Making Some #*#% Pasta

Hello! Look at me, updating our family blog again.

Here's what our kitchen looks like. I staged this photo just for you, including that box of tupperware that I've been meaning to sort out for.....three months? Gretchen crafted this seat herself.


Like this look? You can match it yourself with bulk paper towels and TP at Costco. Simply leave them in the corner of your kitchen for a week while you figure out where the h you're going to fit them, then see what happens! Easy peasy! (You can add it to your pinterest account under "Decorating Ideas")

I handed Gretchen another fudgesicle on the way to pick up Ella on Wednesday. By the time we got to school she was (of course) covered in melted chocolate goodness. The teacher on duty said, "I swear every time I see that kid she's covered in something." Yes, yes she is. After brushing her teeth tonight her cheeks were still smeared in something red. And I'm not sure what we ate that was red today. Colby and I both had to send her back twice to "try again" to get her face clean.

After church last week Colby pulled out his pasta roller.



Ella helped.



My old dish rack helped.



Gretchen helped.



And I helped eat it. It was good. We had leftovers, but they didn't last very long. They got all et up. It also took a long time. I'm not sure how pasta ever really took off. "Hey guys, I have this idea. We'll take dough, roll it out really thin. It'll take about three hours to make enough for all of us. Then they'll all be gone in 10 minutes!" "Brilliant! Let's do it!"

BECAUSE ELLA DOES NOT READ THIS BLOG...
EMBARRASSING STORY ALERT!!!!
Ella and I were sitting at the dining room table working on homework when she dropped this little nugget on me...
Ella: I think K likes me.
Me: What makes you say that, sweetie?
Ella: (Giggles hysterically, covers her mouth Harajuku-girl-style) I can't say! (giggle) I can't say right now!
Me: Ok....
three minutes pass
Ella: Well, you know what I said about...K? (giggle)
Me: Yes....
Ella: We sort of held hands!!!!
Me: How did that happen?
Ella: Um, well, it was 'silent reading' time, and we were sitting next to eachother...
Me: Yes....
Ella: And he put his hand on my knee, and then we held hands!!!! But under the table. Because we didn't want anyone else to see.
Me: !!!!!!!!
Ella: I know!

She brought home his number so they can plan a playdate. Colby is not pleased.

And now here's another embarrassing story. But mostly embarrassing for me. Ella dropped something on the floor the other day and said, "Oh da.....Oh mom! I almost said a bad word! The D word. Not the D-U-M-B word, the bad word that YOU say...."

I'm such a good mom. And don't tell Ella I told you that story. That's right, I'm gossiping about my own daughter AND teaching her how to swear on one blog entry. Woo hoo!

Hey Look! We're Still Here!

Hello loved ones. It's been a LONG TIME. Things are finally getting back to a "normal" level or busy instead of a "GOGOGOGOGORIGHTNOW-5DEADLINES-PAINTTHEHOUSE-MOVE-HOMEWORK-UNPACK-CHRISTMAS-TRIP-FUNERAL-TRIP-FUNERAL-SCIENCEFAIRPROJECT?-OMGKILLMENOW" busy. I'm almost recovered. I've been spending my Sunday afternoons either rocking back & forth in the corner muttering to myself or sleeping. But now I'm feeling almost like a regular person again, and I can commit to a blog post! Hooray!!!!

So we'll have to do a little bit of the online-house-tour at a time. Right now there's about 3 square feet of our house that is presentable. So you get a shot of the outside. Look at how cute that architectural detail is! The sweet little story-book roofline is pretty much what sold me on the house. Well, that and and the other awesome things, some of which we are still discovering (like daffodils, iris and tulips coming up in the yard. Awwwww!).



Most of you already know, but we are now Dog People. We take our new dog everywhere. But seriously, LOOK AT THIS FACE.


Can you blame us? She is amazing. Hannah is a six year old English Bulldog. We like to call her "The Most Expensive Free Dog In The History of Free Dogs". But she is 90% recovered from her ear surgery (you can see the stitches and sad nastyness in some of these earlier pictures). And right now she has NO OUTSTANDING VET APPOINTMENTS!!!! That means we won't have to go see our friends at A+ Animal Hospital on a weekly basis anymore! (We heart you, Animal Hospital! But we like having a healthy dog even MORE! THANKS for getting her there!)

I love her so much.


Not enough to make out with her like Gretchen though....



Here's a picture of her from today. Ears all better. But oh so tired.


And here she is with Gretchen & her BFF playing dress ups. I think we may have a whole new William Wegman project coming on... She LOVES DRESS UP!!!


Colby took Ella to her school's "Sweetheart Dance". Oh, and bonus, here's a shot of the finished birch trees in the dining room. AND the amazingly awesome mid-century teak dining set that I scored at Savers. (One of the great things about Reno is that no one here has really caught on to the mid-century modern trend. So you can get stuff like this at thrift stores FOR SO CHEAP. Seriously. I'm in love with Reno Thrift Stores. But don't let the word get out. I don't want all the hipsters from the Bay Area coming over. Let's keep Reno SECRETLY AWESOME.)

Oh yeah, the point of that story is that Colby took Ella to the Sweetheart Dance.


Ella wants to be a photographer when she grows up so that she can take pictures of her friend who will be a movie star. (This makes me so happy.) To assist her in reaching her dreams, I gave her my old camera. She is a GREAT photographer. Just look at the portrait she took of Colby & I on our anniversary. (This is before we dropped them off at Auntie Amber's house so we could go party.)



We're slowly getting things set up. The weather has been so nice lately, I pulled my beloved hammock out of the garage and strung it up between the cherry tree and the plumb tree.


Hilarity ensued.


(Don't worry, she was laughing the whole time)

Gretchen at the river this afternoon. Rockin' Aunt Adrianne's early 80's era hand-me-down.


That's it for now! I hope y'all are doing well!

Aloha to Grandpa Conrad

We love you, Grandpa!

Cade's Mad Skateboarding Skills

A couple weeks ago I was at Aaron's house and got to see Cade skateboarding. He's getting good! I asked him to show me a trick so I could record it on my phone and post it on the family blog so everyone could see.

Don't you agree he's getting good? (Sorry, the video is sideways...)

Don't stop practicing, Cade! You get better every day!

Just don't break any bones when Aunt Nie is watching you...

My mid life crisis, if that's what you want to call it.

Some guys get sports cars, I want an RV :) Because family time rocks! We've (I've) been looking for awhile, tell me all, what do you think about this. Would make for great road tripping (visiting in Reno).

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/rvs/2659603432.html What do you think?

A class C would be nice too. Just cost a bit more and a bit bigger to deal with...

Church Bells

Sorry we've been MIA this past couple of weeks....

• We have now been homeowners for 9 days. Woo hoo!
• You can hear church bells chime from our house. They're so pretty!
  
• We're 90% done with the painting. So far we've painted the dining room, living room, most the hallway and the 3 bedrooms.
• Why yes, I AM tired...
  
• My fingernails will never ever ever be paint free again, my skin looks and feels like sandpaper from paint exposure, being scrubbed clean & more paint exposure. You'd think I'd learn to wear gloves or something....
  
• Did you know that Home Depot carries Martha Stewart paint? I didn't want to love it. I really didn't. But oh that Martha! Every color was perfection!
  
• I had Ella take a bunch of pictures of our finished painting, but then I left the camera hanging in the coat closet. You know, cause I'm awesome like that...
• Colby pulled up the carpet in the 3 bedrooms and the floor is BEAUTIFUL!!! I don't think it's ever been exposed. I'm giddy, I'm so excited. I think we just need to maybe put a coat of something on it. SO AWESOME.
  
• WE HAVE A NEW WASHER AND DRIER!!!! We got it at the Pre-Black-Friday sale. It stacks. It chimes. It washes clothes without leaving lint behind (curses apartment laundromat! I scorn you!)
• We bought a fridge off craigs list, so hopefully this week we'll also HAVE A NEW FRIDGE WITH AN ICEMAKER! HOORAY! (I never believe in a craigslist purchase until I actually have the item in my hands. But still, kind of excited!)
• We also have a new baby niece! Lucy Marie is awesome and tiny and we hope she starts to sleep more so that Auntie Amber can remember what more than 3 hours of sleep at a time is like.
• Gretchen likes to "pet the baby".
• Cousin Kate doesn't want you to hold the baby if you're her mom. She started crying, broken hearted while her mom held Lucy, "I TRUSTED YOU!!!" (Meghan, she trusted you!)

I think that's about it for now. My head has been spinning with all the things to do, get done, work projects coming up, Christmas, Ack. But it's all good. All good, my friends. And I'm going to bed at 8:30 tonight.

Julian

Do you know what Julian, California is famous for?

Apples! And even better? Apple pie!

I didn't even like pie until I had a Julian crumbly top apple pie. Now? I've become a fan.

Josh, Meredith, Uncle Mike and I took a Saturday trip out to Julian a couple weeks ago, at the VERY end of the apple season.

So the apples were kind of slim picking. Josh and I had to climb trees to find any.

At this particular orchard you pay to pick per bag.

The bag is a 1/2 peck.

(As in, Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers - we picked a peck of apples.)

Uncle Mike sampling the goods. We have no idea what kind of apples we picked. Guess we should have asked, huh?

Orchard Pics!

(This next one may or may not end up on Josh and Meredith's Christmas card. Maybe. Maybe not.)

After the apple picking, we had lunch and then headed to the Julian Pie Co. for some hot apple pie a la mode. YUM. I got mine with cinnamon ice cream. I definitely recommend cinnamon ice cream for crumbly top apple pies. FYI.

We had fun - even the boys did!

I think we should make it an annual trip!