Sunday

Fun Times At The Langs This Evening

1. I was blinded twice by these freaky laser pointers. My retinas may or may not have permanent damage.
2. Three kinds of hot dogs- regular, non-meat, and kobe beef. It was a matter of opinion on which one looked the most disgusting.
3. A new fire pit
4. S'mores on that new fire pit
5. R peed his pants during the outdoor dinner; Teddy later dropped his pants and peed on the deck.
6. Some YouTube viewing of Brandi Carlisle, who Josh thinks could pass as my sister
7. End of the evening bath for the two boys
8. R now has four enormous mosquito bites. He inherited sweet blood from me.
9. The dads were entertained with NFL Red Zone.

Saturday

The Kids Current Favorite "Trail Mix"

1. Pecans
2. Almonds
3. Cashews
4. Chocolate chips
5. Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal chunks
6. Kashi Heart to Heart cereal
7. Butterscotch chips
8. Raisins

Friday

This Busy Weekend

1. I saved Project Runway so that I could watch it with Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders tonight while my husband's out.
2. Story time with the kids at Left Bank Books tomorrow morning
3. Going to Taste of St. Louis with some friends late tomorrow morning
4. Visiting with some of my husband's childhood friends and their families tomorrow afternoon
5. Cooking out with friends Saturday night
6. Visiting a new church Sunday morning
7. Mandatory naps on Sunday

Thursday

What's Rollin' Around In My Head

1. I'm working really hard to get good ideas for an art project I'm heading up at my kids school. Lotta pressure.
2. I'm still mourning my Grandpa (seen here smoking while being presented a key to the city- love him). Feeling like a little of me died, too.
3. I've been in a food rut with the kids lately and am trying to get them to stretch their pallets a bit. I love packing school lunches and am always looking for new ideas.
4. Am starting to read Cleopatra: A Life to join in with the St. Louis Art Museum members book club. I'm nervously reading it and hoping something magical comes out of my mouth if I have to talk. Usually not the case.
5. I've been having pretty intense migraines lately (our car accident, the gift that keeps on giving) that are impervious to modern medicine.
6. One of my most favorite people in the world is suffering and hurting right now, and I feel a million miles away and can't stop thinking of her and wishing it were better.
7. Trying to prayerfully think about what kind of mother I want to be and what kind of mother I actually am and how I can bridge that difference.

Wednesday

My Favorite Artists At This Year's St. Louis Art Fair

1. Chris Dahlquist, my favorite photographer of the show. I'm not usually drawn to photography, but this gal. Come on...she had me at her artist statement.
2. I had lunch with Todd Alexander on Saturday and found him fascinating. His art, is so beautifully disturbing and evocative. I am saving up for one of his pieces.
3. I think that Steven Graber is one of my new favorite artists. Everything he does is lovely and soulful.
4. Rebecca Hungerford, who works with pewter to create lovely pieces. I have a few of these hooks that I love.
5. Jonathan Rutledge, a very popular jewelry designer people come to shop for. His work is breathtaking.
6. Stephen Bach, who does these oil landscapes that are just so serene and make me long to live in them
7. Paveen "Beer" Chunhaswasdikul, who was as profilic an entertainer as an artist. He had coffee mugs that whistled and really unique, not-your-grandma's teapots.
8. I've never been so captivated by felt. Amy Gillespie always had a packed booth. No internet image could do her justice.
9. This woman, Flora Zarate, is so unbelievably talented. THIS is not a painting, but a hand-sewn textile. I literally went and visited her "arpilleras" all weekend long and was sad to not have purchased one.
10. I like Michael Bauermeister because he is an amazing artist, but also because he is a really cool guy.
11. We have a piece from Aaron Hequembourg, and I can't get enough of him. He is great to visit with- lots of stories.
12. I kept coming back to this booth...Bruce Peeso captures something so comforting and American.

Tuesday

10 Things

1. Pepto-Bismol is so yummy to me, yet the Pepto-Bismol tablets are the most disgusting things I can imagine.
2. 2012 will go down in history as the year of the swimming lessons. Three times a week, that's where I'll be.
3. I made homemade applesauce on Sunday with the kids. They said it was "too spicy" (I may have gone overboard with cinnamon), but I find it delicious.
4. I fell asleep last night on top of the duvet with just a light, knit blanket on me lying sideways across the bed. When my husband came home, he just slept on the sofa so as not to move me, but I slept miserably because I was freezing and never thought to climb under the duvet.
5. Our house smells funky right now. A bit like trash.
6. I thought I was going to die this weekend from an elk attack. It took about four hours for my arms to stop shaking.
7. I cannot handle it when I am trying to promote beautifully illustrated, wonderful books that might also be award winners, but all my children want to buy are Barbie Princess books, Toy Story books, and books that have stickers inside. Cannot handle it.
8. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team is back on! I really do get so excited.
9. There are twin girls in R's class this year, and he is quite a smitten kitten. He talks about them all the time.
10. Every time I find something cute for R at BabyGap, I notice the skull on it. Why must they put skulls on everything?

Monday

R's Lunch At School That He Gave Two-Thumbs Up For

1. Packed in his little Stephen Joseph blue camo lunch bag
2. Two Gardein strips and a serving of black beans in a LunchBots pico
3. A Sprout Organic Toddler Puree, Acai flavor
4. Vanilla soymilk in the cute little robot Klean Kanteen
5. An Organic Valley string cheese
6. A little LunchBots condiment container with a vegan chocolate chip/chopped walnut & pecan mixture

Saturday

Last Night's Date Night

1. Kids spent the night out at my in-law's house
2. Supper at California Pizza Kitchen. I had the thin crust Tostada, while A had the BBQ chicken pizza. Raspberry lemonades for both of us.
3. I bought these cuties.
4. A tried on some jeans and settled on a dark wash easy fit from Gap.
5. We marveled at the line at the Apple store, then shopped around at my favorite stores.
6. We came home and watched episode one of Hatfields & McCoys.

Friday

What I Was Eating This Summer

1. Lots and lots of various fruit crisps- seriously. Made apple, blueberry, blueberry-cherry, strawberry, peach, strawberry-peach, blackberry, blueberry-blackberry...
2. Black bean, sweet potato, cheese, and avocado nachos with salsa verde
3. Salads featuring lentils
4. I was really into spicy veggie burgers
5. These are my new favorite tortilla chips
6. Chia pudding
7. Although I typically do not like peanut butter, I ate a lot of peanut butter and honey sandwiches
8. Whiskey and sodas
9. Salad-kopita from Crushed Red
10. Avocado on toast
11. Egg and sauteed veggie wraps
12. Chickpea salad with Kashi crackers
13. Cream cheese brownies in my freezer

Thursday

My Latest Wish List Of Things

1. These shoes
2. This t-shirt because I love Parks & Rec and Andy is my favorite.
3. This new dress I'm obsessed with
4. The new Avett Brothers CD
5. New bathroom rugs and towels
6. A cute iPhone 5 case (I'm getting one!)
7. Tunic (they call it a dress, but with a mile-long torso, it's a tunic on me)
8. This and this and this. I'm obsessed with her jewelry right now.
9. I desperately want a Rimi Yang. I love her work.
10. The top, the pants, the clutch!
11. A fun tablecloth. I'm on the hunt.
12. This headpiece. Love.

Tuesday

This Summer

1. We were at the pool almost every single day. It was wonderful and relaxing, and I got a killer tan.
2. Because of that, not much of our "summer to-do list" got done. And I'm perfectly okay with that. It's going to be now a "summer/fall/winter/spring/maybe even next summer to-do list."
3. I watched Laguna Beach, The Hills (productive, I know), Saved by the Bell, Dawson's Creek, The Wonder Years, and Weeds in their entirety on Netflix.
4. I started a new way of dealing with my hair--no more straightening, no more product. I'm trying to be long and natural, but sometimes fuzzy and wild. I'm okay with that.
5. R started to become a big boy. I really want to freeze time with him. He's at that super cute stage where I just want to hug and kiss him all the time.
6. We didn't go on a summer vacation, but I spent plenty of time in Arkansas and southwest Missouri.
7. I mysteriously lost a chunk of weight that I didn't need to lose, but I managed to get it back with nightly milkshakes for a couple weeks and a week of eating out when my parents were in town.
8. R turned 3, and we had a pool party at my in-laws house. It was very laid-back, just a pool, lots of kids and friends, some yard games, a train cake from Whole Foods, and about 12 cans of silly string.
9. We read through Because of Winn Dixie, The Jesus Storybook Bible, a beautiful book of classic fairy tales, and Charlotte's Web.
10. The burn ban and droughts prohibited us from celebrating the 4th of July in our wonderful traditional way, so we went swimming and ordered pizza with friends.
11. I took the summer off from running.
12. I became addicted to sweet tea. I ate an egg sandwich and a drank a glass of sweet tea for breakfast one morning and thought, "Dear Lord, when did I become my mother?"

Friday

The Fun Activities To Do With Your Kids In The Kids Area At The St. Louis Art Fair This Weekend

1. Bubble splatter painting with Chesterfield Arts
2. Making musical instruments with the Contemporary Art Museum
3. Creating treasure pouches with Crossroads College Preparatory Academy
4. Discovering Seville custom with the Flamenco Society
5. Write skits and watch them be performed with Integrity Productions
6. Making sun catchers and optical illusions with Leftovers, Etc.
7. A Chinese calligraphy lesson with Missouri Falun Dafa Association
8. Creating mystical magical masks with Rohan Woods School
9. Paper bag hat construction with Cultural Festivals
10. Making paint swatch bookmarks with St. Louis County Library
11. Animal Marionettes with Volunteen Nation
12. "Foiling Around" with The Magic House
13. Art Portfolio assembly with ArtMart
14. Creating rain sticks with University of Phoenix

Wednesday

Today

1. I woke up at 6:00 (which is super early for me) to get prepared for the day and take a shower
2. School photos day, so extra care was taken with getting the kids dressed and groomed
3. We stopped at Bread Co. to pick up bread-sliced blueberry bagels to bring in for W's class snack
4. PIE meeting (not a meeting concerning pie, although that would be amazing. It's our school's version of PTA) after drop-off
5. I spent the morning in W's JK Class because it was her "All About Me" day
6. Her "All About Me" box contained her little baby doll, a baby photo of herself, a map of Arkansas with her favorite spots marked, Charlotte's Web, and a Max Beckmann-inspired drawing she did a few months ago.
7. Drove the kids home and ate guacamole and broccoli and carrots and three Nutter Butters and watched two episodes of Weeds
8. Organized and checked-off a bunch of permission forms for a fundraiser I'm helping out with
9. Folded laundry, picked up the house, and washed my face
10. Watched an episode of Super Why! with the kids
11. Art Fair meeting in Clayton...last minute details to go over
12. The kids dominated their school fundraiser walking around our building...I guess people downtown not used to seeing kids are more than willing to drop $80 for chocolate.
13. My parents are here! They are here to watch the kids during Art Fair weekend.

Tuesday

An Excerpt From R's Counting This Morning

1. Thirteen
2. Eighteen
3. Nineteen
4. Twenty
5. Twenty Eight
6. Twenty Nine
7. Twenty Ten
8. Twenty Eight
9. Twenty Nine
10. Twenty Ten
11. Eleven
12. Twelve
13. Thirteen
14. Eighteen
15. Nineteen
16. Tenteen
17. Eleventeen
18. (and then it got so high-pitched that I couldn't understand the words coming out of his mouth)