Collage Madness.

Hey, like I always say, better late than never, 

better in than out,

and don't save for tomorrow what you can do today.

I don't always take my own best advice,

consequently I have a huge onslaught of recent photos I planned to post about

that have built up.

Hence the gazillion collages.

This will save us all time I guess.

First - ETHAN turned 16!!!

Wow!

I have decided that turning Sixteen is a WAY bigger deal to girls than boys.

Eh, yeah, whatever.....seemed like any other day to him.

All he asked for was a full sized store bought cake and two jugs of 

chocolate milk.

Check and Check.

I generously added his own case of root beer, beef jerky, 

and carnation instant breakfast drinks.

Oh yes, 

and his new phone case.

Lately he has been working on a big school project for an event called

"Decade Day".

 He put a lot of effort into his research, 

and info board to display for the night,

but he also had to come up with a canvas painting.

He ended up hiring a girl from his spanish class to paint it.

I asked if that wasn't cheating, he said no, he was only asked to 

come up with the prop, he was not required to make it.

Ok....if you say so.

He paid her $20......if you ask me,

she was robbed. 

Can you believe what an artist she is?

This looks just like the real painters work.

He is also pitching for the JV baseball team and really enjoying it.

Valentines has come and gone, but I just wanted to keep tabs on one cool detail.

M wanted to make valentines for the 19 kids in her class.

I didn't feel like heading to the store to buy any of those

cheap-o run of the mill tear apart valentines,

plus I didn't want to waste money on candy....

so I decided to throw out an idea and see if M would go for it,

knowing she probably would take a pass.

I said hey!

Wouldn't it be fun if you made each person in your class a personalized

valentine this year?

Hey, and you could tape one of my special chocolates on each page

as a unique treat.

OK!

Great idea mom!!

She spent the next four days hammering out her little creations.

They were a feast for the eyes,

here are just a few.

I love the words she choose for each of her classmates.

We just got done babysitting Cookie Quigley for about 10 days.

She is a fun little dog,

but

She is a dog.

Here are a few of my likes and dislikes about her.

I do NOT like her skin tags, but I do like how soft she is.

I don't like that she is always hovering around when the kids are gone,

and yet...... gosh dang it, I don't mind it that much either.

When I'm at the table she comes and will stand right over my foot 

so it is touching her belly.

Good Heavens Cookie.....really?

She will mill around and wait until I get on the couch for a tiny siesta

and climb over and get right into the spot behind my knees.

Cookie is kind hearted and loving.

She makes everyone feel special and important.....except for Lawson,

she comes to me for protection from him.

I don't like that she gets up so early, or that she has accidents,

but we really do enjoy her when she stays with us.

On this night at tennis, she walked M for the solid hour.

She did not want to stop......soooooo much to see, smell, and discover.

People fall over them selves goooooing and gawing over small dogs.

McCauley has been asking to get her hair cut for over a year.

Aunt Keri trimmed it over the Christmas break.

Not good enough.

Finally she broke me.

Why should I care?

I said, ok, lets go outside.

Snip, snip, snip.

She was happy as a clam.

Still talks about how much she loves the length.

Lawson got his retainer, and a phone.

There he is with his phone bag.

He calls it a satchel.

I LOVE that he carries his phone in that sak.

It's cool. 

His phone is safe in there.

He hops on his skateboard and off they go.

Here is the mask L made (creepy). 

He asked permission to go outside and destroy it.

Please do.

He has also made some modifications to his sak, 

he didn't like the plant pattern 

that was on the front.

(I had wondered how long that would last, I had made the bag 

for myself to begin with....it had a cool flower pattern on it,

I was not going to tell him that).

Now it is even better for a kid his age.

Duct tape seals the deal on coolness. 

Here is a fast paced movie re-cap.

You won't want to miss it.