this is our life...

have you been to she's crafty today?

i'm posting great crafty ideas for the family every other day or so for littlerockmamas.com...come check it out and support me and other mamas in the area!

a full morning

nate woke me at 7 a.m. today telling me he wanted to go outside and rake the leaves. really, why would you deny an almost-four-year-old this pleasure? so we put on jackets and i grabbed my tea, and we raked leaves. in the glory of the early morning sun.

i could hardly get him inside. we raked and explored from 7:30 until almost 9. then we got dressed and headed out to mc d's on our way to pinnacle for a morning hike. he ate an entire egg mcmuffin in the car, declaring it "good food!"

we've never taken him on the hike up the mountain, and i have not walked it in YEARS. it was beautiful this morning, and full of families and runners. about 1/3 the way up, we ran into the m-b crew with big sis and lil man in tow. nate and sis had a great time trekking up the rocks, which were getting bigger and more difficult to negotiate. i was so proud of them.

we stopped just short of the top, and worked/slid our way back down with no injuries. at the bottom we ran into the kyzer clan who had just arrived, and we all spent some time on the playground before leaving. nate was beat, but managed to eat some yogurt at home then watched some "ask this old house" with me before heading off for a nap. then i took a nap too.

here's some shots of our morning:

 

 

 

the haul

let's Halloween some pumpkins!

we are finally getting around to carving our pumpkins this morning....

fall classroom art

ms. jannis' class has been busy this past month creating super cute and crafty fall art projects. they are all proudly displayed inside their class and out in the hallway. here's a few shots of them:

little crazy Kleenex ghosts

i LOVE this spider

 

Frogs from their 'f' week

paper bag owls
 

handprint tree and stuffed pumpkins

more handprint trees; nate's was up for auction at the spaghetti carnival and OF COURSE we had to bid on it!

i LOVE this one...paper towel roll scarecrows!

another one from their 'f' week...an aquarium full of fish, complete with seashells and plant life!

pretty fall tree

 
 
 
 

race for the cure

Nate did his fourth race for the cure in Saturday. he loves going but the crwds freak him out after a bit. he walked for a bit this year but wanted to be carried most of the time. so I'll really have to think about it before signing him ip for next year. but he lived him some cinnamon rolls aka casserole. thanks to the zephyrs , tbone and bed for the shirts, and Steph and breean for brunch at their house after. another great year!!!!

i was born to sing for you...

This was my 5th u2 concert, starting in 1992 with the ZOO TV outside broadcast stadium tour in kansas city, mo. i was just 16 years old and it was my first stadium show. it was a life-altering experience for me; i truly was a different person after i left that show.

the next time was in 1996 at the liberty bowl in memphis for their pop mart tour. the concert was the impetus of our first big fight and we got a ticket on the way to memphis, so it was not the best experience. we had nose bleed seats and it was really cold. we left early. waaa.

number three was in dallas at reunion arena for the all that you can't leave behind tour in 2002 or 2001, i can't remember. we had seats behind the stage but they had screens all around and for bad seats they were really good. it was a GREAT show.

number four was really just half a concert, since it was only half the band. it was in november 2004 and bono and edge performed 2 songs for the clinton library opening ceremony. rhonda and i snuck into their soundcheck and we waved to them AND THEY WAVED BACK. i resisted the urge to stalk their hotel for another glimpse. the next day aaron and i stood under the overhang of a building downtown as it rained, and watched them perform on a big screen in a parking lot.

this time was a bit different than before. i mean, i'd been excited about going to the concert and hanging out with clay, but we had also planned a trip to ikea. IKEA! i am obsessed with ikea. i had to keep reminding myself, oh yea, i'm going to see u2 tonight. after we go to ikea.

the show was still great, powerful, emotional. but i've grown up.  don't get me wrong, i was still rocking out, bouncing off the walls and enjoying the stadium's vibe. it's just an odd realization to know that your life is not defined anymore by what was so important to you when you were younger.

anyway, i'll stop waxing poetically. here's the pics from my phone-

Cowboy stadium looks like a ufo in the middle of arlington. it is CRAZY huge.

the claw stage, one of 3 that they have either in use, setting up, or traveling to the next show. you can see the bottom of the infamous mega-screen hanging in front of the stage. they had to move the stage back to the endzone because the screen was so big...or the stage was so huge. either way it was a square peg in a round hole.

clay, me and aaron. i'm just a tad bit excited.

muse, their opening band. i hadn't heard of them before the show, but they must be somewhat popular because there were several early twenty-somethings going nutso for every song. they were good, i'll give them that. but if it's not on npr, i'm not aware.

this was one of the first songs, maybe breathe? look at that 360 screen...it was insane.

ahhh....unforgettable fire. the screen extended down for this one...great, great, great song, one of my favorite old school ones.
 

i don't remember this song, but i liked their heads spinning around the screen.

look at all those people! 70,000+ at this show...

ultraviolet...baby, baby, baby light my way...

 

moment of surrender, the last song of the second encore. bono did not want to leave, he just kept talking and talking....i know, big surprise.

here's their setlist:

1. Breathe
2. Get On Your Boots
3. Magnificent
4. Mysterious Ways
5. Beautiful Day w/ Blackbird (snippet)
6. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For w/ Stand By Me (...snippet)
7. Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of (acoustic)
8. No Line on the Horizon
9. Elevation
10. Until the End of the World
11. The Unforgettable Fire
12. City of Blinding Lights
13. Vertigo
14. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight w/Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday w/ Get Up, Stand Up
16. MLK
17. Walk On w/ You'll Never Walk Alone
(encore)
18. One
19. Amazing Grace/Where the Streets Have No Name w/All You Need Is Love
(second encore)
20. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
21. With Or Without You
22. Moment of Surrender

 
 
 

OH.MY.GOD

AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

praying mantis

our front yard is over run with praying mantises...there always seems to be one on the hood of my car. Nate got excited tonight when I found one and ran inside to get his "praying mantis jar" tbone had given him a while back. I corralled it inside the jar and nate was fascinated....for about five minutes. then he wanted to play with spongebob on my phone. so like his mother...

polka dots

a few weeks ago I, Paige in the dean's office, and Dao, an asst professor, all showed up to work in black and white polka dots...

advice from a 3.66 year old

before i left for the grocery store tonight, nate leaned over to me and in a harsh barely-whisper said "MOM. BE CAREFUL. AND DON'T RUN OVER ANY CARS."