told me all about her trip to the nurse: her stomach hurt, she was escorted to the nurses office, had her temperature taken, her throat checked, and was sent back to class with a lollipop.

today she told miley about a little boy named scott who was spitting at her: she asked him nicely to stop, he didn't, she told her teacher, who then gave scott two checks on his bear for spitting, resulting in the loss of the famous treasure box trip for poor spitting scotty.

my mommy senses were tingling, so i enter the conversation. i ask if she had done anything to provoke the spitting. her response was of course that she had not, quickly followed by her request that i not mention this to her teacher.

what!? under interrogation she confesses to lying about the nurse and the spitter. i was shocked by her sudden talent for lying, ticked that i had believed the bull, but amused by the way she had unknowingly incriminated herself. i put my hand over my uncontrollable smile and proceeded with my best mom voice. ohhh did we have a talk. then, i told her that she would be apologizing to her teacher at school for the whoppers she's been telling at home.

she lost it- crazy screaming, crying, and flailing limbs. the thought of making her teacher mad and/or getting checks on her bear is devastating. i feel guilty, even though i know it's the right thing to do. we can't have a little liar liar pants running around.

p.s. yes, i am procrastinating. my intention when i sat down at the computer was to write an explication paper. now levi's awake- oops.

rest for the weary

 

i was shocked to wake up last weekend to find that we had slept in! miley was resting peacefully with her two favorite things- daddy and bunny. miraculously, levi was still snoozing away in his bed and katrice had poured a bowl of sugar coated goodness for herself and mia to enjoy.

 

thus, leaving a happy miley with the undivided attention of both her parents.

 

love the morning sun on this fresh little face.

in addition to some much needed rest, this weekend also afforded us time to cross some things off the list. more house pictures later.

a very happy morning to you all!

nice having known you

tonight i am officially back to school.

the schedule-
statistics (scary)
advanced writing for the english major (scarier)

so this has been fun, but i'm writing to let you know that you probably won't be hearing much from me. or maybe you'll be hearing even more from me, since blogging is my very favorite thing to do when procrastinating.

a sisters gift

 

please forgive me, i have been feeling so nostalgic ever since i pulled out the picture of christa and i. i asked tiff to send me some of the old family pictures that she had scanned- thank you! i was flipping through them when i came to this. i stopped. i looked and looked trying to figure out what it was that drew me so deeply into this particular photograph.

then it hit me, this is how i remember him.

i wanted to share this with those of you who knew him, and others of you who i wish had.

i miss you dad.