What I Designed Today…er, in 2011: Transportation Graphics for Kara’s Party Ideas

Haha, seriously, from 2011. I am really, really behind on documenting old work. I found some of these graphic files on my hard drive. A version of these was used for a boy’s birthday party “set” over on Kara’s Party Ideas.

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Brilliant Lego Play for Boys

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I ran across this the other day on Zulily and thought it was brilliant. We’ve successfully used a large wading pool to contain Legos in a playroom but this would be even quieter. It’s temporary on Zulily and I don’t know how to find them elsewhere but the official name is Lay-N-Go.

Rocks and Raising Boys

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Anybody else’s kids come home with this many pebbles in their shoes? It doesn’t matter what KIND of shoes Ben wears, either. He’s managed this with his tennis shoes as well. On another note, I had a wonderful phone conversation with a very good friend from Houston and she told me that her 9 year old girl refuses to get rid of a stick that my boys carved for her (we moved 7 months ago now). I think that’s pretty cute. Rocks. Sticks. {Sigh} Boys.

Staining the Fence: Round 2

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The boys have stain in their newly acquired, adorable haircuts. I timed that wrong! Well, I hope they learned some sort of life-enhancing lesson through all that work! The interior of the fence is done. Hooray!

First Day of School 2010

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I’m blogging while Cole’s in seminary. I have been walking/running with the dogs every morning and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it that early in the morning but I broke my pinky toe last night and it hurts pretty bad this morning. No walking for a week (hopefully not more than that) for me. Oh well, I probably have more than a week’s worth of blogging to catch up on. Cole started a new, huge high school “far, far away” and he starts and ends school quite early so, between him and the littler boys, I’m not getting as big of a block of time open during the day to work, etc. Meanwhile, I have a 9th grader, 4th grader and 2nd grader. Next year will be the year of total change when Bennie enters Kindergarten. Until then, he and I are going to have a blast this year while all of the other boys are at school. Buckle up! It’s going to be some kinda ride (please, you must say this like Gene Wilder in The Frisco Kid: “Some kinda Torah!”).

Houston Museum of Natural Science – Sugar Land

All I can think of when I see this picture from HMNS Sugar Land is “Man! Those nostrils are HUGE!”

The boys had quite the time. We liked it so much we bought memberships so we could go and visit the Houston HMNS the next weekend. We liked that, too, as well as the Faberge egg exhibit but I think we actually preferred this little version over in Sugar Land with the dino dig and small planetarium. Don’t the boys look cute? I mean, scary?

A Hair Raising Mess!

I am tired. It’s 1:36. I am not holding out much hope for the rest of the day. I got to the gym and ran for an hour and then Costco…and my visiting teachers were waiting for me when I got home. No biggie, right? Right. This means that I did not have time to come in and vacuum up dog hair that collects daily in our entryway because of the white, smooth tile. Plus, she has taken to the floral couch (one we brought from Omaha) as her bed and lays in the formal room off the entryway while we’re gone. Today she went the extra mile and ate a bag of Orowheat Potato Bread in the formal room and left evidence. Dumb dog. She should at least know to eat the evidence, too. So, I kindly invited the sweet sisters in and mentioned they may want to sit on the other couch as it doesn’t have dog hair on it. One sister – pregnant with her 6th kid – was unfazed. She knows the territory. The other sister reminded me of myself when I was young and only had 2 kids (well, she’s much prettier, but you get my drift). She kept trying to brush her baby’s hands after he crawled on the carpet. Really it wasn’t that bad, but…I could do nothing about it. Well, I could have gotten up and vacuumed with my Dyson Animal but that would have been rude. Poor thing, I could tell she was really stressed about it. It was all I could do to offer her to let her children wash their hands on their way out. She accepted. I was humiliated but then reminded myself – just wait until she has 4 kids (may she be blessed with 3 more boys and a dog). And now I cannot bring myself to touch the vacuum. On principle.

Upside Down Boys

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The boys stretching after our first day out of the car. Thankfully, I think this couch has seen much worse but we’re trying to not let them treat it like a jungle gym. I read a quote somewhere that said, “Boys don’t sit on couches, they RIDE them.” So true. Nadine – don’t panic – we will hurry and clean everything before you come home and pretend like some things never happened (unless it slips, of course).

Bed Hogs

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Look what I found waiting for me the other night when I finally went to bed at 12:45 a.m. (I was up at least twice more and didn’t get to sleep until almost 2 – AGAIN!). Instead of being upset, I was actually quite glad. I almost wished I could stay awake and look at their cute faces. They really are cutest when they’re asleep (and not just for the quiet). I love snuggling my boys. See? They left me a space…

Marvel Cave & More Boy Funnies

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I have a great “funny” to share from our trip to Branson, Missouri. As we entered the wonderful Marvel Cave (true to its name), my very perceptive 7 year old son, Gabe, said “We’re in Mother Nature’s nostril!”

Also, when we arrived at the gates and I made everyone use the restroom, Jack came running out after he was finished declaring, “Wahoo! I partied in the man cave!” I never knew using the restroom could be so fun. I must be missing something (and we all know exactly what THAT is — the same missing item that puts me at a grave disadvantage while camping). Gotta love boys!