catch-up

It has been four years since I taught.  But each spring I am reminded of the joys & sorrows of high school English when I have the honor of helping to grade research papers.  The good papers bring me joy for obvious reasons.  And I'll admit that the awful papers bring me a certain red-pen euphoria as well.  I want to make order of chaos.  But it's the mid-level papers that do me in, torture my soul, weigh down my eyelids, force me into frequent breaks.     

And my current break has been long..considering how behind I am on getting these papers done.  I'll simply justify it as a necessary blog catch-up and pat myself on the back.  One step forward, one step back...definitely my signature dance.

Katie's visit

As soon as I hopped in the car after my afternoon with Katie and her cute family a few weeks back, I cursed myself for not getting a picture together.  I hadn't seen Katie for years...had never met her Tim or their two littles.  But the stars aligned and they took an Arizona detour on their Las Vegas to Virginia move.  Old friends are incomparable. No awkwardness.  No nonsense.  Simply picking up where you leave off.

KT's family in front of the Mesa Temple

But I think Katie's a particularly rare kind of person who any & everyone feels comfortable around.  We first met at BYU, and then she introduced me to her native D.C. when I moved there as an intern...very flimsy words for the way she took me into her heart & home at that time, really.  For that I'm in her debt.  And eternally, unrepayably indebted for an October road trip to Vermont.  Ilovermont.

Our kids were kids on our Wednesday afternoon outing - Davyn turned demon in the museum, and her girlies caught the disease through exhaustion by lunch time.  Yet, we comfortably enjoyed the child-rearing discomfort together for a few hours.  I love you, KT & wish you the best of luck in your move!

Davyn did manage to pause mid-hysteria to kiss Nelly and flirt with the camera...there's definitely good reason we deemed this boy Davynova! 

 
Lunch with Grandma & Grandpa Jones

We met up with them for Grandma's birthday lunch two weeks ago.  I loved this picture of Davyn & Grandpa.

and Savs with Grandma...

My children are blessed enormously in the grandparents department.

 
Haircuts

First, a picture of Aidan at that Grandma b-day lunch above.

and a fuzzy side view...

...and I didn't snap a picture of his tail in the back.  Far too shocking.

Obviously, we were in dire need of hair help.  The next day the whole family did some running around.  After lunch, Jim spotted a barber shop and there was no ignoring the need.  I so wish I had had my camera there.  The experience was hilarious.  These were true barber shop barbers.  And Aidan's wide variety of facial expressions were killing me.  Davyn didn't need a haircut, but when Aidan was finished, he ran up to the seat so we definitely couldn't deny his enthusiasm. 

Here they are the next day in Sunday best:

I know longer hair has swung back into fashion for boys, but the clean cut, old-fashioned styles are my favorite on this dapper duo. 

& in other GOOD news...

My good friend Angie started a blog.  I've been {not-so-}gently persuading her for quite a while.  She resisted steadily through her pregnancy, but was finally & irretrievably reeled in this month when she realized she has the world's cutest twin girlies.  At least that's what I'm assuming.   Whatever the reason, I'm Elated.  I love Ang & you'd think that  & the fact that we live in the same place would equate significant interaction...but life somehow intercedes.  So I love that I'll now be able to keep track of her & her littles in this blog world even when I lag in the real world.
 

Now back to the red pen... 

Happy Birthday, Kelly!

I (very sadly) can't get my scanner working today, so we'll see how far google image can take this post. 

Whether you are blood relative or random blog lurker, any level of acquaintance with Kelly quickly proves that she is one of a kind.

My own Kelly intro: Mr. Strong's 8th grade typing class. This was in the days of genuine, cumbersome typewriters. A girl who I recognized, but hardly knew invited me to adopt a typewriter. Yes, this was Kelly. My lovely construction paper replica typewriter came with adoption papers, stamped with an official guarantee from her very own typewriter ranch. Yes, only Kelly.

 

Since then, I've been privy to 20 years of "only Kelly" moments. Sharing some would disclose too much about both of us, so here my top 10 (of the shareable without undue embarrassment):

1.  The typewriter adoption introduced our friendship, but it was sealed when we decided to take a night Japanese class together in 10th grade.  Sensei had us doing fan dances in the halls, writing characters with our rear ends to help memorization, and falling in love with a culture so entirely foreign to our own.  In summer school we came across this picture

 

and vowed to one day stand in this spot together (Sacred Bridge, Nikko, Japan).   Two years later we did.  The "only Kelly" part of this:  I didn't happen to be there when it happened, but I think that somewhere in existence are some great pictures of her falling into a public fountain in Sapporro.  Ne?

2.  To ease our high school schedule, we took English 101 & 102 at the local community college during the summer before our senior year.  A paper a week was due in 101.  I worked laboriously over each one, poring over multiple drafts, editing, etc., before the final product.  With Kel, it was a completely different story.  She'd typically be writing (draftless!) the morning the paper was due.  Sometimes she'd even lug a typewriter into the backseat to finish up on her way.  And - of course! - she'd end up with the better grade.

3.  During our junior year in high school, our Japanese teacher came to us with flyers for a National Speech Contest.  Finalists were going to be flown to D.C. to compete at Georgetown University. Japanese neophytes, I remember first balking at the idea of this competition.  But we decided to give it a try.  We wrote speeches, translated with sensei's help, and sent our tapes off to D.C.  A few weeks later I was stunned to receive a phone call saying I was chosen as a finalist.  I was beyond excited, but it was definitely tainted by the fact that Kelly didn't receive the same phone call.  But she was amazing in a way that I know I wouldn't have been had the positions been reversed.  She sent me off to D.C. with a stack of letters, each marked for different occasions.  "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3", "Read when you get nervous",  "For when you are done", etc.   I was sick with nerves until the contest was over, so her support was truly priceless.  [Months later {after sharing with her my alcohol imbibing dreams} she was also at my house pouring out the Black Rat wine the hotel had given me after my win - did they know I was 16?!]

4.  Tom Petty or Kent Dana?  This was the first line of our made-up game that entertained us on countless occasions mid-high school to post-college.  First, you come up with a question scenario.  Who would you rather be stuck with in the trunk of a car?  Who would you feel safer walking with in an alley in downtown Phoenix?  Who would you rather take home to meet your parents?   Who would you rather be stranded with on a desert island?  The first options to choose between were always Tom Petty and Kent Dana.  From there the names  were changed until we came up with the ultimate person we'd like to be with in that situation. 

  

So, who would you rather have make your birthday cake, Kel?

5.  During our freshman year at BYU, we experienced a spring of lots & lots & lots of rain.  Endless rain, it seemed.  And endless worms spotted the sidewalk from DT to campus.  Yuck.  Being used to Arizona sunshine and having just endured one of the harshest winters Provo had experienced in quite some time, Kel was fed up.  But she's not one to protest loudly...mostly holds it in.  So instead of wild rants, she posted a sign on her dorm door that read:  "Damn this rain, and damn this wasted day."  The irony of this story is that Kelly is now the girl who loves living in the rain-ridden Portland.  Perhaps their rain isn't plagued with worms so much.  Or maybe she just spouts a whole lot of damn's. 

6.  Kelly is a magnet for weirdness.  Details fail me, but there were countless phone calls to Chicago where I sat on the other end of the line gasping "what?!".   And perhaps it helps that she has a talent for storytelling the ordinary into hilarity. 

7.  Because some Canadian swept Kelly away into marriage so quickly, none of us were able to be at her wedding.  Initially resentful, I did quickly come to love Keith when I saw that they fit together so perfectly.   I am still waiting, however, for you to share your "door dancing" with the love of your life, Kel.  The man needs to see the moves.

8.  Kel's was definitely born of two equally unique parents who I LOVE.  Both are quirky & hospitable & hilarious.  One BYU summer we roadtripped to Montana, and I fell in love with Bozeman.  My favorite memory from their Mesa house was watching/helping her dad write an angry letter of resignation from his job (the type that releases a whole lot of angst but is truly never meant to be sent).  That, and, of course, the timeles tune "The Prince's Panties".  

9.  Hours spent in the hallways of the JKHB adoring Beeman, eating super sour stars, all under the pretense of study.  That was the beginning, of course.  Later the hang out spot was ditching morning classes while enjoying cream filled donuts & chocolate milk at the Cougar Eat.  Kel was always game for such deviance. 

10. A few DT images:  tied up with tape outside the elevator, eating baby food with pinkies, head and hands covered in green tape for hiding in Lorina's bed (I seriously wish I had a picture of this one).  

Keeping in touch has become increasingly difficult over the years, so when Kel introduced me to blogging I was thrilled.  It has been a joy to have my daily dose of her doings.   And now that I'm teary writing this (is it only post baby bearing that memories do that?!), I guess I'll just say I love you, welcome to 33 & Happy Birthday! 

cake & babies & Kay & ouch

& bless you if you get through reading this entire post.

Saturday felt like a week.  A good week, but a very full one. 

And a one that made me look back at my former self in awe.  I used to wear heels daily.  Everywhere.  People teased and offered sympathetic groans over my supposedly aching feet.  But these *poor feet* never ached, so I shrugged off the hype, puzzled.  Fast forward five years and two {giant} babies.  I wore heels all day yesterday and honestly don't know if I'll ever recover.  NOW I know what the groans were about.  Now I see why people thought I was insane.  And now I know that I will NEVER again do the all-day heel thing.  But I'll still secretly ache for those days of being 6'2" in sexy heel boots. 

Anyhow...I got up early and packed up for a long day away from my three lovelies.   The BEST part of the day happened early when Jim saw me off with a garage jig.  The boy has some serious moves!  I don't think I stopped smiling all the way to his parents' house.

[Sidenote:  throughout the day, people asked countless times if Jim was "babysitting" the boys.  "Heck no!  He's watching his own kids!" Dads don't *babysit* in my world.  Of course, it helps that in my world, there is a Dad who is a better Mom than the Mom and whose boys view him in total adulation.]

First stop:  in-laws.  Kay was also hosting a shower, and I wasn't able to go (you're my #1, Ras!), but did do a drive-by cake decorating.  This is seriously the best kind.  She baked the cake (yellow, drenched in cream of coconut out of the oven, filled with pineapple whipped cream - divine!).  The bride-to-be is having orange calla lilies at the wedding, so that is what I went for with my fondant. 

We added the Alex & Brian, at first wondering if that was too cheesy, but - hello! - it's a wedding.  It's supposed to be a little cheesy.  And I was all for it once I imagined walking in to an "Amy & Jim" in orange buttercream delight.   Sometimes cheesy works.

Next, it was off to Vella's parent's house.  They very kindly offered their house as our shower spot (or was it Vel who offered for them??!).  The shower was intimate & delightful.  I always like food table pics, so here are a few.

 

Angie posing with food...but where's the bulging belly?!

34 weeks pregnant with twins.   She looked so cute, *almost* making me want to be pregnant.  She just found out that both babies weigh 4.5 pounds!  Amazing little Sophia and Grace.  Already 9 pounds in that belly. 

And the waiting game is on. 

I remember well the bittersweet days at pregnancy's end.  Especially with Aidan, mostly because with him the "end" lasted overlong. 

Due date:  June 24.
Birth date:  July 9. 

And that is how you get a 10 pound baby, folks.  Bake 'em long & large.   As my days overdue turned into weeks overdue, U2's "With or Without You" became the theme song I'd belt to my belly.  With the belly, without the baby, longing for the opposite. 

Those last days waiting for your firstborn are definitely singular.  Sitting quietly on the precipice of the greatest heaven-sent upheavael yet.  Waiting to meet a tiny home-grown human who will change life forever.  It brings a whole new dimension to wondrous. 

And double that in Angie's case.

This girl is the queen of control.  And order.  Whose house makes "spotless" look dirty.  Who still scrubs her floors on hands & knees. I'm mischieviously anxious to see her "order" edges soften as the chaos of two tiny bosses takes its bit of the control.   And to see her melt into knowing that the chaos is 100% worth the love. 

And....drumroll...my last stop of the day was a return to my first.  Because I had to see Kay in her sexy new outfit.  And it didn't disappoint.

 

She went shopping this week and bought this ensemble (jewelry, belt & all) with eyes closed, knowing she'd feel guilt if she glimpsed the total.  So Jenna was there to count the cash.  I loved it all, and was impressed when she conceded to my request for a "powerful" pose.  

This is a woman who pioneered her way through raising six boys and one girl.  Who never had a chance to spoil herself.  Who was traumatized when gifted with a VW Bug on her 50th Birthday.  I admire that hugely in this age of "yes, thank you and what else?" entitlement. 

You look gorgeous, Kay!  And I'll quietly hope that this is only the first of many splurges for yourself!

Well, my feet are still aching, but my sweet Jim didn't gripe when recovery from the week-long Saturday had me napping from 5 - 8:30 tonight, waking oh-so conveniently after the boys went down.  It's so good for a mom in this stage to have a day away...where she feels useful in an adult setting.  And comes home very grateful to be there.  The blasted & blessed irony life.  

baby shower prep

It seems I've had something big going on each week this month.  But this week's "big" has definitely involved some creative fun.  My long-time friend Angie is having twins.  And my other Angie & I are very excited to be hosting a baby shower for her on Saturday.  The invites were time-consuming, but I loved how they turned out.  My sister-in-law Shanon is a genius at this sort of stuff and sent some ideas my way.  I really liked the ones that inserted into a paper pocket, and with so many delicious ribbons and papers to choose from, well, there are endless possibilities with this style of invite.

My next creative moment was spurred along by Martha.  I love her new line at Michael's.  And bought this kit there.

Putting the flowers together was even simpler than it looked.  I guess it helps that everything in the kit is pre-cut.  I can't imagine dealing with all of that tissue paper yourself!

  {On a sidenote, while researching paper flowers, I came upon this wonder:

 

Made of coffee filters.  Then watercolored.  I'm serious.  It awes.
Anyone willing to try with me? }

My last creative endeavour for the shower is where I feel most at home.  Cupcakes.  Ever since becoming a fan of this blog, I'm a converted cupcaker.  I love filling them, prettying them, the works.  I'm even asking Santa to bring me a culinary torch so I can make this fabulous looking smores variety for Megs (she converted me to smores this summer in my kitchen over my stovetop) next time she's in town.  Or what about topping a lemon-y treat with self-flamed meringue?  The possibilities delight me.