kirsten's birthday party

Here's the cake, sprinkled nicely.  Julia showed up shortly and wanted to park a bunch of weird toys on it.  I told her to please not to.  "Let's just leave it plain this time."   Hmm.

It's not as exciting as it could have been true.



Kids eating supper above, and all the kids in the dining room eating with my dad.  Me and Mom were in the living room.  Others were in the kitchen.

 Time for gifts.  b.g. was excited to help. 

 Here's t.g., the little brother person, perfectly delectable.

And the birthday girl, cute as ever:

The cake, the candles, the singing, all good.

 Here's the rebel child, who realized he was going to have to leave at the end of the evening and then turned ornery.

He pushed his little girl cousin p.j. in the hallway.  It was unclear why.  Maybe he was protecting her from Tim's room, which he deemed scary.  (The new weird lamp?)  Or he didn't want her near the cars he wanted to drive?  Who knows?  She was most insulted and told a dramatic version of the situation.

Then when it was time go to, things were thrown, attitude prevailed and we weren't sure whether to laugh or look stern.  Stern isn't easy, honestly.  THEN he poured out a bottle of water on the living room rug and it was curtains for him.  "Time to go!  We're leaving now!"  Kisses and hugs, and they fled.

Then all at once, there he was at the door by himself.  Of course we let him in and he said, "b.g. not want to go home. I want to stay here more."

Okay, that's a true story.  Angry and does not want to leave Grandma's house?  Timeless tale. I've been there myself.  Why would I ever leave Wisconsin or my grandparent's home?  Even now, the place owns me.

In a minute Alicia was at the door, and sympathetically clucked to him and took him out the door again and that was the end of the evening, pretty much.

Little Jay left to go back to Wisconsin to school, and Kirsten and I talked about work for a while.

And now it's the end of the day, technically even the next day.

Life is good.

Happy Birthday again, you beautiful girl.    love you forever, Mom

carving pumpkins, 2012

 After church, we got busy right away.

Tim was working on his pumpkin when the tip of the knife snapped off.  This knife was a wedding present!  It's the only one left from the set, and it's a good knife, always works.   Oh, well.

I thought it was funny she chose such a cramped, strange spot for a diaper change, and with dogs too, but it worked.

 We were all impressed with the tiny lips on this pumpkin.

 This is a crabby kid.

 And Tim, not crabby at all.  

Now it's time to get our errands done and get ready for Kirsten's birthday party tonight.   Where did October go?  It was a blur.     love, Val

mummy wrap, 2012

 The big kids were watching a basketball game upstairs so it was a calmer game this year.

 The whole room wasn't fogged with toilet paper dust at least.

Nice job, nice job.

 Lydia wrapped me head to toe.

Here we are at the end of the evening, as tired and hyper people were getting ready to go.   This is Jay as Guy Fieri.

It's morning now, and Julia is here on the bed next to me, still in pajamas.  "I wish we could go to the Halloween party again tonight!"   Yeah, it was that much fun.

Thanks again you two.   love, us all

the long awaited halloween party

 Here they are, ready to go:  Price is Right contestants, a ladybug, and a zombie.

Lydia is a shape shifter snow leopard.

 p.j. as Cookie Monster:

 m.c. as a pirate princess:

 This is l.c. and I'm not sure what it's called.  He kept the mask on for a very long time.

 Dan and Alicia and their guys were ghosts.

 Here's t.c. being the blue version of character.

 Dannell, kindly trying to get the video game going:

 This picture includes Kirsten, the brains behind this costume.   This picture cracks me up.

 Here's Heidi as Oscar the Grouch, and the only picture of my mother.  How did that happen, only one picture of her back?

 My dad and d.c.

Crafts--that box from the basement had about ten years worth of supplies in there.   It's like every year we buy a little more and never use it up, so the accumulation is--well let's just say we won't buy anything new next year.   We sure don't need it.

 Here is Pin the Tail on the Cat from the wild video of last night.   My mom made a new cat because the original one was pretty tattered. 

She asked if we wanted the old one back.  I told her no.  It's been ten years of him, time to retire the old boy.    My brother wondered if the kids would want it.  I teased him back, "They must let go of the past."

"Let go of the past?"

"Yes.  Otherwise you end up on  Hoarders, and that's not a good thing."

We laughed.   That show makes me want to clean closets!  It feels so wrong to be peering into other people's lives and issues like that, but it gets us moving.   Another friend has said the same.

Okay, thanks for a great party Mom and Dad.   It was fantastic, the decorations, the food, everything.

love you so, Val and everybody

click and close your eyes, giddy and foolish

Tonight was the Halloween party at my parents, and it was the usual blast.

Tomorrow I'll post some pictures, but tonight, just this giggly wild video of Julia and her cousin playing Pin the Tail on the Cat.  It's a useless, dark picture, so just close your eyes and listen.

Mmmm.   Thank God for kids.

Same old game:  blindfold, spin in circles, hand the tail, send toward the cat.

They played this over and over again until they went through all twenty tails twice.

I am so glad I have kids in my life, wild, giddy, foolish kids.   Happy Halloween, you girls.

You make ordinary things exceptional and hilarious.

I love you so, Val aka Mom

weird lamp!

Weird lamps are so much fun.   Today we were at the second hand store, looking for a shirt for Jay's Halloween costume.  (He's Guy Fietti.) 

And then Tim spotted this lamp.  It cost only a few dollars, but wow is it weird.  He cleaned up his whole desk and shelves to make room for it.

b.g. and p.j. were afraid of it.

It's a little weird, but not scary.

Anyway, this was a fine Thursday in the rain.

I had houses to show this morning, beautiful half million dollar houses in a hilly neighborhood not far from my parents'.   So I took the kids over to them to be watched.

When we drove down my parents street, the golden tops of the trees touched across the street, and the entire road and curbs were dusted completely golden with fallen leaves.  Snow was beginning to fall, and the tree branches were all dark, inky black in the rain.  We were driving into a river of gold.  I said, "Oh, pretty."

p.j. piped up from the backseat, "It's a good day."

She talks a lot now, though the consonants are mushy, we can understand her just fine.  And she's right. It was a very good day.

And the houses, and the client, so fun.  Her mom took in a rescue dog from us, and that connection brought the two of us into a friendship of almost thirty years.    Later she was my college adviser, and she quite honestly delights me.  The woman is so much fun, with such a big heart, and her daughter is accomplished and warm and funny.  Their conversations were frank mother-daughter honest, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole appointment.

It was a great morning, and the perfectly presented houses, with their shiny floors, atrium windows, and the sweeping views of autumn and snow falling--it was so pretty it didn't even feel real.

So here we are at the end of a lovely, dark, rainy Thursday.   Tomorrow is the most grand, eagerly-awaited HALLOWEEN PARTY AT GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S!!!!!

(cue giddy screaming)

We're heading to my parents tomorrow for this occasion.  Tomorrow I must get the little weenies and crescent dough, and a big, huge package of toilet paper for the Mummy Wrap Game.    Lydia and the kids did all the treat bags the other night while I was gone, and it's just too exciting.

Onward.    With love always, Valarie

kirsten's birthday

Once upon a time there was a gorgeous bald baby with big dark blue eyes.

Who turned into a tiny little girl.

This little peanut was scrappy and bold, sweet and wild--a fierce competitor, quick and decisive.

And then?

She grew into a beautiful teenaged person.

And now a woman.

 Still as scrappy and bold as ever, still sweet and wild.

Thanks for being our girl, Kirby.

This whole family could not be who we are without you.   Everything is better because you're here.

Lucky, lucky us.



Happy Birthday and love forever,  Mom and Dad and everybody.