Before and After...

This really isn't that exciting, but we painted Isla's room...

...and oh, is it gorgeous! Long gone is that tan and brown combo that is just not right for a girl's room.

Am I right?!

I am right...let me show you guys whats up:

Before:

After!

I don't know what the color looks on that ol' computer of yours, but over here those walls are the most perfect mauve-y purple and cream you ever saw.

Also,I made those curtains, yo. 

Curtain Closeup!

And with that, we have painted EVERY. SINGLE. ROOM. in this freaking house (excluding Finn's room and the entry way...those are groovy just the way they are).

I can rest easy now, knowing that I have exploited my mom's painting skills to the max...yeah, she painted Isla's room, too. In addition to almost every other room and hallway here.

I'm ashamed. Really, I am.

How We Spent Black Friday...

This year we got all zen about life and instead of joining the masses in a probably-unnecessary shopping spree, we went and chilled out with the llamas and zebus at the Hare Krishna Temple.

I can honestly say it is one of my favorite places to be.

(Except when the peacocks start to get all up in our business like they did today. Those guys make me nervous.)

And now they have a playground there?! Well, that's perfect, isn't it?

6 Months And A Turkey Stand-Off

First up: Isla. 6 months. Half a year! Check out this cutie:

The fact that she has survived being around Finn all day is an honest to goodness miracle.

Seriously.

He likes to push her over and yell, “Roll Isla!”

Its terrible. Kinda funny. Mostly terrible.

We blame him for the fact that she’s already crawling at 6 months.

Getting herself anywhere with all that chub is a modern miracle, I tell you!

So yes, the standing theory over here is that she had to start crawling early to get away from him. 

She’s also sitting up all on her own, no problem. She can reach and grab things without falling over and she can sit up from a crawling position.

She's an overachiever, this one.

Other Fun Stuff: She likes to steal Finn's spoon while he's eating breakfast and suck the yogurt off (I might even put their chairs close together to facilitate this).

Basically, Isla is totally happy and lovin' life.

As for the rest of the la famille Rebarchik?

Finn is still loud and crazy. And now, instead of saying ‘No’ he yells, “NOT funny!” But here’s the thing, Finn...it is funny. 

His protests are usually hilarious and about something totally ridiculous. Like wanting to play with his trains in Isla’s crib. It makes no sense...

Two year olds are way too dramatic. Its a fact.

And Luke? He is currently trying to convince me to let him get a turkey for Thanksgiving. I haaaaate Thanksgiving. So American. So gluttonous. Mostly, I don't particularly want to cook a turkey for 1400 hours.

Update: We bought a turkey. Damn.

And me? I’m still working and whatever...and the best update on my life ever?? I’ve lost all my Isla-weight (40 pounds!)...which means I weigh LESS than I did before I had kids.

Wham bam, thank you m’am.

Where I Fall on My Face...Like Always.

I did it.

I ran my first race in six years.

That’s basically a lifetime. Especially when you consider the kids, marriage, house, and ensuing mental breakdown that comes when I take time to realize all that happened in 6 years and all before I turned 25.

This is why I act like such an old lady. It’s because I feel like I should be 85 years old right now.

I need to go quilt to cope with all this…

But really, I jest. It was a total blast. It was a 9 mile trail run and it was hilly. I kept thinking, “Well, this will all level out eventually. I probably won’t die”…

…1 million feet of climbing later…

“I’m certainly going to die.”

And the biggest problem that comes with running up an honest-to-goodness mountain? Having to go down the freaking thing.

I’m notoriously bad at running downhill…imagine the opposite of a mountain goat. Or a mountain goat with no legs.

Something like that. Either way there is a hell of a lot of swearing involved.

So as I’m clumsily trouncing my way down, my mom (who patiently waited for me at the top and bottom of every hill. She’s a saint. A really fast saint.) tells me to watch out for a rock.  So I watch that rock as I trip over it and slide down the hill, on my face. My head missed a tree by like, an inch.

It was epic. In a really embarrassing kind of way.

I’m still enamored with the bruises I got as a result. Those bad boys look ferocious.  

Anyway, we finished in a slightly embarrassing time of 1:20. My madre mentioned off-hand that she probably could have beaten someone who finished 10 minutes ahead of us…so that’s cool minus the part where I couldn’t run any faster.

(I admire her speed and the fact that she obviously has no feeling in her legs...)

In any case, we had fun and it gave me an excuse to slack off running for a couple of days afterward. Only problem now is that I can’t stop slacking off…

I could honestly not run for a week and just sit and eat potato chips all day, that’s the kind of mood I’ve been in all week. Somebody save me from myself.

I'm in pink (not the blonde one. duh.). I thought bright colors would minimize my chances of getting shot by a deer hunter. Because when I don't wear pink I look a lot like a deer, I'm sure. Photo from the peeps at Cascadia Trails