busy, busy, busy!

it's been a bit crazy around here! we are having SO much fun! Christmas is just SO fun with the kids! we had a few of anna's friends over yesterday and made mini albums with them. oh! i forgot to take pictures of the albums - i'll have to show anna's in the next post. she's quite proud of it! she did a great job! i had the paper on the pages and they added all of the embellishments. one friend was hoping to add one of everything in her book. lol! she scraps like me! :) we took a few pictures beforehand to put in our books too. it was fun to have cooperative people to photograph! :) all i had to do was to remind them that no giggling was allowed in our house, and none of them could control themselves. lol! they had the most contagious giggles. we've also been enjoying the snow, doing a little baking and making TONS of paper snowflakes. we're so excited to see our families soon!






i've done a little scrapping of my own too. january's play it forward it kit is so fun! it gave me the perfect opportunity to print and scrap some of the pictures that becky took of us this fall.

snow day!!!

our first one this year! and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. we all need the day to rest and recooperate from our colds and coughs. i've always wanted to do an advent activity with the girls, so today we finally started using kate teague's advent fun kit at 2 peas. she has some really fun suggestions in the kit! we did 6 days in one today. lol! we read a Christmas story (the hat by jan brett), made snowflakes, had a bubble bath (with green and red color tabs. lol!), sang Christmas carols and decorated the tree with candy canes. the bad thing is that i only got one picture! it was nice to just enjoy our time without a camera in front of my face. just for today. ;) and i think you can tell that anna still isn't feeling great and neither are any of us, really. i think we could use a whole week of snow days! lol!

we're still here...

i haven't been able to bring myself to blog. i can't not say anything about what happened here wednesday. but i have so much to say about it. and yet nothing. i just don't understand. i love von maur. i can't remember one single time that i've been there and haven't been helped on by a nice, friendly person. i'm just so sad and sick for all of them and their families. and of course for all of the customers too.

on top of that stress we've all been sick. we mostly just have colds, but wilson was finally diagnosed with pneumonia and an ear infection on thursday. i say finally because he has had piggy backing colds (or so the doc said at our last appt not too long ago), and it seems like he's been since since october. this season has been the worst for us yet so far. it's just so hard to see them sick and tired and not themselves.

i haven't gotten much farther on my shopping or decorating. and i'm starting to panic just a tidge. i have so many projects and fun things i'd really like to do with the kids too. so i guess i should get to cracking!!!

2ps2sday...

on tuesdays two peas does a fun challenge and chat on their digi boards and they release their new kits for the week. if you've ever thought about trying out digital scrapbooking you should really join in! there are usually 2 or more garden girls there to answer questions. but don't come hungry - we almost always end up talking about food! i'm usually starving by the end of the night. this page is the one i did for this week's challenge - use an overlay. i don't think i've done very many pages with so much white space, so i'm not quite sure about it. but i love this pictures. i love those jammies of wilson's (that the girls wore too.) and i love that he's holding his book upside down. lol! we'll be doing lots of snuggling and reading today - he has a fever and i'm not feeling great myself. :P is it too early to be wishing for spring? lol!

weekend pictures...

here are a few picts from our weekend and our trip to see george. i didn't get many good ones of george. wilson was so excited! he gave him a few pats at first, and then walked away. later i took wilson up to see george again and he gave him huge hugs and high fives. but i was holding him so i missed out on the pictures. bummer! we all had a great time at the children's museum, and i think wilson loved it the most! we'll be heading back there more often for sure. what a great place for learning and for the kids to burn up some energy! :D

i started using flickr for some of our pictures. (to see them just click on the little picture bar on the left.) i took a few for my brothers and a few at grandpa k's wedding. i'm trying to learn as much as i can before my brother andy and his fiance diana get married this spring. i'm really hoping to dive into it after the holidays. i have SO much to learn! i'm hoping to participate a lot more on a few photography boards and i really want to take some classes. i'm kind of freaking out about all of it already, if you couldn't tell. it's so scary to put yourself out there. and i'm not confident at all to begin with. but i know it's the only way to improve, and i have a LONG way to go! i'm always open for any constructive criticism and advice about it all. just be gentle! lol!

speaking of the holidays - i am totally unorganized when it comes to that too! i do have most of the kids' presents bought, but that's as far as i've gottten. well and we did make our chex mix and puppy chow. we do have priorties. lol! we tried to get our tree up, but a few strands of lights aren't working. and the girls decorated the tree themselves, and well, there aren't any ornaments about the 4 foot line. lol! so i've been trying to get it all fixed and to get the other decorations out. but i can't seem to make any progress. i know it's only december 4th, but we're usually so much farther along by now. hopefully we'll get more in the spirit and get to moving soon!

2 posts in 2 days!

is that a record? for me it is! lol! we are iced in today and having a great day. we've been baking and playing and i even got a little scrapbooking in. katja kromann has just released 2 new digital kits. they are available at ScrapScandiStyle.com and pages done with her kit can be seen at her website as well. i used her silver bells kit to scrap pictures from anna's school christmas party from last year. she has grown up so much since then!

an update...

since miley updated her blog (shocking!) i guess i better do mine! lol! we had a great thanksgiving with mimi and papa. our best cooked turkey ever! we have a saying in our bagel group about ovens. well mostly it's about cameras, but it refers to an oven. when people tell us our pictures are great just because we have a good camera we say, "no one would say our cooking so we must have a good oven." and i agree with that whole heartedly. especially since i'm a bad cook. but in this case our cooking was much better because we had a good oven. hee! well we were comparing to last year's turkey. which was not only not completely and totally thawed, but also was cooked in our old oven that took over an hour to cook a lasagna. so maybe our turkey wasn't so perfect, but it was compared to last years!

since then we've been trying to decorate for christmas, get our shopping done, and fight of colds and sickness. we haven't been very successful on either of those fronts. i think we're close to having gifts done for the kids. i wanted to get theirs done first since i was nervous about a few hard to find items. i still have the adults left to do though. and i know i still have a lot of time, but if i want to go during the week i have to take wilson (aka the world's worst shopper) with me. and i've tried bribing him, letting him ride in the front part of the cart and bringing snacks along. nothing will get that boy to want to shop. i think it's a guy thing!

we are expecting an ice storm tonight into tomorrow. that should be interesting! i'm glad for the chance for us to just be all home together without the pull for us to be out running errands. but we're also hoping to go downtown: me to see the denise at the hot shops open house, and the whole family to see curious george at the children's museum. so we're not sure how that will all work.

tonight we got a call from uncle charley (my brother chuck) who lives in connecticut. i'm so glad christmas is almost here and we'll get to spend some time with him and my whole family. chuck was asking ella about presents, i think, and she was telling him a few things on her list. but then she said, "but christmas isn't really about the presents." and he asked what it is about. and she said, "it's about love and God." isn't that sweet?! anna had ccd this week and they talked about that in class. i guess ella was really listening to her sister and i discuss that. now know i'm not naive enough to think ella really would be ok without presents. but i'm glad at least that thought is in her head somewhere. and since she is the one who thinks her bosses are, "God, Jesus and Santa," we do know where her priorities lie. ;)

anna is doing great too. i'm so amazed at her reading. i have a few sets of american girl books and she can read one a night without any problem. when i worked in school there was a girl who started reading those in second grade and we were in awe. and now here anna is in first and able to read them so well. and i know quite a few kids in her grade read chapter books too. it's amazing what is expected of them in school at such a young age. she has no problem stepping up to the challenges they give her. she's really enjoying all of her extracurricular activities and is asking to sign up for more. for our own sanity we've decided to limit her to just a few things. we feel like we barely get to see her anymore already! first grade is too young for that!

hee - well and now that i've written a book and a half i'll sign off. hope everyone has a great weekend! and that everyone here in omaha stays safe!

a picture is worth a thousand words. :)

no pictures...

wilson has an elmo book with a camera on the front. (actually i think uncle charley gave it to one of the girls for christmas awhile back. but anyway!) elmo says, "can elmo take your picture? say cheese please!" and wilson yelled back, "NO!!!" so now i officially have 3 kids who hate having their pictures taken. wonderful! if elmo can't get wilson's picture then who can?! lol! well i should say becky can! she got this wonderful one of him about a month ago. and she got a few other great ones too! but she's so amazing! i have no hope. stinkers!!!

the december it kit...

is my favorite yet! i know i always say that, but it's true! they just keep getting better and better! this month's kit has a tag shaped stamp with little journaling lines that fit inside it. and the cutest snowflake and heart stamps too! i still have so many ideas for the kit in my head! i just wish i could find time to do them!

a few more halloween pictures...

happy halloween!!!

pooley's pumpkin patch...

well i keep calling it that, but it was more of a farm i think. they did have pumpkins and a big pumpkin patch area, but we must have waited until too late in the season because there weren't many left. unless we were looking in the wrong place, which is entirely possible. wilson was in total awe of everything there. it was so cute! except that he was running around like a mad man, and wow, is he FAST! the morning started off chilly, so we started off all bundled up. but of course it got warm, so as i was chasing wilson i was also juggling jackets, money, and of course our "treasures" to take home - bare corncobs, walnuts, rocks, dandelions, important stuff! i almost always bring a big bag but not yesterday. oh well! hee!

the kids all had a great time. anna is such a sweetie, always so gentle and kind to the animals and all of the little kids there. she's getting so brave, too! she was a little nervous picking up the chicks at first, but she just kept trying until she figured it out. and she didn't even hesitate to get up on the pony. she's growing up so much!

ella liked everything too, i think. she was very quiet and reserved the whole day. i wonder if she's sick?! lol! no - i think she does get nervous and shy in new situations. and there were quite a few strangers around. she's definitely going through a stranger hating phase.

wilson. hee! he is learning his animal sounds so they were having great conversations. and when ever he gets excited he says, "ooo!" so that's why he's making that face in so many pictures. lol! a lot of the animals were licking his fingers and that was making him belly laugh each time. he must have loved the pigs, because all afternoon he was going around snorting just out of the blue. he's so funny.

we were all so worn out at the end of the day, but yet no one wanted to leave (except me. ;) ) i think we're all still kind of tired. here's hoping for a kind of relaxing morning so we can all catch up on some rest.

(ps - the pictures looked great before i saved them as jpg, and now some are not half as crisp and some are grainy. i know jpg does wonky things, but usually not that wonky! well and for the first few i had my iso cranked from the last time i took picts. whoops! i'll have to use a little noiseware on them later. and hee - click on the big picture to see more. i can't figure out how to embed the album without it being a slideshow now.)

more ella and rosadita..

"rosadita's name used to be grondo. she was the CUTEST baby with pink cheeks and she loves me." it's so sweet when ella is enchanted. i was so glad to see just a glimpse of that side of her tonight, because the rest of the day she was anything but! i think having anna home for fall break has been hard on all of us. not because of anything anna has done, but just that our whole routine is off. and of course ella's not a big fan of having to have to lose a little piece of my attention. ;) i still would love to know where in the world ella comes up with these names! lol!

an ella story...

the girls went out to jump on the tramp between rain showers.
and she came stomping in.
saying,
"there's a new girl on the trampoline,
it's cold,
my fancy shoes got wet,
the mud is wet,
and there's a dead worm on the deck."
and i said, "i'm sorry, honey!"
and she said, "it's not about you!
i just don't like being cold
or dead worms!"
but she strapped on her ladybug boots,
turned right around
and stomped right back out.
i love her. :)

november it kit...

i know i always say this, but this kit was my favorite month ever!!!! as my brother said, the it kit is the schnizit. that means awesome, right? lol!!! i'm a little nervous repeating that since it's something my brother said. ;) this kit has a beautiful tag designed by denise and it's an it kit exclusive. i'm saving and hoarding mine, because i know what a few of next month's papers are and i know it will work so beautifully with them. but the projects the team did with the tag and the october papers are so gorgeous too! check them out here... (it kit gallery)

happy birthday, kelly!!!!!

hope your day was wonderful!!!

thank you becky!

becky posted on her blog about how she learned photography. i have read some of the same books she has and looked at a few online photography websites, but now i am totally hooked on ilovephotography.com. i'm already learning tons of things i didn't even know i needed to know. in a post in the just starting out forum an amazing photographer named cheryl jacobs wrote this:

- Never compare your journey with someone else's. It's a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never "arrive". No one ever does.

- Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacence.

i think that can be applied to so many things!

i don't know how i can do a photography post without a picture so i'll post this one of my sister-in-law and her family from grandpa k's wedding this weekend. i have some other ok shots from the wedding too, but this one was by far the best. it was a dark, rainy day so i really struggled. not to mention i just have A LOT to learn! i used mindy bush's actions and frame.

mr. wilson...

isn't he a cutie? he was such a good boy today! even though he had to spend an hour in the car before bagels he still sat like a good boy, eating becca's pickles, playing cars with kelly, sharing denise's ella's pretzels and giving loves to miley.

he's fascinated by little babies, and today he was giving gentle pats to a teeny baby boy at ella's preschool. which was much sweeter than the last time he saw him and tried to steal his binkie. ;)

wednesdays are hard on our schedule because by the time we get home from preschool and eat lunch it's 12:30 or 1:00 and we have to leave to get anna between 1:30 and 1:45. wilson was happy and it was a gorgeous fall day, so we decided to walk to get her. ella's feet were tired (as she says) so wilson walked 3/4 of the way to school. that's almost half a mile! when we got to school he was waving and saying ba-ba (bye-bye) to all of the kids.

we picked up "signs of autumn" on our walk home. wilson almost made it, but he fell asleep holding his stick in his hand. he's always so happy to go to in his crib when he's asleep. he usually lets out a sigh and lays spread eagle with his blankie on his cheek. when i go in to wake him up he always says, "oh!" and starts scrambling to grab his blankies and his binkie. so i have quite the load to carry downstairs!

after taking anna to ccd we stopped by the grocery store. he loves to pay - he always reaches for my wallet and gets out my card. he loves to hand it to the cashier and he waits to get it back. and then he usually tries to pay again. lol! thanks, sweetie! once is enough!

he loves to help me cook - he still yells out "COOK!" all of the time. tonight he didn't care to sit in his highchair to help cook, but he was hanging around my legs giving them random hugs and kisses from time to time. we had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner (thanks for the idea, kelly!) and he ate a little bit of it! and a jar of baby food and some bread and butter. i'm SO amazed at how much he can put away. he eats more than ella!

speaking of ella, she has a bit of a cold and wilson and i had to run to walgreens during bathtime to pick up some benadryl. (i don't think it helps her cold all that much but it helps her sleep so that's good). all through walgreens he was giving everyone he saw big huge grins. i think he made almost everyone in the store smile. yep! i love him!

i love being able to blog to capture a little day in his life at this age. of course this will all go on a scrapbook page someday. when he's older and i can get a little scrapping in without worrying about him crawling up to dance on the table. ;)

(ps - his hair isn't really red! but the sun was hitting it in a weird way and it was exaggerated when i tried to edit the pictures on my laptop. all of my favorite mindy bush actions are on the upstairs computer and i had to blog downstairs since the cubs are on. lol!)

we'll be celebrating the wedding of kurt's dad louis to barb this weekend. congratulations to both of you! we are so happy for you!

it's also mimi's birthday on saturday (hint to john, chuck and andy. i hope you didn't forget!) i wish her a very happy birthday. (but she can't read my blog on her old computer.)

we'll be cheering on our hawkeyes and cubbies as well. it will be quite an exciting weekend i'm sure! hope you have a great one!

time for an update!

it's been a bit crazy around here! we had a nice weekend at home. anna has stopped sucking her thumb completely. it was all her own decision, and i think that made all the difference. i'm so proud of her! and it's such a GREAT thing! but of course, as always, it's still so hard to see her grow up just that much more. anyway! her reward was a webkin, so kurt took everyone to help her pick one out on saturday. the rest of the day was spent learning about the webkinz site and watching the cubs and the hawkeyes. at least the cubs are doing well!

sunday the girls and kurt went to church and the zoo and willsie and i had some good snuggling time. while watching george, of course. :) he is learning so many new words! he has started yelling, "grrls. grrrrrrrrrrrrls!" when his sisters aren't in sight. it's so cute! he loves them so much! we're not going to talk about what happened sunday night. i'm afraid i've lost all hope for my bears.

monday was the craziest of the days! wilson and i had a ton of errands to run during preschool. so then he was all wound up and didn't want to nap. after school all of the neighbors were so excited about the webkinz, and it was hot and humid and they just wanted to play inside. so i said ok. usually they are so good! and really they were yesterday too. but there was a lot of running and chaos and an overflowing toilet. during it all i was also trying to finish up my page for the stand up and scrap challenge and fix dinner and bake cookies. hee! we had a bit of a more relaxing day today. other than the security system people being here for a few hours upgrading our system. normally that wouldn't be so exciting, but of course wilson wanted to "help." hee! ella got to have a few minutes jumping on the neighor's trampoline by herself during wilson's naptime. it was a little chilly this afternoon so i think she thought her little pink scarf would keep her warm. lol!

IT's here!

the october it kit! here are my projects. be sure to check out the gallery - everyone's projects are amazing!

troy bolton jr.

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

have you ever seen that commercial when the mom is shopping for school supplies and that song is playing in the background? ella starts school tomorrow! woohoo! we have enjoyed some really special one on one times these past few weeks while anna's been in school. but she is ready to play with someone other than boring ol' mom for a change. lol! and wilson and i are looking forward to getting a big coffee (well NOT for wilson!) and having some bonding time over grocery shopping, bagel wednesdays, and maybe a few friday morning trips to von maur. :) now i should say i am a bit worried that all will not go as planned since wilson HATES shopping. and he especially hates von maur! i'm not sure how that can be - how can anyone not like von maur?! but i'm sure we'll love our time just the two of us.

another reason why this is such a fun time - the hawkeyes, bears and cubbies are all playing at the same time. and the cubs are actually still in it! although they haven't been doing so hot lately. and well da bears weren't so hot today either. but the hawkeyes are 2-0! and it definitely feels like fall football weather is here to stay. i love it!

it's also flea market season! well at least a few of my favorites are this month. i had to miss out on the venice flea market this weekend. i was so disappointed! but becky, kelly and i got to hit a great estate sale on friday and i bought an adorable pink table and chairs for the girls. i can't wait for the girls to see it - they are going to flip! it will work perfectly for tea parties and disney princess monopoly. the chairs are a much more accommodating size for me and kurt, and even anna who is growing out of the little one. in october my mom and i usually go to the what cheer flea market in iowa. it's held 3 times a year, but we haven't gotten to go in a long time. i just love going shopping to find bargains and treasures. but mostly i love junking so much for the experience. i love getting to spend time my friends and my mom. i love seeing their faces light up when they've found the perfect thing. i'm always so inspired by their ideas and insight. i had such a great time with kelly and becky on friday - thanks, girls!

even though it's still early, the girls are already looking forward to halloween. so far we've decided anna is going to be a cowgirl (since our neighbors gave us some adorable boots they have outgrown). ella says she's going to wear her stephanie from lazy town outfit again. wouldn't that be great to not have to buy a new costume?! we'll see, though. something tells me that might change a few 100 times. ;) wilson got the monkey costume from old navy last week, so he will be going as george. i need to do a page about wilson and his love of george. i think when i do i'll use for inspiration this adorable one that denise did about her curious sam. i love it! wilson comes down in the morning pointing to the tv and saying "george." and when george is over he finds his curious george book and carries it everywhere. i'm a little afraid george is giving wilson way too many ideas! but it's so sweet to see how excited he gets every time he catches a glimpse of his favorite little monkey. so when i saw that monkey suit from old navy i knew wilson had to have it. he even has a little "nanana" in his pocket. how cute is that? :)

ps - i hate posting without a picture but i haven't done any editing lately. maybe i'll get a chance to do some tonight. although it's not likely - wilson's teething has been really bad this week. he's been up for at least an hour for all but two nights since the friday before last. so 7 nights without sleep. keep your fingers crossed that those things pop through and we can all get back to normal!

pps - as i linked to denise's blog i forgot i wanted to mention that she has opened and etsy shop. she does the most beautiful watercolor paintings and has used them on some tags and cards. check them out here: Denise L designs.

blue manchu...

this little monkey man LOVES popsicles and bananas and anything that is super dirty and messy. and lately he's into trying to climb onto anything he possibly can. including the coffee table, the desk in the kitchen and the kitchen table. he's too much! and as i get him down from the table he usually gives me big hugs and loves. yep. i'm in trouble!

i've been tagged...

becky tagged me - so here are 8 random facts about me...

1. i secretly love most of the disney channel movies the girls are so into now: high school musical, the princess diaries, even (or especially) the made for tv ones like ice princess and right on track. and oh! princess diaries 2 (on now) was written by shonda rhimes! of grey's! so it can't be all bad, right? :D and speaking of really bad movies i love, the cutting edge is on that list too. :) i do love a few good movies too!
*eta - matilda is on tonight and the sound of music is on all labor day weekend. woohoo! :D

2. i love to read even more than watching movies. this summer i discovered goodreads.com. i haven't gotten to read nearly as much as i've wanted to, but i love getting to see what others like.

3. my first car was a 1969 camaro that has been in our family since it was new. i could beat everyone off the line at the red lights back then, except for the other guy in school who also drove a '69 camaro. i think he only beat me because his was an ss. ;)

4. in college i lived with 3 guys. but not like that! i was an electrical engineering student, and there were only 3 girls in my class, and one was married. we tried to have one of the other ones as a roommate for 1 year, but it ended badly. my roommates were great guys - very protective of me, almost as much as my 3 brothers are. we had TONS of fun too! :D

5. i still have 3 more? :P what else?... hee! well i'll default to the one everyone pretty much knows. i HATE birds!!! that's really on my mind today, because the zoo aviary has some new really pretty HUGE pink ones that ella just HAD to go in and see. half of those pink birds were perched on the exit doorway and the other ones were swooping at us! ok - well probably not swooping at us, but i was still freaked. lol! i think i hid my fear pretty well from the kids, but i did kind of race out the door fast. :)

6. back to tv. :) i watch soap operas. hee! my grandma and mom have always followed all of the shows on cbs. i am only keeping up with the young and the restless right now - they do take up a lot of time! it's fun to at least be able to talk about that one with my mom. i can usually imagine what gram would be thinking as i watch.

7. i can't cook. at all. i'm trying to learn, and i am finally learning how to cook a few rachel ray recipes, but for every one i succeed at i think i have at least 3 goofs. thank goodness for take out! :D

8. i was a ballerina. hee! i studied ballet, tap and jazz until i graduated from high school. i'm so excited that anna is going to start ballet and tap this year! i think there are so many benefits. I learned so much about discipline, confidence and grace from ballet. Not that I have that much grace, but imagine how much worse I'd be!

ok, so now i get to tag other people, right? ok! i tag:

kelly p

denise

becca

bridgette

tall anna

gabby

( you're all welcome! ;) )

just in case...

you've been wondering what ella's been up to while anna's at school.
she didn't know anyone was watching.
this concert when on for at least 15 or 20 minutes.
it was quite the song too!
i love her. :D

i took these pictures through our dirty window with the screen on.
so some of them are pretty grainy and dirty.
they were awful sooc, but i used one of mindy bush's actions on them.
and what a HUGE difference!
they just make editing pictures so much faster and easier.
i love her photo borders too!

first day of school...

you can tell anna was SO much more relaxed this year, can't you?! what a difference a year makes! i am SO proud of her!

play it forward...

it's the 15th, which means the it kit studio has posted next month's kit! i had SO much fun with IT again this month! the stamp designed by denise is SO versatile! it breaks into 3 pieces too. i love that! i love how she used it in combination with the journaling stamp from the august kit on her project here. there are so many amazing projects in the gallery. check it out! here are the projects i made with the kit. i had a lot of fun with the hambly transparency and the little labels. it was hard to photograph, though! all of the little buttons and round paper pieces on the calendar are attached to magnets so everything can be moved around and changed. i got a little button magnet happy! before long our whole fridge will be covered with button magnets. lol! a little psa if you ever want to make your own magnets -- buy the ones in the craft area at walmart. there are 2 different packs that i found work really well. they are pre-cut as circles and are in 3/4" and 1/2" sizes. i'm sure there are other good places to buy magnets than just walmart, but the magnets on the roll that you cut off and the magnets by the sheet from hobby lobby did not hold well at all for me. hee! ok! i think that's all! thanks, kelly, for another amazing kit! :D

hellooooooo....

ella is standing right next to me (she hasn't been much more than a few feet from me for the whole week). and she looked up at me and said, "hellloooooooo! i'm boooored!" yep. it's definitely time for school to start. 4 more days for anna. but e still has a whole month of summer left. heeeelp! :D