same old same old...

okay so i don't have anything really huge going on in my house. just thought i'd check in and say hey.

hey.

why does it seem like Christian Bale can't make a bad movie these days? his stock is WAY up. i mean, batman? come on, amazing. the prestige was awesome. (also a good read, very twisty and a little scary) now he's doing this terminator thing, i almost want to go see it because he's so good. almost.

we recently watched the x-men movies, in preparation for the origins movie. i liked them. i was actually one of those kids that watched the cartoon x-men a lot when growing up...so it didn't surprise me i liked them:) little known facts of jen.

i am getting my haircut next week. very excited about this! i'll post pictures when it happens. and there may be color as well. awesome!

last day...

today is kendall's last official day of class at law school...he'll still have things to do but not class! wahoo! we are so proud of you kendall, way to go baby!

playing with doh...

we like play doh (yeah, that's really how you spell it huh?) at our house and avery is having some of her first forays into playing with play doh. so we have to remind her not to eat it or throw it all over the house etc. (they only play with it at the table for this reason...i digress) the kids were playing with it this morning and then we got all cleaned up and avery was really being kind of cranky. kendall had gotten up with them so before he left, i said, "did avery eat breakfast yet?" and he said, " no she didn't eat but ethan did" and then i thought, well there's the answer to the cranky question...and then ethan said," she didn't eat breakfast mom, but she ate some play doh!" silly boy! he says the funniest things and his timing is getting really good too:) he must have funny parents, or at least one of us must be funny...now which one is it? (actually kendall is MUCH funnier than me so i already know:))

the beach towel issue...

so i know i'm not the only one whose kids refuse to carry their own towel. but wouldn't that make it easier to go to the pool or splash pad if they carried their own towel, because i'm carrying a towel for me, a towel for smaller child who can't carry it, the "beach" bag, and any number of other things, such as the actual smaller child. so i came across this idea on Anna Maria Horner's blog and i love it. i want to do this! anyone want to do it with me? we could have a project day:)

the long strap is the one they carry it with and i like this idea because there's no velcro securing the towel together to scratch the child....

funny things kids say...

or at least ethan for right now....



we were getting in the car after church on Easter Sunday and ethan said, " why does the car smell like sun?"

on that same afternoon he stoutly refused to eat anything, (not even candy...weird) and i had finally cajoled him into eat a sandwich and he was getting positioned in his seat and his hand slipped off the table somehow and he banged his chin on the table, biting his tongue in the process. and then it started to bleed and he says..."see, this is why we don't eat!"

we were getting in the car again and ethan said, "i like it when it's hot, i like it when it's cold...and i like it when it's mooning" (apparently that means when the moon is out:))

he came out to go to the bathroom last night and saw kendall writing in his journal. then when kendall was putting him back to bed he said, " good luck with your writing, dad!"

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

i checked out the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman from the library a little bit ago and didn't get around to reading it until the day it was due. and i thought, well, i waited for it, i might as well read it and let it be a day or two late rather than have to wait on a list AGAIN, because i couldn't recheck it out because someone else had already requested it. so i read it in about 3-4 hours. seriously. not a long book, and a very very fast read. i really enjoyed it. the cover picture was not encouraging (i am vain enough to be thankful they made the movie coraline much cuter). and i am now excited to see this movie...should be good (as a sidenote, those who live in Mesa and surrounding, it is now at The Picture Show, the second run theater at superstition springs where the tickets are $2 a piece). anyway, the book was kind of dark, i probably wouldn't let anyone younger than...i don't know...12 read it. it's definitely not a kid's book. but i really thought it was well written (this man is a good writer, i also enjoyed his book, The Graveyard Book). it was delightfully spooky, would be a good halloween read (as would The Graveyard Book). Coraline comes to realize a lot about herself and her current situation in the book and i liked the ending. read it, it's quick, easy and good:)

Easter Festivities...

we had a great weekend with family...the kids found TONS of eggs and a good time was had by all!

Happy Easter...

With happy hearts we send our warmest Easter love to you all. May the true reason for celebrating Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, be in your heart and throughout your life.

good recipes????

i'm in need of some new recipes! it was hot today...just a warm-up (as it were) to temperatures to come, i know, but i was thinking of making dinner and turning on the oven made me want to go lay down:) so do you have any great recipes you like to make in the summer???? (even if you have to use the oven, i don't mind, i am just a little tired of our tried and and true recipes) something fun? fresh? anything is a good idea...we're brainstorming! thanks in advance. you can post them in the comments or email me (myhedwig@gmail)

dinner here we come!

and it came to pass...

and hopefully not to stay...it's been a rough few weeks around here for ethan and me for some reason. we've tried to explain to him about the baby and maybe that is why he's acting out all the time, or maybe he's just 3 and almost 4 years old. for whatever reason he is just really frustrating me. sorry to have to say it, i get frustrated with my own kids:) it's just everything and i think i feel bad because i've not felt good lately and can't do all the things i want to. but i can only do so much you know? and avery is cutting teeth again, and is sad and am i really going to add a whole other person into this craziness...yes i guess i am. heaven help us all! sorry for the venting, just had to express.

and another thing...

i was remiss in telling the stats about the bag, lest you think i'm a bag wizard, i'm not... i had a pattern this time...in an effort to give credit where credit is due the bag originally looked like this, it's called the all-day tote...

and came from this book by Lotta Jansdotter. i made a few changes to it...i added another side pocket, it originally only had one, i made the straps longer for shoulder carrying and i added more pockets on the inside. oh, and one more...the orange on the outside (which incidentially is an amazing martha stewart dishtowel) is actually still that sideways pocket you can see in the original picture, but i put some velcro on it to help things stay in. the end.

i was thinking about halloween...

and wondering what we should be. i was thinking that maybe i could go as a 2 day overdue pregnant woman since, THAT'S WHAT I'LL BE ON OCTOBER 31, assuming that baby number three has not made a debut before that:)

my due date is oct. 29th and we are very excited.

the reason i haven't said anything before now is that i feel sort of yuck-o and didn't want to be all "woe is me" so i didn't tell in an effort to help myself pretend to feel not yuck. does that make sense? anyway, now you know:) the sickiness makes me think it's a girl but time will tell:) i think i might be starting to think of sort of maybe feeling better, but let's not count our chickens before they are hatched, okay?

i just finished this bag...i really like it and i am hoping to use it as a diaper bag...we'll see if it's big enough.

amazing dolls...

okay, here is this etsy shop, Bit of Whimsy Dolls, and they are ADORABLE!!! i want some of those patterns so much! man, creative genius!!! so cool! Sevi Designs is having a giveaway of the patterns....i so hope i win!

recently...

my kids are watching my friends tigger and pooh....at first i was against this show on principle. there is no christopher robin people.....it's a little girl named darby. she's cute but what about christopher robin? are we trying to reach a different demographic by having a girl be their problem-solving friend? maybe. does it work? i don't know. my kids like it just the same as they would if she wasn't a girl, i am sure.

i have been reading a book called Street Gang by Michael Davis what is that about, you might ask? acutally, it's a complete history of Sesame Street. This show is near and dear to my heart. i love sesame street and my kids really like it too. it's cool to experience the show as a child and then with your children. reading about it has been interesting too. it took, sadly, about 120 pages for me to really get into it though. because the author spent a lot of time telling the backstory of A LOT of people before it ever got to the actual beginning of sesame street. it was probably necessary, but it was a little slow for me to tell the truth. but now we're clicking along and it's due back at the library by the 3rd...tomorrow, so i gotta get moving here. i was on the waiting list for it for a LONG time so i do want to finish it. did you know that the lyrics to the Sesame Street song were a rough draft? they intended to change them but never had time. funny huh? and oscar used to be orange. the same guy who does big bird also does oscar (Caroll Spinney). Jim Henson (before his death, obviously) did Kermit and Ernie (and others i am sure). Frank Oz (who also does Miss Piggy) did Grover, Bert and someone else....can't remember. the same guy who does elmo (kevin clash, he is a large black man...you wouldn't guess it from elmo though, huh?), also does Hoots the owl...pretty awesome! it's really interesting to me to find out how sesame street came to be. so overall i really do like the book.

in other news, i made, quite possible one of my favorite slings the other day. (Kim, this one is for Kim your SIL). It was kind of funny because the fabric she picked they don't carry anymore (gasp) so i had to call her and tell her we would have to wing it and she was super nice and let me take some creative license with it:) i do hope she likes it. the pink is the pocket and is one of my new favorite fabrics now:)

so cute:)

and it's finally happening. our dishes are getting the 7 year itch i guess. i was eating cereal out of this bowl yesterday morning and saw some milk on the floor and surmised it must have been from one of the children....then my hand was wet and i found this lovely crack in my bowl!

sweet.