from preschool

Everyday Justin comes home with a project of some kind.  His fist pump/'power to the people' pose is odd, and the look on his face screams - "get this hat off my head and camera outta my face"! I tried to pry photo details out of him but he offered up no details.  I love all the little projects though, keep 'em coming!

Justin's sharing item for tomorrow is one of his favorite books David Goes to School.  I had him write his name on these adorable bookplates I got awhile back so that I could stick his name in the book. 

worms

So those kittens.  The ones I took in for a few weeks.  The adorable precious kittens.  They had worms.  One of the adoptive parents took some "samples" into the vet and they tested positive.  So now I have to treat my cats.  They were not thrilled with the yellow syringes of de-wormer

ghosties

Is it too early for Halloween decor?  I don't think so... Bring on the pumpkins!

dinner tonight

can I sit down now?

I have never made a larger mess in my kitchen then I did this weekend. I think the dishwasher was running continuously. I had red sugar sprinkles all over the floor at one point. This cake was for Brandi's exchange student whose 17th birthday was today. Chocolate cake with caramel frosting. Hope he loves it.

Today I also put up two shelves, swept, mopped, folded laundry, cleaned and cleaned.  It was actually a very productive day.

AND

My boy's right leg is a bruised mess.  He bonked the top of his knee Thursday on the coffee table, and the other 4 bruises up his shin are a mystery - likely gotten on the jungle gym at school. 

birthday party

I am still thrilled to have Jamie, Scott, and Jimmy back in Oregon - it is almost like they never left. Today was Scott's birthdy. We met at Gustav's for fondue and then hit up Eagle Landing for a round of mini-golf. Next stop was cake at my house. Jamie asked me to make the famous Guiness with irish cream cupcakes in cake form with an Oregon theme. I probably made the most epic disaster ever in my kitchen with this one, but the outcome was great and pleased the birthday boy!

Justin and Jimmy spent the bulk of the evening playing together, which is awesome! It gave me time to sit and chat with people my own age with minimal interruption.

The kitties also loved the extra attention they got. They are going to their forever homes tomorrow.

Oregon cake

I made nothing short of an epic mess this evening making this cake!

craft store splurges

After work/school we went to the craft store to get one thing for me {green candy melts} and a few things for work.  But Justin couldn't leave without a "project"  he got pipe cleaners and fuzzy balls, squiggly eyeballs, little flowers, 4 little birds, and an eraser.  We made spiders tonight.  I love crafts.

snuggle them up

Justin has a bit of a love hate yhing going on with these baby kittens.  He loves the "boy one" and is always excited to come home and snuggle them, but when they start getting too rowdy around his legos he gets fed up.  They leave Sunday, so we need to snuggle them up while we can.

find picture that goes here!

the spiders are moving in

Spiders and elaborate webs are creeping up everywhere.  I knocked this one down the day prior and in a matter of hours this spider had rebuilt.  The impressiveness of it all kinda sorta makes up for the creep factor.

fighting crime - with style

Blue's Clues birthday cake

lego police station

Lego City grew with the addition of the police station.  Justin has one of the officers sleeping on the job. 

blue

I am way happy with how my Blue's Clues cake topper turned out. 

tiny cakes

Justin loves to play with fondant too - he makes little cakes.

white coffee

(another pic message from Jason)

Justin goes to Starbucks with his dad every weekend.  They know his drink, they know he likes his name on the cup.... This strikes me a odd and cool all at the same time.   

go by train

Look at that grin!!!

Jason had to deliver a car to Kalamath Falls on Sunday, so he asked if Justin could join him because he was going to be taking the train back and thought Justin would enjoy it.  I wasn't super keen on the 5+ hour drive to K-Falls or the 7+ hour train ride {that's kind of a long time}.  But Justin wanted to go, although truth be told it was the fact that they would be staying in a hotel Sunday night that had him excited.  The train was delayed that morning by an hour and was really a long trip - but Justin enjoyed himself and had a fun adventure.

(pics courtesy of Jason's cell phone)

kittens like legos too

finally

(crummy cell phone pic)

I have been hunting on Craigslist for a china hutch.  I found this beauty for $80 and had. to. have. it!  It is solid wood and my original plan was to paint and distress it.  But... it is super charming just the way it is.  It is old and awesome.  The brown color is a perfect match to what I already have in my dining room.  I was initially afraid that it was smaller than what I was looking for, but turns out it is just perfect.  I still need to fill it with my treasures - Justin loaded it up with random stuff he found around {I think he loves it too}.

The mess would have been worth it, but these cupcakes were disappointing. 

what are the rules?

Justin makes the rules... and always wins.

succulents

We have a windowsil full of succulents.  My track record with them sucks, despite having a fairly green thumb. 

first day of school

This is quite a pathetic face. Justin was not super thrilled about me wanting to snap a picture of him. But years from now when he looks back on his "back to school" pictures I hope he will appreciate it.

"Stop taking pictures!"  {I only took four.}

And one more....

weirdo

Justin and Jimmy ride again!

Looks like trouble!

 Justin's face here is nothing short of hilarious.  He is giving that wink scowl that he is famous for lately.

We met up with Jamie and Jimmy at IKEA {aka:  hell on earth}.  They were in Cali for 10 months and I love that there are back here in Oregon again - and I also love that we can pick up as if no time has passed at all. 

chore

Right now this is pretty much Justin's only chore - to fill up the cat food dish {and it is only necessary once a week}. He always dumps a little pile on the floor "here you go kitties" - while he fills up their dish.

On the road again...

...just can't wait to get on the road again! 

{somewhere between Seattle and Portland}

When it was all said and done I logged 732 miles.

the tradition lives!

The Dave Matthews Band

Last Stop

The Dreaming Tree

Shake Me Like a Monkey

Grey Street

Busted Stuff

Seven

Crush

Write A Song

Spaceman

Corn Bread

Loving Wings

Sleep To Dream Her

Gravedigger

Sister

What Would You Say

Dancing Nancies

Time Bomb

_______________

Some Devil

You and Me

Jimi Thing

In Memory of

Connie Marie Whiteman
Born: February 10, 1943
Died: September 3, 2010

Former native of Great Falls, Montana, Connie Marie Whiteman, 67 of Spokane Valley, Washington, died of lung cancer Friday, September 3, 2010 at home with her family. Cremation will take place under the direction of Thornhill Valley Chapel in Spokane Valley. There will be no formal funeral service. Family and friends gathered Saturday for a private celebration of her life.

Connie is survived by her daughter, Kim Whiteman and son, Robert Whiteman; her partner, Lynn Rutherford, all of Spokane Valley; her sisters, Bonnie (Carl) Smith of Salt Lake City, UT, Donna Paulson of Great Falls, MT; nephew, Bill (Mary) Smith of Carlsbad, CA; niece, Kesh (Patrick) Nicklay of Missoula, MT; grandchildren, Nicholas (Amanda) Whiteman of Spokane Valley, Ashley (Nicholas) Stonehawker of Bellingham, WA, Cherish Whiteman of Phoenix, AZ, Robert McKay of Waco, TX; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her father, mother and son, David Whiteman.

Connie was born February 10, 1943 in Great Falls to Alfred and Maxine Paulson. She grew up on the farm on Bootlegger Trail. She moved to Spokane in 1990, where she worked for Wells Fargo and Telect. Connie met Lynn Rutherford and together they made a great life with one another. They loved spending summers together at their lake house on Coeur d'Alene Lake outside Worley, ID where they would enjoy boating and relaxing with friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Connie's name may be made to Hospice of Spokane, or a charity of the donor's choice.

bleach bubble

I like to bleach my kitchen sink.  Today the water made a cool bubble doughnut. 

every ending...

...leads to a new beginning

Today was Justin's last summer day with his sitter Teal.
Didn't I just hire her like last week? These summer months have flown by and I am so glad that Justin had some good summer days hangin' at home with Teal.