The Crafts

The word awesome is most likely way over used. Do I over use it? I certainly do, but in this case the things below could make the most negative grump say, "whoa, that is awesome." Sidenote: there really is a website called thingsthatareawesome.com. Any excitement I had to create such a site is now dashed. My list of recent awesome things.... Kids reenacting the musical, Les Miserables: Our neighbors and friends were cast in the Waterloo Community Playhouse summer musical Les Miserables. Since then Kate sings Les Mis songs all day. No, really. All day. Like all the time. Here they are recreating the first scene and singing "Look Down."  "Fantine" here has bit the dust...on a porch swing. I don't recall training wheels in the musical though. Not sure what scene Natalie is participating in. Was there breakdancing in that play? Here is "young Cosette." She apparently was a breakdancer also. I joke about how tir...

I almost titled this blog post "Round Here" because when I decided to name it "Around Here" I immediately thought of the Counting Crows's song, "Round Here." But Round Here doesn't really make sense so I went with Around Here and instead decided to share the Round Here video with you. Are you confused yet? This is one of my favorite Counting Crows songs. Actually they have so many great songs. Songs that lead to high school flashbacks of me driving around Cedar Rapids with my two best friends, Laura and Traci, to get "big, fat malts" from this awesome 50's diner which is now a Panera. Wah. Nothing against Panera but the 50's diner was so much more original and awesome. Let's be honest though. While "Round Here" is totally fabulous it is also slightly depressing and that is not at all the mood I want to set for this blog post. So why don't you listen to this song before continuing on... Want to ...

With the rise in heat I somehow got that Robert Palmer song in my head. You know that jam you couldn't help but shaking your shoulders to when it came bouncing through your car speakers. "Some like it hot, some like it hot." I couldn't find an official video but I did snag this awesome live version from 1997. Seriously? I thought I was a little kid when "Some Like it Hot" was hot. I mean, I was a little kid. Honest. Here you go... So it is finally hot just like summer is supposed to be. But really, as long as I can wear shorts and flip flops then it is summer to me. Oh, and go to the pool. The ultimate tower...chess pieces and cards. Kate was so proud she too took a picture with her LeapPad. Summer's bounty... from my mother-in-law's garden. One day my green thumb will ripen enough to not kill plants. CJ swears she was just trying to cool off Kate. I mean, Kate was pretty sweaty. Revenge. When I ask to snap ...

My heart melts...

Can summer truly be half over? How is that possible? I'm not going to carry on any longer about my love for summer. I have made that abundantly clear. But here are a few things we have been up to recently. Visiting family. Here we went to the Cedar Rapids Farmer's Market with my parents. CJ wore her Christmas dress and is posing by an Eiffel Tower replica just like Fancy Nancy. Matt and the girls have a deep rooted love for baseball cards. Well, one of them has a deep rooted love. The others are newly in love but still, we talk about baseball cards around here a lot. In fact, Natalie doesn't say many words but she has added "baseball" to her small vocabulary. Opening baseball cards in their pajamas. (Kate and CJ like to wear Matt's shirts for pajamas sometimes. Hence the "I heart tacos" shirt. We took the girls to a Waterloo Bucks game last week.  Believe it or not the Bucks were giving away the team's baseball ca...