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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47725715807138635692017-08-11T11:14:19.346-07:00My Blogging HeadBrittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-36928729816602129442013-08-12T20:11:00.000-07:002013-08-12T20:11:42.032-07:00The Elephant There are a lot of reasons I've stopped writing on this blog. Several in fact. Some practical, some lame. But if I'm being honest with myself, the main reason is.. it's been a bummer of a year or two. There has been laughter and fun and great stories and celebrations and life has been lived, but it's also been sad. And confusing. And sometimes I feel it's fake to gloss over the big stuff. There's an elephant in the room this blog and by not addressing it, I feel like a phony. Because there is so much I want to say, but can't. I often wonder how those bloggers - the ones with millions of followers - "sell out" (to some extent), their families and/or friends. It must feel so freeing to just truly write what your heart keeps silent or the way you really see the world or what is actually going on and NOT CARE what anyone thinks. Because in all reality, many people are probably experiencing what you are going through. There are universal life experiences after all. Universal hurts and joys. And sharing your personal story and journey and having validation must feel very rewarding at times. But what about the family member who didn't want that secret told? Who never asked for their sibling or uncle or mother to be a professional blogger and who feel betrayed? What about the friend who decides to open up to you only to find it looking back at them on their laptop a month later? What about the kids in their life who will eventually grow up and someday read those words that perhaps it was not necessary they know? And yet, those blogs or articles or essays are always the best to read. We relate to them. They touch us. They are real. Not snippets of a perfect life put on display. I can't say everything I would like to say. I do care more about what those I love may feel then in being 100% open. Unfortunately that means that I tend to take several steps back. Too many. I guess you could say, I hide. And for some reason, hiding makes me tired. It's exhausting actually. Constantly worrying about how what I write may make someone feel is draining. In real life, away from the keyboard, I can talk about anything. I'm a pretty open book. Maybe that's why the disparity between the two, real life and writing about real life, feels so gaping.

So here is the compromise... It's how I feel at this moment. Tonight.
It's honest.
It's from the heart.
It's The Elephant:

There is an eternal bubbling spring of cruelty and pain and grief and heartache that exists within some. An ability to hurt everyone around them and take things like love and hope and innocence and faith and crush it all. Again and again. These people can lie to others and often themselves with an ease I will never understand. They can live in a world where selfishness and greed reign over their decisions. For every 10 decisions made, 9 will be in their best interest. And for that 1 act of seemingly unselfish generosity, it will be glorified and held over others' heads as a beacon of how good they really are. Even though they may kick you and spit on you and go for the jugular just after. Of course they won't see it that way. They will only pat themselves on the back for their kind act, all the while taking pieces of the good within others and never returning them. Never regretting their actions.

Other than the obvious serial killer or pedophile, what makes a person a monster? Extreme greed? Selfishness? Utter indifference? Extreme narcissism? We all do things that hurt others at some point... Our spouse, our parents, a friend, a family member. But don't most people own up to it? Don't most say, "I'm sorry I was a jerk. It won't happen again, because I love you and I don't want you to feel the way I purposely or inadvertently made you feel". Maybe I am naive to think MOST people are that way. There is that other type of person, however, who apologizes for nothing. Who live in their own reality, oblivious or unwilling to see the ache going on in the people around them. When someone tries to say, "hey, this hurt me", they will respond with insult and violently lash out or maybe just turn their back completely.

But, the very worst thing about these people is, we keep loving them. We make excuses for them. We sympathize with their grievances. We view them as broken and therefore incapable of not being awful. Eventually, we try and cut off the pain and put up a barrier saying, "enough is enough" and we try to keep our hearts occupied elsewhere, but then we are hit with it again... Love. Followed by pain. We try again, even as the cruelty ensues. Love for this monster who takes and abuses and never clearly sees. Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-27589863018014180462013-04-23T17:52:00.001-07:002013-04-23T17:57:36.206-07:00Thank You. Gracias. Merci. Mahalo. Efcharisto. Grazie. Khop Khun Krab.
I was inspired by this guy... http://bottomlesslakes.blogspot.com/2013/04/long-overdue-thank-you-notes.html

to write my own Thank You post. It won't be as cool as his. His life is cooler. He has a cool wife and a cool kid and works for a cool company, lives in cool cities, etc.. He had a bum spit-yell on his face and Steve Buscemi knows his name. I can't compete with that.

But, here are my own, less cool, Thank You Notes.

A Few People I have never properly Thanked:

Dear 9th Grade Cheerleading Coach,

Cheerleading was my life. (YES, I KNOW HOW THAT SOUNDS! AND I'M SORRY. Okay?) It was kind of a big deal in my life. Because I was on this amazing, trophy winning, nationally competing kind of team and I REALLy wanted to continue to cheer

- but this time -

in...

HIGH SCHOOL.

(yes, yes.. i hear how this sounds... and I hate myself for it).

But I didn't make it. Close, but not quite. Thank you for pulling me out of class to inform me I was next on the list and SO close. Thank you for asking me to manage the gymnastics team.. because 4 years later I would LETTER in that.

HOLLAAA! SHS Letter Jackets last forever... in my parents' attic.

But the real reason I thank you is because NOT making it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I did other awesome things like Student Council and Principal's Advisory Board... and Drama Club and Choir and Improv and making my way into musicals and plays that was it's own accomplishment as a Freshman.

(I have derailed - sorry to Andrew, who I know is mortified at the nerdery I am confessing to).

Anyway, my point is... Door Closed, Window Opened... yadda yadda. Next year I made the team. It wasn't all that great or fun or life changing. Which is why I didn't try out my Junior and Senior year. I made some great friends through High School and a few life longers because I wasn't confined to one activity. So thanks for leaving my name off that list hanging on the High School door. Painful as it was to see. Toooooootally over it...

Dear Annie H-M,

I have never thanked you for introducing me to Vogue. I was moderately shocked and appalled by some of the ads at the age of 14, but I was in awe of your ability and DESIRE to read it cover to cover when I just wanted to look at the pretty and sometimes not-so-pretty pictures and when I would have rather been looking thru "17 Magazine". (I was not as mature a 14 year old as you, what can I say?..) Thanks for teaching me how to both spell and pronounce several famous designers. That is a skill that has come in handy over the years.

I don't wear Gucci, Versace, Louboutin, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana or Lacroix,

but I can pronounce the crap out of them.

And in that vein, THANK You for yelling at me after I said for the thousandth time, "Meeean Either!" and correcting me that it is in fact, "Me Neither". I could still be saying that incorrectly today..

And that makes me shudder.

Dear D-Bag who informed me that the sweet and innocent kiss we shared that one time led to great shame and sorrow and friend-intervention and confession because I was... Mormon! Your friends (some of whom I wrongfully assumed were my own. Silly Girl...) told your Pastor. You almost weren't going to go on your Summer Youth Trip! Because Summer Youth Trips are for those who do not kiss a girl going to Hell. Even though it was one week prior, it made the decision to call off going to Senior Prom with you pretty easy when you sat in front of me crying and wracked with pain of kissing the evil that was/is? Me.

(The non-drinking Christian Girl who had a midnight curfew). OH THE HUMANITYYY!

I can not imagine the guilt and devastation that would have ensued had you... *gulp.. held my hand as we walked across the dance floor). I am glad I didn't find out your true feelings or exactly what it meant to be "Southern Baptist Conservative" in North Carolina in 1999 AFTER Prom.

That would have really marred the memory.

And THANK YOU, Kerr Ramsey for being a good friend and going to Prom with me last minute. You were fun and kind and it was a good night. In a strange but cool twist, Kerr ended up dancing the last two songs with his ex-girlfriend who was there that night with the guy who would someday become my husband and the father of my boys and coincidentally, the guy I danced the last two songs with. I'm pretty pleased with how things turned out~

Thanks, D-Bag. I'm glad I didn't share this little Rite of Passage with You.

Dear Boy in 9th Grade Who Informed Me My Arms Were Way Too Hairy,

Thank You. You were right. They have now been black-hair-free since 1996. Sometimes a girl with Greek roots needs others to guide her in her body hair decisions. Even if it hurts. Thick, Greekish, Well Shaped Eye-Brows? Good. Thick, Greekish, Sasquatch Arm Hair? Not Good.

Dear Middle School Gym Teacher,

Thank You for yelling in front of the entire class,"Miss Hardison, Miss Krallis, this is NOT a Chorus Line!" I am pretty sure we have you to thank for solidifying our best-friendship.

You fueled our Jazz-Hand-Fire. And for that, I THaaaank Yoooooooouuuu!

(Just sang that for you, Coach Morgan).

And finally,

Thank You Professor Bidwell,

 for making me the Romantic Lead that one time. After High School, and even with a tiny theater scholarship to BYU-Hawaii, I was consistently cast as... The Mother.

I didn't love it.

But I get it.

Generally, large boned girls do not a stage Ingenue make. And so, to finally be the lead in a cute, funny little show, was pretty awesome. Even if one of the lines was something like,

"Well, you're not... that bad".

I don't care.. Fine, I was not a beautiful ingenue! But that one time, I was in fact The love interest. Thanks Bidwell. You made a dream come true.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-56640333224640704762013-03-18T13:24:00.000-07:002013-03-18T13:24:06.744-07:00Refined Ladies

 Sometimes, not often, but every once in a while.. you order a Dr. Pepper and it is EXACTLY as good as you hope it will be.

As you need it to be.

The right amount of sweet. Not too syrupy. Not too bitter.

And then,

as your taste buds sigh "ahhhhhhhhh...." in unified bliss,

"Runaway Train" comes on the radio.

And even though it has been a long, wasted and depressing weekend,

and even though it's Monday and your kid is home from school sitting in the backseat with a mean case of Pinkeye,

and even though it's cold and wet outside and you are driving in the rain, on the highway headed to buy an arsenal of all things antibacterial to cleanse your home once and for all of Pinkeye, Cold and Cough germs,

for a few minutes, with the music blaring

and a Dr. Pepper in your cup-holder,

everything is right

and perfect

and hopeful.

I would like to add that Refined Ladies still get disgusting and debilitating cases of Pinkeye from time to time as well...
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-75557439878145927432013-02-24T16:50:00.000-08:002013-02-24T16:50:17.290-08:00Starting Small
I have goal. A blogging goal. I am going to write something,
anything,
every 3 days. Wait i take it back! Once a week. Okay fine..

Twice a month.

Since the thought of writing without some kind of outline or direction or anecdote seems overwhelming at the moment, instead I am going to do some copy/pasting action. So, in the spirit of starting small, here is a text I sent ACS this week.

Feb. 19, 2013 12:58pm

Annie was lying on the couch in the computer room and there was a spider crawling RIGHT BY HER HEAD!! But we caught it in tupperware. Tried to feed it a dead fly I found a few days ago on the windowsill... then some tomato. He got depressed very quickly. Then we looked up NC spiders and identified it as a Cellar Spider (daddy long legs type of spider) and patted ourselves on the back for doing Science. Then Annie let it go.
Tuesday. Nailed it.

To which ACS responded,

Can't wait for Wednesday.

 There it is, a small step back into the world of blogging.

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-37822790239381356542012-03-08T23:34:00.000-08:002012-03-08T23:34:10.858-08:003 THINGS

1. zac posen annoys me. i have a "fashion" board on pinterest and i am finding that lately when i need to unwind and destress, staring at haute couture and deciding what i find acceptable to make the cut is a pretty relaxing feeling. and even though most fashion designers seem to be condescending, out of touch, overly-serious, pretentious narcissists, some annoy me more than others.

case in point: zac posen.

even though there are a few things i like. really like. i can't bring myself to "pin" him on my "board". and even though he probably won't admit it... i think it bothers him.

it's up to you to change my mind, z-man.

2. the other day i read about this sock-bun thing. supposedly it is perfect for the busy mom who doesn't have the time (or desire) to do her hair every day. it sounds like something that has probably been around a long, long...time (although so far no one else i've talked to has heard of it). this is the video i watched. i'm sure there are shorter demos out there, but this is just the one i happened to see.

you basically make a donut out of an old sock, put your messy hair in a high pony tail, and wrap it around the sock - which stays in place all night without anything to hold it in place. (that sort of wow'd me i admit).

so i gave it a try.

this is how my hair looked immediately after taking it down the next morning.

now, just a tiny sidenote...a few hours later i went to the doctor to find out i had the triple play (ie. ear infections, sinus infection and bronchitis) and i never planned on putting these pics on my blog.

so just skim thru them and move on.

move on, i said!

andrew said it looked like a lion's mane.

i am 85% sure he didn't mean that as a compliment.

this is what it looked like after i ran my fingers through it for 30 seconds.

-i also threw on some makeup...despite the pasty appearance-

and there you have it! a lesson in hair by... me?

who saw that coming??

ps. this has been known to be the case in the morning...

the sock-bun may have

changed my life.

3. ian has gotten a perfect behavioral grade in school every day for a month! as a reward, he and the other kids who did the same get to eat lunch in the classroom with their teacher tomorrow.

not to brag..... but, it's kind of a big deal.

it became a bigger deal when ian informed us he was the ONLY boy in the class to make the cut. LoL. i don't know if that is 100% factual, but i figure he can't be too off about that info. i will find out tomorrow when i visit his class as the "mystery reader".

after doing some thinking about being the only boy to receive this honor, ian informed us he should probably "only hang out with the girls from now on".

(yes, that is a giant eye-roll followed by a sigh).

it would be one thing if he were simply connecting the dots and making a smart observation...

it takes on a different meaning when ian's first day back to school after track out, (before we were even out of the parking lot), he told me the girl he THOUGHT had a crush on him all year did in fact have a crush on him. something we have already established SEVERAL times before. and just for some background, when ian came home a few weeks ago with his class valentines, he showed me a valentine with an arrow thru a heart and let me know that he did indeed know that feeling.

i wanted to yell,

"you should NOT be thinking about girls or talking about girls! focus on school!!!! on academia, you 1st grader, you!!"

but parenting 101: do not act shocked and appalled when your kids confide in you.

even if you are.

seriously though, we are in trouble.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-80291459210177979642012-02-29T16:04:00.000-08:002012-02-29T16:04:14.138-08:00a lesson in practicality
all but one pair of these were purchased today...

(full disclosure: ian has on a new pair of basketball shoes not in the picture).

and YES, they already have other shoes including church shoes, get muddy shoes, soft slippery toddler shoes, corduroy shoes, etc...

and YES, they possibly have 5 sets of shoes that match each other.

and NO, i do not find that cheesy.

and YES, there were many, MANY other shoes that i desperately wanted, but walked away from.

and YES, i was so strong to do that!! *thank you~

and YES, we are all grateful to have

2 boys instead of 2 girls because

can

you

even

imagine?!

i am just preparing them for every conceivable outfit. and isn't it good to

always be prepared?!

be prepared - just like the boy scouts.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-26474667683313662932012-02-27T08:37:00.000-08:002012-02-27T08:37:11.843-08:00nap threat

last night we stayed out late. the boys didn't get to bed until after 10pm (and these are kids that are in bed and asleep almost every night between 7-8pm). today, i am paying for it. owen has cried 3 times already and it's only 10am. ian had the sassy attitude of a 15 year old on accutane. and so i threatened... the nap. actually, i stated "NAP".

"nap is soooohohoooo happening today for BOTH of you! it is in your future so i don't want to hear any complaining later when the time comes. understood?" i said to ian and owen.

 to which ian replied, "PLEEEEEASE MOM - NOOO! PLEASE just give me ONE more chance to change my attitude! please?!!!" and so i agreed.

ONE. MORE. CHANCE.

since he has been incapable of getting along with owen this morning, i knew a nap would be in his future regardless. i left the room and heard ian begin project angel-face by asking owen if he wanted him to put on "du-du-du-dora".

"hmm...nice start", i thought.

since then, (and without me asking for any of these things), the following have ensued:

- all kitchen counters sprayed and wiped down

- floors swept (as well as a 7 year old boy can sweep anyway)

- dishes put away

- kitchen trash taken out of trashcan and put in outdoor can

- trash bag REPLACED in kitchen trash.... what?!!

- dirty clothes and toys picked up off the boys' bedroom floor

- beds made

- extreme patience and love beamed all over his cranky 3 year old bro.

and project angel-face continues even as i type.

which leads me to this question: how is it POSSIBLE that a human can HATE taking a little nap THIS MUCH?!!!

and this realization: i have underestimated the power of the NAP-THREAT for far too many years.

 never. again.

(photo of the guys taken the other day with ian's leappad)
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-2747398489043255452012-01-25T17:06:00.000-08:002012-01-25T17:06:15.435-08:00a sunkissed moon
immediately after dinner tonight owen decided to spit out a sip of water so as to get his legs and feet wet so he could say "i need a bath!" (perfectly logical if you're 3). he quickly stripped and ran past ian when ian said,

"OWEN! you STILL have sunshine coming out of your bum?!"

"IAN! " i sort of gasped, fumbling over my words

about to say

"where did you even hear that expression?"

but before i could...

a streaker ran past and i saw owen's tiny bum.

complete with the fading lower back tat that daddy thought was hilarious to draw on the other day while owen was wearing his pull-ups.

literally: sunshine coming out of his bum.

 that's how awesome my kids are. sunshine shines from their bums.

literally.

can you say the same?
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-65477589337496944102012-01-11T08:32:00.000-08:002012-01-11T10:21:45.744-08:00hero's work

Dear Memere & Papa,

Thank you SO MUCH for giving the boys stickers at Christmas!

They enjoyed them for an hour or so... until I took them away.

Forever.

Dear Random Stranger From the Internet Whom I Found After Typing In;

"how to remove stickers from the kitchen floor",

 Thank you for the weird and gross advice.

Sure enough, after about 2 minutes slathered in mayo -

the stickers came right off with a paper towel and minimal fingernail work.

This? This I call, Hero's Work!

(mostly because i do realize if this is really the highlight of my day, I have fallen a long, loooooong way...)
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-80486942375407927692011-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:002011-10-17T17:10:04.440-07:00ALL's FAIR...
corn dogs

fries

roasted corn on the cob

 philly cheese steak

candied apples

fried milky way candy bar

cherry snow cones

fresh chips

funnel cakes

***

2011 NC State Fair = CONQUERED

***
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-47911851739424031782011-10-07T19:31:00.000-07:002011-10-07T19:45:14.284-07:00art purge
a while ago i started a new blog. a secret blog. a blog (there is just no way to make the word "blog" sound respectable or grownup btw) where i could say things.

deep, thought-provoking, fancy things.

 alright, that's a lie. but someday i will post something thoughtful on it and not my usual gripes and trivial concerns and ramblings. i don't know why i have this need to EXPRESS. to use various art forms to purge my emotions or to help explain what doesn't feel explainable by conversation.

i just do.

i'm not very creative in my pattern of self expression though.

if i'm drawing, andrew knows to tread lightly. i'm in the bad place and needing to numb out.

if i'm playing the piano, i want to be left alone. it generally brings out the quiet,

sometimes somber side of me.

singing = the happy place.

however, singing WHILE playing the piano??... probably feeling reflective and possible a bit blue.

please don't interrupt.

feel free to take a seat and enjoy the show though.

obsessively editing photos? getting stuff DONE.

stay out of my way.

writing often means venting. although sometimes it's from the fun place. you know, a fun-vent.

dance.. yes, i dance! *insert jazz hands. i still do a mean shuffle-kick from ballet class, age 6 thankyouverymuch. and i didn't take "street jazz" for one whole year during puberty just for the heck of it. you can't unlearn sweet moves like those from street jazz.

they just become a part of you.

where was i? oh yes, dance.

dance = some kind of frantic HIGH. and almost always involves ian and owen accompanying me.

theater geeking = i'm in the mood to TALK. and you will be expected to listen. and learn. and then appreciate all things theater and performance related.

hmm.. not really sure how this all came about or how to end it.

i think i will go do an angry flight of the conchords dance to resolve this random post.

artpurge, done.

and to prove the apple doesn't fall far from the weird, artsy tree; a photo of my youngest - whose older brother had his own purge of artistic self-expression yesterday.

all over his younger brother's face.

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-89263044951960263452011-09-26T09:47:00.000-07:002011-09-26T09:47:24.977-07:00"..gone to carolina.."

i knew i missed the east/south - but how MUCH i missed it wasn't clear until we arrived. i love the sound of cicadas at night. i still vividly remember the first time i realized how silent idaho can be at night. i went on a date once to the sand dunes (no napoleon dynamite jokes please...) and we made a fire. something was "off" that made me uncomfortable and i couldn't put my finger on it. finally i realized it was the complete and utter SILENCE.
no bugs.
no critters.
no leaves in the wind.
no traffic.
nothing but the coyotes occasionally yelping in the distance.
(which incidentally abruptly ended the date and sent me speed walking for the car..)
i never got used to that silence. but oh the cicadas! i love their sound. ian was terrified the first time he heard them once we moved back. he's adjusted though.

driving around my home town, i felt like a weight had been lifted. not that i hated the places we lived. in fact there are things i miss from every state we've been in, but it just felt good to explore MY city again.
an AMAZING house fell into our laps here, which put ian in an amazing school~ we have a creek in the back yard and unlike the one in cascade, i don't have to worry about the rushing water carrying the boys away or bears possibly drinking from it. we do have copperheads though...ugh. we live in a cul-de-sac. and not a dirt one either. to the best of my knowledge, we have never had a mountain lion in the yard. or fawn carcass in a tree. or a bear cub by the garage. no large bears have punctured our trashcan. (although flies have invaded it.) i can't say the view is as beautiful here. there are no snow capped mountains surrounding us as we swim in the lake. the lake water isn't clear either. it's tinged with a combination of pollution and red clay. it's hard to find a place where a house isn't blocking your view. but the beach isn't too far. the mountains are within driving distance. there are lush, green trees everywhere. and the state fair is coming soon! fall is my favorite time of year - probably because i grew up here. the leaves are already starting to change.

okay, these are the opposite of the kinds of blogs i like to write. but consider yourself updated.

we are home, baby!
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-33022861595522023922011-09-26T09:42:00.000-07:002011-09-26T09:42:03.485-07:00a few random pics

We're Baa-aaaack

BOAT TIMES
Mommy & Ian - the whole Fam - Mommy & Owen

Owen with his cousin Sofie & with his Aunty Donna

FAMILY TIME
Aunt Bebe & Caden - Uncle Andrew & 'Fia

Sofia, Papa, Caden and Memere

Tia Maria with Sofia and Owen - Ian saying "goodbye" to his sweet cuz -

Baby 'Fia in LOVE with her big cousin

This one did NOT end well...

Sick boy wanting to be no other place than his Memere's arms~

the Crazies

SCHOOL DAYS
Ian's first day of 1st Grade - Owen kissing Ms. Jan on his first day of Preschool

NC Thunder Storm

Daddy's Secret Fishing Spot - Shrek in the Mud

Owen's 3rd Birthday

"Pony" rides in the back yard

Memere's Birthday!

Trying to be like Daddy...

Boys exploring the back yard - My little Poser

Randomness complete.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-31522137151281147482011-05-03T07:55:00.000-07:002011-05-03T08:18:53.119-07:00

 today as i dropped ian off at school he came to my window to give me a kiss (as he does every morning), and i licked my thumb and started

mom-cleaning the grits  that were left on his face from breakfast. he backed up in horror and said,

"MOM! you're doing that in front of EVERYBODY!!"

- even though no one was watching.

i embarrassed him.

i...embarrassed...my kindergartener.

*sniff...

granted he will be in 1st grade soon so he is practically a man. it really did make me a little sad though..

fortunately on his walk into school he continued to do what he does every morning, which is wave incessantly at owen and i, flash "i love you" signs, and even blew a kiss or two to his brother who every morning screams from his window,

"BYE IYO!!! YOVE UUU! GOOD DAAAY!!"

over and over until he his big brother is out of sight.

as long as he is still little enough to realize how uncool signing "i love you" and blowing kisses are then i guess we're still okay.
still, that was a close call.

as we were getting out of the car at home after dropping him off, owen marshall grabbed ian's old "CARS" backpack, tried to put it on himself and said for the first time ever,

"i go school"

i think i'm fighting a losing battle.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-22182867791106341632011-02-08T17:59:00.000-08:002011-02-08T19:20:14.643-08:00
the best thing about turning 30?

wisdom!

no that's not it.

accomplishing everything i've ever set as a goal for myself?!!

nopers.

starting a new phase of life?

ehh.. *with indifferent shrug*.

getting spoiled for a weekend?

i'm not THAT shallow people!

okay, yes i am. i am that shallow because so far the BEST thing about turning 30 has been the celebration of me - i mean IT! the celebration of it.

1st there was a box from home with some bday presents, then an unexpected bouquet of beautiful roses from my parents-in-law followed by the anticipation of a girls night out in which i had no idea what we were doing! (i do love a surprise) - especially since i was a little bummed to be so far away from friends this year~

my sister-in-law, tillia and my cousin, aleksi picked me up and we headed up to salt lake where we went to this awesome spa for pedicures. it really was such a neat place and the girls there were very cool. they even let us paint our fingernails while they did our toes which was pretty nice. sometimes i forget how i tend to view the world thru mother-of-little-boys eyes. i decided to choose this cool nail polish that sort of cracks as it dries to expose whatever color you have underneath.  i informed everyone that my right big toe dried to look like an earthquake fault line and my left big toe dried looking reptilian. like a cool lizard. my uber-girly cousin, aleksi said she thought it looked more like black lace over the greenish/blue under color i had chosen. i suppose her way sounds prettier, but personally i think they should from here-on-out advertise this look as "reptilian earthquake". what woman wouldn't want that?!

 here is the after pic; me (with the reptilian polish, tillia in blue and aleksi in gold).

i was also treated to some awesome shimmery grey o.p.i. after~

tillia had asked me earlier in the week what i would like to eat for my birthday dinner. i told her i would think about it and asked my boys. my husband said, (only semi-jokingly sadly) "i always like golden coral!" and my 6 year old quickly followed with "and i always like cracker barrel!"

"both EXCELLENT suggestions", i said.

i called her back to say sushi sounded heavenly.

and so after our feet and legs were spoiled with pedicures and massages, we headed to this amazing japanese restaurant, rated the BEST sushi in slc. we sat in the "traditional seating" area. while i have had a lot of sushi, i have never been to a "traditional" japanese restaurant. i sat with my legs sideways for a solid 20 minutes before i realized that the floor actually drops a foot or two underneath the table for your legs... my bad.

dinner was fantastic. beyond fantastic actually. the absolute PERFECT birthday meal.

after dinner we hung around until we started getting mean looks from the staff and decided we just wanted to skip a movie and hang out. so we stayed out talking until 2am.

aleksi gave me a pretty necklace and tillia told me that my "real"bday present were the tickets she had gotten for us to see"RENT" this summer.

YAAYY ME! although i have to say there is no one and i mean NO ONE that tillia could have more fun with at a show than myself. fact.

even though at the end of the night aleksi informed us that hanging out with tillia and i was like (and this is a DIRECT quote) "hanging out with two moms"

BURN... (in hindsight i suppose we did tell a lot of kid stories).

and even though i have been dreading this birthday, i have to say it was one

awesome evening.

i was informed not to expect this every year since 30 is a special one.

noted.

on my actual birthday, we celebrated with tiramisu and cake.

and after the boys were asleep, while andrew and i curled up watching a movie while binging on cake and "blood orange" drink stuff, andrew's sister, jen and her husband and girls dropped by with lots of cards and drawings and little gifts. it was a great way to end the day~

so that's it. i am now officially 30.

if wisdom happens to find me this year, i will be sure to let you know.

thanks to all my friends and family for the birthday wishes~

i feel loved.

and old.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-13952089766485832602010-11-27T23:48:00.000-08:002010-11-27T22:49:11.321-08:00A LOVE LETTER (sort of) - more, A LOVE TIMELINE
PREFACE

I am not someone who GUSHES about being a mother and kids and love and my husband and the perfection that is my life. It's not me. It's part that I don't always buy it when people do it on their blogs, facebook, etc.. - and it's part that those things are close to my heart and announcing it incessantly to the public somehow cheapens it to me (I have issues, I know). It's part that I am a ridiculously affectionate person, who kisses and hugs and tackles her kids and husband and nieces and nephews constantly so I don't need to gush in writing how much I love them - they know it. And finally, part that I get bored reading how perfect life and love are on other people's blogs - would rather write about how my kid asked me if you can get heat stroke in heaven, or how my 2 year old literally drank from the toilet, or how a few days ago I had to scold my 5 year old (without an explanation of course) as to why we don't walk around saying "is that a banana in your pocket?" (NO idea by the way where he heard that)! Or about how one time my husband bought me a card and gifts for our anniversary and was secretly a little pleased that I had been the one to forget our anniversary since I hadn't told him

"Happy Anniversary" alllll day - only for him to discover that evening (just about to give me my presents) that he was exactly one month early. We were married in November, NOT October. Which leads me to this... Our anniversary is November 28th. This is our 7th anniversary. A big one to me.

My husband likes when people gush.

And so I offer this out-of-the-normal LOVE LETTER!

ahem.. A LOVE LETTER (sort of) - more, A LOVE TIMELINE

First, we were friends.

Okay, that's not entirely true.

FIRST, we were acquaintances. After all, you were the painfully shy kid in the back of Sunday School Class building forts out of your suit jacket and the chairs. I was the oldest kid in class, sneaking out every chance I got to go to the older, cooler Sunday School class... You know, the one with the kids NOT building forts in the back of the class.

THEN, we were friends. We hung out sometimes with a group of friends. You took me canoeing and on adventures in the woods. We "borrowed" a paddle-boat at night once. You came to my plays. We went to different schools, but shared an after-school job (juice bars won't work themselves after all). I watched you lift weights between customers. You watched me blush when I couldn't make correct change. I gave you girl advice, (as I was a year ahead of you in school and thus infinitely wiser in the ways of love). You made me this for Valentine's Day one year, (even though I was dating someone else).  I kept it forever and now it sits in our home.

Years passed by. We lived other places. Did other things. Had our own heartaches and trials and sporadically kept in touch through letters and "Hi's" from family members.

THEN, near the end of the summer we got together as FRIENDS. Because we were old buddies and no one else was around and why not hang out a few times before summer ended?Except, it wasn't a few times... and we were not apart - even for a day - after that. It went from kind of hoping we would be able to get together the next day, to needing to see each other every day. We were scared and neither was looking for love. Or marriage. We knew it though. It was done. We knew like we knew like we knew it was supposed to be this way. But even still, I was scared. So I left for school at the end of the summer. After attending a friend's wedding and trip to the SLC temple, I knew for sure. For sure. But did it have to be NOW?? I didn't want to be "that" girl. The flaky girl. The girl who leaves school to go get married. I was "President" after all... I had responsibilities and school was SO much FUN! But after 2,219 miles and starting to unpack, my perfect plan was starting to unravel. It took a Bishop telling me "I knew. I knew when i set you apart to be President that something would come to intercept you. But you needed to prepare to be President. Do you want me to tell you what to do?" "YES!" I exclaimed. I knew what he would say... "Go and pray about things. You will know what to do." But he didn't say that. He said, "Go home. Marry him. He sounds wonderful." And that was it. I needed permission from someone on the outside. Someone to say, "It's okay to be that flaky girl." So I drove 2,219 miles home. We dated. We got Engaged. We got married.  We stayed for a bit in good ol' NC, and then I headed back to school. This time, with you.

Our first place was just as every couple's first place SHOULD be. Old, dusty, a light that hung from a chain. A stove that forced you to open the door even in negative temperatures so you didn't get sick from the smell. I made dinners. We went on little outdoor trips. We went on dates to school things like plays and guitar competitions.  But mostly, we just stayed in. We didn't want to be entertained. We didn't want to make new friends. We just wanted to hang out.

Together.

We had it all planned out. It wasn't really all that difficult - this little life we had made. Until...

UNTIL...

THIS happened.  Quite by accident. Quite unexpectedly. We were married 5 months. That's it. Just 5 little months. We were most assuredly NOT trying. We were most assuredly NOT ready. But he was.  He changed our plans. Our life. Our outlook. You were in haze of shock those days. You were good with him - tender, attentive, concerned, loving, but you also flew him around the room like an airplane and slid him down the couch like he was on a slide, until I told you newborns didn't so much appreciate that kind of thing. We stayed for a awhile. In the cold. We stopped back in NC and then moved to somewhere tropical.  Where we saw more than one small alligator hit by a car laying in the road. Our plans had changed and we tried to adjust. Your professors loved you. Offered you a job. But we wanted something different. Out west. "Train in your profession HERE", they said. So when classes wrapped up, and you had passed your national certification, we moved. This time to Washington. More school. More certifications. More living with other family. By this point we had spent most of our marriage living with other people. Good people, but it was still hard. Finally you were hired to "give the breath of live" I believe you called it? We moved to Spokane. Not an especially beautiful city, but we loved it. It will forever be one of the best summers of my life. We had our own little place. There were a million parks and rivers and lakes and hikes and playgrounds to choose from. I went where I wanted to go when I wanted with my little sidekick. Ian and I swam and played and explored. you applied for firefighting jobs all over. But the economy was bad. A single job opening would yield one thousand applicants or more. Literally! So you branched out...and then.......

THEN an opportunity. A real job! Not what you were trained in necessarily, but law enforcement was kind of similar... We didn't know where the town was - (most people don't know where the town is!) We scouted it out. We checked out the one grocery store in town. It closed at 7pm. A library no bigger than our apartment in Spokane. Wild-life...well, EVERYWHERE. It was an adventure. A foot in the door. So we went. You moved in and set us up while I visited NC with the boy. I was nervous. As I was flying to you, exhausted and drained and nervous and waiting... waiting... for my flight that had been delayed, you told me something you shouldn't have. The first of many times you would tell me something you shouldn't have. A cougar attacked a deer IN our yard. Not near our yard. IN our yard. And what's more, with you and your parents (who were helping you move in) sitting outside. NOT GOOD. Then you told me that the next day you had found a fawn carcass in a tree IN our yard. It was old, not from the attack the night before... OH. Good. So, I cried. In the airport. In front of strangers. Ian played on the floor and I sat there on the phone and cried. Hard. I am not a country girl. I don't like cougars. Deer aren't even that magical to me. I flew into Boise and we drove the windy, long drive through the canyon, past the rushing river to our new home. I called Fish and Game. They told me to keep my 3 yr old close to me at all times. "Don't be out at dusk or down. Cougars don't normally attack in front of people....". "DUH, Fish and Game! That's why I called!!" So I cowered in our home. I trembled (literally trembled) when I took out the trash. Made lots of noise to scare anything away before I would even walk from the car to the front door. (I admit, that makes me giggle now). Our first week there, a bear got into our trash. Twice. Punctured the lid with it's nails or teeth or something, even though you had tied the lid down to show that bear who was boss. Our neighbors excitedly told us a tiny bear cub was hanging out by our garage. You were in heaven. I was in... not heaven. But we stayed. The fires that had ushered the animals down into the valleys eventually let up and from then on, we saw cuter things. Foxes (my favorite)! Cows, (again, IN our yard). Bunnies. Horses. Elk. Raccoons. Baby skunks. We loved the beauty. We made friends that we were supposed to make. That are now a part of us. They became family in a place where we had none. In a place where you were forced to meet your neighbor. To help each other. To work together to survive a winter! We stayed almost 3 years. It was hard. Sometimes fun. Heartbreaking. But that is where we really became a family.  Our little boy went from a toddler to a kid. We had another baby. Not the girl the ultrasound promised  and we prepared for with a pink and brown nursery  and car seat and beautiful/trendy wardrobe, but a boy. A shocking surprise during a routine c-section. Our life together has indeed been full of surprises. Two boys.  Living in the place little boys are made of. Dirt roads. 4wheelers. Men who get together and talk about their trucks and hunting. Dogs with no leashes. Mud. Snow. Rivers. Stray kitties...sighhhh....!

But then, it was time to go. you got into every University in Idaho. We decided on Boise. And then, out of the clear blue sky, an opportunity for a new place. Better hospitals/dr's for our baby. An amazing school for our little Kindergartner. A city for me. A CITY. Your old stomping grounds. School somewhere else. Near some family. So we moved. And even though there were trials, lots of trials... and even though it was not easy to live there at times,

it was hard to say "goodbye".  Harder than we imagined.

THEN, we came here. Counting every little apartment change and move early on, this made move #11. We will try to move again before the New Year. Out of this apartment. Move 12 in 7 years. 12.

12 moves. 5 states. 2 kids.

Remember when we first started dating? Remember how EVERYone was shocked?! LoL~ We grew up 8 minutes apart. Went to different schools,  but similar schools nonetheless. And yet, and yet... we could not have been more different. "City Mouse and Country Mouse" my mom used to say. I once watched you kill a copperhead in my parent's yard. I filled you in on all the old-school SNL and Belushi references you didn't get when watching "the Office", etc.. (I do have a comedy background after all).  You taught me what makes a QUALITY hunting knife and to appreciate "Man vs. Wild" for more than just his accent and 6pack - (who said that?!) I taught you the cast of "Wicked" and each of their personal bios. The words to almost every song in "Rent" (which I won't tell everyone I used to find playing on the cd player in the car when you had been the last one in it). You taught me the difference between black bear and grizzly, between "real" camping and "fake" camping  (I think we know which I prefer), how to stand back and look at the "bigger picture", and that hating people who hate others is.... well, kind of the same thing (still trying to embrace that lesson though).

So here we are at 7 years. Which has always scared me a little.

"The 7 year itch", "7 year curse", "Unlucky #" you guessed it "7".

Despite our differences, despite our change of plans, despite the hardships and unexpected twists and turns, there is one thing we have always had in common. Before the kids. Before marriage. Before worrying about money and health and the future and having the answers. Before ANY of it.

YOU - MADE - ME - LAUGH.

And let's face it, I have always been able to make you laugh too. Even when things are bad. When there is loss or sickness, we can find SOMEthing to laugh about. Sometimes inappropriately. I hope we will always laugh together. The other day I listened to a bunch of messages I had saved on my phone. There was one of someone "baaa-ing". Nothing else. Just a long "BAAAAAAAAA". It made me laugh. Out loud. I got it.. A few years ago for our anniversary you wrote me a poem a la Michael Scott - entitled, "I Know the Crap Out of Women".

It was awesome.

Even when I went to kill you. Even when you want to lock me in a closet and throw away the key. Even when we are sitting in a hospital facing something potentially life-changing and scary. Even when the boys are being unbelievably naughty. Even when the "light" at the end of the tunnel seems more like a teeny, tiny flicker... We laugh.

Together.

This past week we went on a date. Our first REAL date in years.

We had a BLAST!

We had FUN!

We had... to go home at 8:30pm because our toddler was throwing up everywhere.

And yet, we shook our heads at our unbelievable misfortune, and laughed.

I love you. You make me crazy sometimes. But you also take care of me when I need it. You talk to me and listen to me. You take care of dinner when I have epically failed. You put the boys to bed (sometimes with bedtime stories I do not approve of, but whatever..)

You laugh at my awesome jokes. You feign enthusiasm for the things I care about that you do not. You help me talk things out when all I want to do is REACT.

And best of all, you make me laugh.

So, HAppy 7th Anniversary.

You make me giggle, AcS.

Almost every single day for the past 7 years we have laughed together at SOMEthing.

*Remember a few weeks ago around Halloween when everyone was dressed up a the bank and you complimented that man on his very authentic looking costume, only for him to assure you (in a most insulted manner) that he was in fact a REAL doctor? - Giggles.

*Remember when you texted me a few days ago and told me you were singing your heart out to yourself in the car and there was NOTHING you couldn't sing? - Chuckles.

*Remember your Karate Moves? - Belly Laughs.

*Your Robot? - Embarrassed Laughs

*Remember years ago when I scared you while you were taking a shower? I yelled "BOO!" You were washing your hair and you jumped SO HIGH and your arms came crashing down so hard that you took down the whole shower curtain - rod and all? - Pure. Comic. Awesomeness.

Even when you don't mean to, you make me laugh.

Happy Anniversary, Stapf

XOXO and oh yeah... XO

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-62790567390307656442010-11-23T23:28:00.000-08:002010-11-24T00:22:12.686-08:00- you - me - and gwyn. p. -
just caught up on the last two episodes of GLEE. no tv. so i always have to wait until at least the next day to watch my favs on hulu.

just for the record - nay, for posterity - my current favorite show... the show that brings more LOUD-hope-i-didn't-wake-the-boys LAUGH OUT LOUDs than ANY other show that i hold close to my heart?...

MODERN FAMILY (and i've never even seen the first season).

i love "the office", "30 rock", "grey's..", "real housewives of (insert city here)" - i am only human after all. but week after week "modern family" delivers. those kids slay me. especially the boys.

but i come to you today with a quick thought about a one: gwyneth p. - i am not a gwyneth p. HATER as so many are. nor am i completely enamored of her. i actually like her more than dislike her. i think she has strong moments and there is something sort of interesting about watching her - especially in the dramatics. i like her take on "i'm scared". but the interest turns into an almost... cringe, when i see her doing comedy. and here is why...

I! DON'T! BUY IT!

maybe that's part of the appeal or irony or something. she sort of has this snotty, perfectionist, buttoned up public image that may or may not be true, but something about her doing comedy - straight comedy (i'm not talking moments here and there) - but a complete commitment to a comedic script - BUGS ME.

for anyone who watched, the whole mary todd lincoln thing actually made me blurt a laugh out. i didn't mean to, it just happened. although i attribute that mostly to the writing - she pulled it off though. well played, g.p.

it's all the other stuff. her being funny and finding the comedic timing (good editing much?...) and being "free" with her body and "in" the moment - i just don't believe it. and it bothers me. because what keeps flashing through my mind is "TRY". she is TRYING too hard. you can actually SEE her acting.  please, give me an emma stone. a kristen chenowith. a lily tomlin. or you know what?? - to even it out since those are first and foremost comedic actresses, give me a juliette lewis. a zooey deschanel. a diane keaton!! SOMEone who pulls off doing both.

and so, i needed someone to know how i felt. i haven't read any reviews of her "glee" stint so i don't know what all has been said in the past week. and i don't know when gwyneth's new movie comes out. she will probably be amazing and win an oscar and i will look like a fool for calling her out on anything. but then again...when she wins "best actress" in a comedy...or even "best supporting actress" - call me.

i will eat my words.

ps great blog universe... am i alone in these feelings?

pps (friends who feel the same better leave a "comment" or we are done. DONE i say. you know who you are.) if you don't feel the same way i suppose you can leave a comment also..
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-62488434082280255182010-09-23T11:21:00.000-07:002010-09-23T12:54:47.343-07:00feminism, thai food, and 5 year olds

it must be confusing to be a 5 year old. anything is possible. ANYthing. bigfoot is NOT real, but santa IS. there are NO such thing as monsters, transformers however, are not only possible, but hidden in plain sight all around us.

ian and owen are watching an elmo dvd. and as i'm typing about being 5, ian just turned to me and said, "mommy do YOU know how to get to sesame street?" (the opening song seemed to imply that i did). i can sense his disappointment in me that i do not know how to get there..

so andrew called me a few hours ago and told me about this program that would be on npr today entitled "mormon feminism today"(here were the guests. the woman on the left is historian claudia bushman from claremont university and on the right is the scholar and blogger for "ask mormon girl" and "religiondispatches.org", joanna brooks - although i'm partial to feministmormonhousewives.org myself). i got the live feed off the internet and listened and then put it on in the car while i went to pick up ian from school, then came back home and finished listening online. i really enjoyed it and was just getting offline when ian walked over to me and said "mom what are you listening to?" to which i said, "oh just the radio". (i figured he was confused since i wasn't watching a show but was listening to something - don't think i've EVER used the computer to listen to npr before - or willingly turned it on in the car for that matter).. he said, "like cowboys and stuff??" i stared at him and said, "noo... just people talking. it's a show - but it's just talking and you listen to it". he was getting somewhat annoyed and said, "yeah, but like cowboys?? like with bulls and stuff?" i stared another 2 seconds and then started laughing so hard i could hardly answer him. "no ian, not RODEO... RAAADIO." i then told him how cute he was and FORCED myself to stop laughing. he stared at me like i was crazy, but also like he was a bit pleased with himself for managing to pull off being cute to mom without any real effort.

ahhh 5. so much is possible.

ps a special "I'M SO SORRYYYY" to my niece leland this fine day. after i picked up the kids i proudly served them the thai food i prepared. that's right...i had lunch ready and waiting for them BEFORE they even got home from school! booya!! i had forgotten to sprinkle the peanuts on top and was holding them in my hand when i yelled "LELAND STOP!" she is severely allergic to peanuts you see, and what had her aunt bebe made her for lunch?? just some delicious thai food with deadly peanut sauce. fortunately she had only had a few bites. i called tillia and benadryl'd her up. thank goodness she didn't have a reaction. i felt so sick i could barely eat.. (although in the end i was able to power through. what can i say?...i'm a fighter.) love you, little girl. i'm sorry i tried to make your face swell to twice its size, throat shut and ship you off to the hospital. although at least i didn't give her a peanutbutter cup - which rumor has it her dad tried to do once.

pps jen, you may want to rethink me EVER watching your girls...

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-28824567866368619092010-09-22T12:49:00.000-07:002010-09-22T13:50:47.357-07:00mermaids (no, not the movie with cher)i always have some sort of story or topic in mind when i write.

always.

today i'm going to see where the wind (and the migraine pill i just took) takes me...

ian is in kindergarten. kindergarten is kind of hard. harder than i expected.  he has homework every night, projects, memorizations to pass off each week and reading to complete.
this is what i did in kindergarten: colored. oh and sang. uh ohhhh...
kindergarten flashback!
3 kindergarten flashbacks actually. it must be your (anyone reading this) lucky day!
richmond, virginia.
flashback 1: a little girl named elizabeth crying. she had glasses and short curly, dark hair. she didn't want to be away from her mommy. i put my arm around her and mothered her. (yes, i was "that" kid)... "it's going to be okay", i said. "you'll see her soon"! i don't remember if it helped or not. i'd like to think i changed her life that day.
flashback 2: we had to color mermaids. i did a lovely job. travis (who was also on my soccer team) decided to draw an anatomically correct chest on his mermaid. i took his paper, brought it the teacher and showed the offense. (yep..i was "that" kid too). i can still remember her lips pursed together trying not to laugh. sadly, she did not share my sense of outrage.
flashback 3: play-time. playing house, my favorite game!! (which is ironic considering how bad i am at "house" now). travis threw a block of some sort at john (also on my soccer team - his dad was the coach if memory serves). john screamed and started bleeding. mrs. harper and the assistant carried him awkwardly out of the room and down the hall to the principal's office. travis stood there crying. i don't think he was looking for john to get stitches (which he did) - he was probably just trying to teach him a lesson of some kind. lesson learned. wooden blocks hurt.

ps as i sign off i am listening to ian and his kindergarten cousin, leland (they are in the same class - although sadly, they are no longer allowed to sit next to eachother)..  discuss how frustrating it is when half your body wants to play wii and half your body doesn't. now they are arguing over who get's to pretend to be a dog. ian says scooby doo is a boy dog and he is a boy, so leland doesn't get to be the dog. at least he didn't throw a block at her head to prove his point. well done, son.
oh..and in "owen-news", he has finally learned to put ian's vampire teeth in his mouth correctly. it is accompanied by a growl - which we all know vampires don't really do - at least not in the way he's doing it. oh young owen, i have so much to teach you...
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-21466197613060360782010-08-28T01:44:00.000-07:002010-08-28T02:36:44.472-07:00all the single ladies...all the single ladies...now put your hands UP!
(single lady. putting her freshly painted hand up).
for my niece leland's birthday this year we gave her a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure (she is one of the VERY girliest people in my life after all..) she was supposed to have a sleep-over at our house tonight with ian, but he wasn't feeling up for it after his chicken-pox vaccination today. so instead, i decided to have a girls' night and take leland to get her nails done~ she made the very fashion-minded pick of red sparkles (to match her school uniform of course).  i tried to talk her into switching and giving me her gift certificate half-way thru, but for some reason she just laughed at me...
the manicure/pedicure for li'l ladies includes flowers on the thumbs and big toes. after about 5 practice pictures, leland finally figured out how to do a kissy-face picture (while showing her thumb flower) as opposed to a fishy-face picture (it's a tough skill to master).
  dinner at bajio. girlfriend put away some food! she also may have told me that her mommy took a nap on the couch downstairs today and that was why she missed lunch.. LoL~ (tillia, i will assume she made that up). after dinner leland wasn't quite ready for girls' nite to end, so she accompanied me grocery shopping. grocery shopping came to an abrupt end when we got a phone call that another certain niece needed her diaper changed.. (leland's parents were on a date and apparently the diaper was so bad it could only be done by aunt bebe, SUPER AUNT).
when we got back to the house, we took a few pics together to remember our evening out.
i thought this was a good one... didn't realize leland was doing her fish/kissy face until she insisted i take another pic with her doing the same face. i fully appreciate her sillyheadedness.

ps thanks for convincing me to buy those two new sparkly $.99 nailpolishes, leland. i have a feeling ian would have picked out something different...
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-73878668826703013052010-08-20T14:42:00.000-07:002010-08-22T22:12:52.009-07:00just to recaphey.. remember that time i didn't blog for 5 months?

here is a "short" (short for me.. you do NOT want the intricate details of the past 5 months as i tend to be a bit long-winded - or so i'm told).. recap of our events.

aaaand.... we're off!

we live in utah now. near my older brother and his fam, and andrew's older sister and her fam. 10 minutes from each.

here we are last week at leland's birthday party at the natural history museum (or the dinosaur museum as everyone here calls it). it was quite the party and all the kids had a blast~ we had our own party room, tour guide and best of all the kids got to make fossils. they mix their own plaster and pour it into the mold they chose (ian picked a saber tooth tiger tooth - at least i think that's what it is) - and then as they they all leave to wash their hands, the tour guide swaps out all their molds for ones that have already dried. ha ha! kids are dumb. then they all come back in the room and pop "their" fossils out of the mold. (that is tillia's sister stacie's daughter, shelbie above. stacie has been visiting for the past month and we all got to hang out a few times. wish they didn't live so far. stupid florida).

ian with his aunt t.t., the birthday girl who just turned 6!, and ian with his uncle brian

my other niece, ruby had a BLAST causing chaos and exploring all things dinosaur. and because she looked and was being SO STINKING CUTE that day, she pretty much had free rein to do as she wished as every adult (me most of all) looked on in adoration.

last week i also had a mini-roommate reunion. i posed for a picture with ian before taking off. he was not thrilled at his not being invited. i told him he had to go to college first and then he could come. that seemed to make sense to him and he accepted it pretty graciously.we ate at mimi's cafe and sat and talked and talked and talked until i'm pretty sure our waitress's shift ended..

jessica, amber, me and kati

my OTHER (i have SEVERAL) niece, evelyn turned 8 a few weeks ago and was baptized a few days later. it was a very cool baptism and we were excited to finally live close enough to family to participate in something!

here we are with the girl of the hour~

evelyn is NOT much of a hug-giver. she's like the most frugal 8 year old girl in the world, only instead of money, her fugality is with hugs. my cousin aleksi moved to utah the same time we did (and i am SO excited to have her here!!) here she is forcing evelyn to hug her. no easy task. my little prickly pear as i call her~ (evelyn, not aleksi!)
  owen's favorite part of the baptism?.. hands down the refreshments at the end. he didn't even pour out his drink onto the floor (a favorite and precious little game of his.... SIGH). as i helped with refreshments and andrew mingled with the grown-ups, i realized i had not seen owen in at least ten minutes. (i was doing refreshments, CLEARLY i was not to be expected to keep an eye on our two year old... right?? the one mingling is supposed to watch the child. an unspoken rule, non??) and so we split up and tore through the church trying to find our mischievous little boy. andrew finally found him, at the opposite end of the church, away from everyone, crying and with his little hands pressed to the glass door leading outside. i'm not sure what his plan was, but i think he figured if he could get outside he would find everyone/thing he was looking for. which would not have been the case.

sami, abby and lydi

here are andrew's sister's girls, who threw owen one awesome party a few days after his birthday. (since it appeared to ian that owen's birthday lasted several days, he has asked again and AGAIN if he can have a LONG birthday just like owen). sami and abby decorated the house for owen and aunt jen made some delicious gluton-free cupcakes!

 as you can see, owen was thrilled to be the center of attention! it was pretty much the greatest party a two year old could ask for~ not that aunt jen had much competition.. here is the party that i threw owen.  i bought red and white plates, etc.. and decided to do a baseball/ball theme. my two splurges were the balloons and the CAKE, the GLUE, the thing that tied the whole party together, an AWESOME BASEBALL CAKE!!! i bought the mold at the party store and andrew made the batter and lovingly cooked it. i destroyed one half of it the first time bc it was still a bit too warm when i tried to take it out of the mold, but we persevered! (or andrew did rather as i wrapped presents and blew up a huge pack of balloons). i lovingly frosted the bottom half of the cake carefully, slowly, with all the craft-skill (not much in me) and mother-pride i could muster! we waited for the top half to cool. and ever so delicately andrew placed the top half onto my frosted lower half of a beautiful baseball ball. the problem we believe is that i had scooped out the bottom half to fill it with deliciousness. we did not scoop out the top half. it was a bit dense and .... sniff..sniff... HEAVY. at approximately 2am, this is what happened. followed by tears. (mine, not andrew's), sitting on the kitchen floor in a big pile of "i'm a failure as a mother" and finally a few laughs.

and so, in the morning we threw owen his cake-less party - ohhh.. but not before we lost power for SEVERAL HOURS from about 5am on and i took it as a sign to call everyone and officially cancel his party.  so after our breakfast family celebration-o-owen, we decided to take the boys to a magical place...a place where all your dreams come true...a place where anything is possible!!...a place that has not been remodeled since the 70's and a place where your hands actually feel weighed down from the pounds of germs you know must be on them after playing each game and carrying around a handful of coins. that's right. a one - CHUCK-E-CHEESE.

this was the first "ride" to be tested. naturally...these are andrew's boys after all! i have to admit chucky cheese was probably a little more for ian since he's been asking to go there since he began talking. but owen didn't complain. until he saw the "stage" that is. you know, with the animatronics - those creepy HUGE, not so cute and cuddly, robotic and unfluid in movement, disney land rejects. he was in some kind of trance watching the "show" as he ate his pizza and sipped his lemonade. every so often he would almost smile and so after 20 minutes or so, i picked him up and walked about 4 steps closer to the stage, (which by the way was still about a football field in length away). he started crying and gripped my arms in terror and back to the table we went.

finally, later that evening we took the boys to toys-r-us to pick up the gift memere and papa had gotten him. of course he and ian had to try out every bike, trike and toy not tied down or in a box first. but we left with a brand new cozy coup for little owen. the same kind i had when i was little. he sits in it every day. and or climbs on it (with the assistance of his big brother)..

here is owen going for a stolen tricycle spin through toys-r-us.

in between chuck-e-cheese and toys-r-us, ian and i headed over to evelyn's party. she had it at this new bowling alley. we were in this cool room with movie screens above every lane! the kids were in heaven. there was also a nice laser tag course they got to do and an arcade. it was a pretty sweet bowling alley. and an action packed party!

me with coral, (stacie's youngest girl) - under that beautiful exterior lurks one naughty little monkey! LOL - good thing she has the face of an angel.

new box of cheerios + a climbing toddler = breakfast ON the table. owen had a blast and eventually ian grabbed a spoon and joined in the fun. ohh...little boys...

 we saw one of santa's reindeer on our way to utah lake one day. i think this one summers here.

utah lake. started as a super fun day. we played and swam and ignored the filthiness of the water...right up until ian stepped on an old fishhook - in the water. what r the odds? it actually wrapped around his toe rather than going in it, but for him - the day was DONE.
i must admit, i love the weather here. it has been a pretty mild summer since we arrived so we have been on several little hikes and adventures. here were are at bridal veil falls. the water was ICE COLD, but the boys didn't mind.

owen tries so very hard to be like his big brother. of course he can never quite seem to do things exactly like ian. owen held this pose for at LEAST 45-60 seconds while ian did somersaults around him.

ian was in a tree and so owen just had to be there as well.

of course ian's favorite thing about life in utah has been getting to spend time with his cousins.

the kids decided to put on a circus for us one day. they actually had it pretty organized! fake names, 3 acts and a bow at the end. it was awesome.

so i guess that's it for now. will have to blog about our final days in idaho soon. ian starts school in a week. owen continues to perfect his tantrum technique. and andrew and i are adjusting to life in utah.

the end.

have added three albums on facebook of life in utah thus far. tons and tons of pictures. later, my readers.

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-74136309436926534172010-03-05T12:20:00.000-08:002010-03-05T15:38:47.404-08:00
sooo... for those of you who know me well - (really well) - know my craziness and aren't fazed by it, etc.. the revealing of my latest borderline ocd trait will come as no surprise to you. for those of who don't, here's the deal: sometimes...SOMEtimes i get "excited" about something and get a little - hmmm what's another word for "obsessed"?? - over zealous! in my "research" of said thing.. it could be finding the perfect diaper bag, researching a behavioral/child rearing issue, finding the best dog breed for our family, the PERFECT under-eye concealer (fyi - bobbi brown) - but not the point... i will not rest until i have searched page after page after page of examples and reviews and photos and information - (or until my mouse hand and shoulder cramp up) - whichever comes first.

so this past week i decided to find a watch.

(not buy...just find - just so i know it's out there. waiting for me and my large-boned wrist).

a watch with personality! chutzpah! that certain je ne sai quoi that sets it apart from all other watches. yes, it's a huge burden for a watch to carry,

but i knew it was out there.

i searched ebay, bidz, and small specialized boutiques online. i looked at the ones ridiculously out of my price range: dolce & gabbana, calgaro, marc by marc jacobs, nixon (i do love nixon), vestal, and many, many more. i found several i really liked and made a list of my favorite brands. and then i thought of one last site to try. my beloved etsy.com. i have ordered a few things from etsy

(handmade and at a ridiculously awesome price!)

and what to my wandering eyes should appear??

but a korean based shop that makes the watches of my dreams-happy tear.

i will be saving my money for a time (no pun intended) to be able to afford one of these, but i HAD to share with you the coolest, most unique (literally one of a kind), beautiful, STATEMENT piece watches i've ever seen. (and since about half my wardrobe is couture - having the ONLY one in the world is important to me)! okay that's a lie. although my victoria's secret yoga pants have so many holes in them from repeatedly wearing and washing them more than anyone who doesn't actually do yoga should - and have been "patched" up with my awesome sewing skills so many times that i'm pretty sure they qualify as "couture".

anyway, i am in love...

behold.

i believe you can choose any color leather you want, ask for unique stitching and they can be personalized with a quote or initials (already included in the price).

i think it is just one woman who makes these, but i'm not sure... i do know she has 100% POSITIVE feedback from her etsy buyers and apparently ships them very quickly.

oh the watches!!

cute ones...

dressy...

his & her matching ones...

and these nameplate ones that wrap twice. i thought i was ordering one of these for an AMAZING price...lol...but i was wrong. a miscommunication that was entirely my fault!

she was amazing and replied to all my inquiries immediately.

she ended up giving me an awesome deal on something else - which was so nice of her bc it was TOTALLY my fault! she didn't charge me a penny more and is engraving it and everything.

i promised her i was saving up and would be back for my dream watch in due time.

here are some other accessories she has. necklaces, bracelets, etc..

i think the "missing" leather bracelet is pretty sweet. that one is $50.

this is the necklace she's mailing me with a small engraving somewhere on it.. i can't wait to get it - and i will faithfully wear it around my house as i vacuum, do laundry, watch hulu.com, etc...

(i'm committed). and maybe someday i will even get to wear it out in the big city... of boise.

anyway, judge me if you'd like. make your snide comments like:

"brittany, you have WAY too much time on your hands".

ACTUALLY, i "researched" watches at night after the boys were asleep. twice going to bed well after 2:30am - AND i had MANY other things that i NEEDED to get done... ie. paying bills online, etc... so...

HA. jokes on you. i didn't have too much time on my hands, i MADE the time. it's what i do.

there are tons more on her etsy site, some even more unique/strange/cool than the ones above, and some more girlie if that's your thing.

if any of you are interested in being awesome, here is her site:

Marrianne Handcraft Watch & Band Studio

http://www.etsy.com/shop/revolt70

they range from about $120-$250 and $315 total for the "his&hers"

happy shopping! let me know if any of you get one and hey,

enjoy being cooler than everyone else!

it's like i'm changing the world for the better one blog post at a time...

you're all welcome.
Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-24159394293463863742010-02-13T20:58:00.000-08:002010-02-13T23:45:18.392-08:00all things ian. and also ninjas.

ian is officially 5 now.

he had a pretty sweet birthday considering we had a small party at home and i made ian take a nap first.  i looked up games for kids' parties online and found this little gem...  the kids then drew names for teams and decided who would be the wrapper and who would be the mummy. since it was a "super hero" themed party, about 30 seconds before i explained the "game"... i thought to say their super power was the speed of - toilet paper wrapping - obviously a gread power to have.

ha ha! oh precious little ones - you're so easy to fool. they had a blast. i didn't know if they would lose interest or think it was boring but i'm telling you, it was a HIT!

then they hopped around in their mummy suits for a minute or so,

posed for some pictures,

and got to rip it all off and toss it around in a huge t.p. fight.

we also did a marble/water/toe contest thing that i won't do again. everyone was dead quiet as each kid took a turn trying to pick up marbles with their toes one at a time and see who got the most.

it was not the liveliest game. lol.

although they didn't complain so i guess they kind of liked it..

 ian's stomp rocket jr. however, was another party favorite! all the boys even assembled themselves into an orderly line without anyone asking.. we did it again and again and again...

merandy, thanks again for bringing ian's dream cake!

 ian's gang.

meanwhile, owen looking gross covered in cake.

ian also started pre-school a few weeks ago. he is loving, loving, loving it. unfortunately all his knowledge of what to expect in a school has come from the few moments he saw of "high school musical" at his cousins, and what he's seen on various Nickelodeon shows...."no ian, girls will NOT be trying to kiss you"... "no, teachers do NOT LIVE at the school and only go home to get ready".."yes, there is a library INSIDE the school so you don't have to drive to one on library days"

 NEVER have two boys been more excited to explore a school!! ian was in awe of the REAL lockers! and because we live in such a small town, he recognized at least 5 kids sitting in their various classrooms or with their pictures in the hallways, etc.. which made him feel very cool.

 ian signs in every day first thing. here he is with his teacher helping him on the first day.

i am pretty sure this must be some kind of "naughty chair" outside the classroom. owen decided it was the PERFECT size for him and immediately climbed up.

on the day of his preschool "interview", we borrowed a friend's truck. it died - in the middle of the highway - on the way. i called andrew at work and had him call the school to tell them we would be late. not 90 seconds after the truck stopped, a friend and ISP officer came driving to the rescue and flipped a u-turn and pulled up behind us. ian asked in the most sincere voice if we were going to jail. i assured him we were not and the police officers HELP the good people and bring the bad ones to jail so the good people are safe. (ironic he didn't know this since his daddy is in law enforcement, but whatever..). then our buddy who's truck we borrowed also showed up and traded cars with us so we could get to the school and he could fix his truck. he is also an officer. ian talked for several days about how two police men came to our rescue and were our heroes. as far as he was concerned it was pretty much the best possibly way to begin his school year. after the interview on our way home i said, "ian, do you remember your teacher's name?" "hmm.." he said, "mrs......Hogganballu?" "uhh no!... close!" i said. "it's mrs. rosen (roseen)". i'm sincerely hoping his memory serves him better throughout his academic career then it did in remembering his teacher's name. i also said something to the effect of, "she seems like a really nice lady, huh?!" to which he said, "mommy! THANK you for saying lady - so i can say SEXY! hey sexy-lady!!"

sigh...yes, this was our conversation. heaven help me.

ian's "bestbuddytodd" (all one word) as he refers to him has made waaaayyy too many jokes about the girls chasing ian on the playground and trying to kiss him. so much so that it was the primary topic of conversation about school for the week leading up to his first day. i promised him they would NOT try to kiss him - then it took a turn for a few days into a conversation about ian kissing the girls. in fact, when he got on the phone to talk to my mom about school, it was the FIRST thing he mentioned to her. finally i told him that if he kissed any girls at school then their daddy's would come to the school and get VERY upset and say,

"WHY DID YOU KISS MY DAUGHTER?!"

he hasn't brought it up since.

 here was the first day daddy got to see ian's class and meet his teacher.

5 minutes later, here was andrew having a mild anxiety attack as he thought about his own "joy"-filled school days... we worked thru it though and he was able to get into the

"school-is-AWESOME!" spirit eventually.

 owen now makes himself at home when we drop ian off. he is pretty pleased with himself when he makes it up on the stools with no assistance.. (see the little smirk on his face?)

so, in honor of all things ian,

here are a few more ianisms for your sunday.

1. the other day i had on my MAC shimmer stuff that my sweet friend, annie hardison moody gave me last time i was in nc. (she knows the way to my heart for sure). i wear it all the time but for some reason on this day it caught ian's attention. i had it on my collarbone/chest and i guess the light (in the living room. i know - i know. i shouldn't be wasting mac makeup on myself when i have NOWHERE to go, but i just love it so very much. and so do my collarbone, eyelids and cheeks, even if the only light that has the chance to reflect off the shimmer is the one hanging from the fan in the living room). anyway, ian was snuggling me and sitting on my lap. he pointed to my collarbone and said in his inquisitive little voice with his eyebrows raised, "mommy, did you decorate here??"

DANGIT. that seemed much funnier when it happened then it does now in writing it. oh well.

it did make me feel like a christmas tree though...

2. ian likes to run into whatever room i happen to be in when he's watching <a id="apf5" href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://antoniogenna.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/kailan.jpg&imgrefurl=http://antoniogenna.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/sat-news-93-settembre-2009-i-canali-sky-per-bambini-e-ragazzi/&usg=__kwwS_D88_MgzGJbVRg1gXIvjLW8=&h=276&w=352&sz=16&hl=en&start=6&sig2=cate3nrviVxusHVBAiYtTg&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=BOZAp86Wswk43M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnei%2Bhao%2Bkai%2Blan%2Bnick%2Bjr.%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GFRE_enUS327US327%26um%3D1&ei=Ipt3S7jiHMKztgfuobHuCQ">"ni hao, kai lan" and bust out a chinese word and then tell me what it means. i love when he does that~ anyway, he told me his new word, and then said, "do you think someday we will go to china?" to which i said, "oh that would be so awesome!! yeah, maybe someday all of us can go to china together. we could see so many neat things! that's such a great idea, ian. do you want to go there someday?!" he said, "yes", but without much enthusiasm. he was quiet for a few seconds and said in a hushed voice, "but mommy, (dramatic pause) what about all the bad ninjas?" after i laughed out loud i said, "what?!" he explained how all the bad ninjas are in china. i said they weren't and then he said, "oh!! so ninjas aren't real?!" "uhh... i guess there are ninjas, ian" i said, "but there aren't THAT many i don't think and i think most of them are good - and i promise that no ninjas will hurt you if we go to china". "but mommy, what if they try to hurt YOU?!" yep. a good part of my day is spent going in circles in conversations like this one. anyway, later as i told andrew what he had said, andrew got a guilty look on his face (although also very entertained at the same time - fake guilt i think it was) and said, "yeah... that may have been my fault. i told him all the good ninjas live here and he didn't need to worry about the bad ones because they all lived in china".

i mean WHY?!!

do other people's husbands fill their trusting childrens' heads with utter crap just because they CAN?! or is just mine? then andrew and i had yet another talk about how ian believes every thing he says and how he can be a very LITERAL kid! not to mention, didn't ninjas originate in JAPAN?! i mean if you're gonna lie to him, at least make it a historically accurate lie.

3. ian has a loose tooth. bottom middle-right one. two days ago he said, "mommy! i think my tooth is getting longer!" (we haven't talked about how teeth get loose and i thought we had at least two more years or so before that would happen - so he didn't really have a vocabulary to describe how it felt/feels). after talking for another few minutes i realized his tooth must be loose - and sure enough we can wiggle it just a little bit. later he told my friend cheryl that the drink she gave him was sour right "hewe" - while pointing to the middle of lower teeth. she had no idea what he was talking about until i explained it must feel weird b/c it's loose - although "sour" probably isn't the word i would use. so ian called my dad, then mom and then his aunt t.t. - though he had no real desire to tell her, but only for her to relay the vital loose-tooth information to his awesome cousin, coleman, as soon as he got home from school. every time ian tells someone he says, (and again, i quote..) "guess what?! the tooth fairy is gonna pick me up! and also, my tooth is wiggling!" after him doing this 3 times i told him that the tooth fairy would only be picking up his tooth, NOT picking HIM up. to which he said, "oh - well okay, but i think i just want to keep saying it that way".

fair enough.

ian played in his very first basketball "game" tonight. it's a long story, and as far as i know there are no practices and no real teams?? anyway, i wasn't there. andrew took him. ian was apparently very confident with the ball and immediately ran to the hoop to score the second he got it. it was the wrong goal...and he ran like he was playing rugby (ie. no dribbling...) but still - yay for my little athlete! plus he looked SO cute before he left for the game - in his carolina-blue shiny basketball shorts and his little adidas shoes and hoodie. and he looked sooo old!!!! thank goodness he is still willing to kiss me goodbye in front of all his little preschool homies. wonder how long that will last??...

so anyway ian, thanks for making us laugh somuch, kiddo.

and thanks for telling me every single day how good i smell. how my pillow and sheet smell good and how even when i'm dirty i still smell SO GOOD! "how come you always smell SO GOOD, mommy?!!"

what can i say? i may not be the hottest or thinnest mommy around...i may not get out of my pajamas every day or be able to keep my child from raising his eyebrows in a creepy way and saying "hey sexy lady"...

but my collarbone is decorated and i always smell good.

and also, my 5 year old rocks.

(a few of the most recent ALBUMS w/captions)

january 2010 & ian's bday party: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140269&id=737543123&l=c2035cd701

christmas eve/day '09: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=139714&id=737543123&l=5d8496f1ee

november/december '09: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128623&id=737543123&l=8c975c6dd4

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-40339931052787074722010-01-04T10:57:00.000-08:002010-01-09T12:22:56.676-08:00end of '09 in a nutshell - a very big nutshell

falls lake in nc at dusk.

end of '09 in a nutshell.

in october the boys and i travelled home to nc. we flew out of spokane, so first we hung out for a week or so in wa.

"nina" wasted no time putting ian to work.

ian wasted no time putting "nina" to play.

he decided they would perfect her somersault technique some other time...

(we only had a week after all...)

daddy and ian made a new friend at nana's.

and despite ian's pleas to keep it as a pet, daddy convinced him to release it so it could go back to it's family. he then said, "i know buddy, this is always the hardest part for daddy too..." man i'm glad they have eachother. sadly, i had a hard time relating to that one.

we hung out at nana and grandpa "jewels" house for a few more days after daddy left,

and then drove up to spokane to stay with rachael and her clan.

(we are missing owen and kai from this picture) - but i assure you owen was there. kai was chilling with other family at the time.

guess she just needed to "get away"...

although i can't imagine why...

even though roach was going thru an exceptionally difficult time (what with her hubby in iraq, me begging her to be quiet, and a birthday mishap!!)...

she still showed us a pretty good time. we went to pumpkin patch/apple orchards.

i let my one year old offer his fingers to a random duck for the sake of a cool picture.

we played in a giant pea-box.

oh, and a word of advice - if you think you could walk into a giant pea-box balancing your toddler on your hip and your camera around your neck and stepping confidently as if it is solid ground, you would be wrong.

wrong. wrong. wrong.

think the marble scene in home alone, or any cartoon, ever.

as you can see, kai-kai knew exactly what to do in a giant pea-box.

we also chose our favorite kids and took just them to the spokane fair. (just kidding kai, isaiah and koa!!) side-note: a day or two before we went to the fair, a hospital took a group of mentally ill men to the fair - you know, for a field trip - and lost one of them. don't worry, it's not like he was some deranged murderer or something... wait...oh yes - that's right, he WAS. it was national news for a few days. but even that could not deter us from our mission or ferris-wheel-fun. did i say ferris wheel?? i meant corn-dog-fun. mmmm....the true reason for having a fair.

c'ne was awesome enough to take ian under her very cool wing, and show him how to handle the big kid rides (and a few little kid rides as well~ thanks again, c'ne).

owen tried his very first caramel apple

(sans caramel) after ian had had as much as he wanted of it.

what a kind big brother.

after seriously testing the bonds of our friendship, rachael drove us to the airport and we headed to north carolina. that was a looooong day... and owen only slept for a bit on the first flight.

a few days later we went out on the boat for one of the last times before it had to hibernate for the winter.

i even went tubing with ian. papa tried his best to scare his sweet daughter away from ever tubing again, but sadly my resolve for tubing perfection is too strong.

not even a week after getting to nc, memere, the boys and i left nc and headed up to va to visit my younger bro. sadly, ian's "hot tia maria - her eyelashes are hot" (to quote ian exactly) was in south america with my sweet nephew visiting their "other" family. sigh... SO sad we missed you guys! despite their absence, we had a GREAT time hanging out in dc.

see... here is ian hanging out in front of the monument in a tree in dc.

(dc trees are just cooler than other trees).

we took ian to the smithsonian while memere and owen hung back. i was not sure if ian would find "museum fun",.. well, fun. but he seriously had the BEST time!!!!! i can't believe how much he LOVED every second of it!! it was such an awesome day.

mommy was in such a good mood, that ian even convinced her to buy an insanely expensive dog from the museum of natural history gift shop... i swear to you ian has never, EVER made this face before!!!

lol - i had to take a picture of it bc i had never seen such intense longing and desperation in his eyes. it worked. wolfie (as ian so aptly named him) is now a member of the family and several months later, still sleeps with ian every night.

when we got back to nc, ian got to mini-golfing. i tried to assist him, but he assured me he was a "pwofessional". four year olds are cocky.

we caught up with lots of old friends.

here is owen having a blast on the very cool playground in my sweet annie's new neighborhood.

and here he is "bonding" with my sweet annie...

my other annie, (howington) also came over and ian rekindled his friendship with jack. they had a dance-off (no seriously, they did - just ask my dad - who sat with his head in his hands as his grandson danced what he was feeling!)

and then they wrestled.

they may be dancing-boys, but they are most definitely boys.

owen and lila stared at each other and when they finally started to actually play together, owen pushed lila down... then laughed. i think he thought she fell to be funny.

sadly, she did no such thing.

sorry again, lila!

we spent lots of time in nc at various playgrounds

 and having fun in memere and papa's yard,

and one of every boys favorite places, the back of the truck.

peekaboo with memere is SO much more fun in a pick-up.

owen learned some life lessons about falling and getting up again.

we also got to hang out with the khaters.

thank goodness lauren was home from school on break! no trip home is really a trip "home" without the khaters coming over for dinner and laughs.

while the rest of us were busy talking, akram decided perhaps someone should feed the little one. thanks again, akram!

uncle brian had to ditch his wifey and 5 tots in utah and come to nc for work, so we had a short reunion dinner at el dorado. brian convinced ian that he was ordering cow's brains and eyeballs (or something like that) and ian has since begged for that meal several times. ian of course believes everything uncle brian tells him (as i too used to. fyi - goldfish and sucker fish do NOT live in waterbeds. oh and circus cotton candy is NOT made from elephant hair that has been swept up by the clowns - something i had to learn the hard way from our next door neighbor). fortunately ian can just come to me to verify uncle brian's claims.

i got to go out for a few different ladies nights out. annie and kim howington ditched me in anthropologie just before closing time. i thought all the people there staring at me were shoppers.. finally i realized they were all employees - staring me down until i put two-and-two together and realized they had locked the door and were willing me to leave with daggers in their eyes and a smile on their face.

also had another el dorado night with tammy, emily and juli.

i laughed so hard that by the end of the night my stomach hurt. man i am FUNNY!

okay, some of the time i may have been laughing at the other funny girls...

ps thank you so very much to my awesome group of cascade girls for teaching me to play nertz. because while i may be horrible at it here, i was the queen of nertz in nc. sorry nc girls, but these idaho girls could teach you a thing or two about taking nertz seriously and talking trash...

ahh... and finally, our last activity - or should i say, the REASON for our trip.

you know, minus that whole seeing the grandparents, family and friends thing...

the nc state fair. (can you hear the angels singing??) i possibly scheduled my entire trip around being able to hit the state fair before heading back to idaho.

mommy was possibly more excited than ian and owen-pie..

even making the mistake of going on the water ride as one of our first rides and having to walk around for an hour or so with a wet tooshy that looked like i had possibly not found a bathroom quickly enough - could not dampen my spirits - no pun intended. okay a little bit intended.

by the way, that is pure TERROR on ian's face.

but it was followed by pure joy and a request for more!

ian caught a whale and won a cheap stuffed snake from a very unenthusiastic fair worker.

(side-note: ian just saw this picture and said, "i just don't why i am so good at that!" everyone is good at this, sweet boy.... everyone.)

SOMEhow ian convinced us to let him use his last few tickets for a haunted house ride. papa actually backed up this idea!!!!!!! papa, i still hold you responsible for this error in judgement. last night, (2-3 months after this ride - which incidentally was the "kid-version" of the haunted rides - ian is still obsessed with it). andrew opened the back door at about 4:30am yesterday before he headed to work and it made a very loud squeeeeaaak. two seconds later i heard the pitter patter of terrified little feet running towards my bedroom to crawl in bed with me after his "haunted house" dream. and as much as it scared him, he is also fascinated with it and wants so badly to go again. his birthday is coming up and he has asked for a haunted house cake. i convinced him the cake should coordinate with his theme of super heroes. what a weird kid.

owen had his own scary incident.

in fact, as far as owen is concerned, sparky was worse than any haunted house.

ian got to check out a real live monster truck. not the kind of "monster" you have nightmares about though - thank goodness.

~so thank you to everyone for making this a fantastic trip~

and most of all thank you to memere and papa!! we love you and miss you and hope to get to do it alllll over again very soon!

and that was the rest of '09.

minus that whole thanksgiving, christmas thing... but that is another post for another time. and a much shorter post i promise.. a real "nutshell" - if you will.

.."help, i'm in a nutshell"..

*in british accent.

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772571580713863569.post-42838512574526211542009-09-13T12:20:00.000-07:002009-09-13T12:51:44.746-07:00I HATE NATUREokay, that title is misleading...as there are in fact many, many things i love about nature; trees, wheat fields, picnics, "sweet light" time, crisp autumn air, pumpkin patches and the list really and truly does go on. however, after ian, myself and finally owen all getting stung by yellow jackets in the last 5 days and after walking outside and seeing the horror-fest above my front door, i am feeling at war with nature. i used to HATE spiders - have nightmares that they were COVERING my floor and i had no where to go... but i thought i was mostly past that. then i saw this little "beauty" over our front door. our neighbor killed it with some of our spider spray - it took a TON to kill it - and my heart is still racing. i feel like i just walked away from a car accident. my adrenaline was kicked up and i swear my heart was doing this horrible flutter thing (not the good kind) and i was left clutching my heart. i feel like it's crawling on my as i type this...is it crawling on me?!!! (shudder!!) why do i feel like i'm gonna throw up?? uuuhhggggg!!!!!! forget the bears in the trash and the dead fawn carried up a tree in our front yard, THIS is the stuff of nightmares...
EXHIBIT A: the itsy bitsy killer

EXHIBIT B: our rabidly filling bee/yellowjacket trap

EXHIBIT C: nest #1

and EXHIBIT D: nest #2

and this is all just the front side of the house!!

ohh...i have never felt so sick after a post...gotta....go....lie....down........

Brittany Krallis Stapfhttp://email@example.com


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