15 - Love

Yesterday was a perfect day for a game of tennis.  And just our luck, Lucas had his very first tennis tournament!   He has been taking after school classes through the school and I love that he has found a new sport.

I was so proud of him.  His first two matches were against 8th graders who were literally as tall as Aaron.  He looked so little out there, but he held his own. 

His serves were great.  They had to give an overhand serve first and if it didn't go in, they could go underhand.  He got his overhand serves in 3/4 of the time!

My favorite pic, of course

He was very tentative in his returns and didn't have any follow through so we have something to work on this summer.  

The day was beautiful and the weather could not have been nicer. 

Just other Lucas tidbits...

Last week he came home from school and the first thing he said to me was, "Mom, I am so glad you are home when I get home.  I usually need to talk and I'm happy you're here."  And then he preceded to tell me about his day.  The good, bad and the ugly.

Ok, if that is not a endorsement for my job, I don't know what is.  I am so glad I am able to be here, for Aaron who supports me in my role and our two boys who are such amazing blessings. 

Last week Lucas really needed someone to talk to because he had quite the day at middle school.  There has been this girl, Sarah.  And she is not shy about her love for Lucas.  She is constantly sending her friends over to talk to him and secreting candy into his pocket.  Well, in science they had a project where they created their own species of plant and made up facts about their discovery.  They then presented their project on front of the class. 

On this particular day, Sarah presented her "Lukey-Bookey" flower in front of the class.  (I don't remember what the name really was but it literally was Lukey-Something that Rhymes with Lukey)  and then she proceeds to say it was discovered by Lucas and Sarah Williams.  Apparently the enitre class was on-the-floor laughing, even the teacher.  Lucas was a great sport and laughed right along with everyone, even though his face got bright red. 

He said he was not going back to school the next day, but I told him he just better get used it.  He's a Williams Man and they have to deal with those kinds of problems all their lives.  :)

I'm looking forward to having this kid full time again.  School doesn't end until June 14th.  He's challenged me to a game of tennis, so that gives me 2 weeks to get my game on. Wish me luck.

The Adventures of Queen Mamacita & Sir Cowboy

Queen Mamacita and Sir Cowboy are just the latest Jonah-given aliases for this crazy duo. They've also been known as Star Scream and Megatron, Sir and Captain, and last but not least Momma-Girl and Jonah-Baby.

Their days are filled with trips to the library puppet show or playgroups at the park, sword fights in the backyard or battles with figures, cuddling up to read books or to watch "Wonder Pets." And his newest love is singing crazy cubscout songs Queen Mamacita learns at pack meetings.  Plus other classics like this jonah favorite...

Mamacita has her little shadow all day long and tries her best to keep Sir Cowboy busy and occupied. Some days are better than others.

Here they are trying out a new paint color for the playroom.  Sir Cowboy got his own paintbrush and went to town.  All went exceptionally well until Mamacita cleaned everything up but forgot a very important cup of paint and brush.  How in the world does that happen?!  She came back to a playroom, toys and Sir Cowboy covered in his art work.  Oops.

This kid loves his paint and works diligently to get every surface covered.

Including himself.

Pinterest has gotten a hold of Mamacita and she has tried to get "creative" in a few of their activities as of late.

Sir loved "cooking" for over an hour and got a kick out of being in charge of his concoction.

Other Pinterest ideas have not gone over as planned.

We did this one a few weeks ago.  Great way to practice letters and numbers using velcro craft sticks, right?  About 30 seconds in, Jonah wanted to make one giant "J-for Jonah."  After that, he wouldn't let me touch it and therefore they've been that way ever since.  Nothing else could be created since the "J" will not be disassembled.

Picture via HERE

But we also did this one.. (I never got a picture)

Picture via HERE

Colored drops of vinegar on baking soda makes a great bubbly reaction.  Well, the dropper lasted about 60 seconds before he was just dumping the bowls of colors into the baking soda.  We went through 5 pans of baking soda and a whole bottle of vinegar before I had to call it.  Luckily both vinegar and baking soda are cheap because I know he would love to do this again.

Like I said, he loves to paint, but sometimes he gets a little too hands on.

Our latest is this contact paper-art-glitter-window thing.  Just a bunch of crazy mess stuck in between two sheets of contact paper.  He loved the glitter especially and took all of 20 minutes of the project.  That's a long time for this ever-moving, energy-out-his-ears boy of mine.

I'm not the greatest at making projects and other fun activities for the kid, but I am working on it.  His imagination is taking off, displayed in the characters he creates for us, and I love it.  I'll be Queen Mamacita any day.

Uncle Rico's 24 Piece Set

Jonah just put himself down for a nap 2 hours before he usually does.  Unheard of.  I guess the poor kid was tired.

So I got my act together and took pictures of the family room.  I actually had it clean AND the sun was out?!   Meant to be.

Okay, here's the room from the MLS pictures.  Cute but with the red and dark brown which permeate throughout the house.

Here's one from Aaron's final walk through of the house before we closed.

Here's how it looks today.  We started by painting all the walls white.  And I love the light!!  The walls in the kitchen look more green in the picture than they look in real life.

We needed to buy new furniture because we didn't have anything for this room really at all.  That's what happens when you go from a 1300 square foot home to...well, anything.  The couch came from a GREAT store in Portland called City Liquidators. They carry everything from art supplies to bedroom sets from kitchen sinks to lawn decorations.  I could wander this 3 level warehouse for hours.  It is a fascinating collection of junk/great things/one-of-a-kind decor. They actually construct some of their own furniture and so we bought this sectional from them.  The color is "taupe" but it's more green than anything.  Oh well.  I still like it.  S.u.p.e.r. comfy and made with velvet microfiber.  Yum.

The curtain material I actually bought at Joanns!   I had scoured the internet and found much more fun patterns and bolder colors but then I realized I liked the more subdued tones of this floral print.  And the colors were exactly what I wanted.  It tied in the couch with the turquoise.  After a Super Sale and Christmas gift card I only paid $33 for 8 yards of this heavy linen decorator fabric.  Score!

The coffee and couch table are from World Market (love their stuff!) and the Godfather horse's head is Target Clearance section.  I bought the two little gold frames from Michaels for a $1 each. And the used to be in front of the most wonderful mercury glass owl from West Elm that Genet bought me for Christmas.  But some toddler feet knocked it over and it splattered to a thousand pieces.  I still can't talk about it.


Lamp is from Ikea.  I had bought a pendant one of the same style almost 2 years ago, but since the electrical didn't gel with a pendant, I just switched it to a floor lamp.  The word art is one of my favorite DIY pieces. You can see how I did it {HERE}.

I was going to paint the brick white which I really like the look of, but Aaron preferred the brick as is.  I listened and really like it too.  Adds a little depth to the room., don't you think?

The mantel mirror literally was left by the previous owners of our Seattle home. Can't waste a good mirror, right?  I got the greenery from Michaels years ago, metal pig from Pier One 10 years ago, the "urn" as Aaron lovingly calls it from TJMaxx and the white ceramic flower from Michaels for another $1.

I bought these three pictures from Groopdealz, one of those email-a-deal-everyday places.  I chose the colors and states.  The artist/seller has an Etsy store found {HERE}.  I got them for a deal at half the price, but I still think they are cute!  Apparently I should have gotten an Indiana AND an Ohio but Aaron will just have to . :)  And I wasn't ready for an Oregon one quite yet.

Lampshade: Target Clearance section. Gotta love it!

I of course am not quite done with this room.  I've been looking for a new buffet/dresser for the TV stand.  I want to raise the TV up a foot or two and then paint the buffet grey or something to balance out this side of the room.  I have literally been to 9-10 different thrift stores in the area over the last 6 months and they have NO furniture.  It's pathetic.  I've realized this a Craigslist town and I'm trying to jump on the bandwagon.  I have found pieces I could refinish but they are either more money than I want to pay, too far, or the timing just isn't right to go pick it up.  Someday the stars will align. 

I did the board and batten myself.  Bought a 1/2 inch-thick board at Home Depot, had them cut it into 4 inch strips, primed them all white and then measured and carfeully cut them with our circular saw.  And once I got over my fear of losing a finger or worse, it went really fast.  (My cousin's wife actually lost half her finger a few months ago from just such a run in with a circular saw.  She is amazing and I LOVE their new blog picture.  You can check her story {HERE}. )  They nailed up like butta' and then I caulked the heck out of it and painted it up. Viola.

I'm thinking of putting one more horizontal row near the bottom of the wall right over the electrical sockets but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

It was a fun and satisfying project.

So again, before.





And after.

Aaron named this blog post. Don't ask me why. Don't ask me how it ties in with the family room. Don't ask me why I actually used it. I asked for help and this is what I got. I think I am still off kilter from Jonash asking for a nap. Oh well. Life's too short to care about titles actually going along with the post, right?

Beavis & "his friend"

Jonah does another impression.  He loves "Follow the Prophet" primary song and we listen to it almost every time we get in the car. 

And every time we get to the prophet Jonah, he gives the best Beavis chuckle and then matter of factly states, "They call me a prophet."

Every time.  It never fails to crack him up.

Dr. Claw

Jonah is very protective of his loved ones.  Every once in a while when Lucas is getting a reprimand (usually a very deserved reprimand :), Jonah will lower his chin, give you the stink eye and yell in what I call his best imitation of Inspector Gadget's Dr. Claw, "Don't you say that to MY BROTHER!"

Or if Aaron is getting into one his animated and passionate, yet benign, discussions about politics, justice, current events or really just about anything, Jonah will again glower at him and growl, "Daddy!  Don't you say that to MY MOMMY!"  

Last Wednesday morning, Lucas was struggling to keep up his morning routine and so words got a little heated.  Jonah comes up to me in just his Cars underpants, pulls on my leg to get in my face and menacingly whispers, "Stop acting like a nerd to MY BROTHER!"

Loyal: yes

Intimidating: no

I might tip him off that if he wants people to take him seriously a good start would be to wear pants.

Breakfast of Champions

At least for my little champions.  Both boys are pi-cky.  With a capitol P.   I do not know where they get it from?!   Oh wait.  Their mother was the pickiest girl ever who wouldn't eat pizza until she was 13, potatoes until she 15 and Mexican food until she was 30.  They have an empathetic ear. Or mouth?  Anyway...

Now a days, I try anything to get a little protein into Jonah especially.  Lord Doritos, himself.

My mom had worked for weeks to figure out "her" pancake recipe.  And her work paid off.  She makes wonderful pancakes that all the family agrees could be eaten & enjoyed alone!

Then my sister took my mom's recipe and healthi-fied it.  Adding all her Oregon-of-the-Earth stuff and it still was good.  :) Now I've adopted it since I work to get any nutrients I can into Jonah.

It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but once I bought and gathered all of them, they last a long time.  This recipe makes A LOT of pancakes, at least for our family.  I just keep all of them in a Ziploc bag and they get eaten for a few days as breakfast and after school snacks.

In a large bowl, mix:

3 cups flour (wheat, oat, or white, or combination of any)  I always use at least half whole wheat.
1/4 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup Truvia or add 1/4 cup honey or brown sugar to wet mixture)
2 Tbs baking powder
2 scoops protein powder (vanilla or chocolate)
Good dash of salt

Mix well in a separate bowl:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp flax seed oil
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Optional: 1/2- 1 cup apple sauce, banana, cauliflower or sweet potato puree

Combine dry with wet mixture and add milk or water or buttermilk until desired consistency.  Again because I'm trying to get as many calories I can into this kid, I usually use whole milk.

Also because it's Jonah (and Lucas...and me), I add a few mini chocolate chips to sweeten the deal.

Good thing about this recipe is that it's flexible and I use what I have on hand.  But I always try to have almond extract on hand because it really adds a great flavor.

I can get almost always get at least 3-5 bites out of Senor I-Don't-Know-How-He-Survives before he just digs around for the chocolate chips.

So his mother's child.