Jul 17, 2011 | Friends & Fun, Uncategorized |
The family and I went canoeing this afternoon. I’d like to say I was helpful in putting the canoe on the van, but in reality I just stood there eating my raspberry popcicle while making helpful comments as to how it should be done.
The first ones to brave the waters were the parentals.
After we waved them off, the twins and I went for a walk in the woods. Aaron hopped onto a large rock to better see the lake, and I suddenly had a vision of Christopher Columbus viewing the New World. So I took a picture of him because that’s totally what Christopher Columbus’ traveling partners did. Elizabeth wanted to get in on the action, and even threw in a little leg kick to make things more exciting.
After the parentals returned, it was our turn to climb into the canoe.
As is evident, I was put in the middle of the boat and not given an oar (or “stick” as someone called it). Lest you think I am bad at rowing, I assure you I am not. (Sometimes I do have technical difficulties, but they’re usually minor.) Elizabeth wanted to row so she would “get more excersiced”, and Aaron wanted to row just because he wanted to row, which left me as the lucky individual who sat in the middle with nothing to do but take pictures and try to boss people around. Last time we went canoeing I was Aaron’s boss and he wasn’t a huge fan. I sat in the back of the boat which made me the captain and Aaron the reluctant mate. He didn’t like that I was in charge and telling him which side to row on but after all, I have more driving experience then he does so I naturally would be better at steering us. Expect for when we almost sailed into the dead beaver, this went surprisingly well.
The view in front of me looked like this:
And like this behind me:
We did run into a few shrubs and branches, but Elizabeth did well as captain.
I decided to be A & E’s personal radio, so I asked if they’d like to hear a classical, Christian, or country song. I even gave them a little preview of a classical song so they’d know what they were getting themselves into. Elizabeth chose country, so I serenaded them with a selection of Brad (Paisley), Josh (Turner), and Carrie (Underwood) songs. I even threw in a few Josh Groban and Elvis Presley songs just for good measure.
It was in the middle of singing Fur Elise (the Sarah radio was in Classical mode) that we had a small issue with this rock. (I felt the occasion called for a song change, so I sang “oops, I did it again.” I think it was very appropriate.)
And it was during Honey Bee that Elizabeth stood up because she wanted to turn our canoe into a gondola so she could be the gondolier. Except she kept saying, “I’m in a chandelier” and Aaron and I had no idea what in the world she was saying. “You know! You’ve been in one! A chandelier!” We will be having a lesson on correct word usage in the near future.
Our final song for the day -a grand finale of sorts- was It’s an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow* polka-dot bikini. Everybody knows that’s a canoeing song.
*we said ‘purple’ because we feel it fits better
And so our great sailing adventure came to an end. No one fell in, no one drowned, and no one was left behind. It was an all-around success.
Jun 28, 2011 | Friends & Fun, Uncategorized |
Please answer the following questions even if they make you feel slightly uncomfortable and awkward. This is all in the name of future generations and posterity.
Since we last talked, you have amassed even more nicknames. Of the following, which do you think describes you best?
Squiddzen
Squiddlebutt
Squiddz
Squiddzy
Betty Boop
Betty Lou
Malena
Squiddzy
Why’s that?
‘Cause it’s spi-cay.
Which is the least appropriate?
Malena. I have never been called that in my life. It obviously was not meant for me.
I’ve heard you have strong feelings about the name Betty Boop. Do you have any comments?
It makes my blood boil. Notice the alliteration? Betty Boop makes my blood boil.
(We have to pause the interview because the interviewee just ran outside to look for the neighbors dog. I get the feeling she’s not taking this very seriously.)
Why did you just leave in the middle of our interview? You’re interviewing skills are slightly lacking.
Because I saw Chief!!!!!!
But don’t you remember that this is for posterity?
I know, Sarah! big grin Well, laughter is the best medicine and if posterity wants to have me, I need to go out and laugh with Chief.
How are you enjoying your stay with your (most favorite) sister?
I already answered that question!
No, you didn’t. I didn’t ask that question yet.
It’s been miraculous and life-changing!
Would you care to elaborate?
Because I never stood on a bureau before and flipped onto a bed.
WHAT!?!?!
That was life changing!
Could you share any thoughts on your favorite brother-in-law?
My favorite brother in law? He’s big. And strong! And he says, ‘bay-bee.’
(She is now laying on the floor waving her feet in the air while talking with a very weird accent.)
Tell us about the drive up here.
There was a lot of music of questionable nature. The driving was not too safe. But there was gum, so it was good.
Do you have any expectations about your stay at our lovely abode?
My expectations are set very high. Very, very high. I have yet to experience the jacuzzi and the wine, but I’m hoping my excellent behavior will get me to that point.
You do realize that we don’t have a jacuzzi here, right?
Yeap. But I’m expecting you to get one.
(I was just informed that the waving of her feet in the air and getting herself stuck in the stool is called Erratic Acrobatics-Be Moved.)
What do you see yourself doing in five years?
That’s a weighty question. Saving the world by supper time.
I think the Powerpuff Girls already saved the world by supper time
Oh, then I am going to develop an unsend button for emails and text messages to save innumerable rocky relationships.
Do you have any other lofty goals for your life?
I am going to invent the hoodie-footie that has rainboots attached so you can go out in the rain in it.
Christopher and I might go puddle jumping next time it rains.
Oh really? Then you can use my hoodie-footie! Wait, five years? How old will that make me? 30? 40?
Do you remember that you’re only 17?
Now I do. Why do you have so many doors in your house?
Who is the interviewer here?
I’m wondering why you have so many doors!
Because we have a lot of doorways that need doors.
Because what goes in must go out?
Moving on. What is the best movie or tv show you’ve seen recently?
Ice Road Truckers. Oh my gosh, that is so intense. This one time, they went down the road and it was NOT EVEN SLIPPERY and they slipped. And then they said, “bleep,bleep,bleep”.
Is there a lot of bleeping on that show?
Very much bleeping.
Do you ever CRY during movies?
Always. I get very emotionally attached.
What type of movie really gets the waterworks going?
The kind of movie that plays music. And the kind where the dog runs across the field from one side and the boy runs across from the other side and they meet in the middle. That always gets me going. Also America’s Funniest Home Videos.
Why does AFHV make you cry? Aren’t you supposed to laugh at that show?
It’s just heart-wrenching when everyone gets hurt.
It is indeed.
Maybe that’s what I’ll do in my next five years.
What?
Put all the guys pants back on that get pulled off by dogs in AFHV. WHY are the people in the nude always the people you don’t want to see in the nude?
Would you rather be a picture frame or a clock?
Picture frame. So I could square my shoulders.
Would you rather be a Windows computer or a Mac?
Apple. No! Windows! No! I don’t know!
You might not be my sister if you pick Apple.
Ok, then I pick Windows because when God closes a Mac He opens a Window!
That leads very nicely into our next question. What type of advice would you give Andrew’s new baby if she was born today?
Never type in the dark because bad things happens. What comes out can be very awkward.
Hard work never killed anybody, but why take the chance?
Never grow up to be like Nancy Pelosi.
What do you think her name will be?
Addy.
Really?
Well, that’s what I named her.
I think it might be Andrea.
Really? Love the name Andrea! Why do you think that?
Because Andrew has said for years and years that he likes that name. What type of uncle do you think Aaron will be?
Um. The silent type.
Is there anything else you’d like to put out there for posterity before we conclude this interview. Any parting words? Anything you’d like to be remembered for?
Doing sing-alongs in the car bonds people faster than peanut butter and jelly bonds a sandwich.
And there we have it- Squiddzen’s/Squiddlebutt’s/Betty Boop’s/Squiddzy’s words for posterity.
May 23, 2011 | Friends & Fun, Uncategorized |
Yesterday we had a party for the twins birthday. Seeing how they were 7 just a few weeks ago, this birthday came way too fast.
To help celebrate the big 1-7, a bunch of their friends came over after church.
Hannah and Willigers were in attendance, OF COURSE.
No party is complete unless the honorary family members are around.
Hannah Banana(not to be confused with Hannah from Savannah pictured above), Courtney, Nikki and Kelsey came too. I love them and was very excited they were there because I hadn’t seen them since August. I’ve always liked Nikki, but when she started telling me all the plans she has for Kelsey’s romantic future, I was so happy because it’s not often I meet someone else who’s so intent on matchmaking. (Kelsey kept denying that she likes a certain young man, but it was quite obvious that she really does like him because she kept blushing. Blushing is Sign #1 that love is quite possibly in the air.)
I attempted to decorate a cake in under five minutes which produced rather sad results. I am indebted to the can of Cool Whip for saving the day and making the crowd happy after it was cut up.
Don’t they look SO HAPPY to share a birthday?! Look at the LOVE in those faces! You can almost FEEL the joy!
May 22, 2011 | Friends & Fun, It's all relative |
Look who came to visit me today!!
They are so cute.
Molly found some (washable) markers at Nick’s and decided that paper really was too boring to color on. I’m so glad I saw Molly because my Molly o’meter was running very low and I needed a little LOUD in my life.
We discovered a nest with three baby birds in the glider swing Grandpa made for Grandma years ago. Molly named the first Katie, the second Kate, and probably would have named the third Katelynn if she hadn’t gotten distracted by the trampoline and the jumping opportunities she was missing.
What fascinates me about this pictures is the bird seems to have eye lashes. I had no idea that was possible!
Daniel and Erika came to visit too!
I am a huge fan of all my people, big and small.
Jan 28, 2011 | Friends & Fun, Uncategorized |
This morning I took Elizabeth to have her wisdom teeth out. Here she is before the big extraction.
She remained calm on the car ride there until she started reading the paper the dentist had given her last time. I assured her that she didn’t have anything to worry about and the worst part was the waiting. I backed up my statement by showing her the spot on the paper that said “you don’t have anything to worry about and the worst part is the waiting”.
Thankfully she was wearing her lucky shoes.
We had to wait in the waiting room for over half an hour which did little to nothing to help Elizabeth’s nerves, but during our perusal of a magazine we found a very flattering picture of Tim McGraw that brightened her up considerably.{It didn’t do me any harm either.}
Eventually they called her name and we moved to the Teeth Removal Room. The nurse stuck all manner to things in and on Elizabeth then left us to ourselves for a good 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes were full of Elizabeth moaning and groaning about how “I’m not going to survive this and if I die, Hannah can have the pen she wants and Christopher can have the little red box JZ brought me from China and would you please have bubbles at my funeral?” I comforted her by doing things along the lines of telling what her current heart rate was, taking pictures, getting up to fix her pants then trying to sit down on a chair that apparently had wheels which I didn’t know about until the chair shot across the room, asking what she was going to leave me if she died and laughing because she was being so over-dramatic. I obviously have a wonderful bedside manner.
All her wisdom teeth were removed without issue and when I went to see her in the recovery room, she looked at me with a dazed look and said, “you have NO idea the number of noses you have. You have A LOT of earrings on and I think I see TWO of you. You have A LOT of noses.”
On the way home Enrique and I serenaded her by singing “Hero” {we were especially good at the “I can be your hero, baaaaaaa-bay” part} but she missed most of the performance because she feel asleep. My latest and greatest method of cheering her up is texting her little known {and probably completely false because I made them up} facts like “giraffes tongues are almost the same length as their tails”, “dolphins sing lullabies to the babies every night”, and “the average porcupine has 312 quills”.
Like I said, I have a wonderful bedside manner.
Oct 28, 2010 | Friends & Fun, Uncategorized, What's going on |
Meet Elizabeth’s pumpkin.
He’s Lil’ Dude, the wanna-be gansta.
He’s rockin’ the green thumbtack nose and cardboard shoes look. Lil’ Dude’s wants us to spread the word that he’s looking around for a high-quality pumpkin gang to join.
{I can’t believe I just spoke for a pumpkin. Clearly I need to find SOMETHING a little more productive to do with myself and my time.}
***
In other news, our house is going to be bursting at the seams with visitors this weekend. The visitors, who may or may not overlap, are as follows:
Christopher
Grandma and Grandpa from Florida
Daniel and Erika
Marissa
Hannah, Willie & Co.
Nicholas {he never misses an opportunity to not-so-coincidentally come over when we have company}
Jimmy, Debbie & Alyssa {or some combination thereof}
Carol, Brian, Zachary and Molly
It’s going to be a BIG social weekend for us but like I always say, the more the merrier {especially if it involves food}.
