this & that

we have had a very busy few months and lots of things have been going on:

frances has learned to read. okay, not reeeeally...but it has been that long since i have posted. ;)

bauer before school being...well...bauer.

ironing man.

sweet cheesy girl.

please take note, this is not because it was cold. indeed it was so hot that our mosquitoes were still in full force in late november, and this was his solution to protect himself from bites. seriously...i can't make this stuff up.

also, if you know our family at all, you know clif works like a mad man and never leaves home without his computer. one day bauer had this out when i called him. his reply, "just a sec mom, i'm taking an order on my computer." ha!

frances mad because i won't let her eat fifteen cookies in a row. i'm evil like that.

possibly the most exciting thing has been that frances has learned a new cool move. THE CHEESE! this is what she does every single time you pull out a camera or iphone.

miss v had "all about me day" at school. we made a big poster with lots of the things she loves. she even labeled them all by herself.

we also had a few playdates with school friends.

and a quick trip to the er. yep...i said er. bauer fell at school and what should have been just a busted lip ended up being almost twenty stitches. (it was so deep they had to do multiple layers.) thank goodness beary was there to help our big man out.

first field trip

vivian had her very first school field trip...

to the pumpkin patch!

her friends from class, presley and riley, were there and they loved the hay mazes.

sweet v spent lots of time feeding the baby goats.

it was such a great adventure....even the bus ride with buddy james was lots of fun! :)

it's a wild wild world

luckily this halloween we had two awesome zookeepers to help wrangle the wild beast. :)

i love you.

the big kids and i play a little game sometimes. we say, "i love you" and then we quantify. it might be my favorite game ever. sounds crazy, eh? tonight's game:
me: v, i love you this much (spreading my thumb and pointer finger about a half inch apart).
v: oh yeah? well i love you thiiiiiis much (spreading her arms as wide as they will go).
me: okay. i love you big as a house.
v: and i love you big as the earth.
b: oh yeah....i love you big as a dinosaur earth.
me: hmmm....i love you big as the solar system.
v: i love you all of space and the solar system.
b: i love you 100 dinosaurs space and sonar systems.
v: i know I KNOW!! i love you big as god's hand.
b: ooooohhhhh yeah, yeah....i love you as big as god's dinosaur hand!
:)
best game EVER!

lately i have had a lot of crazy big projects...and felt a bit like i am going under.

it is all i can do to save face and just hold it together.

so i have decided to just take a moment, and laugh about it.

but i promise i will be back (in full blog force) very very soon! :)

football season

yeah...not really a subject you think i would blog about, eh? but i've been reflecting a lot lately about how my life seems to be flying by...and what better way to put my thoughts into words than with a little seasonally appropriate football anecdote?

in my teens...i cheered/danced from the sidelines.

i wore school colors, pinned my "crush the cougars" (or whatever alliteration they had for the week's team) ribbon to my much too short skirt, and giggled at silly boys. my only worries were whether or not i knew the all the moves to our half time routine, if i had both pompoms, and how hard would that chemistry test be on monday morning?

in my early twenties...i hung in the grove.

parties began on thursday night and didn't end until the wee hours of sunday morning. i wore my cutest dress, high heels, and my steady frat boy's blue blazer when it was too chilly. we chanted hotty toddy, gossiped about the girls who stood while they smoked (gasp!), drank bourbon and cokes, and ate abner's chicken.

we were blissfully high on the fact we were "adults", and blissfully unaware we had no idea what that really meant.

in my late twenties...i was a newlywed.

saturdays were reserved for us (also newlyweds to the REAL working world), we soaked up the time together. we would snuggle on the couch and dine on big plates of clif's favorite foods i had made (okay, sometimes ordered in). and in between smooches and him yelling at the television, i would fall asleep in his lap.

occasionally we would go to the park with our "kids" and play a bit of football ourselves. we felt like seasoned veterans, but were just beginning.

now i am in my thirties...and even though i rarely sit through an entire game, i still love to have it on every television in the house. as i fold the clothes, rush to get ready for another birthday party, finish sewing a halloween costume, working on one of my volunteer projects, or sorting through a lesson plan...i still love those sounds.

the announcer calling fourth and ten, the roar of crowd when their team almost intercepts the ball, that crisp smack of the players pads, the band playing the time honored fight song.....and when you add to that clif hollering with all his heart, explaining to bauer why the ref is nuts, and vivian teaching frances to cheer for the rebel razorbacks. well, i do believe this is the best season yet...

cousins

i keep thinking about this weekend...

and how great it was to be with family, in the quiet peacefulness of our lake getaway. i also keep thinking about all the laughs and fun...although, these two boys might have had the most fun of all.

they skipped rocks (or rather threw them)...

and posed patiently for their sweet mother/aunt...

made adventures for themselves and for mr. beary...

and laughed...

and in the midst of it all, cousins became life long friends.

my own favorite childhood memories involve my cousins. big family gatherings with lots of food, lots of laughing, and lots of fun and games. not a lot of money, or technology, or fancy toys...just simple people loving each other and the time they had together.

i'm not sure when we will be able to getaway again, but for now....

the secret happiness i have from the wonderful memories made this weekend, will hold me over until next time....

treehouse for 12

that's a whole lotta folks, eh? what in the world are they up to....

they are headed here.

for this handsome guy.

and this pretty lady...because this year our patriarch and matriarch both turn 60! months ago su and i decided we would plan a little getaway...and we found this place.

a treehouse right on the lake. remote, gorgeous, big....perfect.

so we packed the cars and brought the oldest granddaughter,

the big boys,

and all...

three...

babies!!

we took lots of hikes, ate, played games, ate, laughed, had a few mini photo sessions, ate, and made lots of memories.

even mia had a good time.

happy happy 60 to our gege and pawpaw.

we can't wait to see what the next decade will bring.