Friday Night Debauchery

it's friday night. we have a big weekend planned, including the hunt for the 

most beautiful christmas tree (which has the makings for an excellent time

considering nate insists on hauling the family thru the woods on a u-cut adventure

AND it is raining like its never rained before. yea!), and uncle t arrives tomorrow!

the boys were starting to resemble yetis from the neck up, 

so a haircut was in order. times two. 

which just happened to be next door to their favorite pizza place. 

i feel sadness for the day when charlie figures out that the games require money.

i'm not saying whoooo, but someone has a small love affair with parmesan cheese.

in preparation for uncle t's visit, a swiffer session was in order. little did we know, 

we were in for so, so much more.

now, i'm not saying we are lazy, or dirty people. ok, maybe we have a somewhat 

laissez-faire approach to home repairs and general maintenance (we are working on this).

a couple of months ago (don't judge), our brand new hardwoods in front of our 

food machine started to buckle, but just a bit. naturally, our first instinct was "the wood is settling"

"the wood is reacting to the weather" i even think i heard nate say the words "expand" and "contract".

never was our first thought that there was a leak.

there was a leak.

though only a tiny leak, more like a "mist" of sorts, it was apparently what 

was causing the hardwoods to funk-ti-fy.

the swiffer found the leak when it pulled a bit of gunky wall from under the fridge.

so, i scooted it out and all hell broke loose.

spray going left and right, the floor flooding fast, i think i even heard thunder.

not really.

what really happened, happened in total slo-mo. 

nate taking spray to the face as he tried to kink the water hose

trying to tell me to "get a clamp! get a clamp!"

i didn't even know what that mean. 

but i didn't hear him because i was running in circles with my hands

above my head screeching like i had just seen a snake.

several minutes later, the madness stopped 

and the mopping up began.

 why is this important? because it took up way too much time

and after the crisis was averted i didn't feel like doing anything else.

and they had very, very important worlds to save

from zombies.

sorry t, at least your sheets are clean.

Thankful

while there is no possible way to include all of the things that I am thankful for here, 

here are a few that are on the forefront of my mind today. 

 family. i'm thankful for my family. that my parents raised me in a way that in turn helped me make good choices, pick a good partner, live with purpose, work hard, and teach and instill values and manners in my own children.

thankful that my own boys are happy, healthy, spunky, confident and LOVE 

their cousins and are always looking forward to the next time they get to see them. 

they are all good, sweet, happy souls.and i love all of them and their creators.

thankful that my entry way is ALWAYS dirty and littered with leaves.

if it wasn't, it may mean that i don't have people constantly coming in and out.

thankful that my little guys are still so little and naive that when asked what they are thankful for, say exactly what is on their mind that they time. hence, "breakfast" and "flag football".

but mostly thankful that they make me laugh constantly and rarely does an hour go by when we don't hear their belly laughs coming from somewhere in the house. i love their belly laughs. 

and while i often forget to be thankful for this, and sometimes long for pretty, organized, simple  

bookshelves, i am thankful that my bookshelves look like this. vomiting art supplies, full of games and puzzles and when i sweep, i find more lego parts than anything else. we live in a happy, creative house. for that, i am thankful.

                                                   

i always envisioned my formal living room to be a place of peace and serenity. with structured furniture and warm blankets where people would want to nap and read. instead, i often hear the scraping sounds of furniture on the floor as charlie rearranges the room, so that he can play basketball. i am thankful for our awesome house that has a basketball room and thankful that i'm getting better at not longing for a pretty living room....because there will be plenty of time for that when my boys are grown. for now, we will just invite our guests to sit on or play basketball. in our living room.

i am especially thankful for nate. a constant, reliable, loving, playful, fun husband, partner and father to our boys.  the rock of our family who is excellent at reminding all of us what is important in this life.

happy thanksgiving.

Tin Tops and Tattoos

In just another typical Thursday Night at the Barton House...

Henry practiced his reading with Mom and Dad

on his Take Home Reader

Which, I think is important to note are the WORST
g-dam stories of ALL TIME.

I mean, by the 3rd read, when "Matt hits the Tin Top"

or "Sam sits on the pad", 

I want to shove the "Tin Top" down "Matt's" pie hole 

and poor "Matt" is just a wee "Tot"! 

Anyway...as Henry speeds through the horrible reading homework...

THIS ONE...

Was quietly emptying his sticker book 

onto his arms making "tattoos".

Now, who had more fun?

Exactly.