Space...LEGO...space

Again?

Can't seem to keep a wireless connection for more than a few minutes, so I'm typing this as fast as I can!

(connection lost)

Nope... not fast enough.  Scott says it's the router now.

(connection lost)

Excuse me while I go punch an innocent pillow.

Hodge Podge

My mind is all over the place today, so I'll just go for it and give you a glimpse.

• I didn't quite finish my craft project, but I know you've been distracted for days since that cliffhanger of a Friday post so I'll have mercy on you. Remember this post from back in the fall?  Owen proudly displayed his artwork on our sheet metal wall for months... until someone brushed against it and it fell to the floor, where Greta spotted it and seized the opportunity to upchuck her Purina all over it.  Bleck.  But I've been trying to view problems more as opportunities (I may have watched a self-help program on PBS or something), so it came to me that I could trace his drawing onto cotton with a fabric pen and then embroider it.  That way I can put the barf art in the garbage where it belongs.  I'll let you know when it's finally done!
• That's also a peek at our landscaping plans.  The guy was supposed to be here to start about 5 1/2 hours ago.  Does that happen to you guys a lot too, or do I have Please wipe your feet tattooed on my face?  Problems = opportunities.  Problems = opportunities.

• We went to the creek for a picnic after church yesterday with a group of our friends.  Such a stinkin' wonderful day.  Thanks for sharing it with us guys!  

• Owen kept bringing me flowers and I kept sticking them in my hair.  Then I made him take a picture so I could see if I really looked like Buttercup.  Umm... yea, I flatter myself.  Quick!  What's your favorite Princess Bride quote?
• Owen went for his 4-month eye check-up this morning, and he now has 20/20 vision!  The doctor seemed quite surprised that his left eye improved so quickly.  He's got 2 more months of wearing a patch for an hour a day and 3 more months in glasses just to make sure it 'sticks', and then hopefully we can begin storing his specs in the dress-up bin.
• Special love to all of you who have family members in the hospital or recovering.  Spring Break was rough on many of you!

Happy Weekend!

What I'll be working on this weekend.  This project was inspired by Greta barf.  Explanation (and hopefully a finished product) on Monday!  Take care.

Found it

1942, Papa was 19 and headed to war in the Pacific.  I love how proud my great-grandfather looks, but I also can't help but feel the more poignant reason they took this picture.

Fun fact about my great-grandfather (yell at me if I'm getting this wrong Mom!):  He loved toying around with concrete and dynamite.  

And in C.A.'s world, there existed a symbiosis between these substances.  He made stuff by pouring concrete into molds, enjoyed it for a while, got bored with it, blew it up.  I never knew him, but I'll always imagine him as a character from a John Irving novel.

So glad he didn't blow these up.  I think about half a dozen of these bench ends remain in the family. We've hired a landscaper (who starts Monday!) to clean up the 1+ acre of woods behind our house and put in a few walking paths.  I can't wait to give this bench its proper place once the project is finished.  

Not that I'll be the one moving this thing.  Holy toast it's heavy.  

Small change, big sentiment

The horse print in our breakfast nook now has some company.

I did some digging through the family archives over Christmas in Texas and found lots of great stuff from my Swanson side of the family.  I knew my Papa was the consummate entrepreneur, but I'd never realized he inherited the trait from his dad, C.A Swanson.  This is a cardboard sign advertising my great grandpa's painting services; three of them miraculously survived years in garage and attic storage (so there's one for each of you too Jenn and Beck!).  I also found letterhead for C.A.'s roofing business, and it's framed and waiting for a home.  

The horse picture is from At Home in Homewood - where I like to fall down the rabbit hole when I find myself with time to piddle.  And the sunburst sculpture is from a junk shop on Lake Martin.  The lady who checked me out seemed to feel guilty for taking $1.00 from me and made some sort of encouraging comment about how maybe I could fix it up with spray paint.  But I've since seen it listed on eBay and Etsy for 50-200 times what I paid for it. Makes me giddier than nitrous oxide.

I know I've got a great picture of Papa and C.A. posing in C.A.'s rose garden before Papa left for the war, but you'll have to be satisfied with this gratuitous fake-smile shot of Owen while I work on tracking it down.

Let's Catch Up!

In the almost month (!) since my last real post, we've

(1) Gotten a new computer, with Scott braving the transfer of something in the neighborhood of 24,000 pictures.

(2) Had fun playing mattress box kamikaze.  We finally upgraded Owen from the what-you-can-afford-for-the-guest-room-on-a-newlywed-budget mattress.

(3) Helped Owen assemble many a LEGO (awesome fire station from DD and Coach!), overseen countless costume changes, and welcomed spring with flowers and kisses.

(4) Gotten in lots of QT with the grandparents- sleepovers, walks, reading, cupcakes & ice cream, visits to the train depot, playing at the fountain...  The kid's got it good between these four!

I'll try to get back on track with regular posts this week.  I've missed you guys!

Update

Looks like we're getting a new computer.  Simultaneous OUCH! and HOORAY!  It will be at least a week before it comes in though, so I'll try to get Scott to Instagram a few shots of Owen in the meantime to get you by.

We interrupt this program

Hmm.  Seems I've gone and filled up the startup disk on our computer.  Scott says I upload too many photos or some kind of silliness like that.  Back as soon as he figures out what to do with me... and our Mac.

Conversations with O: One-sided

June 2011

Owen has the counterintuitive habit of moving faster when he's tired, and that goes for his mouth too.  By the time we waited to have dinner with Daddy (our busy season hero), got some quality playtime in with said hero, and nearly forgot to take a bath, it was over an hour past his bedtime the other night.  That meant I was in for a doozie of a bedtime monologue.  I've done my best to remember exactly what he said, but keep in mind I was laughing really hard at the time so I might have paraphrased here a little.  And even though you see question marks, don't assume he actually paused to let me answer him.

Mommy?  Are you old?

I mean are you as old as old people?

Are astronauts old?

I mean are all the astronauts in the whole world old?

What if an old astronaut went to the moon but he forgot to 

tie up his walker to the spaceship and it floated away?

How would he walk?

You know, we hop on one foot on Earth, but astronauts hop on two feet on the moon.

Would the old astronaut hop on two feet even without his walker?

You know... if all you had was just one leg you'd have to hop everywhere.

And then your hair would get in your face all the time.

Do monkeys get haircuts?

Then & Now

July 15, 2009

5 minutes ago

Baking

I fell down the rabbit hole of a new (to me) blog this weekend.  It's amazing how quickly influenced I can be by people I don't even know.  Definitely should be a lesson for me about carefully choosing the kind of media in which I choose to marinate.  Luckily this particular blogger has some wonderful ideas about family and living simply.  But she's also got me wanting to do crazy stuff like buy a farm, knit all of Owen's clothes and make my own soap... from the rendered fat of the pigs that live on my imaginary farm, of course.

Instead, I opted for another radical (again, to me) activity:  baking.

First a Dutch Baby.  (Practice for when my chickens leave me with a windfall of eggs.)

Then some Applesauce Banana Bread. 

Maybe today I'll channel my inner hippie and forego wearing deodorant and make-up.  Who wants to join me?

Cough, cough

I caught a cold from one of my students and promptly gave it to Owen.  Turnabout is fair play, right?  At least I didn't give him a stomach virus.  We had a long night of Robo-tripping me trying soothe nose-bleeding him.  Is it terrible that I get a little excited knowing that he gets his childhood nosebleed tendencies from me since he is otherwise a Scott clone?

Morning has found us feeling better, but I think we'll take it easy today.  Off to drink my tea and build a LEGO sailboat.  

Let's all have a restorative weekend!

Speaking of pirates...

>>>------>

I didn't get any valentines put in the mail this year, so please consider this your special message from Owen.  He loves you!

* Template from here.

* Sewn patches by Mimi.  Thank you!

*Awesome signature on back by Owen S. (not to be confused with the other Owen in his class, Owen K.)

Mothers' Tea

Just like he practiced, Owen:

1. Escorted me to my seat and pulled out my chair for me.
2. Served me punch.
3. Performed Skinnamarink with the rest of his class and pointed at me during all the I Love You parts.

Oh, well.  They say that percentage ain't bad, right?

These were dangling from the ceiling all over the room.  When I asked Owen which one was me, he gestured back over his shoulder without a glance and said, You're the one over there with the funny looking head.