yea!!

passed Nevada state constitution test.

three tests down, PRAXIS to go.

this moment brought to you by

Naartjie and ebay

Rhys occupies himself

as I get my teeth cleaned.

Empty oatmeal bowls

By Rhys

The Band

headaches and words

i have a headache. ick. i've been getting more of them lately and i don't like it. the end.

and words...periodically, jaye reminds me to add words to my pictures. i totally know what she means and i have said the same thing in my head to other friends who have picture blogs - TELL ME MORE TELL ME MORE, i say. but sometimes it's just having time to get the picture up and not having time to tell you all about the various things that are happening in the pictures.

the picture below is of rhys' painting. he told me he was making it for me. when rob got home, he told rob it was instead for him to take to work so that he would be able to remember rhys while he was at work. i guess that means i have to give it up. dadgum.

i've been scanning and scanning pictures - i think i'm pretty much done - and attempting to approximate dates on the pictures in an effort to help rob out with the photo montage dvd that rob is going to make for his mom's memorial service in a few weeks. it's such a weird thing. i can go along scanning and not really focusing on stuff, then, suddenly, WHAM! i realize that Pat isn't going to be with us and in the pictures anymore. it's a sucky realization.

i am taking the nevada constitution test on thursday. i need to call sylvan so that i can take the PRAXIS on saturday. i can't begin to tell you how badly i have done on multiple choice tests in the past. to say i have sucked is really an understatement. so, i'm freaking out about it. studying for each one and just hoping i pass. the PRAXIS is a test that is similar to the CBEST except i think there may be fewer sections and you have to pass the whole damned thing in one go, whereas w/the CBEST, you can retake sections that you don't pass...joy joy.

the headache isn't getting any better...i'm off to pop some advil.

Painting by Rhys

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARA! and small world!

Ack! it's the end of the day, but i wanted to wish Dame Dara of the Endless Knot a very very happy birthday. You can see her here and wish her a happy happy birthday.

Like Jaye, i've known Dara (online at least) for at least 6 years - maybe 7 (they are on the same yahoo quilting group i'm on). i have yet to meet her in person, but someday it'll happen *smile*

tonight we were chatting and she asked me if i'd seen The Waitress. I said no, but that i know the song in it b/c the Irene's best friend sings it with her Grampa.

"what's that?" asks Dame Dara. "does she sing it on his blog? b/c i just commented on a blog where it's the grandfather singing with his granddaughter."

turns out, it is indeed the very same - it is Karl and Rose.

and when i talk a bit more to her, she realizes that she's heard me talk about them before - knows Curtis is the photographer and knows that Tanya and her family are one of the several great good friends that were part of my "tribe" as another friend calls it. dadgum, do i miss them.

but back to small world - isn't that cool?

Nancy & Kristen - 1988

this is a picture from my senior year of high school. nancy was one of my best friends. she's living back in the bay area again and at SOME point the stars and planets will align and we'll get to see each other again! she's got two kids as well - hers are 2 years younger than each of mine (i think that's right).

Mama & ReneBean

At Black Rock

Apparently he was tired

it's the little things...

today at brownies, i was talking about a program offered by our council called "Jump to Juniors" b/c in August, we're going to be bridging to Juniors. one of my girls asked the following "Miss Kristen, when we become Juniors, will you still be our leader?" and i said, yes, i'd still be the leader and we'd still be our same troop number. the response from the 9 girls who were there?
"YEA!!!" and my heart went pitter pat. some days i feel like i'm not terribly effective as the leader. it's hard b/c i've not got a lot of parental support - i *do* however, have an INCREDIBLE cookie mom!!! YEA COOKIE MOMS!!! but it's hard for me when i don't have someone to bounce ideas around with (there was just no easy way to end that sentence w/o a preposition). i'm *that* kind of person. i do best when i'm in a group where we can bounce the ideas back and forth and figure out who is best at whichever task. ah well. i'm just so pleased that the girls are happy with me and happy that i'll be their leader again next year.

Mama & Rhys

at great basin last night

Happy Birthday, Jake and Jaye

Today is my sweet newphew Jake's birthday - he is....HOLY CAMOLY! he's SEVEN!!!! crazy. i remember his birth - i was lucky enough to be there in the room. there really is nothing more special and i don't know that i have been more honored than to have been in the room when jake was born as well as when karly was born. I am as stunned that he's 7 as i am that irene is 8. it truly goes quickly.

Today is also Jaye's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAYE!!!! i met jaye on a fabulous quilting yahoogroup about 7 years ago - maybe w little more than that now - i met her when lydia told me i had to join the group - all the cool people were doing it *heh heh* it turned out that jaye actually lived within 100 miles of where *I* lived, so we've gotten to meet a handful of times. of course, i have since moved, so i'm now closer to 300 miles away from her, but we managed to meet up last year. i wish we could get together more often. she has an amazing son - irene and i got to visit with him as well last year when we met up. anyway, you should check out her website b/c it's got lovely bright colors and she always has creatively inspiring tidibits. check out her flowering snowballs and her pineapples and her thoughts on dots! maybe even leave a comment and wish her a happy birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAKE!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAYE!!!

Rhys

With a pumpkin chocolate chip pancake face and his fabulous playmobil
plane and accessories.

What more could a 4 1/2 year old want??

friends are here!!! Yea!!!

so of course Rhys, who has been healthy for at least a month, has a fever.

Blurg

Poor "Cleee"

Has anyone read the Olivia books? the ones by Ian Falconer? In the very first one, there's a bit about the cat "In the morning, after she gets up, and moves the cat, and brushes her teeth, and combs her ears, and moves the cat," it's all i can think of when Rhys picks up the cat. it's pretty funny. not so sure how happy it makes cleo - or "Clee" as rhys is sometimes calling her now -- b/c you know, Cleo isn't quite short enough ;)

(i hope the link works on the text works - it should take you to page 8 of the book)

Mama hanging upside down

on the bars - and see the special purple stuff? that's to help me stick to the bars so i don't fall down. what a nice boy making sure i don't fall down - giving me the special purple stuff on my shoes and my hand *beam*

Glasses on the nightstand

Rhys' nightstand right now as I've just gotten him to sleep. He put
them there for me b/c that's where I usually put them when I take them
off. Rhys was very pleased to set them there even though I was
closer. Cute boy-o

Irene at 3 1/2 at Papermill

i love this picture of irene - it was taken in point reyes station at Papermill Creek Children's Corner - where I worked. it's a picture that really captures her spirit, joy, and fun. she's got on pink rain boots in the picture and even though it's march, she's got on her red christmas pants. MAN do i love that girlie of mine!

In Point Reyes Station

Cool Goddess bead Ix-Chel

isn't this a cool bead? i got her from a wonderful artist from Ripon while we were in lodi. you can find her on etsy here and she's wendyki on ebay as well. she's doing her best to be able to stay at home with her 2 year old. i love the goddess she gave me - her name is Ix-Chel.

i love this part: "This was a woman who, when faced with adversity, took charge of her life and turned it around!" not a bad goddess to have around. i don't need fertility help in the having more babies sense, but in the sense of creativity, absolutely! it's always a good thing.

At Buzz thru Joe's

Looking at the Star Wars book

it's hard to tell, but this is Irene, Rhys, and Auntie Debbie on the couch. Rhys is showing Auntie Debbie his Star Wars book and they went through every.single.page! what a good auntie :)

Gramps and Irene build a fire

Gotta get a picture in today

De Haan boys

the picture is dark but it's of Gramps, Rhys, and Rob. we went out to dinner at a local restaurant - can't remember the name.

Hard at work

Learning to knit

Groovy, eh?

Lego fun

Rhys wearing Tony's helmet

Some heavy trees

16 miles east of colfax

A very happy boy!!!

Thanks auntie Jesse and uncle jeremy! Rhys has all of his new action
figures on his night stand

Special poncho made by Auntie Jesse

She loves it so much that she even wore it to bed!!

She loves the books too

Thanks Auntie Jesse

Rhys plays with General Gwievous (sic)

snow fun on youtube

irene sleds:


rhys sleds:


and the very best one:


rhys wasn't hurt in that last one - in fact, they were laughing so hard that they decided to try it again!! oh my DOG but we did have fun!

we're off to lodi/tracy tomorrow and will be gone for a week or so. i'll try to send pix since lydia has talked me into this blog 365 thingy *beam*

another reason i am so completely in love with my husband

i do enjoy football - especially during the playoffs and superbowl (good thing, since there have been years when opening day is on my birthday)...but today, rob was quite excited that the first game was on fox - this meant that we could watch it in HD...so he turned on our TV and what's on pbs (another HD station)? Crowded House on Austin City Limits. It had just started - and we're very much enjoying it. They're doing a lot of the new songs as well as a few old songs. Neil's son is playing with them too. fun to see him playing with them (i believe it was Liam playing with them). when we saw the Finn Brothers at the Filmore (what an amazing concert that was!) in 1996 (i think that's right), the whole family was in one of the boxes - Liam must've been 12? and Elroy was 6 or 7.

*ahhhhhh love*

Wee Rhys across the street

The body

Packing it down

Nana & Rhys rolling the bottom ball

Jalen and Luong

First runs down the hill

Cooperative snowman

Making bottom of snowman

Little snow elf

The morning view

Rhys' digger is about covered

Pond De Haan take 2

Big flakey snow

Pond De Haan

it's very rainy and windy and stormy and gray here today. it was hugely windy yesterday also when we did the christmas tree recycling from 9 - 1:30. at the end of the day i felt as if i'd been in the ocean for that amount of time (you know the feeling you get after being in the ocean with the waves? yeah, that kind of feeling).

if it weren't so stormy etc, we'd be to lodi today or tomorrow, but to say it's not safe right now would be an understatement in the extreme. so we will go as soon as the weather is safe. if we HAVE TO MUST get there before it is safe to go through the sierras, i've found out about another way to get there. irene will likely miss some school, but that's okay. i've got someone to cover the cookie rally, so that's good. eek! just remembered i need to call her!! ::goes to call co-leader:: okay - i'm back - i've left a message.

sorry this is brief. i'll try to fill in some of the pictures with some words...back later...maybe.

Irene and Katie posing for the camera

after the christmas tree recycling, irene and katie wanted to have a playdate, so i just brought her from the recycling cite home. the girls had great fun dressing up and playing fairies and fixing the fairy house (which is probably now very soggy...)

Train set with playmobils

This is the rockin' cool train set that rhys got from grammie and gramps. the trees in the middle are part of a set of playmobils that rhys got. hmmm...i don't think i have a picture of the truly fabulous playmobil plane rhys got as well. we do like playmobil in this house!

She allllllmost made it to midnight

11:30

New Year's Eve

Dinner at Black Rock