my happy little life

my clark kent

i love my husband's hair. he looks like superman.

grant and i have a dream: we have four little boys named clark, peter, bruce, and logan. we really like super heroes. oh i want little grants so desperately. you know, crazy little brown haired green eyed boys who think   they're batman.

(i don't know where this pic is from, do you?)

i have tried and tried to get grant to let me name a little boy anakin but he refuses, saying we cannot name our child after a sith lord. but i say, anakin was a trusting and confused good hearted jedi, who darth vador betrayed and murdered. and he eventually came back to bring balance to the force by killing the emperor.

what's up nerds?

and nothing makes grant more mad than when i beg for a son named jed isaac. you know, so he can be jed i. mccaleb, rad! but the argument is always settled by the realization that we can't ever ever get pregnant no matter how hard we try. so, you know, moot point. but boy do i want a little dude with this haircut (and smirk):

(this picture comes from the mind of george lucas)

yes....the picture below (from here) pretty much sums up my dream family. except you know, with cate, who you can't see because she'd be old enough to be in the front seat with me being all my best friend and bossy second mom:

sigh.

i have been collecting vintage little boy clothes for a long time in anticipation of someday having my own little super heroes. grant likes to silk screen t-shirts for fun, and we have lots of shirts we want to make for our someday boys. i feel like the quilt/ handmade market really ignores the little dudes, too, and i want to make more of that kind of stuff.

in thinking about all of those things i have been toying with the idea of opening a etsy or big cartel shop that caters only to boys. vintage clothes, boy quilts and handmade awesomeness, simple t shirts. cheaper than ridiculous crew cuts and more awesome anyway. what do you think? am i the only one with dirty little skater boy super hero taste? it's just like, if i see another flower headband i just might lose my lunch.

holy drama, batman.

we arrived home safely late last night. it was wonderful to drag the suitcases in, put the exhausting week behind us, and climb into bed here warm and cozy. but obvi, today we had to hit costco to fill our bare cupboards. the three of us set out on that mission- the costco is a fave family outting. it makes grant giddy. it makes cate full of samples. it makes me exhausted.

on the way home we sat giddy and full and happily exhausted in the car when cate spotted a lawn sign advertisement for invisible fences. "impossible!" she shouts. but grant, who would never pass up a chance to drive someone crazy immediately defends the invisible fence by saying he can see them on almost every yard. cate wasn't buying it. only a super hero could do that, she reasoned, and her dad was no super hero.

grant: oh but i am.

cate: super heroes aren't real people.

grant: batman is.

cate: only in a movie.

grant: i've been meaning to tell you my secret. that movie is based on my life.

cate: no it isn't!

grant: cate, i'm batman.

cate: no you are not, and i will prove it. i will pinch you and it will hurt.

grant: that didn't hurt. and i can't believe my own bat and blood won't believe me.

cate: (getting shrill) you are not batman!

grant: (matching in shrillness) yes i am!

cate: roll down the window right now and tell the world the truth!

grant: (screams out the window) i am batman! (and then in perfect christian bale): where is she?

cate: you are just good at voices, like how you can sound like yoda. that doesn't mean you are yoda. and you are not batman.

cate: (hits grant's head with her shoe).

grant: ow.

cate: see it hurt! you aren't batman!

grant: yes i am. a good friend of mine told me to know my limitations. and i told alfred that batman doesn't have limitations.

cate: (hits grant on the head again)

grant: (takes cate's shoe and throws it out the window onto the street in front of the house that we are f i n a l l y arriving at- oh my gosh somebody kill me).

cate over and over again: you are not batman! admit it! say the truth!

grant over and over again: i am batman.

and then cate slapped batman's face. and boy did batman have that coming to him- i was ten minutes past wanting to slap him myself. but those two love these play fights, and they make up quick, too. at last, grant did admit his true un-hero identity, but only after receiving this note:

see, i told you costco is exhausting.

kelly and grant's new cheapie bikes

we needed some around the neighborhood bikes- (my dad has moved here and regained possession of his cruisers). we were just going to garage sale it for some cute old ones to fix up, but we saw these cuties at walmart for 80 bucks! (i bought the basket seperately). cheap miles of fun. we took cate on a ride today- she made it six miles with no complaints. sunshine, fresh air, heart pumping for the whole family- LOVE it.

(lots) more pics from the dock at camp rich

nicole, kelly, cate

south lake tahoe, california 02/2011

emerald colored joy.

husband of mine

it always makes me happy

when i catch a glimpse of his wedding ring.

or notice again his pretty green eyes and freckles.

of course, our marriage is far from perfect.

but we laugh together a lot and we pray together a lot.

and i think that's a recipe for marital success.

a bunch of thoughts on happiness

image

"each morning when i open my eyes i say to myself: i, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. i can choose which it shall be. yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. i have just one day, today, and i’m going to be happy in it." -groucho marx

"we tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." -frederick koening

"a person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. you can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." -roald dahl

"if you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden or looking for dinosaur eggs in the gobi desert. he will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator. he will not be striving for it as a goal in itself. he will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living life twenty-four crowded hours of the day." -w. beran wolfe

"have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success." -louisa may alcott

other stuff:

+ happy martin luther king day! i asked cate if she knew who he was, and she said, "yes, i learned why he is a king". haha.

+ did you see austin city limits this weekend? it was so good. here's a preview of black keys next week. awesome.

+ i am having kidney stones blasted tomorrow. blast.

+ i just told cate it was time to get ready for piano lessons. she replied, "i quit". it made me laugh really hard because that's exactly what i used to say to my mom when she told me to get ready for piano lessons. my mom would drag me to them, and dang it, i will drag her too. and she will be very happy playing the piano when she's old, just like i am.

+ dear asha, i prayed for you after i read your comment yesterday. oh boy, what a day. i am so sorry! someday you will laugh about it, right?