TEXMORSE

Sweet

2012-02-16T09:36:00.003-06:00

Mason's class did candy-free valentines this year, so here's what we sent.
However, at home, things were definitely not candy-free. I used this recipe (cut down by 1/3) to make a copy of the Cheesecake Factory's Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple cheesecake. It turned out pretty awesome, even if, as the boys suggested, it looked like it had sausage baked on top. They each took one bite and said, "I don't really like it." And for the first time ever, I used the phrase "Good, now there's more for me" literally instead of as a lame attempt at reverse psychology.
It is quite astonishing how quickly you can eat an entire cheesecake by simply stopping for one bite every time you pass the refrigerator.

More things that made me laugh

2012-02-15T20:51:00.000-06:00

Last week we made hamburgers for dinner. When I squirted the ketchup on for Mason, the bottle made a funny noise.

Mason: Heh, heh. It tooted.

Sarah: Alec, do you want ketchup or mustard?

Mason: Alec, you should get the ketchup. It toots.

Alec: Ok, ketchup. (It goes on quietly.)

Mason & Alec: Awww! No toots!

*******************************

Mason: (eating his second hamburger in just a few bites) There's a long line of food in my mouth, and they're waiting their turn to go down.

****************************************

Yesterday we drove past the preschool where I want to send Alec next year. It's not the same place he attended this year, and he is not happy about the change.

Sarah (with all the enthusiasm I can muster): Hey guys, look out the window; it's Alec's new preschool.

Mason: Where is it?...Oh, yeah, I see it. What's it called, Alec?

Alec: I'm not planning on going there. The boys labeled this cloud a fire-breathing dragon. Pretty good, right?

How much?

2012-02-14T08:52:00.004-06:00

My boys are still working on units of measurement. For example, someone asked me once about some ice, "Will it be like 100 pounds of cold in my mouth?" But quantifying love is tough even for the best of us. Here are a few of my faves that Mason and Alec have come up with.

Mommy, I love you 160 pounds.

I love you an extra point. (It's possible that Matt was watching football in the background.)

My heart is burning with love.

Sarah: Do you know how much I love you?

Alec: So much that I want to die.

And of course, my favorite: Mommy, I love you a thousand, million love hearts.

One morning, Mason was snuggling in bed with me, and he said, "Awww! We're havin' a love party!" (But of course it sounded like "wuv pawty" and was therefore twice as cute.)

Hope you are all having a fantastic love party today.

The poor guy never had a chance

2012-02-02T13:57:00.007-06:00

About a year ago, we had a super fun snow day. Ok, it was more of a snow morning, since it was mostly melted by lunch time. I wish we could have a few days like that each winter (even though I am enjoying this week's mid-70s).

Here's a video of Mason that makes me laugh every single time I watch it. It's three minutes long, which I realize is a bit of a time commitment by internet standards. But around the 1 minute mark, when he is kicking the guy in the stomach and then pauses to attempt to replace his arm, I hope you will consider it time well spent.

When was the last time you smashed something into smithereens? I feel like I'm long overdue.

Sunday highlights

2012-01-30T08:17:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a busy one. Because of my job working with the youth, I visited two other wards (congregations) in addition to my own.

In one ward, I heard Taylor Swift quoted in a sacrament meeting talk for the first time ever. It was a teenage girl speaking, and I'm not making fun, just stating a fact. I once quoted some Doors lyrics in a philosophy paper in college. You use what's relevant to you, right?

In another ward, a man approached me in the hallway, shook my hand, and asked if I was new. When I said that I was just visiting, he proceeded to quite obviously look me up and down (the full elevator eyes!) and ask, "Are you spoken for?" I smiled and said yes, but thanked him for the ego boost (even though he was roughly my dad's age).

And of course my own children provided plenty of entertainment as usual. When we received the sacrament tray with little cups of water, Mason took one and then asked me, "Is it half full or half empty?"

Sunday is the day for pondering life's deep questions.

Trash to treasure

2012-01-28T13:23:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago, the boys and I went to a puppet show at the library. The two ladies who did the show talked about how they had made most of their set and puppets from recycled items. For example, the turtle was a paper bowl flipped over, covered with bottle caps, and painted. So last night I piled the table with recyclables, markers, and a few other craft supplies and told the boys to make anything they wanted. When I had described my idea to them earlier in the day, they were less than enthused. However, it must have been a hit, because this morning they were asking to "make more stuff out of garbage".

Our assorted creatures, along with the Wonder Pets fly boat (front left), and an advent calendar (front right).

I highly recommend this family activity that really lets the kids (and parents) express their creativity. You can use any supples you want, but I specifically suggest having a glue gun and some wiggly eyes. Almost anything can become a charming little creature if you stick on some wiggly eyes.

No holds barred

2012-01-24T20:05:00.003-06:00

I believe your pants are currently on fire...

2012-01-24T14:20:00.002-06:00

Mason: Hey Mom, I dropped one of my hot berries (cinnamon red hot candies), and Izzie licked it, so can I have another one?

Sarah: So the one you dropped, where is it now?

Mason: Umm...in Izzie's tummy.

Sarah: I don't think she would eat that. Why don't you show me where it fell.

Mason (pointing): Right over here.

Sarah: I don't see it.

Mason: I mean, I threw it in the garbage.

Sarah: Really? I was standing right here in the kitchen, and I didn't hear the cabinet door open.

Mason: Maybe I threw it into the sink.

Sarah: Ok, let's take a look and see.

Mason: Well, it went straight down into the garbage disposal.

Sarah: I don't think so, because there is a plate covering that opening.

Mason: Uhhh...but I need a new one because of the one that I lost.

Sarah: I'm not giving you another one. Next time you'll just have to make sure you put them straight into your mouth so that nothing happens to them.

Mason: I didn't really lose one. I was just trying to get an extra.

Sarah: Please don't lie to me again.

And then for the rest of the evening, I had a song from my childhood running through my head:
When you tell one lie, it leads to another
So you tell two lies to cover each other
Then you tell three lies and, oh brother
You're in trouble up to your ears

(Here's a link to a silly a capella/lip synch version of that song. Doesn't the boy look a little bit like Taylor?)

The January garden

2012-01-20T15:48:00.002-06:00

I'm having a bit of a hard time enjoying our recent mid-60s weather. If it's this high in January, where are we headed for August? I'm a worrier.
However, having just read The Secret Garden, I could not resist the urge to plant something to soak up all this sunshine. Behold our little garden:
We've got strawberries, raspberries, spinach and lettuce. Or we will have, in a few weeks.

Viva la resolution

2012-01-13T13:12:00.004-06:00

The start of a new year is always an inspiring time for me. I love to make new year's resolutions, and I think that this year will be my most successful one yet in terms of actually keeping them. I've finally figured out that a list of things like "learn Spanish", "exercise 3-4 times every week", and "be on time" is just too overwhelming. So I'm changing tactics and stealing my sister Jill's idea to work on one thing per month. These resolutions are more like to-do items; rather than become something (patient! skinny! punctual!) my goal is just to achieve something.

January: Read the whole Book of Mormon

February: Plant something in the garden, and start a compost pile

March: Try 10 new recipes, and do arm workouts every other day

April: Watch and/or read all General Conference talks

May: Document our Europe trip (started last year, but never made it past the first post)

June: Make a quilt

July: Write 5000 words

August: Make 30 new pieces of jewelry

September: practice Spanish every day

October: learn one song for piano (probably a Christmas song)

November: family photo shoot and Christmas tree up by Thanksgiving

December: mail cards the first week, go Christmas caroling, do a family service project

A few notes:

*I have read the Book of Mormon cover-to-cover a few times in my life. Usually it has been over the course of a year or so. I've decided it's time to try and take in the big picture, and so I'm reading it like a novel. It's 531 pages, and let's just say that I need to pick up the pace if I'm going to finish in 12 days.

*Already planted a few things in the garden--hooray! The compost pile is going to be a tough one, though. Matt is against what he envisions as a rotting pile of garbage, luring all manner of wild animals from the green belt into our yard.

*March is the only month that relates to food and exercise. The ten new recipes might end up being desserts. But at least I won't have jiggly arms.

*Can you see my strategic plan to survive the hot months? From May through August I'll be blogging, scrapbooking, sewing, writing, and making jewelry. A total shut-in with my creative pursuits, my dream come true!

*My focus for the end of the year is basically to prepare for and truly enjoy the Christmas season. We had a nice holiday in 2011, but I feel like there were too many things done late, done halfway, or simply not done.

Miscellaneous fun things

2012-01-08T16:12:00.000-06:00

We had a lovely, relaxing break for the Christmas and New Year holidays. Matt was home for much of the time, and we had lots of leisurely days with the boys. We found a fun new park (and discovered a love of climbing!) and visited a museum and a nature center.

Climbing high:
Austin Children's Museum:

Austin Nature & Science Center:

Digging for dino fossils:

San Gabriel playscape in Georgetown:

The Georgetown park was yesterday. We celebrate Austin Day every year; it's our anniversary of moving here from Chicago. We took the boys out and let them run around for hours, then had dinner at Ikea because, well, why not? I totally recommend making up your own family holiday. Our kids were enraptured with the tale of Matt and I leaving grandma and grandpa's house on a dark, freezing January morning and two days later, arriving here in our new home.

This weekend marks eight years since we made the jump. Happy Austin Day!

Books read in 2011

2012-01-05T22:47:00.000-06:00

I am sincerely in love with just about any collection of colorful items arranged in collage or mosaic format, so you can guess how happy I was when I learned from the lovely and talented Amber how to make the following graphic from my goodreads account.
I read 18 books in 2011. That number makes me pretty happy, especially considering that I spent quite a few years not reading much of anything. Why? I don't know. I just forgot that I liked to do it. (The terrible irony is that I had no kids! A travesty, all those wasted quiet hours...) But these days I love my book group and look forward to it every month. Except when they pick scary vampire books, Becky! And Meghan!
I've always been terrible at ranking things and deciding relative values; I have such an internal struggle when deciding how many stars to give. However, if I had to pick my very favorites from this year, I think they would be My Name is Asher Lev in first place with Tina Fey and Bill Bryson tying for second.

2011 at a glance

2012-01-03T15:19:00.000-06:00

In January, we remembered that the Austin winters are the reason why we are willing to suffer through the Austin summers.
In February, we had a wonderful snow day.

In March, the boys and I traveled to Chicago to welcome Uncle Taylor home from his two year mission in Argentina.

In April I celebrated my birthday with a big pile of new beads.

In May, we checked out the deer cabin.

In June, I went to girls camp, we celebrated 14 years of marriage, and the boys began their Star Wars obsession. (That's Alec frozen in carbonite.)

In July, we celebrated Matt's birthday at a swimming hole, and did some family drawing.

In August, Matt and I enjoyed some kid-free time, and Mason started kindergarten.

In September, I took a solo trip to Chicago and met my newest nephew, Silas.

In October, we ate corn dogs at the state fair.

In November, we watched Alec's preschool program and celebrated Mason's birthday.

Also in November, I lost my dear sweet grandpa.

In December, we celebrated Alec's birthday and battled with light sabers beside the Christmas tree.

5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:22:00.000-06:00

I'm on the committee that plans big events for the youth in our church, and I got the fun job of ordering all the supplies for the balloon drop for the New Year's Eve dance. As soon as the pack of 1000 balloons arrived on my doorstep, "pull the rip cord" was added to my bucket list.
We had maybe 20 people blowing up balloons yesterday morning, and it went quicker than you might think. By the time the guys got there with the compressors, we were almost done.
Mason came with me; he really enjoyed swimming around in a sea of balloons. I kind of wanted to do the same thing.

Filled and ready to hang:

Mason was so disappointed that he was not allowed to attend the dance to see the drop. He made me promise to record it, and even drew a picture of what it would look like when I pulled the cord.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for:

Happy 2012 everyone!

Recipe faves of 2011

2011-12-29T19:33:00.000-06:00

One of my goals for this year was to cook more often, and more specifically, to try new recipes. In fact, I think at one point I even wrote down "try one new recipe per week" or something like that. How laughably ambitious, right? But that's the beauty of goals; you can make them as lofty as you want to. As I think back over the year, I can only come up with a few new things that I tried, but they are all good.

1. Florence's tomato basil risotto (recipe at the end of this post)
This is so delicious when it's hot off the stove, but it's also wonderful after it's been refrigerated and you cut a cold slice of it and grill it in a nonstick pan until it's hot inside and crispy outside.

2. Design Mom's chili, found here.
Many of you probably already have your own favorite chili recipe, but it was sorely needed in our house. I always thought I made decent chili, just throwing a little of this and a little of that in with some beans, meat and canned tomatoes. But no. Following an actual recipe means that I add enough seasonings and cook it long enough, so that the result is "really good" instead of "fine".

3. Ham and swiss sliders on Hawaiian rolls; recipe here at The Girl Who Ate Everything. Found via Pinterest. My kids hate the poppy seeds, the swiss cheese, and the mayo. They would basically say it's the ruination of a perfectly good ham sandwich on a sweet roll. But grown-ups will swoon.

4. Nutella Cheesecake Layer Bars found here at The Moonlight Baker. I made these for Thanksgiving, and then proceeded to eat them for the next several breakfasts. Wow, they are fantastic.

Here's the risotto. Prepare to have your socks knocked off.

In heavy, medium pot, saute over medium-high until transparent:
2 T. butter
1 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, pressed

Stir in, reducing heat to medium:
2-3 tomatoes, diced (if you feel ambitious, peel them first)

Stir in, coating well:
1 1/2 c. Arborio rice (not rinsed)
1/2-1 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
Add initially 1 cup and then in ~1/2 c. increments (this step is key to making creamy risotto rather than it turning out like ordinary rice):
3 1/2-4 c. chicken or vegetable broth
Without lid, simmer gently, while stirring occasionally until liquid is absorbed. Add more broth, stirring occasionally. Repeat until rice is cooked through, but still firm (~20-25 minutes).

Remove from heat and stir in:
2 T. butter
1-2 large fistfuls fresh basil leaves, chopped
~1/3 c. Parmesan cheese (if omit the Mozzarella, which would be a tragedy, increase Parmesan to 1 cup)
Gently fold in:
8 oz fresh Mozzarella cheese, cubed
Delicious with grilled flank steak or grilled chicken, garlic bread & salad. Risotto patties are divine. Smoosh left-overs in a non-stick pan and cook over medium-high until it is hot and the cheese has formed a crust, flip carefully until the other side is crispy, too.

Carbon copy

2011-12-27T10:15:00.000-06:00

The day after Christmas, we went swimming at Grandma and PawPaw's hotel. Check out the resemblance on the two smilers:

Christmas 2011 in words

2011-12-27T05:25:00.000-06:00

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I guess I need to get these Christmas memories that have been swirling through my head written down. (I borrowed the style of SouleMama's "right now" posts, as I've just been browsing her site and the format helps organize my scattered thoughts.)

On Christmas day, we...
snuggled with Mason at 5:30am as he told me about the bad dream he'd just had

checked out the goodies that Santa brought us

ate eggs, toast, and sausage before heading to 9am church

sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing (with gusto!) along with our church family of the Sunset Valley ward

attempted a family photo by the Christmas tree

opened the rest of the presents

tested out Matt's new surveying-inspired tripod floor lamp (one of my best thrift store finds)

settled into a relatively quiet afternoon of playing, napping, reading and preparing dinner

ate ham, green beans, sweet potato casserole and rolls. And lots of sugar cookies.

played with a LeapPad Explorer, a Tag Reader, Zingo, a puzzle, giant checkers, frog jacks, an I Spy card game, Squirmles, and a couple of inflatable light sabers

solved a murder mystery, in the form of a family game of Clue

watched (after the kids went to bed) It's a Wonderful Life

laughed just a little, when George said, "You call this a happy family? Why do we have to have all these kids?"

cried when his brother said, "...to my big brother George, the richest man in town!"

I'm feeling very rich right now, and I hope that you are too.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 12: Christmas card

2011-12-26T15:38:00.000-06:00

I'm sad to report that a tall stack of these lovely cards sits on a side table next to our couch. What can I say? Sometimes a job like addressing envelopes gets bumped down the list in favor of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas or making chocolate chip cookies. They may or may not be mailed out this week. In case they aren't, consider yourself seasons greeted.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 11: Almost there...

2011-12-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

Here's how we spent Christmas Eve:
Light saber battles with rolls of gift wrap.
Sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles.
Opening just one present. And when that present turned out to be a big, complicated bug-making kit from a well-meaning neighbor who maybe didn't see the "ages 9 and up" on the box, opening just one more.
We also sprinkled glittery oatmeal "reindeer food" on the lawn, read some of the beautiful verses in Luke chapter 2, and fell asleep to the sound of rain on the roof. A Christmas miracle for sure.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 10: Looking at lights with Grandma and Paw Paw

2011-12-23T21:47:00.000-06:00

We found some incredible lights out in Johnson City. It was like a magical sparkly forest on one block and a ton of colorful lights and decorations on another block. Then just a mile outside of town, some private owner has put up an impressive drive-through display.

Lego maze for the hex bugs

2011-12-22T13:56:00.000-06:00

The boys got hex bugs for their birthday, and we've been having fun building mazes and tunnels for them.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 9: Pre-school program and Santa Claus

2011-12-22T10:29:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Alec's pre-school program, which of course was delightful. After singing Christmas songs in the chapel, we did lots of crafts and visited with Santa. I was rather surprised that both of my boys were willing to sit on his knee. They weren't thrilled about it, but they knew that the payoff would be a candy cane. And with that, I have taught my children that it's fine to hop onto the lap of a stranger as long as they promise you candy. Yikes.

My only complaint is that there was no security guard posted at the cookie decorating table. Seriously, I intercepted these two sneakers about five or six times.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 8: Kinder party and neighborhood lights

2011-12-22T10:16:00.000-06:00

We've been busy with end-of-school festivities. Tuesday was Mason's class Christmas party, or rather "Winter Centers." He kept running over and giving me hugs and kisses; better enjoy that while it lasts. I don't think I'll get the same treatment visiting his class when he's older.
At night we walked around the neighborhood and looked at lights. Matt, Alec and Izzie went inside after one short lap, but Mason and I took the "long cut" and checked out another block. It was a rare peaceful moment in the midst of the intensity of our home life. He kept saying things like "those are beautiful" and "those are perfect". It really is such a lovely time in life when you can be so impressed with simple things.

A scene from the Star Wars aisle at Target

2011-12-19T14:15:00.000-06:00

Sarah: So you see, there's no double-bladed light saber for sale. I know it's on your list, but Santa's probably not going to bring it to you.

Alec: He can just have the elves make it in his workshop.

Sarah: I don't think they can make something so...complicated. They would have to buy it at a store, and since the store doesn't sell it, Santa's probably not going to bring it to you.

Alec: He can just go to another store.

(later, while driving home)
Alec: Hey Mom, I think I saw some double-bladed light sabers at LOFT, so Santa can just go there.

Sarah: At LOFT they sell mommy clothes, not toys.

Alec: I'm pretty sure they sell double-bladed light sabers, too.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 7: Disco shorts

2011-12-19T09:13:00.000-06:00

Here's a favorite from our white elephant gift exchange of 2004. Shiny silver boxers! Looking good, Taylor.

Twelve days of Christmas, day 6: 1981

2011-12-19T08:51:00.000-06:00

Here's me at age five. Doesn't it look like I'm in kid court, swearing on a stack of presents?

Twelve days of Christmas, day 5: Disco tree

2011-12-17T20:48:00.001-06:00

We have a couple of LED strands on the tree this year, and they cast some pretty powerful shadows on the wall.

Four!

2011-12-17T20:08:00.000-06:00

We had a combined party today; both of the boys invited a couple of friends over to the house for games and cake. Matt and I decided that for next year's party, we will simply fill the living rom with a hundred balloons and let the kids run around in it for a while. That was the thing they all seemed to enjoy most.
And so now my little one is four years old. He's definitely past the baby stage, but is still holding on to some sweet chubby cheeks. He has recently discovered a love for coloring, and constantly reminds us, "I'm an artist." There has been a healthy dose of sassiness the past couple days, which I'm hoping is a short-lived phase rather than a taste of what's to come this year. Tonight he furrowed his brow at me and declared his intention to marry Aunt Kelly.

Mason (to Alec): You can't marry her because she's already married.
Sarah: No, she's not married, remeber? But the reason you can't marry her is that she's your aunt, and you can't marry someone from your own family.
Alec: What would happen if you did? Would the police come?
Sarah: Well, you wouldn't.
Mason: But what if he did? Then would they come?
Alec: Well, then I want to marry aunt Allison.

The perfect way to end your fourth birthday: a lengthy explanation by your parents on why the county officials would never issue a marriage license to you and your aunt.

Twelve days of Chritmas, Day 4: Classical Christmas, plus Star Wars just for fun

2011-12-16T08:15:00.000-06:00

Today I plan to have the Messiah and the Nutcracker playing on my iPod. Some day, I'd like to sing along with a mighty Hallelujah chorus.

Alec sat in my lap and watched this whole clip:

This one was found via DesignMom:

which naturally led us to watch this:

Twelve days of Christmas, Day 3: charming vintage wall hanging

2011-12-15T09:12:00.000-06:00

For today's Christmas eye candy, here's a sweet little item that I saw at a thrift shop in San Antonio. I didn't buy it, because it was a bit pricey. It's now on my list entitled "I'll make it myself someday", obviously.

Twelve days of Christmas, Day 2: Izzie the Red-Nosed Pit Bull

2011-12-14T12:26:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2004. Our first year with a dog and our last year without kids. (Look how clean the carpet was!)

Twelve days of Christmas, Day 1: Singing and swaying

2011-12-13T08:14:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2008: Mason, age 3

Still feeling Grinchy: a list of annoying Christmas songs

2011-12-11T21:36:00.000-06:00

I don't consider myself to be much of a music snob, especially when it comes to Christmas music. I can enjoy almost all of it: Amy Grant, Manheim Steamroller, Jimmy Buffett...People, I can sing all the lyrics to the Oak Ridge Boys Christmas album. My parents have that sucker on vinyl!
I don't mind Blue Christmas or Feliz Navidad, but there are a handful of songs that I wish would disappear. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

5. Last Christmas (by anyone other than Wham!)

I just heard a lame remake of this song (I'm assuming it's by the Glee people, like 90% of all recent 80s song remakes). The original is not a classic or anything, but it has its place, especially the video in which those feather-haired cuites frolic at the ski resort with their girlfriends. It's cheesy and delightful; I've got the VHS tape if you want to watch it as part of your family's Christmas Eve tradition. But there's no need to give us any more varieties of this cheese.

4. Merry Christmas Darling (The Carpenters)

Blech! Who wants to listen to a Christmas song that sounds like it's being sung by a lady on a bear skin rug, trying to seduce her lover under the tree? "Logs on the fire fill me with desire..."? Gross.

3. Santa Baby (Madonna)

I actually kind of like the Eartha Kitt version of this song; she seems cool. But Madonna sings it like she's a gum-chewing Betty Boop wannabe. I love "Material Girl" and I love Christmas songs, but I guess I don't love it when you throw them in a blender together.

2. Baby it's cold outside (by anyone)

I've always disliked this one, because I feel like the dude is being kind of obnoxious in his efforts to get her to stick around. Now that I've taken an even closer listen to the lyrics, I've discovered that at one point the lady says, "...hey, what's in this drink?" I prefer my Christmas tunes to be free of any and all roofies.

1. The Christmas Shoes (NewSong)

This is a terrible, terrible song that creates a ridiculous scenario in order to try and squeeze a few tears from the listening audience. I keep trying to write more about it, but all that I can type are things like: This is such a dumb song. It's completely stupid. Manipulative and just SO BAD. I realize that I'm not being articulate, but it really is the worst.

Crafting to the rescue!

2011-12-08T17:15:00.000-06:00

I'm dealing with a couple of heavy things right now, and it's put me in a funk. Time to make something pretty.
I cannot overstate how happy it makes me when my little guy fills page after page with crayons, markers, and paint, saying, "I'm a artist, mommy. I'm doing art. Look at my beautiful pictures."
Yesterday while Alec painted, I started a wintry craft, and later when the boys went to bed, I did some serious jewelry production. Selling a couple pieces today was the icing on the cake.

The dancing lights

2011-12-05T09:28:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago when I was home for Thanksgiving, we took the boys to see a house in a neighboring town that does a huge Christmas light display. At one point, you can hear Jill and I snickering in the background. It's kind of hilarious to celebrate the birth of our Savior with rocking 80s guitar and seizure-inducing lights, don't you agree?
My boys love this video. If I'm scrolling through my files on the computer and they see this one, they'll yell, "Show us the dancing lights! The dancing lights!"

Untitled from Sarah Morse on Vimeo.

Trying my best to get into the spirit of things

2011-12-05T08:49:00.000-06:00

I'm home after a few days in Lubbock. It was both sweet and sad to gather with family and celebrate my grandpa's life. I'm still in a melancholy mood, but in my own household we are way behind schedule to get the halls decked, get the presents wrapped, and get something sweet into the oven. The tree goes up tonight!

Four generations in 1977: Me, my mom, my grandpa, my great-grandma

Six!

2011-11-29T22:49:00.000-06:00

It's already difficult to give the boys' birthdays their rightful attention, crammed as they are between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year, we celebrated Mason's sixth birthday the evening before I headed off to my grandpa's funeral.
We still made it fun. He got to open a present first thing in the morning ("before I even go to the bathroom or wash my hands" was his request). When he opened it, he declared the puzzle to be not as big of a gift as he was hoping it would be, and tried to give it to Alec and then convince us he deserved a do-over.
I joined him at school for lunch, and then we handed out chocolate cupcakes to his class, making sure to avoid the nut allergy kid, the gluten-free kid, the low sugar diet kid, and the doesn't-celebrate-birthdays kid. I'm actually not sure about that last one, but we did have to pass over four slightly sad looking kindergarteners. I'm not trying to make fun; Mason was one of at least two extremely-chapped-lips kids at the lunch table. We've all got our problems. Kelly joined us for dessert that night, and Mason got to blow out six large trick candles that kept sparking back to life. The big present of the evening was a ukulele, which he has started calling his "uke" as he packs it in its case, throws it on his back, grabs his water bottle, and heads out as if going on a world tour. It's awesome.
I've got to be honest, I did not love age five. But we have a plan to improve some things, and I have high hopes for this clever, sweet, emotional six year old boy.

Likes/Dislikes

2011-11-28T20:32:00.000-06:00

They like...

1. Playing Clue.
Mason: Mommy, how would you kill someone with a candlestick? Is it another 'bonk on the head' one?
Sarah: Uh, yes.
Mason: How about the rope? You can't bonk someone with that, so how would you kill someone with a rope?
Sarah: Maybe we should buy Clue Junior... 2. Enjoying the backyard fire pit.

The boys were very happy that our burn ban was lifted so that we could cook some hot dogs and s'mores. Totally worth the sticky fingers and smoky-smelling clothes.

3. The Lego Star Wars sticker book, in a strange turn of events, being shared.
They don't like...
1. Cooperating for the family picture.

2. Laying down peacefully and drifting to sleep without argument. (This was taken after one particularly tearful--and screamful, if I'm being honest--bedtime.)

3. Bothering to get up and grab a piece of paper when the urge to do a hand tracing strikes.

Love you

2011-11-28T10:48:00.000-06:00

Close, but not quite

2011-11-25T06:33:00.000-06:00

I am really in love with words. First of all, I talk a lot. I also like to read and write, and I think it's fascinating to learn word origins and to notice how words are connected by roots. In case you couldn't tell from the weekly lists of "stuff my kids have said", I also really enjoy the unintentionally funny misuse of words.

Many years ago, my sister Jill was in high school and told me and Matt that they were getting into the sex ed stuff in her health class. I believe we were looking over her textbook's list of birth control methods and their respective reliability, when Matt made some comment about how they left off corpus intuerruptus. Jill started cracking up and yelled, "It's coitus!" And then I'm guessing my parents broke up that party pretty quickly.

The other day, I was telling my friend a story about Mason eating an ice cream cone, and I said, "Well, you know he eats like a wolf. Wait. I mean a horse." And then not five seconds later I said, "...and so he was just horsing it down--I mean wolfing it down!" I think it's hilarious that my brain mixed up those two phrases before I even started the sentences.
As my boys expand their vocabulary, we have a lot of those funny exchanges, like when Mason asked me about a picture of a bear heading into a cave, "Is he...evaporating?" Nope, hibernating.

A couple days ago, I put on a Christmas album, and Mason recognized the jazzy piano music
Mason: Hey, I've heard this before.
Sarah: Yep, it's from the Charlie Brown Christmas movie.
Mason: Oh, yeah! I remember that guy playing piano. What was his name?...Skwotum?
Sarah: Schroeder. It's Schroeder.

Feeling very thankful

2011-11-25T06:14:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving with good friends, delicious food (including two chocolate cheesecakes!), some new Christmas music, and the Dallas Cowboys on a big screen.
Happy Thanksgiving from me and my turkeys.

Please don't go shopping on Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T09:24:00.000-06:00

I have been really annoyed by the news that more and more stores are going to be open on Thanksgiving Day. This article talks about a guy who was scheduled to work at Target starting at 11pm on Thanksgiving, meaning he would also have to sleep during the day to be ready for his shift. That stinks.

If you go to Target at midnight for a chance to buy one of three cheap flatscreens or whatever, then you are helping to ruin other people's Thanksgiving.

I've heard the arguments that not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving (or Christmas), or that some people want to work those shifts in order to get holiday pay. I'm sure that's the case for some, but I'm also sure that there are tons of people who have been told that in order to keep their jobs, they must show up when they are scheduled, even if it's on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

Do you want to work on those days? Do you want your spouse or child or parent to have to work on those days? Of course you don't. So don't make others do it either. "This is a delicious meal! Can we skip right to dessert, though? My shift at Toys R Us starts in an hour. We're giving away Monster High dolls to the first 100 customers dressed as zombie hookers."

During college I waited tables at a Chili's restaurant. We were closed two days each year: Thanksgiving and Christmas. That means we had to work on Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and everything in between. But at least we knew that we could spend those two whole days celebrating with our families.

The simple economics of it is that if they don't make money on those days, they won't continue to open. So please, show some compassion. Don't let your desire to save a little money outweigh your obligation to your fellow human beings. Don't let every single thing in our country be for sale.

The best moment from family night

2011-11-21T21:11:00.000-06:00

We were talking about how we can have peace in our home.

Alec: ...and we should always be kind.

Matt: That's right. Who should you be kind to?

Alec: Umm...my children.

Matt: Really? I didn't know you had children.

Alec: I've got children in other states.

This is how God speaks to me

2011-11-20T14:34:00.001-06:00

Sunday morning, with about one minute left before we needed to leave for our 9am church service, one of my children got frustrated about something I did and started screaming and kicking at me. It's a familiar scene around here, and I find it difficult not to respond with a lot of screaming of my own. When we pulled into the church parking lot, Matt and the calm child went inside to get a seat while I stayed in the car with the rowdy child, who still had a bit of whining and whimpering that needed to work itself out. After a few minutes, we said a prayer together in the back of the van (..."and please bless us with no more tantrums...") and headed inside.

The adult Sunday school lesson was taken from the book of James. There were so many excellent messages just in the first chapter.

verse 27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

verse 5: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

verse 19: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

Then in my women's meeting, the instructor read this advice from one of our modern day prophets (Harold B. Lee, quoted here by Robert D. Hales):
When you raise your voice in anger, the Spirit departs from your home.

God speaks to each of us in our own way. I am not one who receives personal revelation through dreams or visions, and I don't get a burning in my heart or hear an actual voice inside my mind. But I almost never leave a church meeting without hearing words that deeply resonate.

I felt as if the Lord were talking directly to me through those words. He was saying, "To truly be a Christian, do good work, even if it is difficult or thankless. If you need guidance, simply ask in prayer and I will give it to you. And please don't yell at your children."

School notes

2011-11-15T08:18:00.000-06:00

The morning drop off at Mason's school is just hilarious. First of all, the fifth grade patrol guards hardly know what to do with our eleven year old van. They stand on the curb side and open the doors to let the kids out, but when they see a sliding door, they just stand back and wait for you to open it automatically. When they realize that they have to open it manually, they give it a little tug and then stare blankly when it doesn't open. I'm always yelling through the glass, "It's unlocked! You just have to pull harder!"
Then Mason starts to get out, but turns back around to plant one more smacker of a goodbye kiss on me, often right on the mouth. I love it, of course, but I feel like we are holding up the line, plus the fifth grader is probably thinking, "Uh...do you guys want some privacy?"
Finally, the patrol guard, who is likely a boy with little toothpick arms (the girls are about twice as big at this age), has to slide the van door closed again, which requires some effort. There's a catch on the door, so that it will stay open, and again I'm always saying, "Yeah, you kind of have to slam it." Last week, when one of the kids got it closed on the first try, I heard her call out as I pulled away, "I did it! I closed the door!"
I like to imagine that there's a partol guard equivalent of the teacher's lounge, where all the fifth graders sit around and drink their coffee in the morning before heading off to duty.
"Man, I hope I don't get the beige van this morning!"
"Oh, yeah, me too. Last week, I had to call a girl over to help me close that stupid door."
********************************************
Mason loves homework. He told me so as he was doing an assignment last week, drawing the contents of our fridge. In fact, he said, "Can I please do a little more homework after I get my pajamas on?"
He also loves being the teacher. Here's the lesson he gave to our class, which consisted of me, Alec, and a lot of plastic animals.

While Mason was writing on the white board, Alec and I were whispering a conversation. Mason had to correct me twice with, "Mom, focus on the learning!"

World's quickest camping trip

2011-11-14T15:26:00.000-06:00

Eventually, we'd like to get to the point where Matt takes the boys away for camping weekends. We started small on Friday night, at a camp site near Lake Travis about 40 minutes from home. Mason still thought the drive was unbearable, and told me that when he's a daddy, he's going to have his wife do all the driving since it's so boring.
Matt expertly set up the tent in the dark, and then it was a full-blown brotherly wrestling match.
There was absolutely no chance that anyone would sleep if the boys stayed together, so Alec, Izzie, and I slept in the van while Matt and Mason stayed in the tent. It was one of the worst nights of sleep of my life.
The next morning the boys got to wander a bit while I made breakfast.
Here's a Mason's-eye view of our pancakes.
There was a burn ban in effect due to our exceptional drought, so we didn't roast any marshmallows, much to the boys' dismay. They declared that without s'mores, we were barely able to label the activity "camping".
Man, there was a lot of whining and sibling fighting! We're going through quite a phase right now. We lasted about 19 hours from the time we left home to the time we pulled back in the driveway.

They are exhausting, but still funny

2011-11-07T19:32:00.000-06:00

Mason: I'm mad at Alec. He lost my harmonica. (One minute later...) Hey, look! Alec found my clone trooper gun. I love Alec. I'm going to invite him to my birthday party; he's a good helper.
************************************************
We are having some issues with rude talk, specifically calling others stupid and using the phrase "I hate you." It irritates me and breaks my heart all at once. But the other day, Alec was really angry at me and he said, "Mom, I H---ATE, HATE you!" He's learning letter sounds, so he put the two together like they used to do with the silhouette faces on The Electric Company. (And seriously, if you were a kid in the 70s/80s, I dare you to watch that second clip and try not to smile when Rita Moreno yells, "Hey you guuuuuuuys!")
***********************************************
Mason, as we turned into our neighborhood after bad behavior caused the boys to lose their chance to get a Frosty: Awww, you're going home! I hate home! I love Wendy's!
**********************************************
Sarah: Ok, that's it. No one is allowed to say stupid any more!
Alec: If we say stupid, will you put acid in our mouth?
Sarah: Well, no. I won't do that.
Alec: Yeah, because then the police would throw you into the water, and the sharks would gobble you up.
**********************************************
For a long time now, our family prayers have included something along the lines of "Please help Mommy and Daddy to be patient, and help Mason and Alec to be obedient and kind." We also often say our thanks for Daddy's job and the good people he works with. Somehow, Alec has mixed the two together and always says, "Please help Daddy's bosses to be obedient and kind."

Pretty, pretty, pretty

2011-11-06T21:30:00.000-06:00

To cleanse the palate after that last grouchy post, here is one beautiful thing I could do with my ruined cashmere sweater. This site sells lots of varieties.

You don't have to read this one. It's just a lot of complaining.

2011-11-06T20:58:00.000-06:00

I'm sick right now, the kind of sick where my throat hurts with every swallow, my head throbs, my nose runs, and my eyes burn. I'm currently trying to down a cup of Emergen-C, but the fizziness is pretty much torture on my raw throat. So what better way to cope than to turn to the internet and share my troubles? Here's a recap of a pretty crummy weekend:
I started strong, doing several loads of laundry on Friday. That momentum led me to clean out my closet, where I found that moths had eaten one of my most beautiful sweaters. I'm not looking for sympathy here; it was totally my fault. Have you ever read a magazine article on storing your clothes for the winter? I know that I have, more than once, and they always suggest making sure that everything is free of body oils to avoid attracting bugs. "Ew! I don't have body oils!" I probaby thought to myself as I read. I have this cashmere sweater in the most lovely shade of blue that I somehow bought at Old Navy a couple years ago for like thirty bucks. The tag says to hand wash in cold water or dry clean, and to be honest, I should have known when I bought the sweater that I would be unlikely to do either of those things. It's probably been sitting on my closet floor for a year, waiting to be hand washed in cold water. So when I pulled it out, of course, it was full of moth holes. I did a full containment job in the closet, vacuuming the carpet over and over, and checking all the surrounding clothes for evidence of more moths. (I was lucky; it was limited to the deliciousness of the single cashmere item that I own.) Then I did something gross. Instead of just throwing out the whole blue sweater, I sat there and picked off the little caterpillars that were still munching away, and I washed them down the sink. My plan is to someday re-purpose that lovely blue cashmere into something wonderful. (This is the part where my long-suffering husband will snort and say, "Yep. Someday. I'm sure you will do that," as the pile of craft supplies threatens to cover him completely.)
And here's the worst part. I washed it in the machine, in hot water, and it came out totally fine. No shrinking at all, just swiss cheese holes down one of the arms. So here are the morals of that story:
1. Clean your closet more often than I do.
2. Do not buy things that tell you to hand wash in cold water. Or just pry open the old wallet and pay for some dry cleaning.
3. Eric Carle portrays caterpillars as sweet and colorful, munching away until they turn into beautiful butterflies. However, after you have googled "clothes moths," caterpillars become a vile enemy, and you will have a hard time getting the word "larvae" out of your head.

Awww...so blue, so soft, so edible.

Had enough of that topic? I'll lay out the rest of my grievances in bullet points, so we can get this over with.
-We broke pair number six of Mason's glasses. Six! And he's been in glasses for just one year.
-My boys are fighting like crazy. It's mostly big brother picking on little brother, but Alec is getting pretty scrappy and has left his share of claw marks on Mason's face. Who has the solution to this sibling violence? Please leave me your no-fail ideas in the comments.
-Our homeowner's association has determined that we, along with about 100 of our neighbors, have not adequately watered our lawn through the worst drought in Texas history. You know, because green lawns are much more important than conserving our drinking water. We are weighing our options. Green spray paint or xeriscaping? Just kidding; we are drawing up plans to xeriscape.
-And did I mention that I'm sick?
I predict that my boys will wake up around 5:20 tomorrow morning. Thank you, Daylight Savings Time, for kicking me when I'm down.

DIY: clone trooper helmet from a milk jug

2011-11-01T09:51:00.000-05:00

I found this tutorial a few weeks ago, back when we thought the boys were going to be storm troopers. Once we headed in the direction of clone troopers instead, I had to make some modifications. Matt had already purchased one mask from the store, doubting that I would come through with the finished products in time for Halloween (can you imagine?). So, start with a clean white milk jug. Or as she does in the tutorial I linked, start with a semi-transparent jug and spray paint it white.

Use scissors to cut out the back panel. Then, slice off a bit at a time until you have the shape you want. Test it on your little clone trooper to see how it fits the head and neck.
Make a small slit where the eyes will look out, test it, and then widen the eye slit as much as you want.
Use a black sharpie to embellish the helmet. Tape helps with straight lines, or just freehand it.
I also happened to have a silver Sharpie in my stash, so I used that as well.
Punch a hole in each side and secure with elastic or a rubber band. Now go and quash a rebellion or something.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:46:00.000-05:00

When we got in the car to head to school, Alec looked down the street at the neighbors' house and asked, "What are those white sticks in their yard?"
(We later found out that their own grandkids had done the job, and it was cleaned up by the end of trick-or-treating. I suppose that if there's any good way to get TP'd that's it.)
Here are my two little Star Wars cuties. Initially, they wanted to be storm troopers, and in Alec's case, specifically a biker scout from the Endor chase scene in Return of the Jedi. But somehow that morphed into clone troopers, even though they have never seen any of the movies or cartoons that involve clones.One of the masks is store-bought, and the other one was made by yours truly. From a distance, you can hardly tell that it's a milk jug embellished with Sharpies, right?

In the end, it really didn't matter, because both masks were off within a few minutes.

Perfect weather, lots of chocolate, and happy kids. Happy Halloween!

Cute food

2011-10-20T14:28:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I made this for the boys' lunch and called it a palm tree and an innertube. Am I Fun Mom, or what? A couple days later I tried to feed Alec a peanut butter bagel, and he said, "I want a palm tree and an innertube!" So I had to peel another kiwi. It really doesn't pay to be Fun Mom. Who needs those kind of expectations?

Then on Tuesday evening, Matt tried to one-up me with this Fun Dad maneuver: We ate cold cereal and donuts for dinner that night, and the boys were in heaven. Now I think the only way they'll eat anything healthy is if I puree it and pipe it into a frosted pastry.

Texas State Fair

2011-10-19T14:53:00.000-05:00

Matt had a work-related convention in the Dallas area, so the boys and I tagged along. They are always incredibly excited to stay in a hotel, and we planned to go to the fair on Matt's free afternoon.
We stopped to stretch our legs in Waco, about halfway between Austin and Dallas.
This is either Lady or Joy, one of the Baylor bears.
Our hotel was practically next door to an Ikea, so while Matt was in class, the boys spent some quality time at Smaland, followed by cinnamon rolls.
And the next day I, uh, brought them to Ikea again. They loved it, and I loved another hour of leisurely browsing.
On to the main event! There was some fun street art in the neighborhood near the fair grounds. Check out my brainy boys next to the big brain.
Our first stop at the fair was the auto show, Matt's childhood favorite. We sat in a lot of cars.
These next two photos are for my Transformers-loving brother. Sorry to report that the car did not actually transform. At the Ford display, they had a robot. It was kind of like a wisecracking, blue C3PO, so obviously the boys never wanted to leave.We took a ride on the Texas Star ferris wheel, the largest in North America. When we got to the top, Mason said, "Hey, I'm not as scared as I thought I would be!"We were there on the weekend of the Texas-OU game, hence the horns.What else but corny dogs for dinner?There is some nice public art scattered around the fair grounds.I enjoyed the creative arts hall, which had rows and rows of display cases filled with entries for the art contests. There were tons of categories, but I think the best thing there was a giant sculpture made entirely of butter. Why did I not take a picture of that? I love art and butter.This was state fair entertainment at its finest! I believe the show was called Amazing Dobermans, and the trainer lady rode in on a motorcycle, wearing fringed jeans and a black, glittery, backless halter top. Oh, you wanted more than a fashion report? Ok. There were dobermans. They jumped over things. We all wished that we had made it in time for the pig races instead.On our way out, I wanted to make sure we got a picture with Big Tex, so I asked a random lady to take a family photo for us. They had a platform set up, so I figured that getting a good shot wouldn't be too difficult.

Mom, Dad, kids, and a giant crotch. A lovely portrait. Thanks, random lady.

And just in case anyone was curious, here's what we spent at the fair:

Tickets: $56

Parking: $10

Ferris wheel ride: $24

Food: $30

So that's $120 for two adults and two young children to walk around the fair and eat a couple of corny dogs, with one splurge for a 10-minute ferris wheel ride. That seems kind of ridiculous to me, but I suppose it's a one-time thing that our kids will remember. And if they ask, I'll tell them that the fair only comes around every five years.

Moving on from my cheapskate moment, here we are checking out the hotel pool. It passed the test, especially paired with the fresh popped popcorn they were giving out in the lobby.Before heading back to Austin, we were able to catch up with Matt's cousin Mike, who lives near our hotel. The boys liked him right away due to his t-shirt. He was actually on his way to a Star Wars convention; we were a little jealous.

I've isolated the problem(s)

2011-10-19T08:09:00.000-05:00

While reading a book on getting organized, I learned that many people wrongly begin the task by taking a trip to a place like Ikea or The Container Store. In fact, the last thing you should do is shop for containers, after you've done the purging and sorting phases.
Today my to-do list reads "purge and sort clothes and toys in the boys' room".
And yet, after seeing this photo here, all I want to do today is go buy some wine racks to store my yarn collection. Yep, I have a little yarn collection. Nope, I don't knit. Or crochet.

In case you wondered...

2011-10-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

We still have a dog. I'm feeling a surge of affection for her recently, which often happens when I've been out of town. I might even start taking her on walks again, now that it's not one hundred degrees at 8pm.

Chicago part 4: Hanging out and doing very little

2011-10-11T11:28:00.000-05:00

When I booked this trip back in July, I had three main goals:

1. Visit Jill and her brand new baby

2. Take a short break from being a mom

3. Go somewhere that actually feels like fall

I'm happy to report, I did all three. Here's the lovely mama and her sweet little guy Silas.

I've stopped putting "go to Portillo's" on my Chicago agendas since it just automatically happens. Mom stayed home from work the second day I was in town (with the intention of it being a crafting day, but in reality Jill and I sat at the dining room table watching Mom finish a bunch of projects), and around 11am we gave each other a knowing glance.
"Portillo's for lunch, right?"
"Yep. Who's driving?"
During past visits, Rowan has been a little young to mix it up with my boys, so I was happy to get to know him better. After a few days, I was able to decipher his two-year-old dialect. "Kon seh," means "Come on, Sarah" when he wanted me to follow him. And he enjoyed the fossils (aka waffles) that I made for breakfast.Rowan enjoys a little tummy and back tickle whenever he can get it. Who doesn't?

As far as the weather goes, it was a perfect week. Cloudy with cool breezes and sunshine. Drizzle or full rainstorms almost every day. It was the opposite of recent months in Austin. I took walks in the rain and loved sleeping in the dark, slightly chilly basement.

While standing in the backyard at grandma's house, Bob said something to my dad about the drought really taking a toll on the yard. I looked around at the lush green grass and the vines that were overflowing with tomatoes, and I wanted to say, "Are you kidding? We're in the garden of Eden!"

So even thought I didn't do a fraction of the projects that I had hoped to do, and I didn't see a fraction of the people I would have liked to visit, I still consider my week away to be a perfect one. There was some card playing, a little bit of crafting, and a lot of sitting around and chatting. Oh, and a few naps.

I'm already looking forward to next year. Just add Rachel and Taylor.

Chicago part 3: Hardy party

2011-10-10T22:08:00.000-05:00

I was very happy to be able to gather with many relatives from my dad's side of the family. We ate a lot, talked loudly, and had the Bears game thundering in the background. Every time I go to my grandma's or my aunt's house, I have a flood of happy memories about being a kid in this family. I am always a tiny bit surprised to remember that we have a new generation of little ones running around, while my little sister feeds her baby in the quiet family room and my little cousin heads back to the city to work on his medical residency. I think, "Oh, right. We sort of grew up, didn't we?"
How sweet is that picture of Silas gazing into his great-grandma's eyes?

My cute sister-in-law Allison lives nearby, so she and her hubby Dave (One year today! Happy anniversary, you two!) stopped by for a little dose of the craziness.

I love these people so, so much.

Chicago part 2: Best Friends 4 Ever

2011-10-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

One day when I was jogging around my parents' neighborhood, I came across this on the sidewalk:
I smiled at the thought of those three girls memorializing the start of 7th grade with their BFFs. And then, I must admit, my cynical side came out and I thought, "I wonder if they'll still be friends in 8th grade, much less 4 Ever?" Oh, those middle school grades are pure torture, aren't they? So many friendships ended over rumors, boys, and just plain meanness. I received and dished out my share of adolescent cattiness, so I know both sides of it. (And, side note, isn't it hilarious and a little bit sad that when the girl was writing with her actual hand, she still put the smiley face sideways, as if she were typing an emoticon? OH, HANDWRITING! Please don't disappear!)

But you know, I do still have a few of those friendships. I had dinner with Jason, whom I first met in our sixth grade class. We had a love/hate relationship at first, but from about age 14 on we have been true friends. We wrote each other real letters in college. Unfortunately, when we met up in Chicago, my camera had just run out of batteries. So how about a photo of us in 7th grade math? We've got matching feathered bangs. Awww.One morning my friend Trina came over with her sweet baby girl. It was so fun to catch up and reminisce about our adventures going to church dances together. This is what we looked like when we were in our prime, early 90s glory: That's right, I'm wearing formal shorts. Suede formal shorts, to be exact, with black nylons and a silk shirt that I appear to have stolen from David Silver's closet.So naturally, Trina and I decided to stike a dance-worthy pose. Just ignore the talking play kitchen and Thomas the train setup in the background.
At Erin's house, we pulled out all the stops for an awesome sleepover. And by that I mean, she pulled out some high school stuff to try on. (That's no surprise, right? We dress up every time we get together.) Here's the outfit we wore to poms competition in Nashville and the dress Erin wore to sophomore homecoming. Incidentally, that year our group went to Bennigan's after the dance, and while I was in the bathroom, they told the waiter that it was my birthday so that I would be serenaded in front of everyone.

And by the way, if I had a 16 year old daughter who came home and said, "Here's the outfit I'm wearing to perform in front of the school." I'd tell her to march right back to her room and cover up that parade of flesh ASAP. (I probably waited to show this little number to my parents until the start of the half time routine.)

Here we are back in 1993:We also watched the movie Shag, an old favorite from high school days. It was as great as I remembered it. And I could still quote along with a ton of the lines. I stole that 'parade of flesh' bit from Luanne.

E.L. and S.H.

Best Friends 4 Ever :)

9-25-11 30th grade

Chicago part 1: Airplane, carrots, and grandpa

2011-10-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

We got home last night from a long weekend in Dallas. I was excited to post some photos and write about our experiences when I remembered that I haven't even done Chicago yet. You just can't imagine the pressure of a blogging backlog. It's intense.
So, without further ado, here is my first-ever (since having kids) solo trip back home.
While sitting at the gate waiting for my flight to board, I was treated to a live band playing right across the hall, complete with a tie-dyed piano. Oh Austin, I love you so much.
I also love sitting in the window seat. I never get tired of looking down upon a little Mr. Rogers landscape. Can you see the city? It's way off in the distance, to the right.

Oh, look. Inappropriate use of quotation marks to convey emphasis. I feel like Midway airport is being sarcastic with me and that Chicago is, in fact, not so glad that I'm here. (What? I don't stop being a word nerd just because I'm traveling.)I didn't take a single picture of my parents the whole time I was at home, but I did get a nice shot of their carrots, freshly pulled from their lovely garden.

Bad news: My grandpa got sick while he and Martha were in Chicago the week before I visited.

Good news: As a result, their trip overlapped with mine, so we got to visit for a couple days. Check out the oldest and youngest member of the extended family.

Write a letter

2011-10-03T13:21:00.000-05:00

I love it when one topic gets lodged into my brain because I've heard about it through multiple channels. For example, handwriting/sending letters has been on my mind for a couple weeks. Here are several reasons why:

1. My sister told me that as part of her home school curriculum, she is having her kids write a letter to someone every week. Love that idea!

2. In light of recent wildfires in and around Austin, I was thinking about what things I would be the most sad to lose. I have a large collection of cherished letters, including love letters between Matt and I while we were dating and a year's worth of correspondence between me and my high school best friend when we went our separate ways to college.

3. I saw this link about an artist doing an exhibit focused on collecting handwriting samples.

4. Mason is taking an interest in writing, since he is working on lower case letters in kindergarten. The other night he asked Matt to write something in cursive, and Matt said, "Ask Mommy to do it; she loves to write things in cursive." For some reason, I thought that was funny, that he specifically knows that I like to hand write things. Must be the stacks and stacks of to-do lists that he finds in every room of our house.

5. And finally, today I stumbled upon this article, which says that Americans get a personal letter an average of once every seven weeks.

I've recently started a correspondence with my favorite high school teacher. I was so happy to get the most recent letter that I pulled into the driveway, let Alec run around in the front yard, and read it, leaning against the car, before I even took the groceries inside.

Let's save handwriting! And real mail! Go write someone a letter!

Love that dialect

2011-10-02T20:22:00.000-05:00

One morning as we were getting ready to take Mason to school, Alec came out of his room dressed in one of our costumes, and said, "Look Mom, a fresh new lion!"
Then as we headed east toward school, he looked at the sunrise, swiped with one of his paws and said, "I'm gonna claws the sun!"
Except that he doesn't correctly pronounce his g's, c's or th's, so it sounded like, "I'm dunna twaz da sun!"

Blogging in order to avoid washing dishes

2011-10-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

I've been home from Chicago for a few days. I unpacked my suitcases within about 36 hours of landing, which is an astonishingly quick turnaround for me. I have several things that I want to document, but some of the photos are stuck on my camera, which died on the first day of my trip, and I can't find my battery charger. I think that finding it will require de-junking of several corners of the house.

So, a few random thoughts instead of a Chicago post:

*General Conference was this weekend. It's a twice yearly meeting that is held in Salt Lake City and broadcast worldwide, where our prophet and other church leaders give inspiring talks. It was enjoyable, and I look forward to going back and re-watching and/or re-reading many of the talks that I missed. I do have one bit of complaining to do about it. I love hearing the Tabernacle Choir perform, but the dresses that the ladies wore during this morning's broadcast were dreadful. (Yes, dreadful. I've been watching Pride and Prejudice.) The gentlemen looked very nice in their suits, while the ladies were sporting billowy, Pepto-pink muumuus. They never dress in edgy, of-the-moment fashions, which is just as it should be, but that pink was bad.

*I resolved to come home from my week without Mom duties as a new woman, with more energy and determination to be a better homemaker. I've made like three dinners, a couple desserts, and homemade cinnamon rolls in the four days I've been back. My family has been very impressed, and no one has yet complained about the mountain of dirty clothes that sits outside the door of the laundry room. (I said I unpacked my suitcases, and I did. Right into the hallway.)

*Looking over the calendar a couple days ago, I realized that the whole month of October is absolutely packed. A fishing trip for Matt, a couple girls nights for me, the school carnival, a visit to the state fair, plus of course Halloween. I'm pretty sure that it's just going to roll straight on through the holidays, and I won't catch my breath until after the new year. I'd better find that camera charger.

I'm kind of busy

2011-09-24T16:19:00.001-05:00

I've left Matt at home with the boys for a whole week while I visit my family in Chicago. I loaded up two suitcases, a carry-on, and a big fat purse with beads, fabric, and various clothing items that have been in my repair/alter/re-purpose pile for months. I thought that my solo trip home would result in daily blog posts along the lines of "Check out what I made today! Twelve necklaces and two quilts!"
The week is half over. I have not been particularly productive, but I have done a lot of sweet baby holding. Meet my new nephew/boyfriend Silas:

Cloudy with a chance of tantrums

2011-09-19T10:24:00.001-05:00

Not a nice weekend from the child behavior standpoint. I even got every mother's favorite comment, "You're the worst mom in the world!" But, we did go out for a date on Friday night, then a nature hike with the boys Saturday morning.

Then Saturday afternoon--holy moly!--two lovely little rain showers. We were too busy gazing at the sky, hunting for earthworms, and watering the trees with the runoff from the rain gutters (didn't want to waste a single drop!) that we only took a couple pictures. But I love the spiky wet hair and muddy toes.

The smell of wet dirt is seriously delicious. Let's have it again soon.

New favorites

2011-09-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

It has been quite some time since my boys talked about or played Star Wars. I thought that it was going to be a long-lasting obsession, but it seems to have burned out, for now at least. That actually fits with the pattern. They tend to get really interested in one show or toy or set of characters for a week or two at a time. Here's what's hot right now:
Alec loves this United States puzzle. It's something I inherited from the closet of my grandparents' house, so any cousins reading this might recognize it. We also have an electronic toy that tells you about the states when you press on each of them, so we are getting a good geography lesson.
Alec applies his knowledge throughout the day. He ate half of his peanut butter sandwich and then said, "Hey, look Mom, it's Pennsylvania." He pointed to a scab on his arm and said, "Hey, look Dad, it's Maine." Also, I think due in part to recent talk of the baby that was in Aunt Jill's tummy, he claims that Illinois is pregnant. See for yourself...the Land of Lincoln is sporting a baby bump, right?
The other favorite is Fireman Sam, which the boys beg to watch on Netflix every afternoon. In the following photo, Mason was dangling from a building and called to Fireman Sam for a rescue.

Then he was trapped under something. Again, Sam to the rescue.

Body talk

2011-09-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, Alec fell in a parking lot and scraped his knee. Later on that day he pointed to the wound and told me, "This is my friend Little Bloody." Then at lunch time he was holding his peanut butter sandwich toward his knee saying, "Little Bloody wants to eat."

****************************************************

Mason and Alec were wrestling on the furniture, and Mason fell against the wall and bumped his head. He was very distraught when I told him that there was some blood, and he asked me with a quavering voice, "Is my head broken?"

So when I asked Alec to apologize, it went like this.

Alec: Sorry I pushed you and made you bump your head, Mason.

Mason: It's ok...but you broke it.

Then a few minutes later Mason told me, "I think my brain popped out. I think I can't think." (He probably lost about a milliliter of blood, and he thinks that there's a gash big enough for his brain to fall out.)

****************************************************

Alec: When God made us, did he make the legs first?

Sarah: I'm not sure. What do you think?

Alec: I think he made the legs first, then the tummy, then the head, and then he glued some eyeballs on.

I really love the idea of God, sitting at his craft table working with some clay, then hot gluing some eyeballs on.

I am a teeny, tiny bit famous

2011-09-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

I was just quoted on Design Mom's post about work-life balance here. It's under item number ten--Find an activity to call your own.
The irony here is that I often fail miserably at three of the other tips she shares:

#6 Appreciate and embrace your current season of life
#7 Comparing yourself to others is the fastest way to a bad day. Don't do it.
#10 Prevent Internet-As-Black-Hole. Schedule your online time.

So now I'm going to turn off the computer immediately and go read a book. I hope the other moms in the carpool lane this afternoon don't make a big scene asking for my autograph.

So cute it hurts

2011-09-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

This video captures so many things about our life. The boys' room shows every single toy and book strewn about. The hard hat/fluorescent vest combo that Alec takes off is what the boys use to pretend to be a 5th grader in the saftey patrol. Mason bosses Alec around. And most importantly, it captures how incredibly cute it is when they talk. I am in love with my kids' voices right now.

Mason discusses self-control from Sarah Morse on Vimeo.

Fun August was actually pretty fun

2011-09-01T00:15:00.000-05:00

Remember how I resolved to make the most of August? I'd say it was a success. Sure, there were plenty of days when I wondered why I was living on the surface of the sun, but we still had lots of fun in spite of the heat.

Made rocket backpacks

Went canoeing

Had a kid-free weekend

Had fun at the summer picnic

Started school (maybe not fun, exactly...)

Went to Six Flags

Started pre-school

Plus a trip to the splash pad (pictured above), a couple more trips to the pool, stacks of library books, and plenty of time hanging out in the air conditioning.

One other item that I must mention is a video clip that we've had on heavy rotation. It's from an episode of The Colbert Report in which he gently mocks the new ad campaign that our church is rolling out.

You can watch it here. (The clip is five minutes long, and the ad campaign part starts around the 2 minute mark. We always skip right to it.)

We've been running around our house calling out "High five a tiger, YEAH!", and then pretending to explode.

Here's how we spent the last day of Fun August:

Cherry limeade and french fries as an after-school treat.

I was thinking that we might make this an annual tradition, something to look forward to as we enter the longest month of the year. But my kids want to take it a step further, and extend it to every month.

Mason: Mommy, can I have a treat?

Sarah: Um, not right now; we just had a snack.

Mason: Please?...for Fun September?

Alec's turn

2011-08-30T17:09:00.000-05:00

My little guy started pre-school this week. We made the get-to-know-you poster, packed the Star Wars lunch box, and dove right in.
Alec went straight for the puzzle table and barely looked up when I kissed him goodbye.

He is a sweet, funny, occasionally sassy boy who talks a lot and wants to be just like his big brother.

Six Flags flashback

2011-08-29T08:17:00.000-05:00

Since my post yesterday probably documented my final trip to Six Flags, I thought it would be fun to document my very first trip as well. And besides, I love any reason to dig up 1980s pictures of my family.
Here's my dad with a mustache. Once I got a little older (and sassier), every time he would grow a mustache I would call him Pierre the French painter. I sure thought I was clever.
I think I was about nine here. And that blue shorty romper that I'm wearing? I think I saw the same thing on a 22 year old on Saturday.

Awww...did I say that you shouldn't bring a young kid to an amusement park? Baby Jill sure looks like she's having fun. I'll bet it wasn't 107 that day.

Can you see my sullen expression below? I can still remember when that photo was taken. I was not happy that we were leaving the park. When my mom called out "Smile everyone!" I made the saddest face I could manage. Ever the drama queen.

That's all, folks!

Cross it off the list

2011-08-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

Last year I started making a list of Things To Do Before I Turn 35, which, when I realized how quickly my 34th year was speeding by, turned into Things To Do Before I Die. "Go to Six Flags" was on the list, and yesterday we made it happen.
I've always loved roller coasters, but I haven't been to a big amusement park in about ten years. We pulled in right as the park opened.Based on a friend's advice, we headed straight for the Goliath roller coaster, huge and fast with lots of loops.

I was a little woozy after that first ride, but I shook it off and headed to the other side of the park to ride the Superman coaster. After that I was more than a little woozy. When I went into the bathroom to splash some water on my face, I heard someone losing her lunch in one of the stalls. I must admit that it made me think, at least I'm not the only one who can't handle it. In my defense, we had record high temperatures yesterday, so maybe part of the problem was the heat and not just my weak stomach/brain. In spite of my motion sickness, we tried to make the best of things.

We rode the Gully Washer a couple of times and got soaked. Fun!

Then I thought that maybe I could ride the swings. I was wrong. I mean, I rode them, but I immediately regretted it.

Matt had no problems with the loops and corkscrews, so a couple times I waited while he took a ride. One example is the Pandemonium, which is basically a Tilt-a-Whirl car set onto a roller coaster track. That's right, the whole car spins as it speeds along the track. I could hardly stand to watch it.

We alternated with things that were more my speed, like the carousel.

In case you were wondering, yes, they do have some of the old standbys like bumper cars (Matt's favorite) and funnel cakes (my favorite).

Also, lots of gigantic stuffed prizes just waiting to be won. I mean, who doesn't want to haul around a four foot tall, furry, mustachioed cowboy pickle on a 107 degree day?

We took refuge from the sun inside the Scooby Doo haunted mansion. Matt kept trying to make out with me in the dark while we were supposed to be using our blasters to shoot at the ghosts and monsters. I guess you've gotta make the most of your time when the meddling kids aren't around.

After lunch we headed over to the water park section and did a few laps in the lazy river.

And we had to spend at least a few minutes in the giant Texas-shaped wave pool. There were too many sweaty, stinky, loud, and inappropriately-teeny-bikini-clad people there for my taste. As I told Matt, I do try my best to love humanity, but it's very hard when humanity is pressed together in a sticky, pushy crowd. I guess that also explains my hatred of the carpool lane at Mason's school.

I was pretty much wrung out and ready to go home, but first we had to conquer the Rattler. It's a huge wooden roller coaster, so no loops, and it's similar to the American Eagle, which was always my favorite at Great America in Chicago. (By the way, just going to wikipedia to get that link took me on a 30 minute detour reading about the history of the Demon, Whizzer, Batman, etc. I am truly powerless when it comes to the internet.)

I survived the Rattler, barely. At least they are honest in the name; I felt like I'd been beaten up. And that was our day at Six Flags.

A few observations:

--Who brings a baby to an amusement park? I saw so many babies and very young children, and they all looked miserable.

--Who comes to an amusement park in a wheel chair or motorized scooter? There were lots and lots of people on scooters. I certainly don't think anyone should be banned due to disability, but is it worth it to drive around, sweating and watching everyone else ride the rides? That sounds like the opposite of fun to me.

--I don't know if it was just the extreme heat that kept the crowds away, but the weekend after school starts seemed to be a good time to go and avoid the crowds. We hardly ever waited in line, even for the big rides.

--We bought our tickets and parking pass online, which came to $85 after discounts, convenience charge and taxes. Then add maybe $25 in gas and $11 for the funnel cake (yep, eleven dollars. That's worse than $7 movie popcorn), and our grand total was about $120 for the day. I'm glad that we went, but next time I think we'll spend the money on a nice dinner and a show.

--I think we might be at a point where there are more tattooed people than non-tattooed people in our society. But I can't go looking for the facts, because then I'll be sucked into wikipedia for another hour. Can someone please do the research and report back?

He's one of the big kids now

2011-08-26T20:16:00.000-05:00

We survived the first week of kindergarten.
Mason's feedback thus far has been minimal, although he does remind us often that school is "too long of a day." One day I responded that as a pre-schooler he had a half day, now he has a full day, and Daddy works an even longer day at his job. Then he and Alec wanted to know if when I'm as old as Daddy, will I work a job all day long too?

Summer picnic

2011-08-21T11:57:00.000-05:00

Time again for Matt's annual company picnic. The boys always look forward to this: multiple pools, food everywhere, and snow cones.
At the front of the snow cone line, we were almost paralyzed by so many flavor choices: cherry, pineapple, grape, strawberry, bubble gum...
Mason asked me quietly, "If I get bubble gum, will I not be allowed to swallow it?"
And after I showed Alec how to drink the melted snow cone from the cup, rather than just licking the ice chunk at the top, he asked, "Mommy, do they put a delicious colorful juice in the bottom of it?"
They climbed around in the big tree house,

played mini golf,

and swam with Matt while I played bingo, then vice versa.Eventually, we all ended up in the moderately air-conditioned bingo hall while we waited for dinner to be served. We'd already had a couple hours in the pool, and it was just too hot to do anything else.

Chicken fried steak for diner, one more dip in the pool, and we headed home. A fun day.

Music that sticks with me

2011-08-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Amber just posted about an old album to which she can still remember all the lyrics. It reminded me of a post I started but never finished last year about Alanis Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill. About an hour ago I got up to help one of my children change his pee-soaked pajamas, and now I find myself wide awake at 4am, with the entire album running through my head. I guess now is as good a time as any to finish my thoughts.

Last summer, I read a story about Alanis Morissette being pregnant. My first thought was, Huh, it's sort of weird to think of her as a mom. One commenter on yahoo snarked, I'm sure she'll make a really excellent mother, which is kind of funny if you too have memorized all the lyrics to her early hits.

I was surprised to read that she was only two years older than me. Really? She seemed a lot more...mature. I first heard Jagged Little Pill when I was about 19, and I assumed that she was several years older than I was. It was probably due to the fact that she had an entire career already, while I was living at home and still felt very much like a teenager. Plus she had an intense romantic relationship behind her already, which she sang about in the first radio single, You Oughta Know. At the time, I was listening to a lot of Tuesday Night Music Club by Sheryl Crow and Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLachlan, which are both awesome, but in a quieter way.

And every time you speak her name

does she know how you told me you'd hold me until you died

till you died

but you're still alive!

It was jarring to hear her growl at her ex-boyfriend that way, and I'm posting the tamest of the admittedly harsh lyrics. The edginess of the song took a bit of a hit when rumors came out that it was written about Dave "Uncle Joey on Full House" Coulier. That guy is tied with Bob Saget as the cheesiest cheeseball on the cheesiest show of its era. (Cut--It--Out, right?) But still, it's not something that I put on the stereo when I'm having a dance party with my kids.

Recently, while chaperoning a youth dance, I mentioned to one of the other (male) leaders how much I used to love this album. He said something along the lines of "When I first heard her music, I was kind of afraid of her." And that makes sense to me. She sounded raw and angry, unlike any other female singer I was hearing on the radio back then, even on our "alternative" station, which played mostly male singers and bands.

The album was released in June 1995, right around the time I came home from my freshman year at college and decided to transfer somewhere else. It continued to be on heavy rotation for the next year or two, as I started over at community college and waited tables at Chili's, where I would soon meet and fall head-over-feet in love with Matt. It was part of the soundtrack to a crucial turning point in my life, and I will always love it. Every time I put it on, it's like a time machine back to those days that were so frustrating and uncertain, yet so full of potential.

a new era

2011-08-19T18:13:00.000-05:00

This is what was happening as I sat in the school cafeteria--excuse me, the dining room--and listened to a 45 minute talk that covered birthday cupcake procedures, the projects that the PTA has funded over the years, and a Power Point presentation about how to use the carpool lane.

He's got an answer for everything

2011-08-19T18:05:00.001-05:00

Mason: Mom, you shouldn't have popped my balloon!
Sarah: Well, I told you that if you grabbed Alec's balloon from him again, you would lose yours. I told you that there would be a consequence.
Mason: You have a consequence too, Mom! I'll take away your favorite dress!
*************************************
Mason: (big fake cough, in an attempt to make an ugly noise at the dinner table)
Sarah: Wow, that sounds like you are getting really sick. I hope that you aren't going to have to miss the picnic tomorrow.
Mason: My brain tells me I'm just gonna be sick for one day.

Kid-free weekend

2011-08-16T08:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to some good friends who took Mason and Alec, Matt and I enjoyed a long weekend alone. We thought about going away somewhere, but we didn't have enough time or money to fly anywhere that's not hot. I mean, I'm not going to drive to Houston in August and call it a vacation, you know? But we had a wonderful time remembering what it's like to wake up at 8:40 instead of 6:40 on a Saturday morning.

We got crazy right from the start...first stop, dinner and shuffleboard at a bar on Sixth street!

I convinced Matt that we should do a painting job as part of our fun weekend, and he was kind enough to oblige. We moved into our home seven years ago, and after living for years in apartments, I was happy to paint six different colors throughout the house. However, we have grown tired of living inside of an exploded Crayola factory, so we put up a lot of lovely, neutral gray.

Matt was such a good sport, even when I decided that the first gallon of paint we put up was a bit too icy blue. And don't assume that I sat around just supervising and taking pictures. I did the edging while he did the rolling. You can actually work as a team on something like this when you don't have any kids that need wrangling.

When we got tired of that project, we went out to eat at Kerbey Lane. It was delicious. You really should check out the fried green tomato BLT while it's on the summer tomato menu. So good!
We took a leisurely canoe trip on Town Lake, pulling over many times along the way to stop in the shade and enjoy the silence.
Before you have children, you have no idea how rare and precious total silence is. We were tempted to drop the anchor and take a nap right there on the water.

On our last day, we went to see Crazy, Stupid, Love at the theater. I recommend it, and not just for the shirtless Ryan Gosling scenes (of which there are more than one). We even bought popcorn and a Coke, and by the way, even if our household income were to rise to a million a year, I would never stop thinking that a $7 medium sized bag of popcorn is a total and complete rip-off. I am such a fuddy duddy.

We had just long enough before kid pick-up time to go get one more piece of salted caramel chocolate cake at Kerbey Lane. I have mixed feelings about taking pictures of food. On the one hand, I love to eat, so it's a major component of my life and deserves documentation. On the other hand, posting it to a public format like this is sort of off-putting, right? Look how interesting I am: I eat food! I'm a foodie!

But seriously, that cake is so good. I'd like to try and make it myself sometime, so if you have a really good recipe for dense chocolate cake and/or caramel sauce, feel free to send it my way.

Let's end with a before and after shot. Here's my sad hallway, which never got painted in our original round of Crayola-ization and has been sitting there, chalky white, for seven years:

And here is is, painted up with the Lowe's version of Behr Dolphin Fin.

Maybe for our next romantic weekend together, we'll rip out that carpet. A girl can dream.

Dreaming...

2011-08-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

My annual summer funk is here. We are trying our best with what the kids are calling "Fun August," as in, "Can I have another cookie since it's Fun August?" But right now, what I really need is a time machine to take me back to Fun February.

It's the least wonderful time of the year

2011-08-08T14:47:00.000-05:00

Batman made an appearance for about two minutes last week before the polyester jumpsuit and winter gloves became too hot to bear.
Jabba put on a carnival at the bunk beds, and everyone lined up to get in.

On Saturday we took the boys out on the canoe. We got in the water at 9:30am, and I'm afraid that was about two hours too late. It was sweltering.

I assume that this graffiti advice is aimed at the many joggers on the Town Lake trails.

I spent my free time during Alec's nap today making a Halloween decoration. Anything to fool myself into thinking that fall/winter is just around the corner.

I'm this close to putting on some Christmas music. And if you know me, you know that that would be about a month ahead of schedule.

DIY: Make a Boba Fett rocket backpack from an empty cereal box

2011-08-05T10:28:00.000-05:00

Several days ago I said something about making rocket backpacks for the boys, and ever since then, whenever we empty another cereal box (about every other day), they remind me of my unfulfilled promise. This morning we made it happen. Here's what you need if you want to make one for your own little bounty hunter: an empty cereal box, a hole punch, clear packing tape or a hot glue gun, markers, and something to make your straps. I used a length of stretchy t-shirt fabric, but string or elastic could work too.

First, carefully take the cereal box apart and turn it inside out. Tape the long edge back together, but leave the ends open until you have the straps finished. I think a glue gun would have worked better for putting the box back together, but I couldn't find mine this morning, so we went with packing tape. Anyway, punch holes in the four corners of the back of the backpack, reinforcing with tape if you like.

Thread one end of a strap through a hole and tie a big knot on the inside, so that it won't pull through the hole. Test it for length on your bounty hunter, and then tie off the other end of the strap. Repeat for the other strap.

Once the straps are done, close up the ends of the box.

Decorate the outside to look like a rocket backpack. Matt did this part. (He's the one with actual artistic ability. I'm just the idea man.)

Hand over to your little scoundrels, and offer them a bounty if they can find your lost glue gun.
The only problem is that now they think they can fly. Before the marker was even dry on the first backpack, Mason tried to shove Alec off the top bunk bed into the pit of Sarlacc below. It's quite possible that my quick and cheap DIY will end up costing several hundred dollars in emergency room care.

A fresh start

2011-08-01T07:01:00.000-05:00

Hello, August!
It's going to be a long, hot month, isn't it? I am coming off a terrible stretch of several days where I fear my parenting was, shall we say, less than ideal? Plus, my big boy starts kindergarten in a few weeks, and I am suddenly feeling like I've wasted the whole summer and that all of our easy-living, schedule-free childhood days are over.
Since I am a sucker for a new project, especially one that starts on a Monday that also happens to be the first of the month, I had this flash of inspiration last night that I should pre-emptively take charge of things and force August to be amazing. I read a lady's blog a couple weeks ago where she's doing 30 days of fun. That sounds like a good place to start.
It's about to get aggressively happy around here. Better steer clear if you can't handle that, because we are having FUN, DARN IT!

Hair cuts for half of the family

2011-07-28T07:11:00.000-05:00

I decided at some point last year, as my hair was getting pretty long, that I'd like to grow it out enough to donate it to Locks of Love. They ask that you give at least a ten-inch ponytail. It took me a while to get to that point, but I finally did the super chop last week. (I'm finally heading to the post office today to send off the slightly creepy bag of hair that's been sitting on our kitchen counter.)

Here's what my hair used to look like:

And if you'd like to know what it used to feel like, just imagine a giant curtain around your neck and shoulders, designed to keep all the sweaty heat trapped against your skin as you wade through a sweltering Texas summer. What I'm saying is, I've been wearing a lot of buns and ponytails lately.

So here's the new hair (photo by Mason):

A day or two after I got mine chopped, I started eyeing Alec and his long hair. I've kept those curls around for purely selfish reasons. I think it's so cute, plus it makes him look like more of a baby to me. Anyway, I took him out front and started snipping it off right in our driveway. Here's his before:

and after:

It's pretty hard to mess up the hair when the face is that cute.

Logical thinking and literal interpretations

2011-07-26T23:05:00.000-05:00

Here are several examples of how you can never put anything past my kids; they'll pin you down with your own words. It's like Morse and Morse, attorneys at law.
Mason: (asking for the fourth time, while I'm trying to finish up washing dishes) Mom, can you come look at what I built in my room?
Sarah: I know it's important to you, and I can get to it in just a second.
Mason: Ok, can you set a timer for a second?
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Once we were watching Sesame Street, and Oscar's friend Slimey the worm was driving a race car. The whole focus was on whether he would win the race, but Mason couldn't concentrate on that at all. He said to me in kind of an exasperated way, "But he doesn't have hands to hold the driving wheel!"
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Alec: Mommy, why do robots not poop?
Mason: (answering quickly, because he's already asked this several times and therefore knows the answer) Cause they don't eat...But Mom, why don't they pee out the oil they drink?
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And speaking of pee (when am I not, right?), the other night Mason was asking for a drink at bedtime. I handed him a cup of water and said something about not drinking too much so that he wouldn't have to get up to go to the bathroom. He chugged as much as he could before I took the cup away, and as he was walking back to his room he said casually over his shoulder, "Whenever I need to pee that out, I'll tell you."
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Once we passed some vultures on the side of the road and explained to the boys that they hover around and eat dead animals. The rest of the conversation went something like this.

Mason: So they just eat the dead animals?
Matt: Yep.
Mason: But we don't eat animals, do we?
Matt: Well, not the same way that vultures do.
Sarah: When you eat a hamburger, it comes from a cow. That's what meat is.
Mason: But we eat deer.
Matt: Yeah, and we have to cook it first.
Alec: Can we eat people?
Sarah, Matt, and Kelly (all at once): Oh, no, we never eat people. Definitely not. Nope. Never. etc.
Alec: Oh, we have to cook them first?

Do they sell bacta tanks at Home Depot?

2011-07-22T07:41:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's another Star Wars post. Seriously, if you haven't watched episodes 4, 5, and 6 lately, you might want to go check them out so that you can follow along here for the foreseeable future. My boys wake up in the morning with questions like, "Mom, why are there four biker scouts in Return of the Jedi instead of five? There should really be five." Like it's something they've been ruminating over all night long and have come to me wih this philosophical query. I am really enjoying watching them revel in their obsession. (Maybe this is how Matt felt when Kelly and I were heavily into Twilight two summers ago.)
This week these two have been playing together as well as they have since...well, since Alec joined the family. I've been waiting for the moment when they build things with Legos and make up stories together, and thanks to Star Wars, it is finally happening. I really cannot overstate how happy it makes me to see them bonding over this shared interest.
Above is the classroom scene they've been working on all week. The teacher is that Potato Head storm trooper Mason's holding; her name is Mrs. Gibson. The class is composed of several action figures, and three EV-9D9 droids built out of Legos watch over everything. (She's the evil droid overlord at Jabba's palace; the action figure is pictured below.)

Yesterday, we found our Jabba toy behind a couch cushion, and Alec brought him over and announced to the class in a very teacher-like voice, "We have a new action figure in our class. His name is Jabba the Hutt." Can you just imagine Jabba being the new kid in school, hoping that the other kids will like him?

At one point, the boys came to me from their bedroom, each wearing nothing but a pair of Mason's white undies, with a little section of a toy tunnel sticking out of their mouth. "We're being Luke in the water tank. Come see!" (Again, for your reference, below is a picture of Luke in the bacta tank after almost dying of exposure on the ice planet Hoth. And yes, I could feel my geek quotient rising as I typed that last sentence.)

Sorry, no pictures of that re-enactment will be posted on the blog. If you are friend or family, next time you're over I can show you a funny video clip of the whole thing. But if you're some pervy perv, you'll have to be content with Luke Skywalker in a giant white swim diaper.

The Force is strong with these two

2011-07-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

We are still completely obsessed with Star Wars around these parts. The other day, the boys managed to combine their two great loves, Star Wars and toilet talk, to create a new enemy: Darth Potty. As in, "Look out, Alec. Don't go in the bathroom or Darth Potty will get you!"

Here are a few other fun things I've overheard:

Mason (playing with action figures in his room during quiet time): Come in rebel commando! Chewbacca's captured, okay?
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Alec (irritated with his brother over something): I'll put you in carbonite!
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Mason (holding up a corn flake from his cereal bowl): Hey, this looks like a star destroyer!
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Mason: Can we watch some Return of the Jedi tonight for family night?
Matt: No, I think we're going to play a game.
Mason: Can we watch some tomorrow? We really need to see Han Solo get unfrozen.

(For your reference, here is a picture of Han Solo in carbonite, followed by my boys pretending to be frozen in carbonite. Pretty good, right?)

We often discuss and/or re-enact how Anakin and Luke each had a hand chopped off and replaced with a mechanical hand. Today Mason came in from playing outside and showed me a little scrape on his toe. He asked me to put a bandage on it, and then changed his mind and asked, "Can you give me a robot toe?"

Weekend bliss

2011-07-10T17:11:00.000-05:00

Friday night was great. Matt and a friend went to a concert at "Texas' Oldest Dance Hall", and I had a couple friends over for crafts, food and chit-chat. Perfect.
Then on Saturday morning we took the canoe out on Lady Bird Lake.
The canoe trip was a total success, because in spite of lots and lots of leaning over to inspect the seaweed, no one fell into the water.

Then Saturday afternoon, I went to a little bead show with a friend and came home with these lovely things:

And I've already made something new with some of my abundance of yellow beads. We got to church with minimal fighting from the boys this morning, and if we'd been just one minute earlier, we'd have been on time. Church was a special meeting which put us home earlier than usual, so we introduced Mason and Alec to the concept of brunch. They approved, especially since it was actually more like second breakfast. Now I'm sitting at home with dinner bubbling away on the stove (and it involves bacon--extra points for that, right?), waiting for the boys to get back from a trip to the park. There's even a chance of rain tonight.

Feeling good.

An absolutely serious conversation my boys had yesterday

2011-07-06T18:28:00.001-05:00

Alec: Mason, I'm gonna dress up as a piece of poop for Halloween.
Mason: Ok, and I'll be pee.
Alec: And Mommy can be the toilet.

(I'm in the next room thinking, "Yep. It pretty much feels like that some days.")

They talked about how I would need to wear something white and round for my costume, and then when Mason decided that he also wanted to be poop, they headed into their bedroom to see if they had enough brown and/or black items in our costume collection to cover them both.

Gone swimmin'

2011-07-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Last Friday kicked off Matt's birthday weekend. He chose a family trip to our favorite swimming hole.

Top it off with ice cream cones at DQ, and it was a pretty great day.

Independence Day

2011-07-05T07:34:00.000-05:00

We had a fun celebration for the 4th of July. I made crepes for breakfast, then the boys went (briefly) to the park in the sweltering heat. Then we headed to a cookout with some friends. Of course, there was a flag cake:
The sun room worked well as a kid dining room.
The boys were dying to get their hands on the big pile of water balloons. As we were doing a couple balloon races and games, they kept asking when we could make them explode. But the funny thing is, once a full-blown water balloon fight broke out, Mason and Alec just wanted to hoard a bunch of balloons and wander around through the chaos. When someone actually threw one on Mason and it burst, he was surprised and a little indignant.
They also had a tub of bubble solution and wands for making giant bubbles. When they thought I wasn't looking, the boys were pouring cups of the solution on each other, so they smelled like dish soap the rest of the day.
Ever since Mason's patriotic-themed pre-school graduation, we have been singing "This Land is Your Land." Then a few weeks ago, I taught Mason how to plunk it out on our piano. His version is my favorite, but Woody Guthrie's is good too.
Happy Independence Day!

14 years ago yesterday...

2011-06-29T06:28:00.001-05:00

this happened:

I actually have a ton of reasons to celebrate Matt this month. Our anniversary was yesterday, his birthday was the day before that, and he played Single Working Dad all last week while I was at girls camp. Also, he just got his test results back from a huge licensing exam that he took and PASSED back in April. Hoo-ray! It's the culmination of several years of studying and working in his profession.

(Matt's request: brownie cake with peanut butter frosting)

Love you, my darling! Thanks for many wonderful things.

Florence!

2011-06-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

I left girls camp the night before things officially ended so that I could meet up with my college roomate Florence. Her parents own a ranch in Nacogdoches, which is just two hours up the road from Camp Holy Wild. We hadn't seen each other in 14 years, she currently lives in the Marshall Islands (which, in case you remember as little geography as I did, is somewhere between Hawaii and Australia), and she happened to be at the ranch at the same time I was at camp. The stars were aligned.

I'll start by telling you some awesome facts about Florence.

1. She grew up in Guatemala.

2. Her parents run a school there, and she finished high school and started college by age sixteen. We were dorm and apartment roommates freshman year at BYU.

3. She has five cute kids, all (or at least most?) birthed at home in the water.

4. She is a great listener, and she laughs at my jokes.

I could go on, but I'm itching to show some old pictures. Here we are dressed up for disco skating. You'll notice that Florence is wearing a cool head scarf and some funky exotic jewelry, while I went the polyester-daisy-print-bell-bottoms-from-Contempo-Casuals route. And let's not talk about the ridiculous sunglasses. I'm pretty sure I had them in multiple shapes.

This is us doing airplane rides in the terrible dorm room that four of us shared. It had no windows and beds that folded out of the wall.

After Christmas break, we moved out of the dorms and into a six-woman apartment off campus. One weekend we decided to take a road trip to California, where our roomate Tami lived. We stopped in Vegas long enough to walk into some casino or other, then on to LA where we went to Magic Mountain and Venice Beach. I had never seen a palm tree and was very impressed. It was a whirlwind trip; we were back to Provo in about two days.

Florence is also very trusting. As evidence of this, see the photo below of me giving her a haircut in the dorm bathroom. I think my qualifications were as follows:

1. I grew up watching my mom cut all the hair in our family.

2. I owned a pair of scissors.

Here I am saying goodbye to Florence as we went our separate ways at the end of freshman year. I was headed home to Chicago and did not plan to return to BYU.

A year later, I came for a visit. By that point, I was obsessed with My So-Called Life and was really trying to work the Angela Chase look.

(Let's all heave a collective sigh for the dreaminess of Jordan Catalano.)

Florence had this little chinny doll which was both hilarious and disturbing. See, you put it on your head upside down, so when you talk the mouth looks crazy.

Now fast forward to 2011, and we are grown-ups.

The ranch in Nacogdoches is lovely. It even has its own lake!

And dogs!

And goats and a donkey!

And baby chicks in the library! (Sorry for all the exclamations. I was seeing the place as my kids would see it; I'm definitely taking them for a visit some day.)

So my dear friend and I got to catch up for a few hours, and then I headed back home on Saturday, since I hadn't seen my boys in almost a full week. But not before enjoying some of Florence's delicious chocolate birthday cake. Bonus points for the Pacman shape.

Love you, Florence!

We got holy and wild out there

2011-06-28T07:54:00.000-05:00

Last week, I headed out to east Texas to be a leader at our church young women's camp. I am on day three of trying to recover from it. For each of the last three nights I've slept 8+ hours, and I think that I've almost made up the sleep debt that I came home with.The campsite that we used is owned by a Baptist church; it's called Camp Holy Wild. Awesome, right? For any of you who still think that Texas is one big cattle ranch full of tumbleweeds and cacti, behold the scenery on the drive out there:
One of my primary responsibilities was to be the craft lady again. We made these fabric rosettes that could be used as a pin or a hair accessory.

I also brought out leftover supplies from craft projects of the previous few years for an Iron Craft competition. Here are some of the entries:

Based on the things the girls made, if I had to provide camp crafts with limited supplies, here are the four things I would bring: paper, puffy paint, glitter, and lots of colored string for friendship bracelets. All set.

Here's another art journal that I made this year. I love making art journals. The only problem is that once I get home, I do not make the time to actually put art or journaling into it. So I have lots of blank mini books with pretty covers. Let me know if you need one.

The older girls are in charge of daily flag ceremonies and devotionals, provide entertaining skits, and lead everyone in lots of camp songs. Here the girls are singing, "...so rise and shine, and give God your glory, glory!" That song always reminds me of a big outdoor revival.

Each day had a dress up theme: Harry Potter, Pirates, Tacky Tourist, and Princess. Can you guess which HP character I am? (Hint: Imagine me with a Quick Quotes Quill.) I forgot to ask what Jen was going for there, with the swim cap ensemble. Maybe Harry crossed with Voldemort accented with a scarf to represent her second year girls, the Surfin' Seals?

I think one of the main things that the young women get out of girls camp is a strengthening of friendships. That is true for the leaders as well. I really enjoyed serving with some fantastic ladies, even the tutu-wearing Viking princess.

We slept in air-conditioned cabins (don't judge until you've tried camping near Houston in triple digit temps!); they had kind of a dorm feel, with a big common area and rooms full of bunks. You can see below that Erin,who apparently used my bunk in 2002, really caught the spirit of camp Holy Wild.

Many thanks to four good friends who each took a turn watching my boys for a day, and to Matt for being Super Dad all week long!

(I was five minutes into typing up this blog post, and Alec got a burn around his neck from playing with the cord on the window blinds directly behind my back. So, you know, things are back to normal this week.)

We make our own fun

2011-06-15T13:40:00.001-05:00

Here's what my boys came up with while I was trying to catch up on some emails:

That's a light saber made out of a pool float and some duct tape; we got it at a Star Wars themed birthday party a while back. And we continue to have Star Wars on the brain: the boys described this activity as "being an AT-ST," I guess pretending that they were on stilts.
They also had fun playing with a big cluster of balloons that I brought home after a Youth Conference dance. The boys were climbing right inside of the bunch and zooming around the house; Matt said they reminded him of the old scrubbing bubbles commercial. It's always fun to throw a blanket over your head and pretend to be the evil Emperor.

Last night we were taking turns zapping Luke Skywalker with force lightning. Remember Alec's crib tent? It's supposed to look like this. It's supposed to keep him in there when it's time to sleep. A couple days ago after bedtime, Mason came running down the hallway, shouting gleefully, "Come see what Alec's done to his crib!"
He's been picking it apart, one seam at a time. I recently re-sewed some of the edges, but he still managed to make a new escape hole and pop the thing inside out in the process. But the good news is, that's the night the Mavericks won the NBA championship, so maybe it was good luck, like a rally cap. (PS: I love you, Dirk!!! Matt loves you too.)
Still growing my hair out, waiting for it to be long enough to donate. I tried a new style, inspired by this tutorial.
Then I realized that it's just the Princess Leia buns times two. Hey, whatever it takes to make these boys happy.

Establishing my Star Wars credentials

2011-06-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

I had planned to wait a bit longer, but it has happened. Mason was sick a couple weeks ago, and Matt suggested that they watch Star Wars: A New Hope as a mellow way to pass the time. Naturally, Alec wanted to do the same thing that Mason was doing, so he watched it too. We have since made our way through The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and the boys have acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of that whole universe. Matt pulled out some action figures (we have a pretty impressive collection), and every other day the boys beg him to "trade out" for a couple new ones.

It's a sweet thing to watch, these boys bonding with their dad through the world of Star Wars. His expertise is well-established; it goes back to about 1978.

Alec: Hey Mom, is Hammerhead a good guy or a bad guy?

Sarah: Ummm, I can't remember which one he--

Alec: I'll just go ask Daddy.

I don't see a baby girl in our future with whom I can share my stickers and My Little Pony collections. Instead I'm out to prove to my boys that I was down with the Star Wars scene long before it turned into Lego's giant money-maker.

Exhibit A is the cake that I had made for Matt on his birthday, the day before our wedding:

The friend who was making our wedding cake happened to mention that she had just done a Millenium Falcon cake for her son, so I ordered one on the sly. It was a pretty awesome dessert for our rehearsal dinner.

Then on the big day, when Matt turned to get my ring from his best man, it was flown in by the Millenium Falcon while the string quartet played the Star Wars theme. When I was recently showing these pictures and telling that story to Mason, he asked, "Did they play it like this: DUN-dun-DUN-dun-da-DUN-dun-da-DUN!" I think the Darth Vader theme would have been a little ominous for our wedding ceremony.

No Precious Moments cake topper here; it's all about Han Solo and Princess Leia in her white gown.

Check us out! We look like a couple of teenagers. Sigh.

This is an exhibit that was at the Field Museum in Chicago several years ago.

They had tons of costumes on display, including every boy's favorite: the infamous gold bikini that Leia wore when she was a prisoner in Jabba's lair.

Oh, Jabba, you are so disgusting. And my boys call that other little creature "Jabba's baby." Gross.

One year we dressed up as Han and Leia for Halloween. My hair was short then, so I had to use a Pocahontas wig for the buns. My mom did the fantastic costumes.

Here I am pretending that the vacuum is R2D2 in the scene where she records the secret message. It's probably one of my geekiest moments. I hope you appreciate me sharing it with you.

"Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Oh, these boys!

2011-05-22T18:09:00.001-05:00

Mason was laughing uncontrollably about something one day, and I told him that as soon as he got control of himself, he could come join me at the table. He was jumping all over the living room and cracking up, and I heard him say, "Come on, silliness. Get out of my body!"
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We are trying to teach our children that we should keep the Sabbath day holy. We don't go shopping or to restaurants, and we try to limit our activities to small family things. However, these two boys have lots of energy, especially after being expected to sit still through church all morning. So Matt took them to a nearby park to blow off some steam before bedtime.
Mason: Why can't we go to Logan's park? (a bigger park a bit farther away)
Sarah: Honey, it's Sunday. Let's not make a big deal of it. We're just going to take a short trip to the little park that's close to our house.
Mason: Why did Jesus say (in a booming voice, pointing his finger as if looking down on earth from Heaven), "Don't go to big parks! Ha! Ha!"
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Mason: Why did Alec hit me?
Matt: Because you hit him first.
Mason: He's not supposed to hit me back!
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Speaking of Alec defending himself, a couple weeks ago Alec got sick overnight. So the next morning, Mason did something that upset him, and he said in his cute little voice, "I'll vomit on you, Mason!"
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Mason was demanding something from me in a rude, loud voice. I decided to use a sweet voice and a trick that I learned in some parenting book.
Sarah: I'm sorry; I can't hear you when you talk to me like that.
Mason: You CAN! I'm YELLING!

This and that

2011-05-18T20:04:00.000-05:00

Here are some random things going on in May...
I'm working on this:
I can't wait to show off the finished product.
We had a great rain storm last week. For (SERIOUSLY) the first time in about half a year. So even though it made us late to preschool, the boys had an early morning stomp in the puddles. Then Matt reminded me that since it hadn't rained in so long, the gutters would have been especially disgusting with all of the oil and other junk washing out of them. I probably should have followed it up with a tetanus shot or bleach foot bath or something.

I know I have been spending too many hours browsing design blogs when I look at the boys' Hot Wheels cars and say, "Wow, I love that color combination!"

And I generally try not to post things like, "Check out my fabulous shoe collection*!" or "Look at the awesome (whatever) I bought today!" But I can not resist sharing the source of my happiness:

Low heel? Check. The perfect color of yellow that I've been searching for all my life? Check. Seven dollars at Goodwill, and yet never worn? Check. My size? Check.

Seriously, people. It's like winning the thrift store lottery. I should never shop there again, because the stars will never align like they did today.

*I said I try not to. If you would like to see my fabulous sticker collection, go here.

Nom, nom, nom

2011-05-11T21:58:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize I'd given birth to the cookie monster five years ago, but this morning at breakfast, Mason and I had this conversation...
Mason: Mom, I love food. Can I have more to eat?
Sarah: Yes, in just a minute.
Mason: If you don't give me more to eat, I'll eat plate. And I don't wanna eat plate.
(Implied was the rest of that sentence "...but I'll do it if I have to.")
(photos are from a set of Sesame Street books that we had when I was a kid. I've got them on long-term loan from my parents' house. My kids adore them and are always asking for "a couple of the volumes" at quiet time.)

Mother's Day compromise

2011-05-09T13:38:00.000-05:00

A note regarding the photos: There are a lot of photos in this post. I have felt for a long time that digital photography is both a blessing and a curse. It's wonderful to be able to take lots of shots without worrying about wasting film, especially when you have kids involved who don't stand still for photo ops and often stick their tongues out at you. However, I came back from this 30-hour adventure with 94 photos. And I was only able to narrow them down to my 28 favorites. So really, the problem is me. I have never been able to choose the very best from a lot of goods and very goods. Digital photography just adds another dimension to my ridiculous hoarding problem.

Road trip!
Matt's co-worker owns some land northwest of Austin that he uses for hunting. Matt and Mason spent a weekend there back in January, and Alec has been asking for his own trip to the "deer cabin" ever since. We decided to make a family trip of it.
We stopped to stretch our legs at the Llano courthouse.

Once we got to the cabin, we had fun watching the cows,

swimming,

and living the country lifestyle.

We took a walk around the property, steering clear of the giant ant piles and cactus patches and hoping not to run into any rattlesnakes.

Here's one of the deer feeders.

And naturally, close by is a tree stand (from which one, umm, observes the deer).

Awww, a heart cactus. We found like five or six of these. You're lucky I'm only displaying one of them.

Oh, the curls! I'm in love with the curls, have I mentioned?

Saturday morning we headed into the nearby town, which happens to be Mason, Texas. We had to make up quite a few games with the condiments to pass the time while the pancakes cooked.

Mason was looking forward to re-visiting this attraction. He even made up a song about it:

Gumball, gumball!

Let's go to the gumball machine!

While the boys went to buy corn to fill the deer feeders, I got an hour to myself for antique stores and thrift shops.

How cute is this sign on the gate of someone's ranch?

As much as I tried to be a good sport about it, by day two I was tired of the intense heat, wasps, and other outdoor aspects of the beloved deer cabin. I told the boys that mom wanted to wake up in her own bed on Mother's Day, so we packed up and headed home.

Alec was so tired and worn out from all the fun that he fell asleep with a Dorito in his hand.
We stopped to cool our feet at the dam in Llano.
And Mason took a lovely photo of us.

Thanks for sharing with us, R!

The mom behind the camera

2011-05-08T22:27:00.001-05:00

I've seen lots of people (on blogs and facebook) posting childhood pictures of themselves with their mothers in honor of Mother's Day. I started looking through my old photos and didn't find too many of me with my mom. This is probably normal when mom is the one who takes most of the pictures in the family. Like in my own family, for instance. I've got a million of these:But not as many of these:

I read a lovely blog post a few weeks ago about a woman who was glad that her mom put herself in the picture. You can read it here. I hope it makes you want to put yourself in the shot once in a while.

Anyway, here are a couple cute ones of baby me with my mom.

Thanks, Mom, for passing on a love of taking pictures, and for sometimes getting yourself in the shot.