::finally::

I am so happy to report that none of my children had a fever today.
It was the first time in 10 days I didn't give anyone ibuprofen.
God knew that I could not take it one. more. day.

Tomorrow the boys will be in school.

I'm not sure what she and I are doing tomorrow,
but I do believe I see a Starbucks and shopping date in our very near future.

Scenes from the infirmary. And a winner.

Remember on Wednesday how I said I think we'll only be sick and home-bound for one more day?

Hahaha - silly me!

The kids are still sick.
All three of them.
Riley is the worst and is upstairs napping as I type.
He *never* naps.

Thanks for telling me what all y'all were up to on the last post.
{yes, all y'all.  We lived in College Station, Texas for two years, ok?}
I lived vicariously though you and your adventures.
Either that or I could commiserate with those of you with sick kids, too.
Oh...and the winner of the print is you!
Congrats!  Email me your address and info.  

We've been totally at home the last few days
{except for the two trips to the pediatrician}
and all of my pictures from this week reflect that.

A full fruit basket makes me very happy.

We finally wore out our old thermometer that we bought when Riley was a baby.
It gave its life in service.
We bought a new one on Wednesday.
{$55.  seriously??}

The girl loves her oatmeal.
Even with a 103.4 degree fever.

Make-up work.
Holy cow, do we have make-up work to do this weekend.
Missing a week of school has its drawbacks, for sure.

My front entryway table:
one of my favorite scores from our local antique shop.
I like the details.

Yellow finches everywhere!
I like watching them.
I'm thinking I might grow up to be an old lady with a bunch of bird feeders
in her yard that sits outside and talks to the birds.
{better than being an old cat lady with 20 cats...no?}

Sprigs of lavender that I cut from our bushes
and a hummingbird nest that fell from our tree.
It's so tiny and delicate inside.
It's lined with soft leaves and fibers. 
And I think Lucy hair.
I'm glad it's good for something.

 
And speaking of that hairy dog...
I think she was having a staring contest with the Zhu Zhu pet.

I was in a grapefruit mood today.
So good.

Avery calls this "itchy juice".
:)

Happy Friday!

Because...

Because my boys are still sick,
and we are stuck at home
{hopefully for just one more day}

because I am sick of winter
and am loving the bright green baby leaves that are appearing on some of our trees
and am dreaming of retiring my wool socks for a few months

because I hung a bird feeder filled with niger seed (aka thistle seed)
in my plum tree
and now have tons of yellow finches visiting

because I need something happy to look at
and thought you might, too

and because I like you.
:)

I bought one for me,
and one for you.

I have the perfect spot in my sewing room for this:

{visit her shop - so many cute prints}

And those words could not be more true.
{for me, anyway}

Want one?
Just leave a comment and tell me what you're doing today.
I'll go first:
I'm at home doling out Ibuprofen and puffs on inhalers.

Please tell me you're doing something a little more fun.
{I'll announce the winner on Friday.}

the long weekend.

My poor Riley thought it would be fun to get croup this weekend.
Croup.
He's nine.

The ER doctor
{yep...at the ER on a holiday weekend.  yay!}
told us that they usually don't see croup on kids older than 5 or 6.
Lucky us, I guess.

So while he's been coughing that horrible seal-bark cough
and running a 102 degree fever,
I've been doling out meds like a pharmacy.

And tonight before dinner Colin started getting that
"I feel like crap" look.
Not to be outdone by his brother,
he's sporting a 101 degree fever.

Niiiiiiice.

I didn't have the time or energy or desire to cook dinner tonight,
so it was a pizza night.
Nothing honors the presidents on President's Day like pizza delivery, right?

*****************

Before the germs descended on us,
we did have a fun Saturday.
The kids were with my parents and we went to a fundraising auction for an
elementary school in our town.

After the auction we went to watch some bands play at an open mic night.
It just so happened that one girl singing really needed a drummer to accompany her. 

Look at that cute drummer!

He was loving it.
It was a fun night.

*****************

And now I'm back to full-on mom/nurse mode.
Tomorrow morning: heading to stock up on more ibuprofen.

Soundtrack for a rainy Friday.

Chatter and laughter over {almost} weekly Friday morning coffee with friends.

Sounds of laughter with of Avery and her first-ever on-her-own playdate friend.
{and the disney station on pandora}

Rain on the windshield waiting in the 20 minute school pick-up line.
{fridays are definitely the craziest days in the school pick-up line}

Kitchen clatter making an easy taco soup on the crock-pot.
{perfect for a rainy stay-at-home friday}

A chorus of 'yums' as they eat Nutella croissants.
{warning - do NOT make these unless you are willing to throw your self-control right out the window and eat them all}

The hum of the sewing machine that can't complete with the
laughter in the other room as they watch Winter Wipeout.
{that show evokes more belly laughs than any other}

Lots and lots of crazy noise from crazy kids that are feeling stir-crazy due to this crazy week of rain.
{winter?  i'm over it.}

But finally...a quiet house except for him and me watching American Idol on the DVR.
{and the fat dog snoring on the floor at our feet}

Hope your Friday sounded good, too.

Better.

Colin went to school today armed with a bag of cough drops
and I was able to make it to Target.
Success!

It p-o-u-r-e-d again today
so other than going to Target
and school drop off/pick up
and drums
we were pretty much homebound.
{Wait...that makes me feel like I wasn't actually home much afterall.}

I neglected the laundry
and instead spent my alone time sewing.
There is a new boutique opening in our town
in the next month or so and the owner wants me to make a few things
for her to sell.
I'm excited!
Sewing makes me happy.

Also making me happy...
this towel I bought at Target

and that I noticed the the other day that ::someone:: had hijacked the chore chart.

Never clean your room every day?
Nice try buddy.

a hail day

Avery and I were pulling into the Target parking lot today
when my phone rang.
It was the school, telling me
Colin was in the nurses' office,
sick.

I turned the car around and headed
back to pick up the sick guy.

My visions of a productive afternoon came to a screeching halt,
but it was a great excuse for a mid-day movie
{Despicable Me - it's cute!}.
And of course some make-your-throat-feel-better
milkshakes.

Around 2:30 our third hail storm of the day began.
We don't get hail very much around here,
so it's always a novelty.

The kids wanted to know why we get hail,
even though it's not cold enough to freeze or to snow.
Ummm...good question.
Any meteorologists out there?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for three healthy kids tomorrow.
I still need to go to Target.

o happy {mail} day

Normally a happy mail day involves
a West Elm catalog
or Boden or Anthropologie
plus no bills.

But today I opened a little
envelope with this bunched inside.

Don't you love an unexpected surprise?

My super-talented friend Wendy,
whom I have known since the 5th grade
and whom I rarely get to see because
she lives in Hollywood with her husband and her
beyond adorable little boy,
sent me this.

A red banner with 'hugs & kisses' in typewriter font?
I die at the cuteness.

Wendy is an artist
and is oozing with talent
and I wish she would start blogging again already. 
:)
Until then check out her art site.
{The girl's good.}

Look how much happier my bulletin board is.

{wenders - I love it.  thank you.  and that photo of j is to die for.  miss you!}

three squeezes

The kids and I have a little 'thing' we do.
We have a secret hand squeeze
that my sweet, grandmotherly 3rd grade teacher taught me.
Three squeezes means "i love you"and then the other person squeezes two times back for "how much?"
and then the first person squeezes back hard.
Like, "this is how much I love you", hard.

We do the hand squeeze every night before they go to sleep.
When we're in the car I'll reach back and we'll do the hand squeeze.
I'll grab their hand in the movie theater and squeeze.

It's our secret "I love you" thing.

Today the kids had the day off of school
so I got to spend Valentine's day with my three little squeezes.
We had breakfast
{no special heart-shaped waffle or anything...just Life cereal for them and oatmeal for me}
and then spent an hour jumping at the bouncey house place.
Then it was lunch
and then the fabric store
and then Trader Joe's
then home.

Nothing big.
Nothing very Valentine-y.

But it was a day of love in the ordinary.

Of course they still bickered when we came home and
argued with me over having to pick up a board game
and complained when I made them practice their instruments.

A normal day.
And, like normal, I squeezed their hands soooo hard at bedtime.

And speaking of love...
{wasn't I?}

We counted this as our 19th Valentine's together.
And today, as he could in 1992,
he wrote a card that made me cry.
He's the best decision I've ever made.

Even if it is a holiday made up by Hallmark,
happy love day.
And a super hard squeeze to you.
:)

a new kid in town

My parents got a new puppy a month or so ago.
The kids are *obsessed* with him,
talk about him all the time,
and count the days until they get to play with him again.

His name is Murphy
and he's a scottie dog.
And he's got attitude.

He wants to chew your hands constantly
and loves to bite socks.
While your feet are in them.

When he's gnawing on my thumb my parents
tell me to tell him 'no' and to give him a little thump on the nose.

Ya, right.
How am I supposed to tell that face 'no'?

My backyard thinks it's spring.

Pink blooms are exploding.
The agapanthas are blooming.
My naked trees are almost not-so-naked.

Tomorrow is going to be in the upper 60's
and I am going to spend a lot of it outside.

{I might be spending a lot of that outside time cleaning the garage,
but whatever.}

Happy weekend!

valentines v.2011

Monday night I realized that the kids are celebrating Valentine's Day this week.
I also realized that I had done nothing to get ready.
I further realized that I now have three kids in school that would need valentines,
and had better get my fanny in gear.

Avery's valentines were easy.
We recycled our same crayon idea from last year.

The boys' valentines required a trip to the party store.
Two packages of silly glasses later:

voila.

These are so easy.
I made and printed my template,
punched two holes and tied the glasses on with yarn.
Done.

The boys signed their names and we were good.

Here's the template if you want to make some yourself:
glasses Valentine template

Warning:
use of star-shaped glasses could lead
to extreme goofiness.

{Carrot consumption during Valentine signing is optional.}

meet my new friend.

Back in 1991,
when Beverly Hills 90210 was super popular,
I saw Tori Spelling and her boyfriend in a store in San Francisco.

I was like...Donna Martin!  I saw Donna Martin!!  Cool.

Two years ago Gary and I were at an event and
we saw Patrick Warburton.
We had a 10 minute conversation and he was the nicest guy.

I was like...Putty!  Elaine's boyfriend from Seinfeld, Putty!!
Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove!
I love him.

They were ok...
but then last night I met her.
Yes, her.
Ree.
Sorry Donna Martin and Putty.  She wins.

My friends and my mom and I headed over the bay bridge
to The Pioneer Woman's book signing.

We got to the bookstore at 6:15ish.
There were a l-o-t of people there.
Like...400 people.

When my friend called before the signing,
the book store told her they were expecting a lot of people
and were surprised
that a "mommy blogger" would attract so many people.
{Ree a "mommy blogger"??  Um, no.}

But even waiting all that time was fun.
I saw my blogging friend Mel - love her! -
and met Kim
and even saw a friend from high school.
{hi rebekah!}

My friends Liz, Kristin, and I had our books ready.
 

Ree brought her girls, her mother-in-law, her sister-in-law and niece, too.
They are all gorgeous.
And her girls are TALL.

And then...it was our turn.
We were all nervous!

We finally got to meet Ree...
although don't you already feel like you know her?

She is just as you'd imagine.
She's nice
and down-to-earth
and cute
and kind.
And she liked my shirt. :)

We waited three and a half hours
and didn't get home until midnight.

But it was totally worth it.

I'm pretty sure if P-Dub and I lived closer we
would meet for coffee and then spend an hour shopping at Anthropologie.

It could happen, right?



::and, as a postscript to yesterday...

I went with the brown.
:)

a little adventure...

Tonight a couple of friends, my mom, and I
are heading into San Francisco for a little adventure.

{Two adventures in The City in four days is definitely a record for me.}

This afternoon I've been trying to decide which shoes to wear

 

{opinions?  anyone?  i'm not wearing this tonight, but imagine them with skinny jeans...}

 

{by the way, I have a new respect for those of you who link up to 

Lindsey's What I Wore Wednesday.

it's hard to take a picture of yourself!}

and which color to paint my toes.

I know...rough day, right?
If it makes you feel better I spent the *entire* day yesterday cleaning and doing laundry.
{But...judging from that picture above...looks like I skipped over the bathroom mirror.}

I'm so excited.
I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Oh, and I chose the teal polish.
:)