the urge

often when i enter a room alone but know that someone (usually steve) is following me, or whenever i hear the kids say "hey, where's mom?" from another room, i feel this sudden urge to hide. usually it's just in the closet, but sometimes i get more creative.

a few nights ago, while in utah, bevie and i scurried home from holwonder's house after watching a super classy movie about celery ;) as soon as i entered b&d's front door the urge hit me. i took a turn to the right with the intent to hide in the office and scare bevie. except that there was a christmas tree box in the way which i had no way of seeing in the dark. i crashed into/through/over it and fell to the floor. so instead of being spooked, steve came in the house to find me in a bundle on the office floor. laughing and crying. since i was unable to speak for a few minutes he put his "sean spencer, psychic detective" skills to work and figured out what had happened. my big toe still hurts. after pain like that, i wasn't sure i'd ever want to scare again.

but, just a few moments ago i heard nash and haven announce that they were coming to find me and BAM! the urge came back. so i did what any thrill-seeking mom would do. i hid in my closet. nash is the best victim for these tactics. he goes from a simple, "mom? where are you?" to complete meltdown in about three seconds.  as soon as said meltdown commenced i crept out behind him (apparently he has absolutely no peripheral vision), grabbed his waist, and yelled whatever people yell to scare other people (in other words i have no idea how to spell it out). he literally leapt into the air, and had i not been holding his waist he would have, most likely, taken a nose-dive. i laughed, he cried. is that bad to do-oo?

and that's what's going on at our house. a never-ending game of hide and seek.

big boy bike

today, just two days before turning four, nashy mastered* a big boy bike! no training wheels involved. ever. all i can say is i am now a firm believer in balance bikes. nash rode one for maybe an hour a week for the last two months. he got his shiny new bike this morning and...well, see for yourself:



*i'm using the term "mastered" loosely here. he still needs to work on getting started on his own + braking instead of using his shoes to stop. but seriously, this is his first time riding his bike. super impressive.


okay, sorry i made you watch that. it lacks excitement. yes, this was the best footage i had. unless you want to see the super poor-quality video i took with my phone (which is not an iphone). you'd also have to hear me yelling in excitement like only the proudest parent can do.

p.s. stay tuned for photos of nash's birthday party - argh, and the cutest pirates ye ever did see...

last night...

after the kids went to bed i kept hearing funny little noises. i thought it was just coming from outside. at 9:30 we headed upstairs to watch our nightly psych episode (do you watch this show? i used to think it was completely stupid, but after starting from the beginning (thanks to netflix) i think it's pretty darn funny.). anyway, so as i was coming up the stairs i could hear little birdie chirps coming from haven's room. i crept down her hall and flung open the door to find her laying in a circle of her books reading "the poky little puppy." i just thought the circle of books was so cute, she'd probably been up long enough to read each and every one. and, might i point out that she has the cutest collection of vintage golden books? that she takes care of? it wasn't always the case, but she's past the book-ripping stage and has discovered she loves these books. they are loaded with fat babies, puppies, kitty kitties, butterflies, and all the things she loves the most.

p.s. despite having stayed up at least two hours past bedtime haven was up and at 'em at 6:30. the girl seems to over sleeping these days. which is no good because i seem to really enjoy/need sleep these days :(

trick or treat

we had such a fun halloween. between the pumpkin patch, the preschool party, the ward trunk or treat, scary movie night, and trick or treating with the cousins i think we covered all our bases. we're really sad it's over. or maybe that's just me. i took down all the halloween decorations yesterday and was depressed the rest of the day. i love, love, love halloween. so much so that i'm already working on next year's costumes. the wheels are a turnin'...

oh, and just because my mom wanted to see, here are a few of the decorations i made this halloween:

1. i added a witch hat + bow to haven's silhouette and a top hat + houndstooth bow tie to nash's. i've got plans to do something similar for christmas, too. 

2. i made the halloween tree using a dollar store plastic urn, black spray paint, and then a little gray paint rubbed over the top for texture. don't you love that chartreuse reindeer moss? i also made a quick & easy glittered "boo" banner + a cute little halloween butterfly shadowbox using graphics from the graphics fairy. i framed that witch there at the bottom but never got around to hanging it (old lady photo here, then i added a cardstock witch hat). 

3. the cute pumpkin was inspired by a craft i saw at michaels. they used funkins but i just glittered a pumpkin light i already had. the hat is made with velvet zebra scrapbook paper and embellished with black boa + a glitter spider. and i, of course, got lots of use out of my black and orange doilies that i love so much. 

4. the wreath was made using a straw wreath and lima beans, a la dana, then a nice coat of pumpkin orange spray paint. i love the orange glitter wreath hook (thank you, target). i then attached some more glitter spiders using pins and used some scrap fabric to hang the wreath from the hook. now that halloween is over i can replace the black & white fabric with a fall ribbon and remove the spiders and i've got my fall wreath done.