Have you heard????

Kyle has finally grown into his ears!

When he was a little boy, his ears were bigger than life. He was so cute. I even capitalized on them when he was 3 years old. I dressed him up for Halloween as the cutest little Dopey dwarf you've ever seen. (I need to find that photo and post it!) His cute little dwarfy face (I don't think that's a word???) Big blue eyes. Adorable dimples. Rosey red cheeks. AND those cute ears that stuck out!

My friend Ginger even thought he looked a bit like Alfred E. Newman from Mad Magazine, but I thought he looked more like a happy little Dopey.

NOTE: he is very smart, head-strong and independant - maybe a bit corney, but not really Dopey at all.... unless you count this afternoon when he was hopping in and out and around my office screeching & acting like a monkey - scratching his head and pretending to find and select "offerings" to give me....Corney? Yes. Dopey? Well, maybe a bit!

Now, that he is almost 18!!! yup, 18!!! his ears are pretty tiny comparatively. I actually commented on them a couple of weeks ago. We were standing in the kitchen and he had just recently gotten a haircut. His ears looked tiny!

So, yesterday, when I noticed (how could I NOT notice!) that his "ears" were huge, I had to grab the camera and snap a couple of shots. It reminded me of the Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood - "all the better to hear you with..."

The "ears" are actually the waste-piece that gets cut off a Smee foot. Yes, that is a foot that he is posing as the "Thinker" with.

Kyle, you have the best sense of humor!!! Mariska Hargitay, boy!!! I love you....and your ears!

UPDATE: Thanksgiving 2006 - After not having seen him for a few years, Ginger commented to me that Kyle no longer looked like Mr. Newman and had grown into quite a handsome young man.

It has to get worse before it gets better.....

So, here we are. A.J. and I disassembling the leaky, front porch enclosure. We found spiders, birds nests - complete with tons of bird droppings, it's amazing how much poo there was! - mud daubers nests, lots of moldy ceiling drywall and wet insulation AND for some reason there was an onion smell????

Tons of screws. Not just the little drywall screws either, but those darn 3" screws that take a ton of time to unscrew. Lucky for us, Kyle has a very strong magnet that made picking them up a breeze. Good thing, cause our hands were about to fall off after removing thousands of screws. But, I know the aches and pains will be worth it in the end.

A.J. will have a nice, new room (the last photo is of him "test laying" on the floor of his new space) AND we will have one less front door!!!

It's an exciting time. Progress. Hopes and dreams coming true....Yay!!!!

Rest In Peace #80.

So here is a picture of the cake and card I made for Judy's Birthday celebration - Judy is my Freeend from the Scrapbook store.

RECIPE: First, buy a piece of floral patterned paper from the scrapbook store. Then, make the carrot cake. Next, frost and decorate with cream cheese frosting. Finally, cut the flowers from the paper and make the card. Serves 1 birthday girl and 5 friends, plus leftovers for the hubby's and kids.

I used a "new" old #80 decorating tip that I've probably had since I bought my first large set of Wilton cake decorating tips in the late 80's. I've never used it, thus its new-old status. But, I have to say, I really liked the outcome of the petals. The tip was used for the base petals, then I used a tiny #1 tip for the over-piping.

There I was, happy to find something new. Pleased with its performance. Then I did it! In Tina-fashion, I took its little life away and ground it to smitherines in the garbage disposal! I always try to make sure when I'm washing them they don't fall into the deep, dark depths of the grinder, but somehow, even as careful as I am, one always loses its life!

Sorry little tip. You stood beside me all these years, moved so many times up and down the West Coast, just waiting to be discovered and have your chance. You did a great job. You worked hard....then GRRRRRIIIINNNDDDD......now you hardly look like a tip anymore.

Rest in Peace #80. You'll be missed......

...and the dish ran away with the spoon.

And the plate. And the fork. And the glass....

Ever get that feeling? Yes. If you're a mom, you know that feeling I'm talking about. The one where you just want to wring their necks!!! (Not really wring them, for real, but you know what I mean!????)

Well, that's how I felt last week.

For some reason, my cupboards were pretty empty. I'm not talking about the food cupboards. I'm talking about the dish cupboards; and not just the cupboards, but the silverware drawer too!

Everytime I'd empty the dishwasher or wash the dishes by hand - yes, sometimes I do that - sometimes I find it relaxing! I found myself wondering where all the dishes had gone. I know I had at least 8 dinner plates, 8 little plates, a ton of bowls - glass and melamine - and more than 4 glasses! AND, how come my silverware drawer looks like service for two?!!!

Well, I've been nagging, pleading, and grouching at the boys (remember, there are only two of them in the house now!) to make sure there are NO dishes in their rooms. "Yes, mommy dearest, I've brought up all the dishes from my room." "No, mommy, sweet mommy, there are no dishes in the downstairs living room." "Yes, MOMMY! No, MOMMY!" "Whatever you want to hear MOMMY!"

MOMMY, my ass! Yes, my ass! I said it! Mine!!! Stomping downstairs with the wire basket and plastic tote to dredge the depths of their rooms and the living room. Lookey! Lookey what I found. ALL these dishes!!!! All these dishes that my dear sweet little boys (NO, not so little any more) DIDN'T have in their domain!!! Wow, I wish.....yeah, there are those words again.....Oh Well.