the paper airplane

Scar Face

(this is something Cole wrote today about his summer, I liked it and wanted to share)

I'm so glad I got my face ripped up on the day before the last day of school. "How?!", you ask. "Why?!", you ask. "What the heck is wrong with you?!!", you ask. All those questions and more shall be answered.

Jeff and I were where no one else dare go; the back of the new house. Tons of kids had gone up to the front of the house and rode down the driveway. But, no, we were going to the back of the house. Jeff got the key from it's hiding place and put it in the backdoor's key hole. Don't worry, we weren't breaking in. This was Jeff's relative's soon to be house and he was allowed to visit whenever. But, unfortuneatly the key wouldn't fit. Instead of checking out the house we rode on scooters in the back. Instead of just doing ollies and wheelies, I followed a path that lead to a steep hill. Instead of ignoring the hill, I challenged it and shot down that hill. It felt so great! Like flying, like soaring through the air on a scooter. It was the best feeling ever. No...literally! I had never felt so free. But enough poetry. When I was about to make a smooth turn into the cul-d-sac I flew off my scooter. Each second felt like an hour. I had a dream before I hit the ground. Something about a dark room, a purple man and a green man laughing at me, "stupid kid." I laughed too for some reason. Then, a flash of light, the return of my sight and hearing. The two colorful men faded away, their laughter fading with them. "Oh my gosh, what did I just do?" I felt weird. I tried to yell but I couldn't. I couldn't even speak. I walked up to the nearest house, where some kids I knew were playing basketball. I walked closer wanting to speak more than ever, but they didn't notice. At this point I wanted to cry but I couldn't. But now, now they noticed me, standing there. "Who is this bloody, dirty faced kid?" and also "What the heck?" and a few "poor guy" faces.

That's when I realized that the purple guy and the green guy were right, I had been stupid because tomorrow was the day I'd been waiting for all school year, the last day of school! But when I tuned back into what was going on, one of the kid's Mom came up to me and saw that it was "Cole Huntsman". Then everyone else realized the bloody faced kid was Cole. The Mom got her son to get the first-aid kit. Then boring part came. She wiped, sanitized, rubbed and bandaged. I know it seems pretty short but trust me, if you were there then you would know. Then the Mom sent my little sister home to tell my Mom I was hurt. But instead of my Mom rushing to the rescue, she guessed it wasn't that bad. Let me tell you something now. Mom's should never guess. In the end I came home in my sister's friend's car, and when my Mom saw the results she was shocked and regretted guessing.

I woke up in the morning with my face numb and bumpy with half scab half wound. My mouth was all numb. I couldn't even smile right. That was fine with me because I would not be doing that much smiling with such a freakish wound. When I got on the bus it was even louder and more energetic than usual. Everone was ecited about the last day of school, the day of games, the day of pizza, the day of jumping around the class like a maniac. Not for me, at least that's waht I thougt. When Ben got on he begged me to sing "Let's go to Idaho." (oh, you're probably wondering what "let's go to Idaho" is. It's a song Ben, Scott and I made up from scratch. No, it's not based on "Pokerface" or "Just Dance". You'll have to ask Ben and I to sing it because Scott won't sing it no matter what.) So, of course I sang Let's go to Idaho. Then when I got to class, a weird thing happened. I was so glad that I went flying off my scooter and ripped up my face...I did what everyone else did. I ate pizza, played games, everything. But, as everyone counted down for the bell to ring. I had to return my library book. So that kinda stunk. Oh well, one the bus, it would be awesome. We sang "let's go to Idaho" and everyone went crazy. It was great. Plus, my scratched up face was a great prop for videos. And that's why I'm glad I got my face ripped up! But next time I'll think twice about scooters and hills.

anybody want a kitten in about 9 weeks?

Lucy's had her babies! It was the second day of school, breakfast time, and she started rolling around on the ground...so I put her up in the playroom inside her birthing box, thinking she'd like the quiet dark room. I packed the kids off to school and headed out for my morning errands, half expecting a kitten or two when we got back. We get back, I check on her, nada. I go to leave she follows me...hmm... Ok. I had a feeling she didn't want to be alone. We put her box under the sofa table, and I went back upstairs to straighten up. A few minutes later Lily starts yelling...."kitten! kitten!". I almost fall down the stairs in my rush. As though instinct needs my assistance. Anyhow, there she was, laying on her side cleaning a wet white kitten. 4 more followed, 2 more white, and 2 orange tabby. They all survived, and have been happily nursing ever since. More pictures here.

"the talk"

This cracked me up...with a pregnant cat and two kids 8 or older, this all sounded very familiar.

Papa don't preach

It seems Ms. Kitty Lucy got herself into a little trouble. About a week ago I noticed her increasing girth, but was in denial about the possible pregnancy. But then today I could deny it no longer, ref pic:



What should I expect when I still hadn't taken her to be spayed...and she snuck out while in heat.....and a huge orange tabby was hanging around (I like to picture him in a leather jacket). yikes...now I need to figure out when to expect kittens and what I need to do. And...what to do with them once they're old enough to need homes.

playing dress up

Amazing photographer and supremely loveable person--Nichole Van Valkenburgh is also my neighbor and fellow foyer sitter at church. She mentioned how busy she's been this summer with her business and the workshops she runs to teach other photographers new skills. How cool--I was feeling a little jealous about her career--and then she looked at me sideways and mentioned something about needing more people to take pictures of. "Pick me pick me!" It was so much fun to dress up in things I would never wear and look pretty for a few hours. Thanks Nichole for the amazing pictures---I look so pretty and very unlike my usual t-shirted self. :)

www.nicholevan.com

and my favorite pictures

Desert Trip

This has been the summer of many road trips /slash/ weekend vacations. Travis has been so busy with work, he's needed these mini breaks to recharge. (as have I with kids home 24/7 fighting over which Harry Potter to watch) Our friends Scott and Nicea suggested St George, and that was all we needed for a weekend of complete slothfulness. So lovely. The kids pooled and ate bbq and then went back to the pool. We "hiked" to a cave in the desert, experienced flash flood warnings each night, T & S won us some cash in Mesquite, and all the girls had their nails painted. The only drama was when I lost the house key...oops...and we thought we'd have to pay much money to have the whole house re-keyed. oops oops But, thankfully, it was in the bag right where I put it...heh. Thanks guys for the weekend! Let's do Vegas next time sans little people.
More pictures here.

this is how T rolls yo

foiled again

Do you remember the sunday nap? It seems like it's left and gone somewhere far away since having kids. We're very good at pretending to take them, but really, it's not possible to fall into a deep sleep with four short people on the other side of the door. But! With the set up of the tent (see wilhelm post), it seemed hope had returned. It was possible a mom could actually enjoy the rarely tasted pleasure of the sunday nap. So, out she snuck. No kids were told to keep away, it was 100% covert. Up went the zipper, down went the me and sleep happened!!!! Until, the one thing I hadn't thought of......

....thanks a lot Tiger!

The Wilhelm's came, they brought tri-tip

and they left a pair of socks and a camera somewhere in my house. Ha, what can I say, it was wonderful having Dad, Dil and Amy here. If only we lived closer. Seriously people, let's make this happen. We had a week of playing, a few adventures, a few misadventures. Dad has thought of a new book....he calls it: Living Behind the Rail, adventures in playing it safe. He was inspired after a harrowing trip up the mountain via ski lift (thus the rail part of the title). Needless to say, I had no idea he was deathly afraid of heights. Luckily our week was front loaded with "adventures", so we stayed earthbound the last 6 days.

The best part about Dil and Amy playing with our kids is the age difference (or lack thereof). Uncle Dil, at the ripe age of 13, taught Cole the ways of the Japanese through anime books, "they're backwards!". Amy and Paige had many moments with nail painting, and girl talk. Lily and Grace squeezed themselves in where ever and however they could. Lily tagged along with the big girls and Grace fell in love with Dillon. Bless his heart. Besides Sundance, we hit Seven Peaks, set up a tent, went to Park city and hung at home. After a week of very late bedtimes, the kids are a little on the grumpy side. (or...uh, Mom is a little on the grumpy side) But after seeing the Dil & Amy off to the airport yesterday, we were feeling blue. Dad decided to continue his quest for adventure by heading to Taos & Sante Fe in search of adventure and Ms. O'Keefe. May the road rise up to meet you....in a very flat way. Love you guys!

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