EXTRAVAGANZA!!! {dog days of summer}

EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

{JULY, AUGUST, & SEPTEMBER}

all this did was make me yearn for summer nights.
i hope you like links...

  

  

the heat of summer was on.
4th of july fell on sunday.
which in utah means friday, saturday, and monday.
by the time it was over, i was sparkled out.
or hamburgered out.
but that always happens by the end of july anyway.
i wrote about the good ol' days.

it was one of my very favorite posts of this year.
i learned that swim diapers are good for nothing.
now i am just missing my flip flops.
and wishing for Popsicles and baby pools.

and lush green grass.

and flip flops.

did i already say that?

but i literally spend the entire summer, EVERY SUMMER, whining about how hot it is.

i realized i had twins.
two years apart.
i threw all of the first time mommy books/rules out the window.
and just decided to be me.
raising kids.
imagine that!
verdict's still out on if they've survived...
found out the hot shot magna cum laude was WRONG.
that was satisfying :)
again.
celebrated 4th of july #2.
aka pioneer day.
with fireworks.
food.
and a rodeo.

learned that brennan did in fact realize where milk came from.

it could be my 2nd favorite brennan memory.
right after "away went the mangerS."
and that honesty is not always the best policy.
my computer broke at the end of july.
and wasn't fixed until we moved into our house in october.
plus or minus a few times we thought it was fixed, but really wasn't.
every post from then until oct was done through someone else's computer or my phone.
and it just wasn't the same.
even emmy let me borrow hers!
brennan fell in the pool.
it was scary.
i miss the pool now too.
wah!
i vote to skip january.
sorry if you have a birthday in january.
we can celebrate it in february.
september came,

and real life began.
we put offers in on houses.
learned what a lender was.
interest rates.
contingency.
inspections.
appraisal.
down payment.
earnest money.
and made budgets like nobody's business.
thank goodness we did NOT get the first one.
holy crap.
when did we start looking for houses???
it was fast.
furious.
and freaking FANTASTIC.
then we forgot how to be married.
remembered.

watched food inc. and became more oganic.
even grass fed beef now :)
football season began.
which always make me lust for fall.
we found THE ONE.

and started the whirlwind of moving.
i realized maybe i didn't really hate summer.
maybe i liked it.
lawn mowers run off of gasoline.
everyone does not know.
and there are NO stupid questions.
we stalked our house like brennan on santa.
everything checked out.
went to the fair.

it may have been my favorite family activity this year.
and then we drove to chico.
and october began...
and my computer was STILL broken...
...

trendsetters.

(stacie and i on our way to the nutcracker. 1990-something)
left: me right: stacie

we've been doing obscenely large bows since before oprah's favorite things.

that's like forever.

say it with me,

"trend.setters."

man, we're cute!
...
i could hardly contain my excitement last night for christmas.
i laid in bed busting with the anticipation of christmas morning.
counting down the hours.
the minutes!
is it really 12:23am already?
this is what i was thinking.
it took me over an hour to fall asleep.
i felt like i was 11 again.
i've missed the giddy anticipation of christmas.
so glad brennan has brought it back.
i'm loving it.
santa even found dr. gibson one last special surprise last night at target.
I CAN'T WAIT!!!
now if it would just stop raining and start snowing...

santa!!! i know him!!!

i love this picture more than words can express.

bahahahaha!

3 days:)

waiting creation.

this morning...

when i was in college i loved to bake after i finished all of my finals.
it was a release of sorts.
enjoying the creation of something that had nothing to do with everyday.
i loved it.
i've been waiting for that feeling this year.
waiting for our routine to be found.
for the kids to get comfortable in the house.
for us to get comfortable in the house.
to find our new niche.
to find all of my stuff.
ok, that's going a little far.
i have definitely not found all of my stuff.
to feel at home.
in a groove.
a release of sorts.
the release where the stress disappears.
so the relax can begin.
it's here.
i think this means we're finally settled.
i love it.
the baking too.

2 christmas's

i grew up with two christmases.
divorced family.
and lots of different traditions.
christmas afternoon was always the same b/c we usually ended up at dad and sandie's by then (with a few years that fell under an exception with the other parents).
some years i spent christmas eve with my mom.
other years were with dad and sandie.
with dad and sandie,
everything started with paul mccarntey's "simply having."
we couldn't enter the christmas room until it playing.
we all complained about how annoying it was,
but secretly i always loved it.
baked bri cheese and shrimp.
martinelli's in champagne flutes.
waiting for adam and kelsey to get to our house so i could see what santa had left us.
imagine having to wait until 1pm to see what santa had brought you.
maybe it was 11am.
all i know is that it felt like forever.
trust me.
it wasn't easy.
but i never peeked!
really, i never did.
i'm still good at waiting patiently for surprises.
then there was the 4 hour present opening spectacle.
i still love it that way.
everyone watches while each person opens each gift, not including stockings.
those were all at once.
it makes christmas last the entire day.
one year dad taped christmas sideways.
that was fun to watch.
another year sandie put an iron candle holder bowl thing on her head b/c no one could figure out what it was.
and then there was the year that grandpa dick got only books.
books have now been a banned gift for him.
we've moved onto movie tickets.
dinner followed.
prime rib.
sweet potatoes.
green beans.
mashed potatoes.
skins on b/c that's where all of the vitamins are.
and they taste better that way.
at least,
we think so:)
but no gravy.
b/c grandma joi and i gave it up.
we could never get it right.
although dad conquered it this year at thanksgiving,
and we were all glad to have it back.
then there's grandma's jello salad.
and poppers.
the kind that come with a toy and a paper crown.
we have the same menu at thanksgiving too, with the exception of the meat being turkey instead of prime rib.
obviously.
oh, and the lotto scratchers.
sandie buys them.
then cashes them in.
i never win.
or i just win a ticket.
but we've been doing them since forever.
passing around grandpa's knife or coins from someones pocket.
...
sean's family reenacts the nativity story.
after meat and cheese fondue.
dress up clothes and all.
i'm rooting for baby max to be the baby jesus this year.
maybe that means i'm finally a shoe in for mary.
so sean can be joseph.
and bieber the donkey???
sean's mom plays the piano out of the famous christmas book, and we all sing along.
it's red fabric and white ruffles around the outside.
i want my own.
then it's off to smush in the car for the neighborhood christmas light tour.
christmas morning is dawned with egg casserole, chocolate croissants, and tom n jerry's (minus the rum) hot drinks.
...
the longest running tradition with my mom was the nutcracker ballet.
we went every year from 1st-5th grade, with stacie in tow.
i've gone several times since then, but nothing as consistent as when we were kids.
all dressed up in our fanciest dresses we would drive to the Capitol Theater.
if i could only find a picture in the basement.
with the sugar plum fairy party after.
i always wanted to be a ballerina on those nights.
with their tutus that stuck out in a circle around their waists.
pointy pink shoes.
perfect hair.
i think a part of me will always wish i would have been a ballerina.
a flower floating across a spotlit stage with big snowflakes falling from the sky.
magical.
just like christmas.

"juice" on the church floor.

max woke up from her nap.
nursed her.
fed her.
fed bieber.
fed grown ups.
threw everyone in the car.
went back twice for things we forgot.
made it to church on time.
kids playing in the pew.
picked max up from the floor.
this is where it gets exciting.
circle wet spot.
where max was sitting.
forgot to change the diaper after the nap.
dang it.
thank goodness it looked like juice.
good thing we're still new.
...
it has not been a good diaper weekend in general.
i accidentally put a dirty diaper in the washing machine with my darks yesterday.
not sure how "dirty" it was.
may or may not have been "dirty."
i did not want to know.
cleaned out the gel balls.
ran the machine twice.
washed the clothes again.
looked like snow.
gross.

caved...twice.

we put up our christmas ornaments.
despite the grinch on my shoulder.
the grinch that was whispering into my ear,
"take them out, put them up, wrap them, put them away. too much work!"
i whispered back,
"once a year, you little devil. get lost!"
it worked.

and brennan walked into our room this morning to wake us up.
no big deal you say,
normal you say.
not when it's the first time he's ever done it.
b/c he's still in a crib.
what am i saying?
this is what i'm saying.
he climbed out of his crib for the first time this morning.
man, it's been a nice ride.
bieber fever can finally hoist his own weight.
ta-da!
time to turn the crib into a toddler bed.
we've finally caved:)
it feels really good.
the ornaments too.