We are downsizing...

but not quite this much.

We are moving into my in-laws "cabin" near Flagstaff, AZ. We are just tired of struggling to live here in Reno. The cost of living here is ridiculous and there are no tech jobs for Brian. I am sick to death of worrying about how we are going to pay our bills. We are starting over again.

Here's the real deal:



It's on a 5000 sq ft lot in the Coconino National Forest. The kids will be going to Flagstaff schools, which are very nice, highly rated and Brian will be taking a deep breath and figuring out what he wants to do next.

Part of me will miss our big two-story house, but I was getting way to attached to a house that we don't own and by helping someone else pay their mortgage, we were certainly making sure we would never have one of our own. With Savanna and Steven on the brink of adulthood, we were going to have FAR more house than we really needed anyway.

So, on to the next adventure! We'll see how rustic life can be.

5+ years later...

We finally made it to a museum here in Reno. We went to the Nevada Museum of Art yesterday and I will freely admit, we only went because Savanna needed to go for school. One of those things you never get around to, but are really glad someone finally forced you to go.

Harry's favorite exhibit was Dan Goods "The Hidden Light." It was an interactive visual display; very cool.

My favorite was Katie Holten: Atlas of Memory.

I realize that they do it to keep it relevant to the area, but the predictable Southwestern/Western oil paintings wear me out. I guess I need to get away from this region to see anything else. Overall, it was an interesting and cheap expedition for an otherwise uneventful Sunday.

George's First Birthday!

Hard to believe that my littlest sunshine is already one! This past year has gone by so fast.
(click to see it bigger)

In my fantasy world

Here's what we would be wearing for the Holiday picture that I haven't taken yet:



It will probably never happen this way, since stuff usually never does, but it's a fun thought!

My two little "Caricatures"

When we last got to IKEA in May, they were having a Kids Day and there was a very nice Caricature artist there named Susan Johnson (artbysue@sbcglobal.net). Somehow, the line was only one kid long when we walked in, so we wrangled her into doing both boys. George sat pretty well for only 7 months old at the time. Sue asked them what they liked to do, so Harry is building a Lego raft and Georgie is playing with blocks. I don't recall George ever really getting into blocks, but I imagine that's what Harry told her that he liked to do.

Latest Pages

I am way too lazy to worry about cut-off edges and perfect scans, but here they are!

What I wouldn't do for Georgie's Head

Poor George seems to always have a "bruised apple" head. If he doesn't have a fresh one, he's got an old yellowing one. He is constantly pulling out drawers, getting on top of things or under them, or otherwise banging his head.

Consequently, I've had to elevate my drafting table really high to keep him from using it as a target and since it is so high now, my short self has to stand to use it and keep it at an angle to do so, which means that everything slides off because long ago I took off the bottom tray because it was broken.

So.... after this steam roller of events, I got a new trimmer that has grippy feet. Pretty much everything else will stay put for short periods, but my old gigantic guillotine trimmer was just too scary to ever put on there. With discount coupon in hand, I got this little guy at Michael's and it really works great. They have really improved upon the rotary trimmer since I last had one and the price was great.



I don't know if it was the new trimmer or what, but I have been scrapbooking like a maniac this past week. Fun to have my mojo back! Maybe I will even scan some to post!

Goodbye Mrs. Martin

We were so thrilled to find out that Harry LOVED his 2nd grade teacher this year. He was truly excited to go to school everyday and did his homework without any fuss. He was happy and thriving until we found out that due to decreased enrollment, they were going to eliminate one of the 2nd grade classes, and you guessed it, it was Harry's class with Mrs. Martin. She is normally a 1st grade teacher and got bumped back into 1st grade and Harry's class got split up between the other 2nd grade classes. He's back in a team teaching class, which I think is incredibly stupid. One teacher teaches the class while the other grades homework and does paperwork. I'm not impressed with the idea.

This photo was taken on the last day that Harry went to Mrs. Martin's class. What a sad day for him.

Signs of Fall

Harry left this for me on my desk. He thought it was so cute, he knew I would like it, but wanted to make sure I didn't eat it. So like him, the sweetest little boy on earth.