Woo's Dad: The Chemist + Weekend Reads

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I don't remember reading anything particularly interesting this week.

Plus, I'm not sure that I'm happy with this little feature. I think I can do better. Just not sure what yet.

So ... Just a picture for now (Isn't it great?? That really is my father-in-law!).

Happy Weekend!

Back in the Saddle Again ...

You know how some days just making dinner can feel overwhelming, and then the next day (or week, or month, or year) it feels like nothing AND you're able to do the other stuff you want to do?

Well, I've lived through that hard part to reach the other side.

My heart goes out to all you women stuck in the overwhelmed stage. You'll get through it. Be patient.

In the last couple of days I've caulked and patched holes in the mudroom, AND

Painted the trim.

(The nice thing about painting trim first is you can be kind of messy about it.)

Next up -- primer! Yee-haw!

Past Blast: Engagement Photos

Here are a few of our engagement photos taken by this guy back when he was fresh out of college and just starting his business. And because we were friends, he took them for the price of film.

This was clear back in 2003, so we didn't get digital copies, and these are scanned in (thus, the poor quality). They're also taken with a real, live Holga camera. No Instagram back in those days.

We found this old Ranchero in a used car lot by my place, and thought it would make the perfect engagement photo backdrop.

I mean, wouldn't you?

The lowrider was a part of our lives even then,

And Woo really wanted some of us in track suits.

And this is the one we actually put on our invitation. I loved the clouds in the sky.

The Ranchero made the final cut.

What about you guys? Did you have a friend take your engagement photos? Pay someone? Take none at all???

Photo Blitz: Church Boys

Rope Swing + Quotes + Rave Review

We decided to get the oil changed before driving to Idaho. We did have a few coupons, but because we have a fancy pants* Mercedes Benz that requires a special filter and extra quarts of oil, there are always hidden fees that get thrown at us.

*if 17 yr old cars can be considered fancy pants ...

One place had a coupon for $23.99, but was going to charge us $95 even with the coupon! Those coupons were getting us nowhere!

Goodyear Tire was across the street, so I ran in while Woo called Walmart. Goodyear had the cheapest price, and we all piled out of the car.

• They had a toy box full of cars in the corner.
• The manager came out about halfway through and offered us all some candies.
• They had a little display to write thank-you cards to service men while you wait (that Goodyear would send) --- who does that???
• And finally they charged us $5 less than the price that they'd originally quoted us.

It takes a lot to win over crusty ol' me and cynical ol' Woo to a business, but I think they did it.

The kids were definitely impressed.

Moses: Mom! Can we go here for my birthday?

Oil change it is, Mose!

The kids chose to watch Harry Potter for their movie this week. Linus thought the sorting hat was hilarious.

Moses (very concerned): Linus! Don't laugh so much!

You're going to get a bloody nose!

Come on, Mose. We're not that nerdy.

I often wonder how much Linus gets out of movies, but he apparently catches some words.

Hagrid: blah, blah, blah, park, blah, blah, blah ...
Linus (face brightening): My. Dad-dy. Day?!

(The park is his favorite Daddy Day destination.)

Moses continues to be so, so sweet. Every day right before he falls asleep for his nap, he puts his arm on me and says, "I love you, Mom." with a little smile.

On our Sunday walk we walked past a house that had been toilet papered.

Herbie: Hey! There's toilet paper!

Why did they put toilet paper in their trees?!

Ruby: I know what they're doing!

They're decorating!

Herbie: Yeah, probably for a wedding!

This is the level of discourse in our house:

Me (to Moses): Pull your pants up, skinny-winny!

Herbie: He's not skinny-winny! I'm skinny-winny!

Moses is fatty-watty!

Me: Moses is not fatty-watty.

Ruby: Penelope's fatty-watty!

Woo: No, Penelope's tiny-whiny.

And later:

Herbie: Who's stinky-winky?!

This might explain why I always want to call Lincoln "Stinky-Linky" after Linus yells, "Hi-O, Linky!"

Haven't done it. Yet.

There was a picture or two of me on the rope swing. Unfortunately not in focus at all. You really missed out on a pregnant-woman-who's-still-in-the-looking-fat-not-pregnant-phase on a rope swing.

Hope you all had a great week!

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Squishy Baby Moses (2008) + Weekend Reads

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• Ok, so this is old news (and Woo can never understand why I always think it's newsworthy), but I can't help it. I'm always so proud and excited when Utah leads the nation in charitable giving. Gooooooooo Utah!
• And I know you guys just can't get enough good press about Utah (I know I can't). This article has the potential to hurt some people's feelings (people from Illinois, Obama supporters, evangelical Christians ... ). I definitely don't agree with everything in the article, and I believe it's possible to give kudos without putting others down, but it was such a glowing take on how Utah is doing right now, I had to post it. Biggest downside? The Wasatch Front is getting waaaaay too crowded!

Well, that's all, folks! Have a great weekend!

I'm Baa-ack!

Whew!

This has been a crazy pregnancy.

My first semester --- you know the one where I'm usually exhausted beyond belief?

Well. It wasn't that bad.

Sure, I was a little tired, but for a first semester, I felt pretty darn good.

But, almost exactly at my 12 week mark, my nephew died. That was emotionally taxing, and every week since then, it seems, we've either been traveling to stay with family, or they've been visiting us, or Woo's been out of town (translation: I sleep hardly at all).

Long story short --- I've been exhausted.

We enjoyed all the fun, but it's been all I can do to keep everyone alive, and try to keep on top of the laundry and the dishes, let alone think about working on my house projects.

Anyway, I can finally feel that the long night of tiredness is nearing it's end. I'm feeling much, much better. I've been getting the house clean, and I think in a day or too I'll be able to get started on the kitchen again.

Yay!

In other pregnancy news ...

The good news is: I weigh 13 lbs less than I did with Penelope at this point!

The bad news is: I started off 10 lbs heavier, so I weigh about the same.

More bad news? Woo lost 20 lbs this summer, and I'm going to pass him up very, very soon :(.

And that's all folks! Thanks for listening!

Past Blast: Engagement

9 years ago this month, Woo and I got engaged.

At the beginning of the summer he left on an internship to Spain. Before he left he mentioned something for the first time about me maybe thinking about looking for a ring (we're nice and vague like that).

I'd known for almost a year that I would probably marry him, so I understood what he was saying.

Since I was the last of my friends to get married, I'd had plenty of time to look at and form opinions about rings, and I found an antique ring and band that I liked on the internet pretty quickly.

I sent him the links. He bought the rings and sent them to his mother, who gave them to me to have them sized.

Then I gave them back. (Pretty secretive, and full of surprises around here too).

Soon after he returned from Spain, we went camping in the Uintas with his family.

He proposed while we were there with a water lily (but, later wished he'd used some of the colorful fungi all over the place that I'd been so fascinated with).

The rings didn't fit my finger from the altitude and the hiking, but I still loved them and him.

I'm not sure we knew what we were doing, but I loved him, felt good about marrying him, and I knew it was the right thing to do.

So I did.

(Yes, Woo is reading some nerd publication like Science or Nature or Scientific American by the fire. What a man!)

The end.

Photo Blitz: Tour of Utah

Road Trip!

We got the kids, some clothes,

and some food packed up for a road trip to ---

Rexburg, Idaho!!

Ok, it may not be your normal vacation destination, but Woo's sister, Kim and her family live there, and after visiting there twice now (never in the dead of winter), I have to say that Rexburg is kind of cute.

I could enjoy living there. For awhile.

Plus, as far as vacationing with kids goes, it was kind of relaxing. You might think that 6 + 5 kids is a disaster waiting to happen, but in our case it wasn't. Kim and Peter have plenty of space for all of us, and the kids enjoyed their cousins.

We didn't really do anything different then we do at home, but being with cousins makes it that much more exciting.

Crafts,

Sliding around the kitchen floor,


Digging in the sand (Ok, maybe we don't have sand dunes at our place ... ),

Playing in the park ...

There was one person who was not at all excited by her cousins.

Kim has three little boys who were always trying to make friends with Penelope -- giving her toys, books, smiling and saying nice, funny things ... and every single attempt ended like this:

She must get that from me.

The trip also wasn't very relaxing for Woo. He caught some bug (food poisoning?) and was up two nights, and in bed one entire day (Thank goodness he can work in bed!).

Moses and Linus also had blood-red throw up one night in bed.

Thanks to my pizza and Kim's beets.

(Yes, we do feed him -- pay no attention to those ribs.)

Linus felt good enough the next morning to put his mouth on all sorts of toys (You're welcome, Kim!).

And Moses felt miserable until afternoon.


We made it home safely and now have just a couple of weeks to get ready for school. Where did the summer go?

Hope you all had a great week!

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Hats are a Man's Best Friend (2009) + Reads

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• This is why dads are awesome. I mean, how many moms do you know who would build a roller coaster for their kid in the backyard? I also loved the old-time pic of the dad with the contraption that hangs (flies ?) kids from his head at the end of the post.
• I really, really love this very rustic stone restaurant (?) in Italy, and also this feminine and frilly home of Marianne Cotterill. Most people are in love with opposites like that, right? They are both very old and european.
• These hobbit-hole playhouses are pretty cute. Maybe by the time we have grandkids, we'll have built something fun like this in the yard?
• Comparing every (male) medalist ever in modern Olympic history in the 100 m freestyle, 100m dash, and long jump. Interesting.

Change of Plans in the Mudroom

This is how you last saw the kitchen/mudroom.

You all probably spotted this from a million miles away, but it finally dawned on me that having the Expedit there for food storage and room division was more harmful than helpful.

It made the room feel quite a bit smaller and blocked light from that gigantic window.

So the Expedit moved to the playroom, and the room is opened up.

Yay!

Of course, storing the shoes in this laundry basket is not ideal.

But, I have plans. At first I thought I would get some of Ikea's Trone shoe cabinets

They're kind of cute and neat, but they come in packs of 3, so I'd need nine of them (6 kids + 2 adults). It didn't take me long to realize that $120 for shoe storage may not be the best use of my money.

But, then I ran across this -- Carrie's file box storage.

I think that would work pretty well for corralling kid shoes along this wall.

What do you think?