week 49 in pictures

um, really? 49? there are only 52 weeks in a year.

wow.

sunday: after rearranging the furniture in the livingroom to accommodate the christmas tree, we made a little ‘nook’ behind the couch that works for a cozy little play area for the kids. whether or not they’ll use it, is yet to be seen, but they thought it was a good idea.

monday: I met a friend a starbucks for a coffee date, and micah had to tag along. I gave him my phone to play games, but after awhile he switched to taking pictures. this is a sampling of the pictures he took while patiently waiting for us to finish with our grown-up talk. I LOVE his perspective on all this stuff that was around him.

tuesday:we got a cat tree/climber from a friend for toby. micah, guess who thought it was for him…

wednesday: don’t worry, toby likes it, too!. he actually spends most of the day up on that top spot, napping and keeping an eye on the goings on of the neighborhood.

thursday: this is shane’s little reading nook in his room. beanbag, blanket, santa hat… cat. toby likes to join him for a snuggle while he’s reading in the evening.

friday:every december, dave’s company has an open house/party that we like to go to. there’s food, santa, crafts for the kids, spiked egg nog… they also give everyone tickets for the carousel, which happens to be JUST downstairs in front of his building. shane didn’t come this year, since he was at a birthday party playing poker.

also: this = christmas for me. the BON star. I know, I know, it’s “the macy’s star” now, but that store used to be the downtown bon marche store, and every year, after thanksgiving, they would put up the HUGE star on the corner of the building. a glimpse of that, lit at night, meant it was christmastime. I wondered how long they’ve been putting that up there, so I googled it and found this seattle PI article that was published last december. apparently, since 1957! at any rate, squirm a little with jealousy, that dave walks out of his office every day to see that, right in front of his face.

saturday: after meeting my dad at fred meyer to do a little christmas shopping, I went back to their house to have some coffee and a chat. noticed this on their fridge. it’s the letter that layla wrote (and mailed) to toby when we were in california over thanksgiving. of course, it didn’t get there until the day after we returned and had picked him up, but we didn’t tell her that.

translation: dear mr. fat pants, (that’s shane’s name for him.) I love you so much and miss you so much. so, toby, I was thinking you and I could take a little time together. love toby.

only 3 more of these to go!!!!

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GARBAGE TRUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh yes, wednesday IS the most exciting day of the week around here. that’s right, wednesday is garbage day. my kids LOVE garbage trucks. when shane was little, he used to go running outside, every time he (or someone else) heard one rumbling up the street. i remember one time he came in all excited because the driver had given him some ritz crackers. um, yeah. sorry kid, you don’t get to eat anything given to you by an on-duty garbage collector! yes, i realize he mostly just drives the truck, but still… when we lived in ohio, they didn’t have the automated trucks that pick up your can, empty it, and set it down again like we do here. they had old school garbage trucks with actual people who jumped on and off the back of the truck and emptied everyone’s cans. actual people who wore orange and white striped uniforms. actual people who looked strangely like convicts in those uniforms. actually, it turns out those people were ACTUAL convicts! it took me like 2 months to figure this out...

what I wore wednesday

okay, so I’ve kind of been lurking around the ‘what I wore wednesday’ link-up over at the pleated poppy , and I LOVE looking at the cute stuff people put together. I also LOVE the reasoning behind it. it’s basically accountability for putting on decent clothes each day. you know, not the same old sweats (or in my case, jeans and a hoodie). and given my recent closet exposé, I felt like it was good timing to jump in and participate. you’ll have to excuse my terrible photos. I have bad lighting in the only room w/ a big enough mirror to accomplish this, and I haven’t gotten adventurous enough to pull out a tri-pod. but anyway, take this as me, making an effort to look decent, something I SO MUCH want to do! sunday afternoon: I should have taken a picture in the dress I wore to church, but you’ll just have to trust me on that one. it rocked. jeans - old navy black long sweater; pink cami – express black top – thrift store scarf – target shoes – born via ebay necklace – h...

November Meal Plan

Meal plans are something that have historically had a big presence on this blog. Not so much in recent years. Well, actually not very much has had much of a presence on this blog in recent years. But I digress. Meal plans were big back in the day, because the overarching focus of this blog (and my life) at that time was homemaking and all that that entailed. Planning meals was an essential part of that. Unfortunately, my kids were ungracious enough to grow up and I had to grown up with them and get a job, and thus, my focus has hence become divided. That is not to say that I don’t still have to perform all of those homemaking tasks which, at the time, dominated the bulk of my focus and energy (and all that fun stuff like changing diapers and bathing children and dealing with fevers and runny noses and fighting with the never-ending onslaught of excessive toys), they just get shunted onto the back burner of my time and energy where they continue to taunt me with the guilt of ...

bacon-potato chowder recipe

dave found this recipe at some point when we were living in ohio. he apparently had a hankering for some chowder of some kind. so I have no idea where the credit goes in this case. but we’ve been making it ever since, so it was definitely a winner! 1 lb. bacon cut in small pieces 1 cup chopped onions 4 cups diced potatoes 2 cups water 1 tsp salt (and some pepper) 2 cans cream of something soup (chicken or celery) 2 cups sour cream 3 cups milk **edited to add: apparently, dave says he adds a clove or two of garlic as well. chop them up with them up and add them with the onions.** in a big pot, cook bacon over medium heat. add onion and cook until tender. drain off grease. add water, potatoes, salt and pepper. cook 15 minutes. stir in soup, sour cream, and milk. cook until heated through. easy, but best to do all you’re chopping, dicing, and measuring ahead of time. if you like it thick, simmer a little longer… don’t make this if you are dairy intolerant or on a diet! lol. a...

week 46 in pictures

sunday: when dave went in to wake up layla, this is how he found her. face, essentially, smooshed between the bunk bed rail and the mattress, and the covers pulled up over her head. monday: roscoe, chilling on the pooh couch. dakota figured out how to get it to open up to make a nice little doggy bed. roscoe just took advantage when it was vacated. tuesday: my 2 pages of allergy test results . the red ones have to go! wednesday: micah fell asleep during quiet time, snuggling a domino. he had been pretending it was a phone or a video game and insisted on taking it in with him for quiet time. thursday: the missing lug nut . friday: crazy busy day. kids had half days at school because of conferences. I has my workout in the morning, then came home and tidied up because tina was coming over at 11:30 to cut my hair, shane’s hair, and my mom’s hair. I even went to the bus stop w/ part of my hair clipped up because she wasn’t done drying it! then I had to run off to do back-to-back ...

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