going to get weird

 To start, because it is awesome & goes unrecorded all too often. Collin serenaded us with, "I like green beans and I cannot lie!" last night at the family dinner table. Happens a million times a day. I am dumbfounded at how funny & weird my kid is. It is really the only way I am making it through these long February days.
 Speaking of dinner. We were spending almost $1000 a month to feed ourselves. Say what, now? Cah-ra-zee. I have worked to get it back to $800. Still a long way from the $400 we could get by with in Idaho, though.
 Lentils were becoming my best friend because they are so darn nutritious & cheap. Not a very common occurrence. Then the stomach bug of 2012 hit. Blech! Not wanting to consume another lentil anytime soon, if you catch my drift. Also, I am not recommending it, but I did lose all my holiday weight with the stomach flu diet. (silver lining?)
 I feel like we are slowly waking up from a hibernation. I think we all go out with a bang at Christmas time. Before tucking away for the winter. Then the end of February hits. You are still half asleep but you have to go to the bathroom & that terrible morning taste has formed in your mouth. (sorry Feb., but it is true)
 I have been blocked a bit when it comes to the blog. Blogging about anything that matters is a place of vulnerability. It is to me, like that naked public speaking dream. I am only in this blog world for the feedback, even if it will just be my own in 2060, reflecting on what a full life we lived. Serving as a baby book of sorts. But for the day to day, it has not really scratched the validation itch.
 And maybe that is a good thing. A great thing, really. Because I need to stretch & grow & not be such a darn people pleaser. On the blog & in real life.
 So here goes the vulnerability part. I really want a baby. Not a child. A baby. I know what to do with a baby. A preteen? Yea, I have not quite got that figured out. The thing is, all the "somedays" are happening right now. Someday we will be tee-ball parents, someday we will play tooth fairy, someday they will know all the words to "Baby Got Back." (just kidding) All these hopes & dreams are coming true. It is so satisfying & rich, but also SO SAD. I did not really dream a dream past 10 years old. And now that we are there, I am just so exhausted.
 So.... add a baby to this over-priced, diarrheal, seasonally affected bunch... right???!!!

via

homeschool gem

I have not kept it much of a secret that I do not love homeschooling the three older boys. Today though, they had an online writing class where they generated poems about themselves. I thought they were fun.

Parker
Loud, fast athletic, amazing
Sibling of Kaleb, Aden, & Collin
Lover of football
Who fears fear
Who needs football
Who gives fried eggs
Who would like to see Larry Fitzgerald
Resident of Washington
Archuleta

Kaleb
tall, redhead, loud, active
Sibling of Parker, Aden, Collin
Lover of Mom
Who fears fear
Who needs family
Who gives help
Who would like to see New Zealand
Resident of Washington
Archuleta

Aden
blonde, big, quick, active
Sibling of Parker, Kaleb, & Cojo
Lover of video games
Who fears death
Who needs food and water
Who gives help
Who would like to see Tokyo
Resident of Washington
Archuleta

more love

Another week of our life according to Instagram. Happy Saturday, friends!

my love

If I know what love is, it is because of you.
~Herman Hesse

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.
~Bruce Lee

If God is the DJ, then Life is the dance floor; Love is the rhythm, and You are the music.
~P!nk

Happy Birthday, Matt!

in love

Currently geeking out on Instagram. I love how the filters make our daily grind look much more interesting. Follow me at thefunnyfarm if you can't live without knowing what color my nails are painted or when Collin is taking a bath, you know, the really important things in life.

whole-hearted

Here is the start of this year's Valentine decorations. I am obsessed with sewing paper! My mom brought up the sewing machine & we tried sewing cardboard. The vertical chain of hearts is just painted cardboard. The pennants are felt scraps. I think she & I would have been more productive without requests for sword sheaths & capes & whatnot. That is just the sweet life with 4 boys, I suppose. Anyone else have trouble balancing fun with the kids and what is intended to be a ROMANTIC holiday?

storytime

 
How was your weekend? Matt was out of town for Sunday so I sat around all day & let the boys entertain themselves. I had entire pints of ice cream & caught up on all my shows, like I had just had a bad break up. I even did the ugly cry when Will Schuester proposed on Glee.
 Matt & I had a terrible dating relationship. Our very first break up was so silly. I was going to see my dad & I said I would miss Matt, he would not say it back. Well, I really didn't think we had anything left to say after that. (double snap!) We worked it out later over the phone, me in Arizona, but Matt was in front of a living room full of people at his mom's. (back when you were tethered to the wall to talk on the phone) He started crying & got a bloody nose. Now tell me, would it not have just been easier to say, "I'll miss you, too"?!
image found here

storytime

A few times in life since moving out of my parents house, there have been moments of furniture serendipity. It is notable because we have moved so many times. (8 times in 11 years) You are low on funds & think you will have to get by without, make do. Then all of a sudden an aunt clears out her storage unit or you drive by that never ending yard sale across town & spot a perfectly aged red picnic table that is priced for just exactly what you can afford. It is just bliss when it happens. Since moving to Seattle we have been given a lot of free stuff. The latest qualified for storytime, in my mind. 

Matt & I have never purchased a dining room table, we have been given 5. Our growing family bumped us out of each of them, either because we kept adding people or because the boys broke them. When we moved to Seattle we did not take anything but a plastic fold-out table, like you use at BBQ's or garage sales. We have been getting by but the moment Matt got his job I was ready to shop for a table. We had strategized on size, price, the look we were going for & then I pulled the plug. I was resolved that we would be given a table. I was not thrilled about more meals served on the plastic absurdity but I was convinced a table was coming our way. Then we got an email. Our landlords are realtors & had the table & the china cabinet left at a property they sold.

The table is nicely built & sturdy, seats all of us, goes with our chairs, & needs just a little revamping. Even my parents, who were visiting & went to pick up the furniture for us, were excited. We all kept staring at the table & smiling. When I get a feeling like I did with the table Matt always says I should play the lottery. I seriously doubt that winning the lottery could make me as happy as our cast off, nicked, old  table does right this minute!

china cabinet

More free furniture! Our landlords gave us some old furniture. This just keeps happening to us and I love it! Here is a terrible basement "before" pic of the china cabinet: 

I am hoping we will get it all glammed up like what I have seen around the web.

Like this classy white one.

this rad yellow one, with a pink horse, eee!

Here is a show-stopper in red.
I like the idea of turquoise or pink even. Hmm... Thoughts?

company

My parents visited recently. I had jobs for them from the first moments they arrived. Picking up free furniture ( more on that to come!), finding a used saw for Kaleb's "weapon-making" (yikes!), sewing Valentine's decor (pics coming soon), and making scrumptious "man quiches" filled with nothing but meat & cheese. We did try to get out and try a sunset trip to Woodland Park Zoo. It was fun to be in the zoo when it was practically empty, that is until the arctic wolves were eyeing us a little intensely. Whoa! Exit stage left. It was probably a good thing because the guy at the front gate told the boys at 5:00pm the zoo lets the big cats out to roam freely. Thanks for all your help & memories made, Grandpa & Grammy!