brotherly love

i just got an email from my mother.  it read as follows:

Kara Dear-
 One of the pictures on your blog, (plus your description to me about how Nora and Max don't get along always) was an inspiration to me today to write this little "for fun" poem.  I'll attach the poem and the photo that "inspired" the thoughts that may go through Nora's head about her relationship with her brother.  Let me know what you think. 

                                    

                                  BROTHERLY LOVE

                                                 By

                                      Helen W. xxxxxxx

                      My big brother is such a tease

                      Would you kick him out or sell him please?

                      He interrupts and calls me names

                      He says he’s best at all the games

                      Sometimes he colors all over my page

                      He dresses up crazy like he’s on stage

                      He makes silly faces and sings silly songs

                      He climbs and wrestles and gets head bongs

                      He laughs at me and takes my toys

                      He runs and pushes and makes big noise

                      He likes to pinch and likes to fight

                      He bothers me both day and night

                     He must be first and have the best

                     When my friends come here, he’s such a pest

                     He snitches treats from off my plate

                     When it’s time to go he makes us late

                      But if someone else says that he’s bad

                      It really, really makes me mad

                      Because inside I surely know

                      That he really, really, loves me so!

how awesome is that?  she just whipped it up...no big deal.  i know i've mentioned it before, but my mom is quite the poet.  i need to feature more of her amazing pieces here.  i'm so blessed to have her.  the funny thing about this poem, and nora, and max...is that it reminds me of the relationship i had with my big brother dave when i was little.  what keeps me sane through the bickering that happens between these two is the hope that they will one day be as close as dave and i are.  we are great friends and i'm so grateful he is my big brother. 

nora jayne is 4!

nora jayne is 4 years old!!!  of course i meant to have this post up on her actual birthday, but life has once again gotten so crazy!!!  there is no way that i'd let this day go without documentation. 

all i can say is that nora is an absolute joy.  maybe it's the fact that i've mellowed as a parent, because let's face it, all my kids are a joy, but i've had so much fun enjoying each and every stage with nora.  (i'm sure my use of punctuation on that last sentence is horrific...whateves)   here are some things i always want to remember about my 3/4 year old nora jayne:

    •    she lights up a room when she enters
    •    she is the biggest poser when she sees a camera







    •    she used to have to carry a purse with her at. all. times.  i have pictures somewhere of her even sleeping with her purse.
    •    she loves anything hot pink and sparkly. 
    •    she rotates through favorite princesses.  right now it's definitely ariel.
    •    she is my best dish unloader...no joke.
    •    she is my best "clean clothes put-er away-er" (you know what i mean)
    •    nora still sucks her thumb
    •    she has transferred her loyalty from her 'cozy' to her 'blankie' after cozy was "lost"...kind-of defeating the purpose of losing cozy in the first place. 
    •    nora gets up every morning, gets herself dressed, brushes her teeth, and gets a headband on usually before coming in to wake me up. 
    •    nora is the first one to get up in the morning...early...just like all my other kids did at her age.
    •    nora wants to say the prayer at every meal, event, and bedtime.
    •    when nora doesn't get say the prayer she cries saying 'i never said the prayer.'
    •    nora goes to preschool at miss tiffany's and can write all her letters and numbers.  she knows a cute little song/saying for each one of them.
    •    she still naps almost every day.  hallelujah.
    •    she still adores her older sister...rightfully so.
    •    nora and max almost never get along.  it can be torture if they are the only two together.  good thing they have other siblings.

    •    nora is always 'on stage'.  she is hyper aware of how she looks and of people around her.  right now it's funny and cute.  we'll see how that translates to the teen years.
    •    she really is easy to take on little errands and is a great little buddy.
    •    nora has the ability to find the fun in almost anything...even cleaning up her room.
    •    nora can clean her room pretty good by herself except for making the bed.
    •    she loves mac and cheese, bagels with cream cheese, avocados, berries, apples with peanut butter, oatmeal, veggies with dip...mostly just the dip, and ice cream.
    •    nora loves lip gloss and 'pail nolish' (nail polish)
    •    nora is a very girly girl and is a fun change in our family as ella and i have never been extremely 'girly'.

we love our nora jayne so much and enjoy every moment of having her in our family.  happy birthday missy moo!

problems are only opportunities in work clothes

“Life is full of problems. Opposition is not only unavoidable, it’s essential. Without opposition, without problems big and small to test our resolve and stimulate our thinking, we would accomplish very little. Muscles do not grow without resistance and neither do people”
Music & The Spoken Word

inside my head

i've recently finished a book that i thoroughly enjoyed. it really is what is says it is. there were so many funny thoughts, quips, and musings that really resonated with me and i laughed out loud throughout the book....often in public...which garnered many strange looks.
one of my favorite things she wrote was this:

"i think 90 percent of what/who we are is never really verbally communicated...
i like to write things down - moments, memories, lists, quotes, thoughts.
compulsively sometimes.
i need to gather all the thoughts that are locked in my head and put them on paper."

i completely agree that people really don't know most of what we are about. it's kept safely in our heads. a lot of the time this is a great place for it to stay, but i also think we could truly know, appreciate, and understand someone better if some of these little tidbits were exposed.

this is why i'm starting a new little feature called 'inside my head'. it'll show up any time i feel i have something...or several things about me that i'd like to document. of course, blogging in general can be a lot like this and i've done it once here, but for me i've focused more on using the blog like a scrapbook or journal. 'inside my head' will be very random...and hopefully fun.

so, here is my first list of tidbits inside my head.

• why do i mostly write in all caps and type in all lowercase?
• i think it's funny that my brother in law, who is an attorney, is married to a girl named sue.
• i seem to want to buy every new piece of clothing in gray. not sure why because i see my personality more of a yellow, or green, or maybe blue....
  
• what's the difference between gray-grey anyway?
• i really like the look of flap pocket jeans but it drives me crazy that i can't just stick my phone in the back pocket on the run.
• i am always the last to leave book club.
  
• i feel bad when i realize how easy it is to make my parent's day, and that i don't do it more often.
• i hate the lid to the pam cooking spray. it always hits the nozzle and sprays right at me!
• it is so much easier to parent one child at a time. i'm a really good mom when i'm one on one.
  
• once i sold every piece of clothing i owned (because i hated most of it) to a consignment store and took that money to buy just a small batch of things i loved. it was awesome and liberating.
• when asking nora what she wants for her birthday her answer invariably starts with, 'hot pink sparkly'. insert whatever you want after. (purse, shoes, lip gloss, nail polish, etc.)
• in most situations i take two stairs at a time. what does that say about me? i'm anxious?
• i think it's weird to write a check on your birthday. one part of me wants to tell the person i'm handing it over to that this isn't any ordinary day...but i don't...because it is.
• i'm almost always a member of the 'clean plate club'.
• i love root beer barrel candy...but never go looking for it.
  

that's enough for now. i think i'll end these posts with one of the things from this book that really struck a chord with me.

'but writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is a danger that one will be overlooked, dismissed as simpleminded by those with a tenacious belief that impossible prose is a hallmark of intelligence."
-alain de botton, the consolations of philosophy

lucky number 13!!

13 really is my lucky number...and now it's yours peri!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

13

Timestamp: 2010-03-15 04:55:33 UTC

if anyone wants one of the lucky necklaces just drop me an email at thisandthatjewelry {at} gmail {dot} com. they are a lucky $13 a piece!

sunday stew...bite size

this is what my kids are doing right now...love it!

my new solution for shirts with stains...t-shirt transfers!

the birthday cake my dear friend erika made for me. not surprisingly...i cried.

playing with the drums max got for lego rock band. yes, i get into it...it's fun.

max and his silly friends on the field trip bus on his birthday.

aren't these boys adorable?

nora and my darling niece audrey reading happily in my window sill. i love it.

the darling note we found from jack to ella. these two get along famously. really. it makes my heart happy.

the semi-trailer truck that smashed into paul on a drive up north. thanks to the snow bank for slowing the truck down, or paul may not be with us today.

paul's car.

sweet nora jayne at 2:00am after a trip to the emergency room. after falling out of bed a few times it finally caught up to her. possible hairline fracture, but she's still smiling!

the end

post edit: i just downloaded the images from the web for the t-shirt transfers. legal? not so sure, but i'm not making a buck off of them...unless you count the $$ saved by not having to buy new t-shirts.

feeling lucky?

anyone want one of these?
i think they are adorable and fun for st. patrick's day. leave a comment on this post and i'll choose a winner sunday night. i just love giving things away!!

winner winner chicken dinner

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

20
33
1
10
37

Timestamp: 2010-03-06 05:23:11 UTC

this means my winners are:

mother beck

julie (of parker colorado)

michelle

crockett family

adrianne

yay!! i am so excited. i need all of you winners to email me your mailing address. thanks for making my birthday special!

let's do it again!!!

last year for my birthday i did a giveaway. it was so much fun. it actually made my birthday something i really looked forward to because one of my all time favorite things to do is make something and give it away.

so...

let's do it again!!

yes...today is my birthday. now that that's out of the way let's get down to what's really important.

the giveaway:

if you want a chance to win, leave a comment. easy.

on friday night i will close the comments...when i go to bed...no specific time.

saturday i will use random.org or some other number choosing site to choose 5 winners.

5 WINNERS PEOPLE!! did you see that? yes...5.

the fun part is that i will get to give you anything i want! sorry, it's my birthday...i get to choose.

it will probably be something like these. but, you never know...my itch for sewing more again is needing to be scratched.

so, let me know if your interested, and have a great day.

max is 6!

hApPy bIrThDaY mAx!!

max. what more can i say? this kid lives life to the max...and i love him so so much.
his new thing is that he wants to either be called maxwell, or maximus. it changes daily.
this kid needs/loves his sleep. he often asks to go to bed if it's well after 8:30pm. in the above picture he had enough of the family christmas celebration. it was just too late. i mean he got his comfy pillow pet and his $5. what more do you need?
while we were in utah for our quick post christmas visit, we couldn't get this kid out of the snow. one day we went sledding for a few hours, and when we got home he spent the next 4-5 hours in my sisters backyard. max has two best buddies...his dad and his brother jack. i can't explain how happy this makes me.
when we returned from our trip to hawaii we brought the boys t-shirts and shark tooth necklaces. they were so excited that they set out their outfits for school the next day. jack's clothes are on the right and max's are on the left. do you see something missing from the get up max put out? i've tried and tried, but that kid just doesn't like that extra undergarment. someday...
this picture cracks me up because it says so much about max, nora, and their relationship. nora is constantly posing for pictures. max is constantly being silly, and again...has a messy face. also, you may notice the blur that is nora's hand. she was in the process of hitting max on the head with a perfect smile on her face. oh the joy.
here are some other random facts about max that i don't want to forget.

• he is a great reader and gets 100% on almost every spelling/math test despite the fact that i never study with him.
• he still spits a little when he talks. watch out if your too close. it's annoying now, but i'm sure i'll miss it once that darn overbite gets fixed.
  
• he loves to color and write nice notes. i get an 'i love you mom' note almost every day. i love them and feel a little guilty throwing them away.
• he wants me to sit next to him while he does his homework even though he can do it all by himself. yesterday was painful. i need to work on the skill of sitting still. it's hard for me.
  
• he has a temper like none of our other children. paul says he was exactly the same way...which gives me hope because paul is pretty tame.
  
• max wants to have a friend over daily.
  
• he loves his 'star blanket' that i made. he is definitely my comfort/cuddle kid. i am currently just taking a break from making him another cozy blanket with the leftover fabric from out duvet cover. he loves to get in our bed and pull it up over him. he calls it the cold blanket...go figure. i think it's because the fabric is almost silky and feels cool on contact.
  
• max will eat almost anything and has a very mature palate. when we go places and the other kids order kids meals, max usually gets soup and a salad.
  
• i flippantly told max that if he could get a green light everyday of the school year i would give him $20. to be honest i thought there was no way that would happen. only 2 1/2 more months of school and this kid has never had a yellow or red light. go max!!
• max is the second tallest kindergartner. the tallest is almost 8 months older. let's hope he enjoys his height while he has it, because with parents like paul and i...i don't expect it to last.
• max is extremely patriotic. i know this sounds weird to say about a six year old, but it's true. he wants to be a soldier in the army. his favorite colors are red, white, and blue. he begs for me to turn on 'god bless the usa' by lee greenwood on the ipod. he points out every american flag he sees. i truly believe this is something close to his heart...and it warms mine.

we love you buba-lou!! thanks for bringing so much to our family!

sunday stew...perfect for a rainy day.

the sunday stew is my favorite way to catch up on a lot of 'this and that' that has gotten left out of the blog. hence the name 'stew'. in no particular order, here is a quick rundown of some recent significant (and some not so significant) events.
we were lucky enough to attend the fiesta bowl with our good friends the taylor's from boise, id. it was such a blast. this is a picture we got with one of their good friends who dressed up with his son as 'bronco libre'. they got a lot of attention. i'm so mad we didn't get a picture with brandon and sally, but they were nice enough to outfit us properly for the game. thanks again guys. we sure miss you. i was even lucky enough to finally meet one of my good online friends kristi! she is even better in person and now i can't wait to see her again.
at the end of january jack and i were able to take a quick trip up to salt lake to attend the baptisms of his cousins henry and sam. these three red heads were all born within three months of each other and are good buddies. i still think it's so great that all three are boys and all three have red hair even though there is no red hair in my family! my brother, sister, and i just happened to marry into that glorious red hair gene. aren't they handsome? they are such good boys too. horray! max finally lost his first tooth. he was so excited. it is really important to be able to put your name on the tooth chart in kindergarten. he was worried this may never happen. what a cutie.
this is why i love to live in arizona. this kind of scene just warms my heart, and i wish i saw it more often. we need more kids in our neighborhood. but, because of the glorious weather we have for most of the year, the kids can get together and play outside often. this was taken on president's day and it just made me happy.i was playing with the camera controls and accidentally took this picture of myself. i was going to delete it, but then i realized it also illustrated why i love arizona winters. this is my daily attire: jeans, flip-flops, short sleeve shirt, and cardigan on stand-by for if i get a little chilly. lovely.
i also snapped this picture of me standing next to our yard flag on president's day. i love that the scouts come around and put these flags in our yards on these holidays. seeing the american flag swaying in the wind is a beautiful sight.jack took this picture of himself one day. as you can see, his hair was getting pretty long. it was cute most of the time, but i was starting to wish he would cut it. i told him he could grow it out until his baptism in may. well one day he came home and said he wanted to cut it.
this is jack now. isn't he so darn handsome? i love how i can see that great face. the only bummer is that it looks so dark now and it's hard to see the red as much. he has my dream color of hair.
this is a note ella wrote to her piano teacher. i laughed and cried. she is so cute. this girl is as genuine as they come. what you see is what you get with her. she obviously hates piano lessons, but at least she's willing to work on it.
ella and i were able to go on a little mother daughter date to see mary poppins. it was great. i'm so glad she enjoys going to these productions with me. she is really fun to have around. we had to laugh because we were running late and both changing to get ready to go. we both came down the stairs and were wearing polk a dots! i almost changed because i thought it might look cheesy, but ella thought it was cute so we stuck with it.
i snapped a quick picture of our heart attacked kitchen. we went a little crazy this year and added doilies to the decor. when i saw them at the store i couldn't resist. it just reminded me of my childhood so much. this is our third year in a row doing it, and it has become one of our favorite traditions. thanks shawni!
i had to get a picture of daddy, his girls and the beautiful flowers he got them for valentines. lucky girls...and guy! no, i'm not giving you the thumbs up in this picture. okay, i guess i could be. but really i'm showing off the nice big blister i gave myself while polishing some pieces of jewelry. can't see it?
how about now? it doesn't look so bad in this picture, but it really hurt! i've been having a lot of fun making things for people. i love all the ideas they give me and it truly is a creative outlet for me. and even though i get an injury here and there, i really love working with my hands. speaking of working with your hands...
here is another one of jack's spelling tests. you may remember this post well over a year ago where i was bragging about jack's incredible handwriting. well, this one blew me away too. keep in mind this was a spelling test, so they had to go fast.

he definitely didn't get this from me. my only 'c' growing up was in third grade for handwriting. click on the picture if you want to enlarge it. okay, i know i'm probably the only one who cares, but i do. he rocks. oh, and they just started to learn cursive. yeah...he's good at that one too. he's in the 2nd grade.

alright...post and bragging finished. happy sunday.