Max vs. North Pines

Max in his second match of the year. Cool move at 20 seconds in.

Reporting as Requested

This one is for you, Mom and Gayla. I have had multiple reminders to please post pictures of our progress on our house, especially since we got the carpet replaced during our insane month of August.

These aren't all the changes, but it does give a flavor of what we've been up to. Unnecessary warning: I do snapshots, not photography. It is really tough to take pictures of a home's interior, especially when you can't wait for good light because you are trying to hurriedly snap some shots to assuage the guilt you feel over not taking the requested pictures before now. That being said, here it is.

The Living Room:

The second picture is closest to the real color. One picture was taken in the morning, the other in afternoon. The reds are more a burgundy than they look. We have lots of plans here, including adding more color, since it is, after all, very brown in there. Like many parts of the house, we haven't really finished decorating after all the painting, door replacing, stairs and new carpet we did. I'm sort of saving that for January and February when I'll need something interesting to do do during those two nasty months.

Every time I look at the board and batten on this wall it makes me happy.

 

And a view with the stairs and some of the Halloween decorations.

Elise and Natalie's Room:

Still lots to be done here. Mostly in the way of decorating and organizing. Natalie is still in her toddler bed, a fact that we're hoping to change before too long. The girls bedding are coordinating quilts that Grandma Borders made for them a few years ago. They were the inspiration for the color scheme. Not done yet, but you can get a basic idea of where we're headed.

 

The color here shows a little too yellowish. 

 These two are closer to the real color.

 What a difference the white trim and closet doors make!

This room used to be a soft yellow and was shared by Natalie and Cameron. This spring we moved Elise upstairs with Natalie, leaving Camille with her own room in the basement. Then we moved our office into the family room and Cameron now occupies the old office. We painted Cam's room blue, put pirate decals on the wall and installed a swing in his room. I don't have pictures of it right now. Maybe later. 

We painted Camille's room a soft aqua with white and silver accents. Her bedding is black and white. It is also in progress. Maybe someday it will be finished and it will be cleaner than a typical teenage girl room and I'll feel like taking pictures. If you're curious, you can come stay with us because it is now our guest room.

Also not pictured are the upstairs hall, which has a new hardwood floor and all new doors and trim. We're still working on getting the right finish on the floor, but are hoping to get there soon. If you are a woodworker and you know what the term 'popping the grain' means, you'll understand why we are grinding our teeth over little wet footprints coming out of the bathroom. Once the floor is finished there, we can install the door casings and do all the touch up work! I have A LOT of nail holes to fill, seams to caulk and paint to touch up. Which I will also be doing in January or February. Got to have something to do then.

Master Bedroom:

LOOK! NO DIRTY PINK CARPET! Yes, I am that excited about it. I had intended to repaint this room because I never liked the color. After we changed the carpets, I loved it. Something in the old pink carpet reflected on the walls and gave the green an odd blue-ish cast. This is much better.

We offset the dressers because as much as we like seeing them centered on the wall, we couldn't get the closet doors to open all the way. We decided to go with function over appearance on this one and haven't regretted it for a second. I'm not in love with the way the cedar chest looks here, but I do love not barking my shins on it when trying to find my way around the bed at night.

 The doors and trim are a little schizophrenic here. All the baseboards and trim around the new doors are white, but we left the original trim around the closet doors. I love those doors and am hoping I can figure out a way to keep them. So, for now we're a little mismatched. Love the white trim with the paint color, too.

 Family Room:

We did some rearranging down here as we were moving things back in. I have loved how it has come together. It is a much more inviting, functional and pleasing in appearance. Sounds like a win-win to me! The TV used to be inside the built-in cabinet to the left. That was really awkward and I decided I was done with it. So, we moved the TV onto the adjoining wall and shifted everything around. Love it. 

Someone needs to help me with my mantel . . . soon. I am mantel deficient.

This is our new TV stand. I am actually really excited about it. Not because it is so beautiful, though I do think it looks nice. But, because I worked with what I had and made something nice out of something nasty. We've had this old dresser for years. We got it in Provo at DI. It had originally come from a student apartment complex who knows how  many years ago. Plastic laminate top. Faded stain. Big chunks taken out of the corners and a couple of the drawer fronts. It was so ugly we hid it in shame inside Brett's closet until earlier this year.

Between medical bills and projects, our finances were pretty depleted, so I knew that if I wanted to implement my plan to move the TV, I was going to have to get creative. I decided to give this dresser a try and see where I got. Lots of sanding, 3/4 of a can of Bondo (it is an incredible wood filler), three coats of bonding (gripping) primer and four coats of high gloss enamel later, and here it is! The hardware was originally an antiqued brass, but I put on some primer, spray painted a brushed nickel finish and sprayed them with a clear coat finish for durability.

It looks good with the TV. It has a very durable finish to fight all the hard use it will take. Our DVDs fit perfectly in the drawers, which will also hold all the Wii games and accessories out of sight (yeah!). And we'll even have room for our TV blankets. Eventually, the TV will be mounted on the wall with all the cords hidden behind the drywall. I also still need to decorate down here, but not until after we have the TV mounted.

Things that Make Me Happy:

My newest little efforts at Halloween and Fall decorations make me happy. I like how they came together.

 And finally, my huge Costco mum, which I have rhapsodized over to my family every time I go outside or pull into the driveway. I think they roll their eyes every time I say something now. I love how huge and sunny it is. I would feel better if there were pumpkins around it, but alas, they just barely showed up at the stores and my mum may not be around much longer.

So, that's the tour, Mom and Gayla. Let me know what you think.

Why our House is So Very Dusty

Back in March, we began a series of home improvement projects that have taken up a lot of our time. Though we've only completed a couple of things we've got planned, they have already made a major impact in our house. Probably the biggest change was remodeling our stairs. This was a BIG project for us because we didn't have any experience with stairs and had to figure everything out from scratch. 

Here are the old stairs, with 1980's balusters and handrail. We'd already ripped the carpet and pad off the stairs, exposing the particle board treads and pine risers. No, we weren't one of those homeowners lucky enough to find hardwood treads under their carpets!

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

Big difference, huh? We are really pleased. The stairs are so much lighter now. We stained the oak treads and handrails a darker brown with just a hint of red. At some point, the rest of the oak floor will also be stained to match. In two weeks or so we'll be tearing out the carpet on the upper landing/hall and replacing it with hardwood flooring as well. The oak is sitting in our living room becoming acclimated to our house.

 

This is one of two square newel posts that Brett designed and built from scratch.We knew that he could build something that was both nicer and less expensive than we could have purchased. Aren't they beautiful? We'll be putting a coat of poly-acrylic on the newels and risers to help them stay beautiful.

Another project that we started before the stairs was to close in the half-open wall between the family room and the kitchen. The advantages to having the space open were heavily outweighed by the disadvantages. Making the change gave us more usable room in the family room. It also provided more privacy since the family room was clearly visible from most of the upper level and even from the front door. It has also helped control noise between the two levels, without losing any significant amount of light. You'd better believe we tested that one out before we made up our mind!

We were very sad that we lost our beloved story book mural because of the construction. Brett's sister Annalyn painted it for us when she came home from her mission. At that point, we only had three kids! We did cut out the square of drywall that had Harry Potter on it! We simply couldn't get rid of Harry!

I don't think I have any pictures of the wall taped, textured and painted, but you get the idea. At some point, this wall may end up as a built-in home office, but we're still mulling that over.

After the wall was finished, we began the staircase project, starting with the lower stairs. Here's Brett during the demolition stage:

 And here's what it looks like now:

 Isn't it pretty?! I can't begin to tell you how pleased we are. They are a joy to walk on and have made such a difference in how everything looks.

When we tore out the railing in the half-wall opening, we had some worries about how to fill it in. Because of the way the cabinets sat, we didn't want to pull out the drywall on this side and were pretty nervous about our ability to match texture on a very prominent wall.

 So, we framed it in, put up drywall . . .

 
. . . and installed a Board and Batten treatment in the kitchen and in the entryway. The board and batten was only partially painted here. The finished result is much more seamless and less boxy looking. (See the above photos.) But, this gives you an idea of what it looks like now.

We love having the wall closed off. For the first week we marveled every time we were in the kitchen and couldn't hear the television. Due to some weird acoustics, the TV was louder in the kitchen than it was from the family room couch, ten feet away from the set!


Another project we tackled was swapping bedrooms. That sounds simple until you realize it affected four of the five kids and required dismantling bunk beds, swapping numerous pieces of furniture, painting, and relocating the entire contents of dressers, closets, filing cabinets, etc. It was a MAJOR shift.

We started by moving our office into the family room (now we had a usable wall!). Then we moved Cam into the old office/guest room. Elise moved into Cameron's old space, and is now sharing the upstairs bedroom with Natalie. Camille has her old queen size bed back and an entire bedroom to herself. Everyone has loved the new arrangements. Camille has been a little lonely, but we are certain that she'll get used to it!

Here is Cameron's room so far. We've painted the walls and trim, put up pirate wallpaper murals, juggled furniture and hung the indoor swing he got for his birthday. Best birthday present ever, I have to say. His siblings are so jealous!

The pictures really don't do this room justice. It is so pleasant and light in there that everyone seems to be drawn to it. We find Max laying on Cameron's bed reading. Other kids are in there playing with the Legos. And pretty much everyone has been found in Cam's swing at one point or another.

It is still a work in progress. We've ordered new closet doors for Cam and the girls rooms and new interior doors for the whole house minus the basement. There is more to be done with curtains, furnishings, trim etc. But we've got a start.

The girls room has also been painted a pretty green to match the pink and green frog blankets Grandma Borders made them. We still have to put in baseboards, closet and interior doors, curtains and decorate the walls. So, it isn't far enough along to justify any pictures yet.

What's next? We'll start the flooring on the landing soon, followed by replacing the interior and closet doors. Then (finally) we'll use the money we've had saved for years to order new carpet. Goodbye to the blue carpet and to the pink carpet (yes, pink) in our bedroom. After that, we'll re-paint Camille's room and possibly move on to paint the kitchen cabinets at the end of summer.

Ambitious? Yes. Needed? Yes. Are we running out of steam or getting tired yet? Surprisingly, no. So far, the fun of seeing all the changes has far outweighed the chaos and hard work.

This post is for my Mom, who has let me talk endlessly about our projects and has been genuinely eager to see the results. As she often told me growing up, "There's nothing to be excited about if there's no one to be excited with you!" Thanks for being excited with me, Mom!

Grandma's Gingersnaps

This afternoon I baked gingersnaps for our ward's Christmas party. As I pulled out the recipe from the cupboard, I had to pause and look at it for a minute. The card is yellowed with age, watermarks spread across a corner, and stains from unknown recipe ingredients dot its surface. Anyone who bakes knows that a recipe that looks like this is a keeper. When searching someone else's recipe box, you look for the most stained, bent and otherwise thrashed cards because they are used over and over, their wear a badge of culinary honor.

The beautiful cursive, written in red pen is still familiar to me. How many things have I read in that same careful hand? I can still see Grandma Karlinsey hunched over a table, her pen poised over a piece of paper. When she wrote, she used her whole hand and even her arm. Everything she wrote was beautiful, whether a letter, a check or a simple grocery list. Like so many of her generation, penmanship was a symbol of pride and education. I loved watching her write.

I remember being in the kitchen with Grandma as a little girl. She had a beautiful collection of aprons: fifties floral indulgences, practical forties aprons that cover you from shoulder to knee and around the back, and modern aprons (for that time, anyway) that might not have had as much character as the others, but worked just as hard. My favorites, and the ones I always begged to use, were the sheer cocktail aprons, like pastel clouds trimmed with lace, that she had inherited from Auntie Bea. They were about as practical as a lace kleenex, but I thought they were ever so elegant. Bless her heart for letting me wear them.

Grandma had the neatest cookie jar. It looked like an old black coal stove. She never kept cookies in it--she wasn't a cookie kind of grandma--but recipes. Maybe my recipe once lay there inside that cookie jar among its brothers. She also had old fashioned gadgets that I found utterly fascinating, like the rotary egg beater. What kid wouldn't love that?! I remember making Jello pudding in her kitchen and carrot cookies. And I remember doing lots and lots of dishes in her plastic dishpans. And the Veg-All casserole that, if not for the memories associated with it, might not seem so delicious.

Grandma had a drop leaf kitchen table covered with vinyl tablecloths, a huge drawer of dish towels with crocheted dish rags, cabinet latches turned dark with patina and worn smooth with time, and a tilting flour drawer that I thought was about the coolest thing ever (and still do). The junk drawer had heavy duty flashlights and big, serious looking hammers. It was not a junk drawer for the faint of heart. Above the junk drawer was the cupboard where the sugar bowl sat. And a Tootsie Roll bank--always a Tootsie Roll bank--since that was Grandma's indulgence of choice. And above there, on the very top shelf, tempting my eyes, but forbidden to my hands were a set of old fashioned tin toys.

All this passed through my mind as I held this recipe card in my hand. And I found myself missing Grandma so much it hurt. It was as if I was a little girl again and could run into her kitchen in that two-story yellow house on West 3rd.

Grandma passed away many years ago, but that doesn't mean she isn't still with us. When I was on bed rest with Natalie and really, really struggling to hold it together, I could feel Grandma with me, lifting me and sustaining me. Being lucky enough to have grown up with her as a daily part of my life, I remember what it felt like to have her around. In my time of need, she was a recognizable presence in the room, even though I couldn't see her. And she is still with me every time I pull out that battered old recipe card.

I wonder what Grandma Karlinsey would have thought all those decades ago if she had realized how important that simple recipe she was writing out would be to one of her granddaughters.

Thanks again Grandma. I love you.

Another generation now enjoys Grandma's Molasses Crinkles recipe.

Yes, I Love these Kids

I had one of those days where I find myself smiling over each and every one of my kids.

There's Max, who was so excited to go goose hunting with Brett that he can barely sleep. In spite of that he was up and raring to go at 3am, ready to spend a large portion of the next twelve hours laying down in a freezing blind in the middle of nowhere. All for the chance to MAYBE get to use his hunting license for the first time. I'm sure that male bonding and munching on brownies and jerky somehow play into the mix as well.

Then there's Camille, who I found putting on her gloves and hat, announcing that she was going to go shovel the driveway?! I reacted in surprise. 'Wow. That's usually something that I do.' 'Yeah,' she responded, 'I figure I need to learn how to do it some time.' Huh. I can live with that.

Of course, once Cameron saw the snow he was almost instantly geared up in his snow suit, coat, boots, hat and gloves. I can pretty much guarantee that he will spend a large portion of his day in his happy place, soaking in the joy that blankets our yard.

Snow fever hit everyone today. For some reason, Natalie had a sudden yen to have snowshoes. Our ever helpful and very creative Elise quickly jumped in to help Natalie and managed to rig up a pair of 'snowshoes' that delight her little sister.

All little things, but little things that made me happy and reminded me how much fun they are. I love my kids.

My Fears are Realized

This is not a picture of Max in his first middle school wrestling match.

It is a picture of one of his teammates, whose name I don't even know.

Why didn't I get a picture of Max during this milestone event?

Because my hands were shaking so bad I couldn't even hold the darned camera, let alone keep it still long enough for a reasonable exposure.

My fears are realized. I am going to be a terrible Wrestling Mom.

Not the kind that makes a screaming spectacle of herself from the bleachers (though I did scream louder than I thought I would). And, heavens be praised, not the kind that crouches on the sidelines and pounds the mat with their fists.

I'm going to be the kind of Mom that dies a little death with every second of every match. The one that fears a coronary or stroke each time her son steps onto the mat.

Simply put, wrestling is going to kill me.

With the exception of boxing, there is no sport that is so personal, so intense and so brutal to watch. Especially for a mom. I don't know how many moms I've spoken to that have said they hate watching their kids wrestle or that they can't even go to the meets because it is too hard.

It isn't a team effort. There is no shared responsibility. Your child wins or loses on their own, under a spotlight, in front of the entire crowd.

If your child is shooting the last basket to win the game, or is up to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, that heart in the mouth feeling only lasts a few seconds--as long as the basketball arcs through space or the duration of the swing of a bat. When they wrestle, every second of all three periods is just like that. A mother watching her son suffer, arching his back, every muscle straining to avoid a pin, goes through that same agonizing suspense, not for two or three seconds, but for thirty, forty or even seventy seconds at a time.

Even if their child is doing well, the heart still races and the hands shake. A single shift in balance or a slightly loosened grip changes everything. All that intense emotion is relieved by a brief break, only to experience the same thing all over again in the next period.

The worst part, and the one I am most afraid of, is the pain and suffering. It is watching your son twisted into inhuman shapes. Seeing their joints move in directions that are dislocations waiting to happen. Knowing that blood is common and expected and that occasionally, but not uncommonly, bones are broken. In their first meet, one of Max's teammates had to have his matched stopped twice for injury. The first he was able to work through. The second was a badly bleeding broken nose that ended the match.

That is why wrestling is going to kill me.

My hands weren't just trembling a little. They were visibly shaking. I seriously couldn't even hold the camera. My heart was thudding loud and fast, like a Kentucky Derby sound effect.

And this was when Max was doing well. He was in control nearly the whole match. He clearly knew what he was doing and was ahead in points (2-0) when he flipped his opponent over onto his shoulders and pinned him with one second left in the first period.

He won, quickly and fairly easily and I was like THIS? What's it going to be like if it is more suspenseful or if he struggles or gets hurt?!

I'd better get tougher or get some tranquilizers or this isn't going to be pretty.

Or, there is my other solution. I told Max that he just has to be so good that he has no competition. That would be a lot more fun than tranquilizers.

Congratulations, Max, on a great first pin and win! So proud of you!

Max cheering on his teammates

A Not-So-Very-Scary Halloween

Was it just me or did Halloween seem to go on forEVER this year? I think it had something to do with a three or four day observance because the holiday fell on a Monday this year.

Friday, Max had his 7th grade Medieval Feast, the concluding celebration for their Medieval History unit. This activity is over-the-top, including tons of food (whole cooked pigs head, chicken wings, meatballs, fruit, cheese, bread, bundt cakes, soda, and on and on) great medieval decorations and everyone in costume. I stayed up really late on Thursday night trying to throw something together from what I had at the house for Max's costume as a Medieval 'Lord'. Fortunately, I had an old red window swag from Cameron's room that I quickly sewed into a tunic and long cape and trimmed with 3" gold wired ribbon from a giant roll I had bought at Costco years ago. It turned out pretty well for no time, no planning, no pattern and scavenged materials.

Sadly, I have no pictures of Max in costume this year since his schedule was too packed with the tail end of cross country, the beginning of wrestling and early morning jazz band. This year we sort of just managed to whisk everyone where they needed to be with minutes to spare.

Nata-bug without her shoes, but ready with the bucket!

Friday night was our Ward's Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween (notice I didn't say 'Harvest') party. It was packed! Fortunately there was lots of food and everyone was a good sport about setting up extra tables (even in the nursery) and standing to eat when necessary. Brett dropped Camille and the little ones off at home and Brett, Max and I stayed to help clean up.

The back of the ladybug costume,
which has been worn by Camille, Max (haven't you seen
A Bug's Life--boys can be ladybugs), Elise and Natalie.

Saturday, Natalie had a birthday/Halloween party at one of her little Sunbeam friend's houses and went as a ballerina, much to her displeasure. She was hoping to be a pirate.

Princess Elise--Didn't get a picture of her cool up-do.

Monday morning, I got up early to do Elise's hair for her Halloween party. As a third grader, she has now graduated from Halloween Parade participant at Chester Elementary to Halloween Parade audience. A true sign of maturity!

I also had to scavenge in the house to come up with candy for Camille to take to the high school's annual preschool trick-or-treating event. She wore her nifty teenager costume (see below) with a purple and black stripped witches hat. Then I dressed Cameron in his costume and put him on the school bus.

With everyone else out of the house, I quickly grabbed a Cinderella princess dress out of Natalie's closet, dressed her in it and handed her a wand, crown and a treat bucket. We dashed over to the elementary school to join Cameron's kindergarten in trick-or-treating at the high school.

That place was a mad house! My favorite part wasn't all the cute little kids in costume, it was watching how excited the high schoolers were to see all the cute little kids in costume. One tall upperclassmen, obviously interrupted in some task, was stopped still in the library, watching the kids through the doorway with a book in his hand with the most wistful look in his eyes. Very sweet.

I had told Cameron that we were going to Camille's school and would probably get to see her there. As we wound through the halls, navigating the crowds, Cameron would call out 'Caaamiiiille . . . Caaaamiiiille . . . Where aaarre you?' It was so cute. He wanted to find her so badly. And I knew Camille was waiting just as excitedly for them. I started to get worried because there were only a few minutes left and we hadn't see her yet. As we approached the last wing, our friend Emily saw us and told me that Camille was through the next archway.

We hurried as fast as we could as the announcer came over the PA system and the kids started moving back into their classrooms.

Time was up! Oh, no!

Camille's minimalist teenager costume
(and as close as she'll ever get, she says, to wearing a corset)

But there, at the last doorway of the last hallway, was Camille. Everyone else had gone into their classroom, but she waited for Cameron and Natalie. It was a sweet Mom moment to watch that little greeting as they rushed to hug each other and Camille slipped the candy she'd saved for them into their buckets.

Parents live for this stuff. It's what makes all the other drudgery and chaos worth it.

While Cameron was at his school party, Natalie and I slipped over to Walmart (princess dress, wand and all) to replace the candy we'd given to Camille and got home just in time to get Cam off the bus.

We had a special Halloween dinner that night:

Jack O'Lantern pizza


and Sausage Pizza with Bugs:


then we headed out for Trick-or-Treating, leaving Camille an three of her friends to watch a movie and hand out candy to all our little visitors.

This is Max's last year Trick-or-Treating since our cutoff is age 13. So, he made the most of it, going off with two friends for several hours, filling his knapsack with candy.

Not surprisingly, Natalie ran out of gas first, so Brett took her home. Cameron lasted a while longer, but started drooping and begging to go home after about an hour. Elise was a trooper, but by the time we hit the front door, she was happy to call it quits.

Whew! Another Happy Halloween under our belts. Elise has been carrying her Halloween candy everywhere with her in a square Rubbermaid kitchen storage box. It doesn't leave her side until she goes to school, when she carefully hides it in her room. She even sits on it at dinner. I think if she could attach it to her wrist with a handcuff like traveling nuclear secrets in a spy movie, she would gladly do so. But, you can't argue with success. There hasn't been any snitching from her stash (except the two little Twix bars I 'liberated' tonight. Hey, it's a Mom tax. Parents are allowed a little sneaking.)

And finally, just for you, Mom: Pictures of the new Halloween decor I did this year, as you requested.

Total cost for this one was $1.

The kids LOVED these Dollar Tree crows and dubbed them Paco, Pedro and Pancho. Pablo was downstairs on the fireplace mantel next to one of the scarecrows.


I actually got a craft injury from these blocks I made at our Super Saturday. I'm still taking Advil for it a week and a half later. Only I could get a craft injury. I am truly craft impaired.

This one is my favorite. I saw something similar online and made my own version of it while listening to general conference. If you enlarge the picture you can see Frankenstein's bolts and the ghost's sparkles. The kids and Brett loved this one and would come back over and over to look at it or touch it.

Until next year! Boo!

First Day of School

Camille: First day as a Freshman at University High School. First child in seminary, early morning variety. Is taking geometry, accelerated science, spanish (teacher is our backyard neighbor), health/fitness, language arts, and art(!). Taking tennis lessons to help prepare for the high school tennis season in the spring.


Max: First day of seventh grade at Horizon Middle School. Invited into the accelerated math track. Playing the french horn for concert band and the trumpet for jazz band. Thought he'd die the first day of cross country practice (95 degrees--I'd have died, too!) but comes home looking much better now. Will be doing debate, wrestling and baseball as the year progresses. Running around with glasses held together by wire until we can order new ones--at least it isn't duct tape, right?


Elise: First day of third grade at Chester Elementary School. Student of Mrs. Skeman, possibly the most beloved teacher I've ever known. Ready to read and write and learn up a storm. Loves routine and hates change or uncertainty (her mother's daughter). Totally self-directed and almost too self-sufficient (her father's daughter). Part time student, full-time friend to her BFF Katie.


Cameron: Kindergartner at Chester Elementary. Student of Mrs. Nurvic and Mrs. Helma (can't wait for those Leprecaun Traps to come home at St. Patrick's Day!). Thrilled to be at a school where he gets to see his sister on the playground. Home sick after just a week of school with a cough and a fever. Recently began meeting with a private reading specialist with a thick New York accent and the fast pacing of a locomotive. Good things to come! Adores Dad, likes Mom okay, too.

Natalie: Doesn't care if she's in school or not, but dead serious about getting her first day of school picture taken anyway. Spends her time making over her stuffed animals into 'princesses' and dressing up as and acting like a pirate or a super hero. Failed Meal Eating 101, but is working toward an advanced degree as a professional snacker. Completely content with her role as Mom's sidekick.


Here's to a fun and (hopefully not too) exciting school year ahead of us!