The winner is...

ok I cheated.
hmm, well, not really. But I hoped Gina would win because I had something specially for her. SO I'm not really sure how that's cheating but anyway...
The lovely Gina will be receiving a humorous piece of bathroom art... because we do need to decorate our bathrooms but what do we put in them?
Bathrooms! of course.

Since Gina lives in a all girls domain it is labeled appropriately.
I admit it's small. It's the same size I put in my bathroom though and it's original art.
It's charcoal relief on bristol paper for those of you who know what that means.

For those of you who missed the little give away, I'm sneaky like that. Pay attention.

In other "news" I have been unable to find a plain yellow or gold tshirt Zurich's size so I made do with one he had by turning it inside out measuring out and using fabric markers to make it black. Zurich will be Charlie Brown this year. I did it with a Zurich on my lap... so it's well, the way it is.

Do the techy dance of JOY

I am doing the techy dance of JOY
I won't show you what it looks like...
But I am doing it!
Remember this post?
No, of course you don't.
I was spending all my time on tech support and trying to uninstall the program that I never posted my HUGE irritation.
"Let me explain, no, there is too much, let me sum up."
(I'll give something spectacular to the first person who can reference the quote correctly).

I bought an external drive. It worked. I loved it. It worked on both my computer platforms. It was great. Then I updated the software. It didn't work anymore on my Vista. I did not love it. I was mad. I spent too much time on hold and too much time trying to delete registry entries. It happened back in January. It's October right? Finally I got sent high enough up the chain... Today I called the coveted direct line (because the babies were napping and Olea was choosing to be sweet) and this pleasant fellow provided the solution I have been waiting for (which according to him was available back in JULY... I did chat with someone in July, a number of times).

My drive is backing up almost a year's worth of stuff as we speak. Thankfully the year provided no mishaps or lost files. All is right on my techy front.
Dance it up.

getting old and crotchety

I don't hide my anger or my irritation well. Especially lately.

Today I let the kids play in the leaves after picking up Olea from school. I live in an area where property is shared. There are plenty of rules to keep the place nice.
Sadly, there are a number of people who either think they are above the rules or are lazy or something... anyway....
So, the kids are using the rake to relocate the leaves, and discover feces, due to a dog owner who has let their dog and their three year old run free for at least the last hour. The three year old starts whining and screaming because the dog is biting his hand. I start rounding up the kids, because it's apparent mom isn't coming to her child's aid fast enough and I am not going to deal with a snappy dog. Finally mom calls from an open window and the kid runs inside, leaving the dog outside. I figure surly the dog will not be left out so I let the kids continue to rake in an area feces free. I hoped at first that mom would hear me telling the dog to go home (since her window was open) and come get her dang dog or at least the kid would let him in the house, so I was still trying to enjoy the nice weather with the kids, when it became apparent that no one was going to fetch the dog. I have a baby tied to my chest and am trying to gather our stuff and the kids into the house and the dog starts testing the water with me and my kids. I keep telling the dog to go home and stay away from the kids, but he thinks Olea's stick is a game and keeps going to her. Zurich is of course undoing what little progress I make with gathering book bag and coats etc, as well as trying to get close to the dog, because he LOVES dogs and doesn't understand why I keep telling him "owie, stay away, no touch."
The front door is open and Zurich is inside and I am trying to get Olea to put down her stick long enough to take the scooter from me but she is wary of the dog and wants her weapon, when lo and behold the neighbor comes to get the dog. Ten minutes...
By this time though the dog is on my steps and I can't get around her to my own house as she calls and snaps at her dog who is trying to get around Olea and into the house....
Long story short dog gets in my house and the neighbor asks, "can I go get him?"
"You better."
She chases the dog and gets it out and apologizes saying that he's a baby that's why he's not being obedient and that she's so embarrassed. I am so annoyed I don't say anything. I'm not going to pretend that I don't mind that your animal that pooped on the lawn 5 minutes ago and peed down his leg is running around on my carpet. I'm not going to pretend that I am not irritated. I can't.
Seriously, your pet and your child were unattended for at least 45 minutes, that kind of stuff irritates the Hades out of me, esp when you know your dog bites.

So I am sure my neighbor thinks I am a snotty lady. I don't care.
Take care of your stuff, your kids, your animals and all their forms of feces.

I do like some of my neighbors. In case you were wondering.
and I don't mind all dogs or their owners. We do have some neighbors that are exceptional about taking care of their animals. And I even like, nay, love some dogs.
Cheer up, self, here are some pictures of the kids enjoying in the beginning.

The dolphin

you know the sound it makes when you clear your throat?
Zurich does it and it sounds like a dolphin or something, it's so dang fast.
It cracks Gary and I up.
take a gander:


Olea and Gary went on a date last week.

Olea was SO excited. She decided she wanted to get all dressed up. When Gary saw her like that he figured they better go somewhere nice for dinner. Olea kept saying, "this is so beautiful" and she was pleased that they still had chicken fingers and french fries at a fancy restaurant.
After they left I was looking at the picture, they totally match. Cute.

Wounded

Gary came home last night and laughed with pity.
Can you do that?
I suppose you can
he did.

Olea had to stay home from school since she had pink eye. And sadly enough she was moaning the fact that she already had a 4 day weekend.... lets make that six baby and we'll stay indoors too since it's crappy weather and you can't go anywhere with pink eye.

Lets bump it up a notch.
Monday I broke a toe. I will refrain from posting a picture since toes are DISGUSTING even when they are clean and perfectly manicured.
And I got pink eye shortly after Olea, in both eyes. I guess it usually spreads to both eyes. Olea has it in both eyes this morning too. Last night Zurich was trying to step into Gary's shoes and lost his balance and smashed his upper gums against the shoe rack. Ya, we all look totally abused.

But at least Genève, Zurich and Gary don't have pink eye. And we have antibiotics and Olea is getting better at singing her ABCs as she washes her hands. Hopefully we'll have life back to normal soon.

Gary said we were "so cute," with our matching pink eyes.
cute
He got pictures but that's not going to be posted here either.
At least I beat Gary on Guitar Hero (borrowed) last night over and over in Face-off even with goop in my eyes... lets leave out the fact that he was playing a level harder than I was.

rest-dinosaur-ant

I suck at spelling.
no surprise, I am sure
spell checking is a good thing
still though, sometimes the way I misspell things leaves my spell check at a complete loss
I have tried many times to learn to spell the word that means public eatery,
you know:
Restaurant
Tonight, trying to caption a picture I asked Gary how to spell it.
"like dinosaur"
oh my gosh
that helps
it really helps
I can remember that: Rest-dinosaur-ant

which by the way, there is such a thing as a dinosaur ant.

This ant used in my lovely mnemonic device here is,

as far as I know, actually a dino ant which means I could do

without the dinosaur but Gary said I needed the dinosaur.

Genève's hat

It's the season again for hats.
If I was smart I would have started on them earlier but...
I needed to make one for Genève and Zurich since they will out grow theirs this cold season... Genève already has.
I finished Genève's last night.
The hat part doesn't take long, it's the ear flaps,

flowers

and pompoms

that take the most time, but oh how they dress it up.
Tada!

Tradition

2006

2007

2008

2009

Olea knew what day it opened and was totally counting down. This year they had a new face pop picture op and it was the perfect fit for our little family.... Just a little photo editing to get us all in the same spread. Gary and I Love Halloween.



That would be Genève's head, not.... what it might look like.

And the picture of the night:

Olea has been having a hard time lately and it seems like Gary and I are always getting after her. Sometimes her choices' consequences really suck. Like when she chose to wear pants that were too long after being asked to do otherwise. During the duck races she stepped into a large puddle and it got totally soaked up in her long pant legs. She was put out because she wanted to play in the corn box but her pants were too muddy. She sulked off to this bumpy tube and I caught this winner. It is so perfect in so many ways. A few: She looks like she's sitting on the moon, (her name means moon) and the visual isolation shows what she was feeling. It's worth clicking on to see it bigger.

This little piggie is going to Market!

Hey, all those who live in the Utah County
or anywhere else who wants to make the drive.
(I meant to do this post sooner... but that's life)



Poppies at Play Craft Market

Saturday Sept. 26th

10:00-5:00

2056 E Cedar Trails Way

Eagle Mtn, Ut.

84005

Click here for a Google Map

I'll be there with my Tatties, as well as a whole bunch of other fabulous vendors selling stuff from peg boards, jewelry to cakes. Check out the blog at Poppies at Play Market.

Cash or check only and if you hurry and RSVP on the site you can get a 10% off coupon to most vendors. I accept the coupon. There's also complimentary refreshments, though how long those will last I don't know.

If you can't be there, don't fret, you can buy them online or come visit me.

It's easy. It really is.

I finally did it. I was told it was easy to make jam and it is. It turned out good too. I was one cup short of pears (had too many from Costco and they were ripening faster than we could eat them) and I was told that you can fill that gap with 100% fruit juice. Apple is best because it doesn't take over the flavor, but I only had orange. It worked quite well. And it is "beautiful" as Cyndi would describe it. It really is.

unto myself

Finally got Z down for a nap.
Tried to fix Olea's tinker box.
Tried to sand the dresser drawers, ran out of sandpaper.
Olea won't chill...
made a quick new header for the blog
Happy birthday unto myself.

Sheath, Scabbard

So, i have a little princess...


who also LOVES princey things like swords and such; I attribute this to Narnia and the fact that she is the adventure type. So the other day when she asked me to mend her princess dress and leave open a little of the hole so she could put her dagger in (hole was in the waist line), I knew it was high time we made her a sheath for her dagger.

Call it green, call it cheap, call it ingenious, call it brilliant, go ahead. :) or call it pack rat. Whatever.
When we moved into our house we installed all the blinds ourselves, so probably a year later or more when Gary decided it was time to get rid of the extra slats that have been chilling on our window sills the past year (still attached to the rest) I asked him not to throw them out.
"WHAT FOR?" (he thinks I am a pack rat)
"To make swords for Olea."
"Oh, okay, that's a good idea... a really good idea."
So Gary used his tin snips to shape swords out of the blind vinyl. At first he made really nice long broad swords, but Olea broke them off at the hilt too fast so now he makes machetes and daggers etc. ehhehe sounds really bad doesn't it?
So we have a stash in the garage and when ever one breaks off Gary goes out and makes her a few more and wraps the hilts with duct tape (a nice leather look right?)

So Olea needed a sheath right? well I figured that can't be hard. Remember the pants that exploded? Well before throwing them away I mined a few things off of them, buttons, ties etc. and the belt loops.
Call it green, call it cheap, call it ingenious, call it brilliant, go ahead. :) or call it pack rat. Whatever.

I pulled out the belt loops and some brown felt and had Olea trace her little dagger sword on a piece of brown felt.

Then cut out at least a quarter inch wider (seam allowance), cut another piece just like it
trim off the top of one so it is a little shorter and at an angle.

sew belt loops on to the back ( I did this after sewing it together and realized that it could be a problem if your beltloops were long enough to get in the way of your scabbard opening)

Then sew the two pieces together. ( don't look at the sewing, it will hold but it's not pretty (good thing it's on the inside) I was sewing with Zurich on my lap)

turn right sides out and decorate if desired, I was in a hurry and so was Olea so we kept it pretty simple. Thread on a belt (Olea happens to have a real cool one with a horsey belt buckle that we picked up second hand).
TADA! (or as me and the kids say: Tadasana!)


"That's really cool mom, thanks!"
I know.