nothing! it is rare to find a product that does all that it says...
sharpie deserves an award because you see...
when a sharpie product is labeled permanent...
it is just that...permanent. 
i should have known better, you say? i suppose but chances are good something like this will happen again and probably soon. i should be crying. and maybe i will just as soon as i stop laughing...
emers has a new word. "nandy?" she asks, over and over and over. "no, emerson. mommy doesn't have any candy." "oo. nama?" she inquires with the sweetest expression of hopefulness. as if mommy might just pick up and head over to grandmas for a piece of candy. i might. em is very persuasive.
ryker is into exercise these days. "mom, I need some excercise. i'm going to razor around the block." which would be great except he doesn't return. this is really just a ploy to find out if either cavan or brock can play. and if not, grandma's house is fun too (she has candy and lots of it). oh dear. mine is the neighborhood nuisance who shows up unexpectedly and stays forever. a bit like the narcotic lawn fungus infecting yards around here. not really! we have one cool and kind kid. it appears he is welcomed everywhere. emerson, on the other hand, is shaping up to be the neighborhood bully. all parenting tips welcome! i remember thinking really people, it's not that hard! then someone sent me emers just to put me in my place. i so deserved it. and i love her soooo much! i think we'll keep them both.
those of you who know ryker can imagine the fun he had at rock city! we heard about it for days. he is now asking for a rock polisher for christmas. i think santa (or grandma) might oblige. i am looking forward to making the trip with the whole family. tennessee is obviously an amazing state to explore. thanks to uncle joe, auntie michelle and cousin jaden for taking such good care of our little boy. another thanks to grandma marilyn and grandma good for inviting him!
A shout out to Jenna! We are picturing you lounging in the living room of your beautiful new townhouse, recovering from the move, sipping tea and enjoying the sound of the crackling fire as it attempts to compete with the pouring rain. Oh wait...fire places these days don't crackle, they hiss. Well that just ruins the image. :-) Thanks so much, for spending some time with us during our visit to Seattle. Especially for good-naturedly enduring Ryan's abuse and for loving on our kids! Come visit!
Ryker vacillated for months between a scuba diver and a chef. That was before he found a red-eyed tree frog in one of the many costume catalogs arriving in our mail. He knew immediately that Em would be the frog and he would be a fly. There was no convincing him otherwise! Em already thinks she runs this show and I imagine that next year, Ryker will not get to coordinate the two of them. So this be the two of them. Grandma Marlene's sewing and design is always top notch! Who votes that I should start her a sewing and design blog? I'm sure she would title it Made by ME (Marlene Elizabeth). :-)
So our girl's week comes to an end tomorrow. One week of no boys equals ONE load of laundry, ONE load of dishes, NO refereeing, and VERY FEW toys about. All that adds up to ONE very nice vacation. That said, we missed our boys! And I am not advocating single motherhood! While this mother and child were kicking back at home, a very hardworking Daddy was across the nation paying the bills.
Looking at some pictures of Emers today, I was taken aback by how grown up she is. People have been mentioning the changes in her but I suppose I hadn't fully realized them. It has caused me to be a little reflective, which is always good. I just returned from Mamma Mia and while its serious flaws become more evident with each viewing (sorry Pierce), it still makes me smile widely. This time it made me cry a little too. Time! Where does it go? In a hop, skip and a jump, both Ryker and Em will be school-bag-in-hand. So time passes but I am more determined than ever not to let it slip through my fingers. And I don't want to EVER have to ask myself if I could have been a better mother! A few of those pics of our big little girl...
he loves, teaches, protects and torments her. she adores and annoys him. they are pure joy, the both of them! 
you can't tell, auntie rosalyn, but i am wearing the little eTa onesie you bought me.
a game of sorry before bed. ryker wins again. it will be just us girls next week. ryan is on his way to georgia tomorrow and ryker to tennessee shortly thereafter. i am looking forward to spending the week alone with emers and dreading spending the week alone with emers. she will miss her big brother and playmate terribly. ryker can't wait to see jaden micheal jones! we are NOT talking about the haircut, btw. except to say that both he and i cried a little as we looked at the blond locks in the tub and i made a vow to NEVER, EVER attempt hair cutting again!
Yea! A win...finally! A sweet wave of nostalgia hits every time we venture to Pullman. It starts, for me, as we crest a hill just before Washtucna and are greeted with views of rolling hills and dry-land wheat strips. We had a good laugh with Brady. He described feeling particularly nostalgic as he paid the cashier at the same concession booth where, ten years before, he had met Shannon. He also felt compelled to share this nostalgia with the student handling his money, as we all know Brady would. :-) She gave that slightly-annoyed-but-mostly-don't-give-a-darn-stare perfected by hours of manning concessions and shouted, "Next!" Which is hilarious because, according to Shannon, there was no one else in line. She'll feel you one day, Brady! So glad Brady and Shannon invited us to join them! Thanks, Amanda and Drew, for stopping in for lunch. Ryan and I enjoyed fellowship at Ken and Tanya Carper's home on Sunday! It was our first time back to that little meeting and the "Carper's...Welcome!" tile hanging by the front door made me a little teary!
Eric, Braeden, Brenda and Cody Wilkerson, us, Shannon, Logan and Brady Dickhaus
The band comes to play for the RVers. Not sure what they were wearing but it's all good. Been there...not really done that exactly. You gotta love college! Brady was running for the duck tape but it was unclear as to whether he was going to add to these outfits or wear it so we held him back. :-)
I can now picture Cousin Amy in what has to be the classiest dorm room on campus. We may have taken up too much of Aim's time but that girl needed a break from torturing cute little white lab rats anyway. :-)
So I have had some time now, to contemplate Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and have gone so far as to Excell our monthly budget, debt snowball and step plan. I have opposed any form of serious budgeting. I suppose because I previously thought that budgeting meant you didn't have money and WE have money. Oh wait...there it went. I've learned that the ONLY people who have money are those who budget. That said, I'm wondering how to accomplish a Partial Money Makeover. Just kidding, Honey! :-)I am slightly surprised by my level of motivation right now. The idea of paying off our mortgage in 10 years sounds great, though challenging, and 10 years of extreme sacrifice isn't too many, hey? Thank goodness for Grandmas and their "closet" contributions! Why does the thought of cutting up our credit card leave me unsettled? I have long prided myself on being the last one on the wagon. In fact, I am strangely annoyed by band-wagoners. I like to think that I give every new "thing" that comes along the careful consideration it deserves. And yet my husband has had to pry me, one finger at a time, from the debt-is-a-useful-tool wagon. I didn't give that one a second thought -OBVIOUSLY! I suppose I am posting today in an effort to record my current frame of mind in the indelible ink that is the world-wide-web as I may need to refer to it at a later date. SO we'll keep you posted...or maybe not. I doubt this is sounding much like the "gazelle intensity" Dave refers to. Especially considering our upcoming weekend of fun in the Palouse! I'm off to finish packing the camper. I suppose this obligates us to watch Saturday's game...GO COUGS! :-)
