my collection

i have a little collection of artwork by my old college friend, lauren. i was given one painting, but i bought 3 others with birthday or Christmas money. just thought i would do a little show-n-tell because i got the most recent painting in the mail the other day. and it is swoon-worthy.

the first painting is my new acquisition, "italian eggplant with peppers". such a beautiful style. the second is "squash", a fine illustrative piece. the third is "henry's pumpkin", my first purchase of brilliance (look at those brush strokes!).

maryn visits

i met maryn when we were in college at pcc. she is amazing. she married a guy from the area and we get to see each other from time to time when they visit. here we are in the wal-mart parking lot. lame! i meant to take a photo at Christmas Point where we had a lovely lunch... but i forgot. this was all i could get before we parted ways until next time.

wee little shoes

my roommate from my freshman year at pcc just had her fifth child, a baby girl. congratulations, kelly! i sent her these booties. i just think every baby girl needs a pair of pink mary jane's!

box of loveliness

today i received a box of loveliness from a friend. lauren pope, you are a great friend. in my box was a bunch of cool hand-me-downs for jack, dark chocolate:), postcards, a funky coloring book, chalk, a birthday calendar, and............ a valentine illustration lauren did that i had just loved. it is hanging on the side of my fridge (where jackie can't ruin it) for now, but i will be framing this sweet thang soon. it is lovely.

squash

i bought a painting. my friend from pcc, lauren, was having an art sale. i bought this fabulous simple little painting. to those who know that i am so broke, i will explain. i got approx $75 extra dollars this paycheck for selling 5 "extra credit" ads. woo hoo! i am so excited to add this to my art collection. i know it will feel at home in my eclectic haven. my little offbeat colorbox. my nest.

potter family... 80's style

i found this family photo over at my gram's house. i am taking precious family photos that i discovered were in a 4-drawer dresser next to the TOILET in my gramp's bathroom, and putting them in an album. this photo was taken in front of our tiny little first home. i am on the left. my sis and i are wearing "member's only" jackets, i think. you probably can't tell, but there are pin stripes on my jeans, and i am wearing kilty tasseled loafers!!! ha ha! but they do not have taps. (pcc inside joke)

I AM A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, you read that right. i ... am ... a ... winner!!! i meant those capitals. i am so excited. i have just won something from someone that i have never met before.

my friend lauren (moberly) pope has a great blog that i read all the time. (and you should, too!) i followed from her blog on over to soule mama's blog. good blog. soule mama has a book published and i will have to look into maybe getting it. anyway, lauren started having contests -- i did not win. soule mama had a contest -- i did not win. ellen crimi-trent was a fellow non-winner that told soule mama she was having a contest. i followed on over to ellen's blog and I WON ELLEN'S CONTEST! i am the cynical type when it comes to contests and the internet... but i am usually an optimist. ellen's blog seemS like it is coming from such a nice person that i am squealching my unlike-me pessimism and i am bordering on ecstatic. hoorah!

what did i win????? ART!:) i love art. if i am correct, i am receiving a print of some flower illustrations. if so, i will frame it and it is going in my living room. if it is the owls or house, it goes in jack's nursery.

also note: this is my 249th blog post (as second breakfast, not including gypsy jean boo teek). i may have a contest of my own in celebration of my 250th. stay tuned!

a moment of clarity

i had a breakthrough this morning. i was reading a bit of my friend lauren's blog. she was talking about love and babies. this is the comment i left on her blog. this is maybe the most clarity i have ever had on the subject.

"i think one of the best things about the love you have for your new baby is the unexpected connection with the old love you have for family members. there is this new person who has bits and pieces of your loved ones. sometimes you see your cousin in an expression, then your great uncle, then your second cousin, in just seconds. most of the time my baby looks like my dad. it is like i can go back in time and hug my father as a baby. if that makes any sense. when jack laughs he sounds like my great aunt. and to me, that is like magic. or the best kind of ghost."

jack's "baby"

here is a recently finished piece of "folk art". i did not make the dolly. it was a 90's cast-off from my mom. i saw it and thought jack might want a baby. it was originally a girl doll. with a dress. i thought jack (and dan) would prefer a boy "baby". so, i painted clothes on him. the face was already drawn on, but i altered it. it took me 2 hours on a sunday afternoon. i think my husband was watching bob ross paint "happy little trees". (scream) jack loves this baby. he likes to suck on his head. i named him "patrick" because i think a boy i knew at pcc named patrick had burnt orange pants.

patrick is chillin' with my indonesian chickens.

you know you want it...

the recipe for chocolate eclair cake, that is. it is wonderful. everything i remembered it to be. for all you ex-pat pcc people, here is the recipe. you are welcome.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

- 1 tubs of cool whip (or eqivalent whip cream)

- 2 packages vanilla or french vanilla pudding

- 3 cups milk

- box of graham crackers

- 1 can chocolate frosting

to make: Mix 2 pkg. of pudding with 3 c. milk. Whisk for 2 min. Let set for 5 min. Add cool whip. Break graham crackers in half and layer in bottom of cake pan. Add half the pudding/whip mixture. Add another layer of graham crackers. Cover with remaining pudding/whip mix. Add another layer of graham crackers. Refridgerate for 3 hours. Spread chocolate frosting on top.

i made this friday night. we ate it after only refrigerating for 2 hours. the graham crackers were still crunchy, but i couldn't wait any longer!:) it was much better the day after when the grahams got smooshy.

cha ching

today i won free toilet paper! hooray! isn't that nuts? my grocery store, super valu (no "e" at the end of "valu". makes it more edgey?), has a promotion going where you enter these codes in on-line and you are entered for things such as free groceries and a trip. i keep entering in these dumb codes because i am yearning for a trip to paris.:) i also keep it up because i actually win things. crazy! this is a great promotion. so far i have won 2 2-liters of soda, 1 bag of snack mix, and now a 4 pack of generic t.p. i am not a t.p. snob, i will take generic. i have been a college student. i am grateful when there is t.p. in a bathroom, period!!!!! did anyone else ever have to have a secret t.p. stash?

did you caucus?

did you? did you caucus? until a month or so ago i had no idea that there was such a thing. this will be my 4th presidential race i have voted in. yet, no idea what a caucus was. yet, i am not beating myself up. my parent's have never caucused, to my knowledge. i have never heard of anyone i know caucusing. in '96 i was in pcc. so, i had no contact with the outside world. in 2000 i was back in mn, but don't know why i didn't hear of it. in '04 i was married and we didn't get local news channels, so i didn't watch. and we didn't get the paper. also, i never heard my husband talk of caucusing. so... am i the only one that has never caucused? or, have i led an incredibly sheltered life. (probably)

in case you are wondering. no, i didn't caucus this year either. i work nights. i think i might have, though. i really do. oh well, maybe next time.

moose in camoflauge

here is another great photo of jack in the moose hat lauren gave him. i love that hat. alas, jack's head has grown too large for it. he now has a dark blue one with lots of tassels. horns are way better than tassels. except maybe tasseled-tappy-kilty-loafers.

first entry of new year

happy '08! here are the breaking news stories in molly-ville.

jack said his second word 2 days ago. his first word was "mama". his second word was "dada"! what a sweetie. i swear he repeated the word "dirty" after me the other day, but that might have been a fluke. jack has a very deep voice. sort of like my niece enolea.

wednesday my sister called me on her birthday to inform me that she is going to have a fourth child. she is due sept. 8th. and she's trying to go v-back, ladies. that's going to be something. yeah for angie!

my friend from pcc days, marian, got engaged! her ring is very sweet and unique.

my Christian friend at work was told wed. that her position was eliminated. so sad. i am totally bummed. now i am really all alone... the only Christian. the only one working at night. it will be ok. God is in control. my heart goes out to kelly.

paris hilton shows love to the oompa loompa

apparently there was this oompa loompa dressed character at a night club where paris hilton was and he got trampled. the lovely miss hilton stayed by his side until the ambulance arrived.

CRAZY!

i love it.

i own both versions of the chocolate factory movie. love them both. oompa loompas forever.

jay's mom once called them "oompa oompas". classic jan davis. i love that, too.

"movin' on up"

wow. i checked in on my old pcc friendly acquaintace, marian macipinlac, yesterday and found out that she has recently renovated her seattle home. that is an understatement. i exclaimed, "holy junk" and startled my baby when i got a peek. i have a link to her blog here on my blog. if you appreciate diy, architecture, interior design, or oogling expensive homes, you should check it out. she has the old and new floor plans posted, and lots of gorgeous photos. it is unbelievable. i am not sure, but i suppose she renovated it as a "flip". i.e., 1. buy a home, 2. renovate, 3. sell at a tasty profit. let me just say, a $300,000 profit sounds pretty sweet. although, from what she's said, it sounds like they did a lot of the work themselves.

like marian said, who doesn't love chandeliers in the bathroom?

peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and oatmeal

jen asked for this recipe. it is a fantastic cookie. nacho libre would say it is "especially delicious". i love nacho libre. but i will save that for another time.

1. preheat oven to 375.
2. mix 2 1/2 c. flour, 1 1/2 t. baking soda, 1/2 t. salt, 1 c. butter, 1 c. peanut butter, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 c. brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 t. vanilla, and i put in about 1 c. oatmeal and a ton of chocolate chips.
3. bake about 10 minutes.

the cookies are heaven when warm. very crumbly. watch out!:) they stiffen up and are good for dunking. my boys are dunkers.

henry's pumpkin

today started off cruddy. i was trying to buy my beloved pumpkin oil sketch from lauren and everything i did turned to doo-doo. after a lovely afternoon shopping with my mom and gram and jack i felt much better. it might have been the new cord "diaper bag", or the lunch on mom, or the starbucks on mom... the coffee most definitely helped.:) so, i got back and i was able to finalize my pumpkin transaction, with a little help from my sister. so, viola. here it is. henry's pumpkin. God is good.

jane

jane evelyn pope was born nov. 8 at 4:15 am. 8 lbs. 6 oz. i think lauren did a home birth with a midwife. congats lauren and jonathon! this makes three for lauren. miles is almost 3 and henry is 18 months. that's a passel of popes. if you would like to "help lauren out", you could always buy one of her paintings or illustrations. (you'd really be doing yourself a huge favor.) she's having a sale right now and everying is 1/3 off. but, please don't buy the pumpkin sketch. i have my heart set on it.

happy birthday jane. God bless you.

PHOTOS OF JACK, FINALLY! part two...

dear reader, i don't mean to boast, but jack keeps getting cuter each day! i am glad i waited to get his expensive photos taken. my mom and sis bought us a lovely photo package, and they keep bugging me to use it. jack was very cute when fresh, but slightly wrinkled and with large amounts of eye boogers. well, his tear ducts have just about straightened themselves out, and he is filling out. in short, he's adorable. practically flawless. he's ready for his close-up.

i love this plaid overall. and the argyle socks! it is his 3 months best church outfit.:) even the collared onesie is precious. and don't get me started on how i feel about the white leather wingtips. it won't be long now and i will have to buy him some larger church shoes. i'm thinking tasseled-tappy-kilty-loafers. right?

my auntie lana made jack the cloud blankie. sweetness.