Is cleaned out, completely painted, rearranged and done.
The flooring installation is scheduled to start on Monday...so I am going to enjoy the relative calm, before the next huge home improvement storm.
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July...
This month...
- We ran the cheer fundraiser on the 3rd of July and hosted a party on the 4th of July.
- Sean and I started training to become CASA educational advocates.
- Mac went to his third year of cheer camp.
- We ordered new flooring for the house.
- We tore apart our kitchen, discovered water damage and had to rebuild a wall.
- We decided we needed a new bathroom too.
- Did you hear that Mac turned 18?
- And Sean ran 103.68 miles
Eighteen Candles...
Today's celebrating included lots of candles and cake batter pancakes with sprinkles. There was a trip to the convenience store around the corner to purchase lottery tickets. It also included a little streamer decoration surprise I put together from Mac's favorite party blog.
And it included a bigger surprise, a lively family dinner out (all twenty of us). We had Mac convinced that we were hosting a pasta party later this week for him at our house, but he is over his year's of thematic parties and really wanted a dinner at a The Spaghetti Factory.
He got his birthday wish.
Happy 18th Birthday Mac
Today's the day. In some technical ways childhood is over and bits of adulthood start.
I can say it went too fast, because it did.
I can say I love him so much, because I do.
Or I can make an impossible attempt to put into words what this person means to me.
Mac, your determination from your first breath, your endlessly verbal spirit for what you love in life, and the skip in your step towards someone you love being around, has always made the depths of my soul ridiculously grateful that I get to be your mom.
Mac:18
Here it is...my all-time, absolute, love every detail, and thankful photography was ever even invented so I could have this forever, photo.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:17
Glasses and sunglasses...one of Mac's many signature looks.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:16
Mac does excitement better than anyone.
(I was more subdued, but just as excited when I got my first iPhone too)
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:15
First day of school in 2009...Mac loves to stay up late and get up early.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:14
I want to grab him right out of this photo and smother him in hugs and kisses.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:13
As Mac became a teenager his career as a fashion icon began.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:12
My mom mentioned this is one of her favorites...granted it's one of the twenty or so that she mentioned when we were talking about favorite photos of Mac.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:11
We had new planter boxes sitting in the garage eleven years ago (they are still on our front porch). He climbed in for a "Mac in the Box" photo.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:10
Mac was three years and eight days old when Sean and I got married on a Friday evening. My mom hosted our wedding reception at her house, which meant it was a loooong boring day of preparations for this little guy. Meltdowns were kind of rare for Mac, but he got into his "ceedo" and sat in her entryway crying.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:09
Mac's ankle has been bugging him this week and, although he hasn't worn it in a year, he expressed a momentary thought about wearing his brace to cheer camp. Then he said, "Yeah, I don't need to make myself look more disabled than I already am."
Mac might have some disability, but I tried to remind him that his capability has always been pretty darn amazing.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:08
"Oh the Wells Fargo Wagon is a comin' now, I don't know how I can ever wait to see. It could be something for someone who is no relation or it could be something special just for me!"
When Mac was "Winthrop" in The Music Man it was definitely something special.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:07
To me, there is pretty much nothing better than Mac laughing.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:06
Mac is off to his third year of cheer camp tomorrow, so it's been all cheer all the time around here...which it often is regardless.
This photo was from the first football game...these are some of our very favorite nights...can't believe we only have two more years of these.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Perfect height...
This is my new crafting counter...currently covered in projects (you can see it clean here). It's an idea I have loved for months and was inspired by this standing desk. We made it higher (40") than a standard counter (36") and it makes a huge difference. I also got a piece of glass custom cut for it, so it's easy to clean off.
The "window" it's at looks down on the living room on the first floor. Sean has warned me to resist the urge to place things on the windowsill. In this photo you can see that I am not exactly heeding his advice...that was yesterday's paper plate painting surface. Hopefully I'll be careful enough to keep things from falling a good dozen feet or so...hopefully.
You can see my ancient paper trimmer on there too...I actually have been shopping around for a new one. I have had this Fiskars one for well over ten years and tens of thousands of cuts, so it has seen better days. If you have any paper trimmer suggestions I would love to hear what's been working for you. Thanks.
A little bit...
Today there was a little bit more popsicle stick painting for an idea I have for my classes...the paper plate I am painting them on is filling up with color.
A little bit more of the summer scrapbook too.
And a little bit of cheer crafting. They give tiny gifts to other team when hosting home games, so next school year each varsity squad member will get a clothespin covered on each side with different washi tapes in the visiting school's colors. I am determined to get 20 for each of the five teams done way in advance.
I cannot resist...
It's likely I could wrap a good portion of the Earth's surface with the wrapping paper I have amassed over the years, so I did not need five more rolls...no matter how cheap or irresistible they were.
Yet, here they are because I have no self-control with colors and patterns.
Does anyone need me to wrap some gifts for them?
Mac:05
The same vest...two years later. This was right after a back to school haircut.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Mac:04
Easter brunch 2007...this purple shirt, tie and vest came together as a combo from Mervyns (pre-Kohls) for like $12.99. He ended up wearing this vest with everything for the next three years.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Learning: 03
It might be summer vacation, but that actually means, without stacks of papers to grade, I am working more than ever on class preparations and learning new things. Today I researched and analyzed college class attendance policies and I painted popsicle sticks for this whole group work idea I saw on Pinterest...I'll share more when it's done.
Here are three resources I have found in the last two weeks...
These cultural practices in China were fascinating and are perfect for when I teach ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
This article written by a women who owns a Mercedes and was on government assistance helps shed light on the judgements we can make in regards to social inequalities.
This comparison of how we define height and race is a great example of how race is socially constructed.
Man, I love Sociology.
What do you do when you're getting new floors?
Invite your nephew and nieces to come over and paint on the old ones.
Well Wishes...
Well Wishes...a homemade card shared on Wednesdays.
Summer Book: 01
Simple stuff as I document another summer. Lots of photos and just a detail here or there. I am using one of these albums and having lots of fun keeping track of this season so far.
I haven't cried yet...
The kitchen is underway. We're 36 hours in and I have been tear-free.
If I thought my house was a mess on Thursday...imagine how this site must make me feel...
The entire contents of our kitchen in our living room. I am dreaming of being ruthless about what to keep when we move stuff back in.
In the meantime this is our dishware...thanks to Target for having cute stuff that I am happy to use in the meantime.
And here is the kitchen renovation team of one hard at work while watching the World Cup finals this afternoon. He has definitely pulled off crazy projects before, but this will be his biggest success yet.
And hopefully I don't end up crying too much before it's finished.
Mac:03
A family friend took this favorite photo of Mac on her Canon Rebel...from that moment on I wanted one. I got one (film at the time) a couple years later and am now on my third digital Rebel...thousands of photos later. I just remember her handing me this photo she took of Mac and thinking I had to have this camera to document his life.
This photo has actually been in a frame sitting on the counter in our upstairs hallway for 14 years. I got it out tonight and it was sticking to the glass. I scanned it in so I could edit the messy edges a little and safe that toothless smile.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
Summer slump...
Oh man this has not been the week for productivity. Then this morning was a new low. I stayed up too late (1am) slept in too late (8:30) and had a mess all over the house.
Piles of clothes in our bedroom, crockpot out in the dining room, stuff scattered on the counters and all over the kitchen table, including the cute Target dollar spot items I had to have for no reason whatsoever. Then my desk held the cheer team car wash pre-sale tickets that I had to have over to the 48 girls (and one boy) by 10am.
Thankfully by noon everything was cleaned up, our bedroom was dusted and the bed was made. I reorganized part of my closet, caught up on emails and got on the treadmill.
I told my sister-in-law yesterday I had hit the seemingly inevitable "summer slump" where I foolishly feel I have all the vacation time in the world and get almost nothing done. Hopefully today I shook myself out of it...hopefully.
Where I get it from...
Tonight we went to our second concert in the park for the summer. As I said last July, it really is some of my favorite cooking all year.
For dinner I sort of made this salad, but I added chicken, crispy prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, parmesan crisps (that were actually more chewy than crisp) and concocted a creamy parmesan vinaigrette. I quickly wrapped each one up in a take-out box.
My mom was in charge of dessert and drinks. She introduced us to "brookies" (a brownie cookie combo) and made peach iced tea to combine with sparkling water and coconut milk to splash in it.
Just in case you were ever wondering where I might get this whole detail-oriented thing from...I did not inherit it from my Dad.
Please help me decide...
We are getting new flooring around here since our fourteen year old carpet has reached the point of no return. And, as is often the case, one project creates the need for more. Our 1976 kitchen cabinets combined with the new flooring will be way too much wood, so it's time to get creative. One day we dream of new cabinets and counter tops altogether. In the meantime we feel comfortable trying to update them ourselves.
The plan is to paint the bottom cabinets and the pantry. We will tear out the upper cabinets and put in shelving to try to open up the dark corner of the kitchen where we do most of our cooking prep. We will keep the light gray color of the back wall (the wall with the kitchen sink is actually tan, but will be painted gray). We are going to leave the one cabinet above the stove since that hides the hood ducts. The lovely 1976 tile counter is staying put, so our new cabinet color needs to look good with that and the flooring,
Here is the counter top, the new flooring and the paint color choices (with links so you can look at a bigger color swatch on your computer screen)...
1: Basil Chiffonade 2:Terrain 3:Hummingbird Green 4: Patina 5: Dark Jade 6:Teal Motif 7: Verdant Forest 8: Hostaleaf
I like all of them...I really like too many of them. And I would really, really love to hear what you think.
Would you mind taking a minute and letting me know which color you think works best please?
Mac:02
Almost seven years old, still small enough to fit in a cart, and at one of his very favorite stores, Party City. Mac has always been and always will be ready for a party.
Celebrating Mac's big birthday later this month with eighteen favorite photos.
All the ribbon...
Last week I cleaned out the jars in my craft room that had collected about a dozen year's worth of ribbon. There was a time that pieces of ribbon would always end up tied or stapled to a scrapbook page, but not in awhile, which meant it was time to not keep it all. Except so much of it was still so cute.
From now on, it has a new life along with my wrapping supplies. The plan is to knot and staple bunches of it around gifts wrapped with my seemingly endless roll of kraft paper.
Photographic priorities...
Did I take photos of our family and friends on the 4th of July? No.
Did I take photos of the fireworks? Nope.
The four desserts were documented though...they are actually the only thing I took photos of. I made a s'more pudding cake and angel food berry skewers. A family friend brought a tray of stuffed and white chocolate covered strawberries that were amazing. And my mom managed to make rice krispie treats that were thicker than any I have ever seen...and two days later were as soft as the moment they were made...I tested this by devouring one before dinner tonight.
Used to think...
I was out trimming in the backyard a couple of nights ago and noticed this rose. As I took a photo of it, I realized I spent a lot of years not really liking roses at all. I thought they were kind of cliche...not particularly special at all.
I was a fool.
Mac:01
At the end of July Mac will have his 18th birthday, so I thought it would be fun to countdown to it with eighteen of my very favorite photos of him.
The first one is from his few summers of swim lessons at the local high school. Summer swim lessons were my favorite. I loved the smell of the sunscreen, watching him jump off the diving board to his teachers, and especially wrapping him up in a towel when he got out of the pool.
Swim lessons were a little tricky for Mac, as they can be for a lot of kids. However, he was trying to swim with partial paralysis on half of his body from cerebral palsy. It was one of the many times in Mac's life, where he tried and then he tried harder. Sure, he'd get frustrated, but he kept swimming.
