my brother is famous

My littlest brother got to "ask" Donald Glover of Community fame a question on tv. (He told me that the question was already prepared, but he was still the one who got to ask it!)

Pretty cool.

Just like Garrett.

sad day

Garrett left today.

It was sad.

But it was so fun having him here to visit! I had a lil craft buddy, a legit reason to skip out on work for almost a week, and someone to just hang out with while Braeden was at orientation stuff all day. Plus he made me laugh. Also, he gave me good fashion advice and his mere presence made me want to wear more than just jeans and white t-shirts, which is quite a feat these days.

Plus, before he left, he finished (one) moccasin!

 We also took some pictures at the airport. We look eerily alike with our glasses (but mine are real).

And here we are, sad, because he's leaving.

And here's a creepy picture of him as he's walking away.

Garrett John Dalton Elton, GJ, or JD for short (but not really), we miss you already. You and your love of Planet of the Apes movies: both.

sunday day

After church today I officially finished my poster project. When I trimmed down the poster I accidentally cut it a little too small to sit in the frame on its own, so I had to cut a piece of cardboard to go behind it which I attached the poster to with double stick tape so it wouldn't slide around. Then I had to attach a new hanger to the back because the original frame hung vertically instead of horizontally. Fortunately we had some frame hangers left over from our mirror wall project so it was no big deal. We hung it in our tiny entry way by the front door: I think it looks pretty cute.

You know what else is cute? Garrett came into my Sunbeams class today. When we finish the lesson I let the kids draw on the chalkboard: I draw lines on the board for each kid to have their own little section to draw in so no one draws over anyone else's drawing. Garrett got into it, too, and, since he's rather taller than a 3 year-old he got the top part of the board as his section. Don't you just love the picture of him and the kids?

A-dork-able.

iowa state fair

Today Braed, Garrett, & I went to the famous Iowa State Fair. And, before you ask, no, we did not try the deep fried butter. In fact, we never even saw anyone eating it, as far as we know. It was a tragic loss.

making things

Today we went thrifting. I bought this picture for the frame because our other amazing frame that we used in our engagement pictures got thrown away by someone who had no business deciding if it should be thrown away or not. I don't wanna talk about it.

When we got home Garrett and I went on my Pinterest to find some crafts to do, which inspired me with how to use the photo in the frame. So I got some vinyl alphabet stickers, grabbed a smaller frame from a previous outing, and got to work.

message in a bottle

It's been raining a lot here recently. Today Matt and I went on a walk in the rain to the Passaic River which is right by his house. We walked along a trail for a while, commented on how high the banks of the river had risen—it covered some of the path it was so high—and explored the nearby woods for a while. In our explorations we found 3 glass bottles that we decided were destined to be reused, so we took them back to Matt's house and, after picking up Garrett at the high school after some kind of audition or something, went back to Matt's house and wrote letters to people unknown to put in the bottles which we planned to then throw back into the river to be carried away to who knows where. Granted, probably not the most environmentally friendly thing to do, but definitely fun. Who hasn't wanted to write a real message in a bottle at least once in their lives?

My bottle was the green one, Garrett's was the clear one (we found it in the mud still partially full of vodka—sorry hobo man who maybe lives under the bridge, but it was for the greater good!), and Matt's was the brown one. Also the tallest. Here are the notes we wrote, in the same order as above:

To: You.
Subj: Message in a bottle

This bottle was found on the banks of the Passaic River in Summit, NJ. Who knows how far it has already traveled in its journey to get to me, or how much further it will go before you find it. Perhaps the swollen river will carry it far out to sea where it will be lost among the waves and sea weed and never be read by human eyes, but instead eaten by a hungry sea creature where it will stay in its digestive system until its untimely death. Whatever its fate, I hope that by the time it reaches you, gentle reader, its life will have been a full one.

***

This is a message to any courageous adventurers who braved the elements to procure this message in a bottle. I have a tale to spin as long as a spider's web. This tale is of a young shrub named Larry. Larry loved to rock out on his Gibson his mom got for him, but all was for naught when he learned that his mother was eaten by flesh-eating monsters called zombies. Devastated by his realization about his mother's death he set out on a mission of glory and fame, but most of all, revenge on the zombies that killed his lovely mother. Using all of his powers of rock he is out there somewhere slaying zombies until his last chord.
*If you are a zombie you have been warned.

***

To Whom so ever comes upon this message,

Congratulations!

By doing a good deed, picking up litter, you have gained access to a secret. Passed down from generation to generation, only transmitted by mystical brown bottle, it is none other than the secret of all life. By gaining access to this secret you will become one of the twenty chosen of the sect of the wise, charged with guarding the wisdom of humanity for the rest of your life.

By the very fact that you found this bottle I know that you were predestined to discover this, and therefore I know that the wisdom is already within you. Nothing more needs to be said. Trust yourself, and go in peace.

***

We rolled the papers up and wrapped them in plastic wrap (to protect them from getting wet), then tied them with minty dental floss, stuck some corks in the tops of the bottles, and headed out. The three of us marched down the street, now in the growing darkness, and hiked down to the banks of the river, Matt and I for the second time that day, Garrett for the first. We each said a few profound words that I've forgotten now, and tossed our bottles into the rapidly running river, with only our hopes of them finding another soul to guide them.

On our way back to the house Matt said, "I really hope that like a ten year old kid finds mine. I bet it would make his week." We all nodded.

family fort

Garrett and I built a fort yesterday. It was awesome! Garrett went and gathered up all the blankets in the basement TV room and the building began! We used an ironing board, the bed, the desk, an automan, and wrapping paper rolls as supports and boxes of blocks, kinex, and a big book of dvds as weights. It was pretty successful, if I do say so myself (which I do.)

We celebrated the creation of our fort by snuggling in and watching three episodes of Arrested Development online (Garrett had never seen it before). Things were going great until the mom intervened and stole our comfy floor blanket, complaining that she and the dad were too cold in their own bed without it. A likely story. We tried to compensate for the loss of our best blanket by supplementing our fort with more pillows and additional blankets, though none as good as the lost one, and, while we did manage to fall asleep—don't judge us, it was after midnight by this point—we were certainly not comfortable. We woke up several times wanting more blankets and more leg room, though neither were to be had, and around 8 am Garrett finally woke up, turned to me and said, "We've suffered enough!" broke out our plastic cardboard window and climbed to comfort into our parent's bed in the next room.

With Garrett gone I had more room certainly, though the largest contributing factor to me remaining in the fort for another hour and a half was I was afraid if I tried to sit up I would seriously injure my back. Luckily after I couldn't take it any more I crawled out the door, stood up, and discovered that I was perfectly intact. I wandered downstairs for some breakfast, then came back upstairs, jumped on Garrett, who was still asleep in the parents' bed, and woke him up to help me clean up our lovely fort. My favorite line? After we had all the blankets folded Garrett went to go put them away and said, "Man. We used a lot of blankets." Really, Garrett? We built a blanket fort. What else would you expect?

money matters

This last week my family was in New York City for my dad's book relaunching. The company was kind enough to give everyone in the family who was there (in other words, everyone but me) $100 to spend while they were in the city. Here's what everyone got:

Brinden: signed poster of Billy Elliot for his school choreographer & kept the rest to help pay for the graphing calculator he lost

Mom: reusable grocery bags

Garrett: clothes (Billabong, PacSun, etc)

Dad: cufflinks

Carter: nothing

Translation:

Brinden: something for someone else, nothing for him

Mom: something practical

Garrett: clothes

Dad: something expensive just for him

Carter: unimpressed with everything and unwilling to settle for less