surely you're kidding



My sister Susan's new nursery.

{With the decorating prowess of Cami Wright.}

Can you even BELIEVE she wallpapered her ceiling?

Pure boldness.



Darling baby girl loves it.

Can you see her little self on her changing pad?

Let's be honest.

This little pixie could give a rip about her nursery.

All she cares about is sitting around looking cute all day long.



 I can't get over this fun graphic wallpaper.

Or this lampshade from Anthro.We found the base at some secondhand store in Phoenix.

Oh, and my sister Sus?

She's a Shel Silverstein aficionada.

This is a mural of Shel Silverstein poems in her landing upstairs.

Sus would like to be a collector of cuckoo clocks.

This is her big girls' room.  Not done yet, but almost!

I adore the blues palette with raspberry accents.

Let's talk about this balloon dog sculpture for a momentito.

I had to talk Sus into it at Home Goods but now she's a fan.

It's already been broken and glued back together.



something is missing around here...



...like everyone's teeth!
[Melanie, Emma, Ellison]

 

A delightful last-minute summer party



[Kailyn, Melanie, Emma, Ellison]

[Charlotte]

Caroline and her friend Sydney set up a game that they appropriately named "What I'm Eating" (I suppose it was actually called "What I'm I eating" ?).  They put random stuff in cups and had the girls taste it and see if they could guess what it was.

 {There was the minor gag issue with the things they didn't like}.

midnight craft project #2

We're well aware of my craftification gifts.  

My superhumanly-motivated cousin Delia, (actually my cousin Jared's wife), posted this and I thought it would be a cute gift for a niece or nephew.   Glaring lack of common sense prevailed as I sacrificed precious sleep to paint rocks.

Sister Sus in Yuma: you won't be receiving this "gift".  I am afraid my darling nephew Randall could potentially use these alphabetical missiles as ammunition against you, or Savannah, or your newborn, or that disturbing needs-to-be-deported-ice-cream-truck, or some other poor sap, or your new glass shower door in your recently-remodeled bathroom. 

Just know  that I'm seething mad at you if you ever receive a box from FedEx that sounds like it has rocks in it.

Randall is my favorite lil' guy.  [That's what I call him--Lil' Guy]. 

As in I seriously have a weakness for this kid.

Does this face look like it could do any wrong?  [Rhetorical.]

With chocolate pudding seeping from his clenched fist?

For the sake of fairness, it was MY idea for the cousins to "fingerpaint" themselves and others with chocolate pudding.  On my sister's patio.  

{Stupidest idea in PARENTING Magazine E.V.E.R.} 

Now I can't go to my deathbed with that "NO REGRETS" bumper sticker because this was a decision I deeply regret and my BIL Howard regretted even more as he was cleaning up glops of dried chocolate pudding off the window sunshades and scrubbing the concrete on his hands and knees with his metal BBQ brush.

[Sorry Howard.] 

Back to the rocks--I used basic acrylic paints from Michaels, and cheapo paintbrushes.  Yes I had to do a couple of coats.  I didn't paint the lower-case alphabet on the back, but that would have been a good idea.  I outlined them with a Sharpie, and sprayed them with an acrylic top-coat. 

If I would do it over again, I would try to find colored paint PENS.  I had a white paint pen and that's what I used for the white letters. It was infinitely easier than painting with a brush.  My colored paint pens weren't vibrant enough colors to have any coverage--maybe they're out there but I haven't looked.  Or maybe a few coats? 

You can get the bag of rocks at the Dollar Store [fake floral aisle].


Or heck, go have your kids forage for some rocks outside, for heaven's sake.



[I loved this summer because]

Jackson has been going to the gym with me.  I suckered him into going to my spinning class a few weeks ago. 

He has explicitly refused to go back to that class.  

So on Tuesdays and Thursdays we treadmill-ed, StairMaster-ed, did the elliptical machines, played around on the weight machines, and generally meandered around the gym.  


Yesterday, on her last day of unencumbered liberation, (school started today),  I introduced Caroline to my sacred sanctum--Pizzeria Bianco.   

Marc and I had our first date there in 1997 when they were located in the Town and Country Mall on Camelback Road.  We haven't been back thanks to Oprah's endorsement as Pizzeria Bianco being one of the best pizzerias in the country.

No food, I repeat, no food, is worth a two hour wait.

Since they have recently decided to open for lunch, I've decided to brave it again.  I went once by myself in April, and I plan on lunching there more often when I'm downtown (which is never). 


I've been counting the days until one of my children could have some modicum of appreciation for fine pizza.  (Take a flying leap, Hot-N-Ready).   She genuinely appreciated our handmade mozzerella, fresh basil, fennel sausage, ricotta cheese, and arugula pizza. 


I tell you, this girl has a sophisticated palate for a ten year old. 


Then we blew over $100 on "required" school supplies which made me mad as spit.    


Yesterday morning (at around 9:00, a grand sleep-in to celebrate the last day of summer), Ellison came into bed with me and we hugged and gabbed and lazed around together and my heart was full of gratitude that all was just about perfect with me and my girl. 


Until an hour later when she screamed at me that I should teach a class on "How to be a Horrible Mother".   

[offered MWF from 2-3pm].

Charlotte remarked today when I was doing her hair in my bathroom: "You never have any fun, mom.  You never play with stuff and you just drive around." 

Pretty much.

She obviously thinks I'm a pitiful sack.   So we colored in her circus coloring book.  And did some puzzles. [Proof positive that I'm not always driving around]. 

I hereby recommit to playing with my darling girl.

We've been working on Summer Goals again. Caroline is close to finishing hers. We tried to pick goals that were deep, meaningful, and that would ultimately improve our lives and/or the lives of others. 

Like being able to name all 19 of the Duggar kids. 

Ellison "lost" her list of goals (and her motivation), and Jackson blatantly refused to do his. {He is, however, working hard on his Scouting stuff}.   I shouldn't talk--I haven't even completed one out of my five goals.  I think I'll extend the date until August 31st... 


Our friends who we knew in Iowa, the Graffs, my cousins Jeff and Laura Fuller and their kids, who were visiting from Alabama, and a good measure of the 85201 zip code {yes, the Wright Family Dynasty}, came over last night for a "Farewell to Summer" pool and pizza party.      




McNotAFrolicker letting me have a moment.

This photo epitomizes our relationship.

 


Mouthing off to my sister Susan.



At this point my sister wants to beat me senseless with my own camera.

And I'm pretty sure McBeenAGoodSport is just about ready to jump into the ocean with an anvil tied around his neck.

I count four chins.

Finally hunkering down for a respectable photo.
[And, as usual, overusing the soft focus in Photoshop] 

31st year at the Beach Cottages.
More soft focus magic.