So much to Blog....

Karl visited! Karl was the only nice kid when I joined FBC youth group in 7th grade. He was my friend long before Matt & Kelly claimed him for their own. Yes, I hold tightly to this because most of the crowd we used to hang with were Matt's friends 1st & I was Matt's girlfriend.

There was no alcohol involved here, just Ginger Beer. A drink that I thought the boys would love when we visited Bar Grenika downtown. I was wrong. They did not like much about this Basque treasure, oh well, more date night deliciousness for Matt & I!

Karl was in town with the Air Force & stayed at the Grove Hotel. The boys swam in the pool & we had another excuse to visit our new favorite downtown sweet spot, Ben & Jerry's! I still cannot believe we have one so close. We are going to be SO fat! (& happy!) Karl's 1st ever job was at Idaho Pizza Company so we ate there too. Much more enjoyable for the boys who bled Karl dry for quarters at the end of lunch. Somebody who owns those vending machines should thank him.










Matt & I also got away for a weekend in the Ketchum area. A big post to come on that. We were having way too much fun relaxing to take any pictures but I did get this trunk at the thrift store. So cool, huh?



And the kitchen makeover continues.... This is our cabinet face lift in process. Go Matt!

The Haircut

I decided to share more on the haircut or shall I say haircuts? Does anyone else see it? I get layering but I have 2 different haircuts!

There are a number of things going on here, the first is that 2 decades into my life, I all of a sudden have curly hair. (?) This is how I have avoided the haircut nonsense, I just clump it all into a wavy mess. Childhood issues are at work too, I cut off all my hair 3 years ago and have been growing it out ever since. I loved it short and felt really free but the childhood message is basically this: Long hair= Beautiful, feminine, better person. So you can imagine how tortured my short hair person self was! But everyone has been supportive of my neurotic hair drama and I have received some great tips too.

I have boiled it all down to this: (which I totally stole from this cool lady who has the BEST blog ever and who I totally blog-stalk, I have never met her but my real life friend Staci has & again, she rocks.)

The 5 stages of Bad Haircut Grief

Denial- This isn't happening! I just found this great stylist that listens to what I want and works at the nicest (read; MOST EXPENSIVE) salon in Idaho.

Anger-Why is this happening? I just paid up the rear for you to destroy my self-image for years, well, 6 months at least!

Bargaining-I promise Lord that I will not be so vain & trivial, please let me wake up & this never happened.

Depression-Fine, whatever. I don't really care about hair, I should just let it all fall out or shave it off & be done with it.

Acceptance-Okay. I am ready to start the search for a stylist that does what I want & not what she wants. But it will definitely not be at the swanky, "we know better than you," salon!

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin

Tales from the Crypt

Here is the set up, Matt is driving our van with all 6 of us in tow, at 4am. He says to me, "Just wait until you blog about this!"

Matt is taking some time off this week so we decided to go camping. We headed to Grimes Creek, just an hour away, with visions of reconnecting as a family. You know how they say you'll laugh about that later? We are hoping that is true. Let me just sum up the highlights:

As we are setting up the tent we discover an ant infestation. Not anywhere else, just in the only spot you can set up a tent.

Kaleb finds a mason jar, perfect for bug collecting and carries it into the swimming hole where Parker & Aden are swimming. You guessed it, it shatters, broken glass all over the bottom of the water.

I put together cowboy dinners that were going to be so fabulous but, fearing that we would open them and find raw chicken, left them in the fire too long. Burnt and inedible.

I lifted Kaleb's shirt off to apply sunscreen & found huge skin blisters from the day before. He is sore but fine until he sees them, cue meltdown.

The boys managed to avoid he broken glass in the creek & the many fish hooks we found there, only to cut their feet on thorns and sharp rocks. I do not even know why we have water shoes.

And the final blow, we awoke at 2:30am to Aden vomiting. Matt has a major gag reflex so I thought I would handle it. I took a look and thought, this isn't so bad, it is just on the one blanket. I discovered that was not the case when I pulled out the blanket & large puddle rushed onto Kaleb's sleeping bag. He woke up and though the vomit was from his blisters popping, cue 2nd meltdown.

So.... we packed it all up and headed home.It has been ironic that we have been listening to the Lemony Snicket books recently. We are beginning to sense a deep connection with the Baudalaire orphans.

July Happenings

This is an update on the potty training progress. Can I call this progress? I am going to say that Collin just getting familiar with new equipment :)

Collin has been spotted on our front porch in the afternoons. This room has no insulation and horrible old aluminum windows so it heats up to over 90 degrees in this heat. My only explanation for this new affinity is that he is doing the dirty business of NOT potty training!

Kaleb's best friend from 1st grade also came over this week. They were SO excited to see each other, it was a crazy afternoon. I was hoping Joey would shoot me with a tranquilizer dart from that Nerf gun.

And, we attempted this ...

The Rodeo! I did take some pictures of the actual rodeo events but since they moved it inside the Idaho Center, not so good for pictures. It does not feel right to have a rodeo inside! I guess no one misses the giant green bugs that used to swarm the old location though. Anyone remember those?





Thanks Mom & Ken for sticking it out with me!

We are hot!

Last weekend was my 10 year Boise High School reunion. I went back and forth about whether or not to go then made the last minute decision to attend. Matt & I got all dolled up and went downtown in time to take some pictures before the big night. I am so excited about how they turned out! It was about the only good thing from the night.
It was all still very "high school," as I was warned. I did find a few old friends to be just as delightful as I remember. Also, Matt & I danced a bit, even though virtually no one else would. Uggh. I got a ton of feedback on how wonderful my husband is, a couple girls (and guys!) even asked to borrow him. (?) After spending a few hours with my classmates I was so happy to go home with Matt, reminded me of why I picked him. So happy to have ended up with my high school sweetheart!

Aden's point of view

Grandma Ellen bought Aden a camera for his 5th birthday. Before that day was over, he had snapped a whole roll of film. I am so impressed with the results! He wound the camera himself and captured a new perspective of our life. These 4 were my favorites.

Nothing new

It is not at all inventive to enjoy S'mores on a late summer evening...
but we have been doing just that.

Animal Planet

Kaleb's new friend. A member of the family of birds that continues to make their home right outside my bedroom window. They are not the sweet sounding Snow White-esque version but rather the constantly chirping, grating my nerves variety. I was a little happy inside when, after being tortured, I mean cherished by Kaleb for the morning, our dog ate it up in one gulp. Kaleb was not happy, inside or out, until another little friend hatched and fell from the nest.

No wonder I feel like I live in a zoo! 4 kids, one dog, a bird, the toad, & visiting salamanders, kitties, & frogs. The neighbors iguana even started to trek across the alley into the back yard & there is always Hannah's chicken, Barack, that she is trying to pass off on us. I think I will just keep the dog a little hungry to manage the growing pest/pet population on our Funny Farm.

Photo Box Fun

My cousin, Galen, is a super talented wedding photographer. He also rents out "The Funbox," a photo booth for special events. We played a bit in the booth at my cousin Becky's wedding, Aden played A LOT. He was really into the above Iron Man position, all the shots of him are like that.

Aden had a little bathroom emergency at the wedding, it was outside and he forgot where the bathroom was. I was waiting for his pictures to develop from the booth when someone asked about the swim shorts (the only available option in our van) he had on. He began to explain the story and then, very politely, said, "it's a long story." Ha! I love that at the age of 5 he has mastered the art of ending an uncomfortable social situation!