. . . gray . . .

. . . remember when i used to sew a lot? . . .

. . . i took a little break . . .

. . . but ~ i do still love sewing . . .

{sometimes}

. . . and here's proof . . .

. . . latest request was for gray oops! . . .

{a color which ~ surprisingly ~ turns out to be not-so-readily available ribbon-wise}

. . . gray . . .

. . . so manly . . .

. . . stripes . . .

. . . masculine polka dots . . .

. . . right? . . .

. . . and ever-so-studly plaid . . .

{this one with green ric rac might just be my favorite}

. . . so . . .

. . . there you have it . . .

. . . gray . . .

. . . or is it grEy . . .

. . . i never know . . .

. . . they're available in the "shop" . . .

{"shop" is what all the fancy people with etsy sites say}

{i'm not fancy}

{i don't have an etsy site}

{just email me}

{or call}

. . . jessipoo . . .

. . . that's the nickname amanda gave her early on . . .

. . . and today's her twenty-first birthday . . .

. . . she's probably celebrating

by doing her homework . . .

. . . drinking hot chocolate . . .

. . . and trying to stay warm . . .

. . . it's pretty hard to find a picture of just jessalyn . . .

. . . because ever since i've known her . . .

. . . drew's right there with her . . .

. . . just as it should be . . .

. . . she makes my son really happy . . .

. . . and so ~ she's my favorite daughter-in-law . . .

. . . and always will be . . .

. . . happy birthday, jess! . . .

. . . pencil this in . . .

. . . well ~ i just checked the mail . . .

. . . and for those of you in the market . . .

. . . starting on the fourth of february . . .

. . . old navy's selling kids and babies . . .

{can they really do that?}

. . . apparently . . .

. . . some of 'em are only five bucks . . .

. . . i'll take the little girl on the right . . .

. . . gotta love a tambourine player . . .

{looks like you can buy their clothes, too}

. . . sounds like a pretty good deal to me . . .

. . . rock on . . .

. . . *in the "bleak" midwinter . . .

. . . just kidding . . .

. . . today's weather

could not

have been more perfect . . .

. . . and good thing . . .

. . . because i spent eight hours

out in its gloriousness . . .

. . . i was grounded today . . .

. . . kind of self-imposed grounding . . .

. . . but grounding nonetheless . . .

. . . i was carless . . .

. . . tangent: does your bishop pick up your car

in the morning

and deliver it back to you

at the end of the day . . .

. . . with a new stereo system installed? . . .

. . . mine does . . .

. . . thanks, bishop! . . .

{so that's what cds sound like when they don't skip every two seconds ~ awesome!}

. . . anyway . . .

. . . neglecting one's yard

for a couple of months

will get you this . . .

{except for that one pom pom i'd already pruned.

good grief.

you'd think i'd never blogged before!}

. . . it'll get you hairy topiaries . . .

. . . stray clumps of rye grass . . .

. . . fallen leaves . . .

. . . and geraniums

in desperate need of deadheading . . .

. . . eight hours later, though . . .

{and what feels like the equivalent of 2000 squats}

. . . hello civilization! . . .

. . . goodbye h.o.a. threats . . .

. . . just kidding again . . .

. . . we don't have an h.o.a. . . .

. . . but if we did,

they'd be a lot happier

with me now . . .

. . . i came thisclose to completely filling

the green barrel . . .

. . . and managed to sustain only one injury . . .

{there's a blister under all that dirt}

. . . next up ~~ a manicure ~~ tomorrow . . .

. . . after i hang out with brad tonight . . .

{*title of one of my all-time favorite tracks by james taylor}

. . . honeysuckle . . .

. . . good call pantone people . . .

. . . good call . . .

{because i love any color as long as it's pink!}

{or red ~ right, peg?}

. . . what's my sign? . . .

. . . not that i ever check

{or put a lot/any stock in}

my daily horoscope . . .

. . . but i overheard on the news last night . . .

. . . they've changed the astrological chart . . .

. . . going so far as to include an additional sign . . .

. . . i've always been a virgo . . .

. . . but when i checked the new chart . . .

. . . with a birthday of september 16th . . .

. . . you can imagine my confusion . . .

. . . am i a leo? . . .

. . . am i a virgo? . . .

. . . clearly . . .

. . . i am now a lego . . .

. . . i'm just glad i'm not an ophiucus . . .

. . . how do you SAY that anyway? . . .

. . . xoxoxoxoxoxo . . .

. . . it's . . .

. . . called . . .

. . . subway . . .

. . . art . . .

. . . i see it everywhere these days . . .

. . . the sisters at eighteen25

created this one . . .

. . . and it's free . . .

. . . FREE! i say! . . .

. . . download here . . .

{choice of two colorways}

. . . print here . . .

{16x20 ~ $5.99}

. . . paparazzi . . .

. . . yes . . .

. . . we occasionally babysit our grandkids . . .

. . . it's no free ride, though . . .

. . . we make 'em work . . .

. . . only to learn that

our breaking of child labor laws . . .

. . . has unbeknownst to us been documented . . .

. . . by a stalker ~ clearly hiding

behind the neighbors' tree . . .

{edit: not behind the tree. even further away ~ from their piano room!}

. . . even the part where

elliott was left alone to finish up . . .

{thank you, stalker, for sharing the cd of these photos!}

. . . posies . . .

. . . sometimes i get the urge to make stuff . . .

. . . so i just try to figure it out . . .

. . . trial and error . . .

. . . make it up as i go . . .

. . . back to the drawing board . . .

. . . and sometimes the stuff turns out pretty good . . .

. . . these little numbers were whipped up

for some family members . . .

. . . and trust me ~ when you wear one . . .

. . . it's definitely a party on your chest . . .

. . . i'm calling them phlowersfromsteph . . .

{wait till you see the cheetah print!}

. . . empty . . .

. . . another year . . .

. . . a wedding . . .

{drew & jessalyn}

. . . a new home . . .

{amelia & tyler}

. . . moving out . . .

. . . together one last time . . .

. . . packing up . . .

. . . combining assets . . .

{in the form of spare change}

. . . hitting the road . . .

. . . an early morning goodbye . . .

. . . it's been thirty years . . .

. . . three months . . .

. . . and two days . . .

. . . since we started the journey of parenthood . . .

. . . and on the first day of twenty eleven . . .

. . . our nest is . . .

. . . empty . . .