You Don't Know Everything!

"You don't know everything..... (pause)....only Jesus does."

That's what Gretchen's new favorite saying is. So far she's told that to (as far as I know), me, her Dad, her beloved Auntie Meghan, the primary presidency and her preschool teacher. That I know of. For all I know, there's more victims. That's my girl, spreading the good news of the Gospel one little attitude at a time.

Here's a picture of our Sweet Little Missionary posing in the cape we made for her friend's birthday. It was a Super Hero Party, and his mom said he didn't have a cape. So we were happy to oblige....



TA DA!!!! (Note the awesome bed head, Belle Princess pj's and double fisted pickles. The word you're looking for is "CLASSY".)



Happy Birthday to our wonderful, sweet, darling Ella! You'll notice that she's not showing her teeth in any pictures this week. Yes, the tooth drama continues. I've tried in vain to get a shot of her snaggle tooth, hanging SIDEWAYS in the front of her mouth, but she's too fast. The other teeth are already coming in behind it, so it's making it especially hard to wiggle now. I told her that if she doesn't get it out in the next 20 minutes, we're pulling it out. I've HAD IT!

But Tuesday (Birthday Day) I was a lot nicer. We celebrated her birthday by going to Red Robin (her request). It was pretty low key because the Saturday before we'd hosted a Tie Dye Birthday Extravaganza for her and 14 of her closest friends. Did you hear that? We did tie-dye with about 16 small children. Oh, and yes, I AM crazy. But it was mostly super fun, and everything we dyed turned out so so pretty! Just in case you were wondering, we also...
-Played "Pick Pocket Tag" (google it, I'm too lazy to explain it...)
-Had a "Freeze Dance Off" (everyone won)
-Had a Dress-Up-Relay-Race (Every kid pulled a costume or accessory out of a bag and had to do a loop around the yard with it. My favorite were the Mohawk wigs and the high heels)
-Busted open our home-made pinata of a happy yellow star and....
-Took NO PICTURES OR VIDEO because I was too busy being crazy party hostess the whole time. SO SAD NOW!!!

But at least I got this little gem before Tuesday Birthday Hamburgers. Awwww...



And this one too.... AaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwWWWWW!


And I don't have any more cute pics of Ella on her birthday because she thinks it's funny to make faces like this. Awww, come on! (I'm not sure if you can see the mocking in her eyes. "Take of picture of me with my face like this. Come on mom!!!")


She really is sweet though. Instead of saying "What? That's it?" when she ripped through her 3 presents in 5 seconds, instead she said, "Wow! That didn't take me long! I'm really good at opening presents fast!" And instead of saying, "What? You got me checkers and a DSI MATH GAME? For real?" She said, "Wow! I can use this to practice for Game Club!" and "Can I play the math game now? Or is it time for bed?" Oh sweet girl!

So what's up with you?

Awesome Boots and Shelter Cats

Since school has started, Gretchen and I have been having a lot of morning adventures. One sunny Monday Gretchen dressed herself in an awesome patriotic outfit and we went to see the sad, sad cats at the Humane Society.



These boots were made for walking through the geriatric cat room. Yeah, it smells funky! So what?

We visited the dogs too. They were loud. It made it easier to leave them at the Humane Society. (If even your crazy loud three year old is overwhelmed by a dog's volume, that is one LOUD DOG.)


ROCKY! BE QUIET!

Here, lets quit yelling at Loud Rocky the Chihuahu and hang like monkeys from this random bar. Ok!



But not every morning is free now. Gretchen had her first week of preschool. It's at Mrs. G's house and it is SO FUN! They have a circle rug and cubbies for their backpacks and tables with their seats labeled. It's very official. Gretchen approves. To celebrate, she wore her "Linus Hates Reno" t-shirt. (She likes to keep you guessing. Wait, does she like me? Does she not like me? Is she going to leave a mark?)



Then we met our friend at the Coconut Bowl. A whole cheese pizza to ourselves and a 3-story play area to play hide & seek in? Yes please!



On Friday, after Girl Scouts, we drove up to our friend's campsite at Donner Lake to have a barbeque and campfire. It was everything good about camping without having to, you know, actually camp. It is ah-mazing how dirty four children can get in less than 20 minutes. But so pretty. Look at these little angels.





CRAFTING NEWS: I had a sewing day with my friend Shawna & we made lovely pennant banners. I am so in love with them. I hung them in the girls room. LOVE. Ella is not quite as impressed. She just wants to chill on her bed and read her book (she is SO my daughter!)



So Ella's tooth has been hanging. HANGING. for the past three weeks. She won't let us near it. Remember last time? Yeah, this child does not like change. Or wiggling her teeth. Finally tonight we got her to work on it a little. I told her that if she doesn't yank it out by tomorrow night, that's what we'll be doing for our Family Home Evening Activity. "Tonight we're going to learn about PLIERS! Yay!" I'll update you next week on our progress...

You'll Be Sad!!!

I have three things to share today...

1. This week Gretchen got really mad at me. I think I made her sit still so I could brush her hair, or some unforgivable like that. She was furious as only a 3 year old can be. She thought of the worst, most hateful thing she could say to me to convey her emotions.

Gretchen: When I grow up I'm going to move out and get MY OWN HOUSE and MY OWN CAR, and I won't live with you AND YOU WILL BE SAD!!!

Me: (Not quite overcome by horror as she expected) That's right, sweetie. That's what happens when you grow up. You move into your own house and get your own car. You can get married and have your own family.

Gretchen: And Ella can have her out house and her own family too?

Me: Yes!

Gretchen: And you can come over and visit me at my house?

Me: Sure, that would be so fun!

(Anger forgotten. Hair brushed. Drama over.)


2. When we went to the $1 store, I let Gretchen pick out anything she wanted from the whole store. Anything. What did she pick out? Wound tattoos. Fake tattoos of scabs, stitches, pencils through your thigh, nails piercing your flesh, etc. When we got home I gave her a wet washcloth and she happily applied horrific flesh wounds to her entire body. "I want this one on my neck!" (I stopped the face tattoo. But she did have a huge hickey on her neck all week...) Later that day I asked if she'd like to wear tattoos like that for Halloween. She said, "Yes! I can be a zombie princess!!!" I was super excited about that idea! But then she decided to be Jesse from Toy Story. So instead of this:



We'll have this:



Se la vie. (I'm kind of sad about it. I was really excited about making a zombie princess costume. Come on, how awesome would that be? Sigh...)

3. Ella and Gretchen both swam without floaties this week! It took a lot of peer pressure (mostly seeing a little kid 1/2 their size doing it. Then they realized that having your feet off the bottom of the pool does NOT result in immediate death.) Hooray for the girls!!!

Ella was home the last 1/2 of the week with an ear infection. Let's just say that I'm REALLY HAPPY she's feeling better, and that I am so so SO thankful for a school with nice teachers that make learning fun. Because dude, I do not make learning fun. Colby had to step in at one point when we were working on her packet of missed work. "You're driving your mom crazy right now, so I'm going to help you now..."

That's what happened this week. What about you?

The Art Show and Summer's Close

The girls entered their first art show in July. It was part of Art Town's festival, hosted by their awesome dance studio. It's all about presentation. To make it like a real gallery show, we included descriptions on their info cards.

“My Favorite Pet; Invisible Friend at Dusk”
By Elisabeth
Age 6
Created during the artist’s Purple Period, “Invisible Friend at Dusk” is an homage to Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. The purple color adds a somber and thoughtful background, contrasting with the whimsical “Invisible Friend”. The image strikes a delicate balance between dark and light, anchored at the top by an impenetrable layer of clouds. The crescent moon is a common theme in many children’s paintings, and serves as a strong focal point. When asked why she choose this particular subject matter, the artist responded, “Because I like it.” We look forward to seeing more of Miss Stott’s work.



“My Favorite Pet Frolics Under the Sun”
By Gretchen
Age 3
When interviewed about this work, the artist declared, “It’s a reflection of doggies.” When asked to clarify, she added, “It’s the girl. It’s right there {artist indicates towards lower right corner}. She’s walking. That’s her heart on her stomach. Because that’s her eye and her nose and her mouth and her dog. We have noses too.” Yes indeed, we do have noses. And if we were to walk under a yellow dripping sun, surrounded by primal red handprints, perhaps we too would show our hearts on our stomachs.



Ella with the Winner's Circle.


It worked. Ella and Gretchen BOTH WON PRIZES. To be fair, every kid who entered won. But Ella's painting was on the morning news! Which I did not wake up at 5am to watch because I was exhausted! But I thought about it!
*Unfortunately Gretchen was sick & unable to make it to the event. She got to stay at home with Daddy.
**Please note Ella's awesome Art Show outfit. Black beret bought special just for the event.
***Just in case you didn't notice, the theme was "My Favorite Pet"...

Then school started ridiculously early. Gretchen peers longingly through those doors, kindergarten is a magical land still TWO YEARS AWAY.


Yes. Two years.


Because I am crazy, I picked Ella up from school last week and drove up to Lake Tahoe. It was our first trip to Sand Harbor of the summer (which is just a tragic shame!) and she'd already started school. But there was so much snow in the mountains that the beaches are tiny! The lake's water level is so high! So we beat the crowds and had a late afternoon dinner picnic.




Auntie Adrianne sent us the most amazing package. It was full of Sample Sale treats. And since then, Gretchen and Ella have been very well accessorized. At our trip to Costco last week, some guy said, "Wow, that baby doesn't need a bib!" You know, because she was wearing that ginormous rhinestone necklace...


PS - We love Uncle Ian.


So how is your summer ending?

2011 Christmas Gift Exhange List

Alright, my family. Here is the gift exchange list for this year:

Dad buys for Drew
Joy buys for Autumn
Mom buys for Adrianne
Alisa buys for Bernadette
Dave buys for Mike
Aaron buys for Apryl
Bernadette buys for Alisa
Apryl buys for Dad
Colby buys for Mom
Mike buys for Dave
Adrianne buys for Joy
Autumn buys for Aaron
Drew buys for Colby

I tried to be sure there are no repeats from years' previous.
You can either email your gift giver directly or leave comments here on the blog with your wish list of ideas.
$50.00 budget.
130 Days til Christmas. Haha. No excuses! :D
On your marks.
Get set.
Go!

Birthday x4

Happy Birthday Christian, Jaden, Dave and Wally! It was fun celebrating with you all...

The cake was great - just ask T

Isn't J a cutie?

B's been waiting since his actual birthday to open this awesome present from Grandma.

B played some basketball (as did Uncle Mike)

Jaden started putting together his new lego sets

This is squeak, the new kitty.

And also......Autumn's Baby Bump.

Belated Father's Day

Last week Mike, Drew, Autumn, Aaron, Bernadette, Joy, Dad and I met up to see Cowboys and Aliens.

You'll never guess what it's about.

If you want to know if it was good - it depends on who you ask...Autumn, Drew and I liked it. Mike hated it. Dad was disappointed...So, if you haven't seen it yet, you'll have to decide for yourself if you want to. But - Harrison Ford? Daniel Craig? Yes, please! Cowboys? And aliens? Yes, please.

Anyhow, I finally finished Dad's Father's Day present, so I got to give it to him that night.

Here are pictures. I had seen the phrase on a pillow before, but the pillow wasn't all that, so I figured I'd make my own version.

Ain't that the truth?

Dad's always hard at work on his boat.

This is the back. (Bernadette had a bag of scrap/sample fabrics she was cleaning out and had this in the bag - worked perfect!)

And it even has a zipper. (Impressed? Don't be. I found a fabulous how to on a blog and it taught me how. My sewing skills are still quite at the novice level, but I'm learning.)

Happy Belated Father's Day! Love you, Dad!