Embracing my inner NERD

We had a theme dinner the other night . . . we've had them before . . . but none that made us laugh so hard. A few months ago, we watched the movie Nacho Libre for the first time. And then we died laughing. There is just something about that movie that gets me laughing every time I think about it. If you don't like it, I don't think we can be friends. {I'm serious}

Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, there's this one part where they make character salads for the orphans. So we started out our dinner that way. Sam's salad had a caterpiller on it, and Benjamin and Nicholas had happy face salads. Then we had nachos for the main dish {duh}. And for dessert, we had these in honor of all the corn on a stick munching in the show.

I looked around, but I couldn't find any ski masks, it being summer and all. If I had found some, we were going to decorate our own wrestling masks. See, the title of this post says it all - Embracing my inner nerd.

We spent the entire dinner quoting the movies. I'll leave you with some of our favorites . . .

Chancho. When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun.

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They think I do not know a buttload of crap about the Gospel, but I do!

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Well, my favorite color is light tan. My favourite animal is puppies. I like serving the lord. Hiking, play volleyball...
You gotta be kidding me. Everything you just said, is MY favourite thing to do, every day!

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What is this?
Leftovers. Enjoy.
There is no flavor. There are no spices. Where are the chips?
Somebody stole them.
Did you not tell them that they were the Lord's chips?
I was trying to!
You are useless Ignacio!
Silence brothers! This is the worst lunch I ever had.
Your only job is to cook. Do you not realize I have had diarrhea since Easters?
Ok... Maybe I am not meant for these duties. Cooking duty. Dead guy duty. Maybe it's time for me to get a better duty!

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Summon your eagle powers.
What do you think I'm doing?
[Losing badly, about to take a big hit] Eagle powers... come to me! Please!

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Those eggs were a lie, Esqueleto. A LIE! They give me no eagle powers! The give me no nutrients!
Sorry.
I don't want to get paid to lose. I wanna win!

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I am a-singing at the party / I am singing it's my turn to sing at this party / Everyone is dancing, happy party / But Ramses is not dancing he does not dance at the parties / Ramses' number one he knows the secret of desire / Ramses is the one, he puts the people all on fire

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Where are your robes, Ignacio?
They were... stinky. These are my recreational clothes.
They look expensive.
Thank you. I mean... they might have the appearance of riches, but beneath the clothes, we find a man... and beneath the man we find... his... nucleus.
Nucleus?

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I hate orphans!
Say it to my face!
I hate them!
Come again?
I hate all the orphans in the WHOLE WORLD!

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Hug hug, kiss kiss, hug hug, big kiss, little hug, kiss kiss, little kiss.

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Back to School . . .

I join with a million other moms this morning and post about the inevitable end of summer. We're pros at back to school - this is our fifth year of the first day of school. This morning we just fell back into old routines. Tag were ripped off new clothes. Shoes were tied for the first time. Hair was gelled and combed {for the last time if Sam has his way}. Pictures were suffered through.




If I'm honest, I've been looking forward to school. Things at home have gotten increasingly chaotic, and I'm tired of playing referee. I've been eagerly anticipating a quiet{er} house. So it came as quite a shock to me when, watching my third grader sing all the words to the National Anthem, I started to tear up. In that moment I saw Sam's life flash before my eyes and I saw him growing up faster then I was ready for. I suddenly longed to have one more day of summer vacation. One more day of my kids all to myself. One more day of having them safely tucked in our home. One more day to make sure they knew how much I loved them. One more day to enjoy the miracle that they are. And as I watched my big, brave first grader tell me that I could go, I felt envious of the boys' teachers. Envious that for the next nine months they will spend more time with my boys than I will. Envious that they will get to watch the boys grow and discover daily. And for the first time I saw homeschooling in a different light.

So to Sam and Benjamin -- may you have a wonderful year of school. May you conquer the mountains of learning that await you. May you be blessed with wonderful experiences. May your lives be enriched with new friendships. And may you always be eager to come home and share every second of it with me.

I {HEART} Michael Miller

*Disclaimer -- I show these photos, not to brag, but to reaffirm my love and utter devotion to all things Michael Miller. His fabric is so perfect that even I, Mrs. Can-only-sew-straight-lines, can make something look good.

Recipe for a fantastically cute baby blanket.
{1} Take some of this:

OR This


{2} Add a little of this:

OR this


{3} Top off with a bit of this:

OR This


And before you know it, you've created this!

AND THIS

Now do you believe in the magic of Michael Miller?

For Claudia

Here are my favorites from Chloe's backyard bubble extravaganza.

Eliana's Birthday

Eliana turned one last week. I can't believe that it's been a whole year since she joined our family. So in honor of her birthday, here are some fun facts about Eliana:

{1} She likes to talk in a whisper. She has a powerful set of lungs, but she saves those for special occasions . . .

{2} She can eat an entire hot dog in about a minute, and then wants more.

{3} She likes to play with cars, she even makes car noises as she plays with them. She does not like to play with dolls or My little pony toys because she does not like the hair. So, I've purchased as many pink cars as I can find.

{4} She knows how to fake cry. If she wants something one of the boys has, she will fake cry until she gets it and then she walks away happy.

{5} She loves books. She loves any kind of books. If she sees a book, she drops everything to sit down and read it. She has a stack of books in the car that she expects as soon as she is buckled in.

{6} She has a vague understanding of the word pretty. If we say pretty, she'll stroke her hair and smile. . . This has been a huge help in keeping bows in her hair. We just tell her they are pretty and she doesn't seem to mind.

{7} She's developing quite the vocabulary. Here are some words she can say:
*doggy
*bath
*blanket
*Benjamin
*book
*moo
*car
*up
*down
*no
*go
*diaper
*shoe
*phone

And here is one word she can't say - Mommy! {I suppose I shouldn't be surprised}

Here are some pictures of the family princess

{I had to include this one. This was her hair the morning after her birthday festivities. It is even more fabulous than her after bath hair!}