oh, sweet boy.

how can this cute face be the cause of so much pain? (although, looking at the above photo, I don't see why tonight's events were any surprise to me)

sure, he didn't MEAN to. of course it was an accident. but seriously, is it EVER okay to push one's peer off of a precipice? is it? NO!

WELL IF YOU READ MY PREVIOUS POST - I THOUGHT FLETCH HAD PUT HIS LITTLE FRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL. BUT HIS MOM EMAILED ME THIS MORNING AND SAID THAT THEY'VE TRIED SUPER GLUE INSTEAD OF STITCHES -

WE'LL SEE HOW IT GOES...

My Christmas

On Christmas Eve we went to the LA Zoo with the Harveys and the Thomsons, and then had a late lunch at Round Table pizza. (there are only 2 in the southland area. this is very painful for me)
the boys and I arrived back home on the Saturday before Christmas, and for 3 nights I was not allowed to sleep in my own bed.
That's right. The couch. Once, I slept in Fletcher's bed with him - but it wasn't so fun waking up at 2:30 a.m. to "Mom, my bed is wet."
This is the reason for my banishment:

Craig built me a sewing center! He bought the table parts and shelving at IKEA, and stained them blue, bought several storage bins to go on the shelves and under the bed, and painted our bedroom sea-foam green.

!!!!

you can't see it perfectly, but there on the left side of the last picture is a section that is now my writing desk. My laptop can plug right in to the printer and scanner, and all my reference books are on the shelves.

Naturally, I have the most thoughtful and amazing husband on the planet.
sniff, sniff

The Best Quilt Shop in California

A while ago, Sue Rhodes and Brenda Houston (mom, to the likes of me) opened a quilt shop in Weaverville called Textile Traditions. It's Awesome!

A wonderful lady named Bridgite brought this box of vintage patterns for me to pick through while I was up there. I came home one happy lady!

Mom teaches quilting classes every now and then at the shop, this was the last quilt they made. So cute!

Lots of fat quarters, and so many colors. I got myself some flannel and some great dotted fabric. Yay!

Los Angeles meets Weaverville. (Or, goes back to Weaverville)

I loved this shot of my boots with Dad's boots. :)

A Field Trip

Grandpa had me bring the boys out to his work on Monday last week, and they got to see salmon in all of their stages.

The boys were really interested! Then we went over to the spawning shed, and Dad opened the trap to allow tons of fish to flop inside, and then get sleepy in a bath, and then get their heads chopped off.
That was where Connor stopped liking it so much. He thought the blood and guts were gross.

That's the fish ladder, going up the hill from the river to the hatchery.

I'm not Home yet.

That's the view from my folks' backyard. Connor was freaked out the first morning when he kept hearing this noise, and I said, "Hon, that's a bird." (so. sad.) And then Fletcher came running to the window asking about all the ice all over stuff, and aunt Jacquie explained. His response, "Frost? What is frost?!"
my kids are SO from L.A.
The weatherman forecast a bunch of snow for the early morning when we were supposed to head back, so we're staying until tomorrow. The summit should be nice and clear and free of ice by then. For now, I'm enjoying:

A real pine tree. Complete with scent. (but then, the whole town smells like this, year round, so...)

crocheting with mom's hand-spun, hand-dyed yarns.

Editing my book, free of interruption. Sort of.

Wii!! We brought ours up, and it has been thoroughly enjoyed.

Playing with fire.

And letting the kids do whatever they please for 6 days straight.

I'll post highlights - like visiting Grandpa's work - when we get back.

one last post:
HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY NANETTE!

I hadn't looked closely at this picture before today, Nan. That has got to be the awesomest face I have ever seen you make. :) Hahahahahahahahaha! Now that you are 30, maybe people will start thinking you are Elle's mom instead of her sister....

maybe.

Making Lists, Back Soon

1. Things to do before I go
2. Things to pack
3. Christmas presents left to get (short list, whew!)
4. how many ways I'll miss my hubby while I'm gone

The boys and I are driving up to Weaverville on Saturday. I'll be out of the blogosphere until next weekend! Think safe thoughts for us!

"Okay, I'm gonna shave it. For real this time" (because he's been saying that for DAYS) "What should I do?"

Mr. Green, in the Lavatory, with a Candlestick?

that one was so fun he almost decided to keep it. but he didn't. he's back to jaw-length sideburns (they get a little longer every year, I think....) and kissable face! Yay!

Whenever it gets to be cold I have this urge to crochet stuff. And then I wish that I could follow a pattern and make more than scarves and blankets, and then I wish that I could knit... It's a downward spiral. :) Here's my past couple of days' work.

Crocheting is a great thing to do while watching movies like Live Free or Die Hard, and Bourne Identity. I'm just saying.

Am I going to be warm tonight! Finished the robe in all it's flannel-y toille-y glory.

well, okay. Maybe not finished. Maybe I still have to actually sew the buttons on and do the hem, but whatever. Easy. I've been wearing the nightgown almost every night (and feeling very much like Jane Austen, yes) but it's been kinda cold. So, I'll be very happy to have some long-sleeved goodness to wrap myself in during these chilly los angeles nights. (listen, we don't have a heater at ALL, okay? it does get kinda cold here!)

*big thanks to Nan for spying the fab fabric for it!! :)

I can't tell you how many times he's been "going to shave" and then not done it. For a WHILE, obviously. :) When he does, we'll take a series of fun facial hair photos for your viewing enjoyment.

In the meantime, I'm going through kissing withdrawals.
*ouch*

Click HERE for some Christmas Awesomeness

All Wrapped Up

Karalenn does this every year. The first time I went to her house and saw her cupboards all wrapped in paper I was torn between "You are Crazy" and "You are a Genius!"

This is the first year I have tried it. (lots of tape) It really adds a festive air to my dull cream kitchen. Maybe I'll keep it up all year... *grin*

so we decided to take a stand against the impending holiday poundage. we decided that even though our entire family is coughing and miserable that craig and i would still exercize yesterday, and get going on this whole, "getting healthy" thing. (can i just say that things do NOT taste that good without salt?)
so i did this great thing, and i got out my standing pilates workout video while craig went to the gym last night, and i did all of the impossibly difficult exercizes and produced lots of sweat and thought that maybe working out so hard, for the first time in months, might even help me beat this cold/nausea/cough thing sooner.

and then i woke up this morning and cursed the day that standing (or any kind of, for that matter) pilates was EVER invented. my legs feel like they belong on the Human Torch, and my knees feel like they belong on a 130 year old woman with arthritis. my cough is grosser than it was yesterday and i have new symptoms that i will spare you the details of.

you're welcome.

it's a good thing i had this to make me feel better:

no better way to start a diet than to eat the better part of an entire pan of triple chocolate chunk brownies, eh?

Productivity

the apartment gets unavoidably messy when I have projects to work on.
dh grits his teeth and bears it. Mostly.

hoping to sell a couple of these tonight at our little Christmas bazaar. I've never sold anything that I made before. Hopefully that will change soon!

Pronouns

CONNOR: Did "blank" do the dishes after dinner? Um... he. (begins to write) Oh, no wait, she.
ME: Why did you change it from he to she Connor?
CONNOR: (in his "obvious" voice) Mom, because that's the ladies job!

I did the throwing my hands in the air and stomping around dramatically aghast - and then he drops another one:
"Well that's what Dad says....."

Grateful Journal

Emily put together this awesome Giving Thanks Journal (here), and I really loved it and thought I would try it out. Not being the scrapbooking wizard that she is I don't have nearly as many cool bits to use in mine but it was super-fun running around the apartment and snitching bits of paper and stuff from the kids and from old books and from craig's art desk.

I've only managed to get 30 pages so far - but that gives me 30 weeks before I have to get more.

now I need to number the pages, 1-7 (one week per page, one grateful item per day) , and I'll be done!

I would love to show you actual, adult-taken photos of our Thanksgiving. But Nanette and Hannah have not sent me the photos from their cameras, so once again I must resort to relying on the photo-skills of my 3 year old son.

Craig and I are not pictured. The ones he got of us were even scarier than his self portrait down there. :)

It was so much fun, and the food was good and the curtains got done and I wish that it was not a normal day again so soon.

more fletcher pix

i love seeing the world through a 3 year old's eyes. i love plugging in my camera and finding 30 shots that i did not know were there. i love that some of them are pretty good, and that most of them are of himself.

i tried and tried to get a pic of the new rat a few weeks back and could NOT get one to turn out. he managed it without even trying.
NIMH: i got your back, Sunflower.
no really.
i got it.