we'd all like to flee to the Cleve

Guess where we're going.

the night james wore his dragon suit

and made mischief

of one kind

or another

a not-so-exciting new shirt

I've been wanting to be able to sew knits and jersey fabrics with greater ease. It always seems to be so hit and miss with me. Well, more miss than hit. I got the Built by Wendy, Home Stretch book forever ago, cut out the pattern, and never sewed it. Till now. It's a shirt. It's wearable. But, meh, not too exciting. The book, however, has helped me tremendously, and as I get more creative in the future, I hope to bust out some clothes a little less basic.

I'm cutting out this pattern right now. (I can't decide, short sleeves or long? Any thoughts?) It will be a bit more of a challenge for me, but hopefully it'll turn out. It stinks to get all gung-ho about a new project on a Thursday, cause as soon as the kids are in bed, I'm totally watching Community, Office, and 30 Rock.

Darn my tv addiction all to heck.

we got the beet

This year we've been trying a CSA share and have been loving it. We get a box full of organic produce each week for less than what it would cost for me to purchase non-organic produce at the grocery store. Lately we've been getting beets in our box. Maybe it sounds as though I have come from some crazy, sheltered existence, but I have never eaten beets before. (My mother will sadly tell you that the lot of us were primarily made up of picky-eaters.) It's not the first foreign vegetable in my produce box this year. There have been a few new ones for me and the kids, and that is part of why I so enjoy this arrangement. It has really forced us to try new things and vary our scheduled vegi-fare. So out came the recipe books, and now beets are a happy guest at our table.

Today was a bit of a mess. We had a play-date in the morning, which is great, but there's always that mad-dash (at least at my house) to tidy something before the guests arrive (which makes me a bit frazzled). The kids had a great time playing, the mommy's had a nice time chatting, but as it was almost time for our friends to go, John fell and split his lip. Like gaping so wide I was looking on the floor to see if part of it had fallen off somewhere or something kind of split lip - and this resulted in our first ever emergency room visit. I should be thankful, on one hand, that after five years and three boys this was the first ever visit to the ER. He didn't actually need stitches (much to poor John's relief). On the other hand, every time I look at John and his sad little lip, I get that funny shivery feeling down my spine and I wonder how many ER trips are in our future.

I've read beets contain amazing healing properties. I wonder how they are for lips.

bench monday

Our neighbor gave us a huge sack of superhero costumes, and we've had non-stop super-action around here. It's pretty hilarious, they look like little midget wrestlers, and Dan has dubbed it the 12 days of Halloween. I'm anticipating a few more than 12 days ;)




Finn's going through a phase where he's not that into getting his picture taken.

Have a super-happy Monday.

if you are in need....

of superheros, I advise you to keep milk and chocolate chip cookies on hand. They generally enjoy stories as well, and a combination of all three is sure to attract them.

hola

This afternoon John came into the kitchen and asked, "How do you say spatula in Spanish?" I have no idea where this came from. Unsure of the exact translation for spatula, Dan offered how to say hello and goodbye, and he seemed pretty satisfied with that. We were all practicing saying "hola" when James just kept cracking up. Then he started doing this:

He's been doing it all evening. It's his great joke. I could only get him to do the one on camera though.