eleven years together - june 14

After eleven years together we look so happy don't we?
The truth is that we are mostly happy, although we disagree regularly, argue viciously, and rarely manage to talk to each other. The fact is that we are both prideful, stubborn and selfish.
AND, we love each other. Despite all of that, there is love . We trudge on, through the muck and there is still love.
It seems like that has become our definition of happiness. A place where you can still come out loving each other, even though you've been shitty to each other.
So, we wish ourselves happily ever after...

bagel walk

Oh, how I love my chocolate chip bagel with peanut butter It' s a favorite comfort food of mine. I wanted to get an active outing in this morning with the kiddos.
And, I needed the comfort because Mike left for a four day trip and I'll be saying goodbye to Matt, Missy, Ethan and Andrea alone. So, it was a good start to this time alone.
It went from relaxing to challenging once we started to get rained on, but it was kinda fun too. An adventure for sure!

three!

happy birthday, Stewart!

now, to hang the art

After consecutive late nights and culminating in an all-nighter, the third floor space is finished. And, we are pleased! Most of the space is still lacking the "spring moss" colored trim.
Besides it being peaceful, the air is pleasant and not stuffy. We did several things like extra-thick drywall, extra-thick insulation, an attic fan and a portable AC unit to supplement the cool air we have pipped-in from the second floor.
Thanks Mike! Also, to Dave and Dad for putting in so much work at the end. Also, thanks to Kaori for learning how to paint so well, Nana Jan and Nana Karyl for grandchild watching and Amy for her bed-building abilities among other things! Now... to hang the art!

what we mean by finishing the attic

We are finishing our attic so we can have guests with us. We're on a deadline to finish it in the coming week and a half. If is further along than in this picture, but this is similar to what we started with. The space will be great and quite large when completed.
Mike and I painted the trim tonight so it will be ready after we get the floors put in. We have a lot of work ahead of us in these next weeks!

a robot plate, please.

I have been inspired by Marshall's drawings lately. He is a little creative genious!
So, I bought some thrift store dishes that seemed to be new restaurant dishes, and we found a kind of paint that is dishwasher/microwave safe and started drawing. We're coming out with some incredible robot and alien life designs.
Check out a breif article about an art show that my work was in. One of my peices is featured in the photograph. It's called "Shoefitti by the School" which was inspired by having children and thinking about school options for them. Oh, the creativity that children bring! http://nuvo.net/articles/save_the_buildings/

nigel loves onigiri

Tonight we ate tilapia and rice ball (onigiri).
The way it has been described to me, onigiri is the equivalent of the American sandwich. They have many options at convenient stores, including barbeque beef, tuna, chicken, seaweed, plum and even omlette.
Some rice ball have the ingredient in the inside and can be wrapped with seaweed (nori) and some have seaweed in the rice with one or two other flavors.
Here, Nigel enjoys a salmon rice ball.