have i told you lately that i love you?

seriously, people...just when i thought life couldn't get any better, i go ahead and have some of the best days possible. for some of you, reading this is probably pretty obnoxious, but there's no way to poop-coat (as opposed to sugar-coat, i guess) it. life is stinkin' good.

again, the good results from the mri have got me riding on the high-life vibes. and then friday morning rolled around and it was my bonafide beeerfday. and i got lots of fantastic wishes from my wonderful bloggie peeps and day-to-day peeps. and phone calls. and love. and then i got all dolled up (not really) and loaded up the kiddos and picked up my dad and we drove to newburyport. put joey in his new riding car and pushed him around. and ate the most fantastic food at the purple onion. black beans and lime juice and hot sauce. and shrooms. and watched the babes play at the park. and then i got a chance to shop solo for some birthday records. neil young and john denver and ravi shankar and someone else who escapes me at this moment. yes, i was born in the wrong decade. i just can't attach myself to current music. the ravi s. was a complete splurge (at a whopping $6- j/k!) but it was my day so i went with it. then i scored a beautiful sari-ish ensemble for gray at a used kiddie clothing shop for .79! life is good. of course, when i tried to put it on her (after my purchase, of course!) she got all dramatic and started flailing around, claiming it was the most itchiest and completely horrible piece of clothing ever. hrmph.

so after newburyportieness, we packed up again and moved ourselves on over to the beach for a photobooth session (a priceless one at that) and some pizza and some skee ball.

(notice me flashin' the 2 and 8- 28, baby!)

then home for some cleaning and centering and getting ready for my date with my husband! who came home early from work! with the kids picked up and whisked off for a night of fun with puppadd, john gave me the most bestest present ever- my record player! with a johnny cash album! so we hooked that baby up- and i'm not lying here- popped in the john denver album, whipped out the tambourine and maracas and rhythm sticks and danced like the dirtiest hippies this side of clark university. this little dance session was the best birthday gift i've ever gotten. then we headed off back to the beach for an oceanside dinner at brown's- fresh freakin' clams. dipped in a crapload of butter. and beer. life is good. then back to the photobooth for yet another set of pictures- our first set got eaten by the machine, and we had to take another set, which came out the balls. love them. back to the house for more record listening into the wee hours (read: 12 o'clock) of the night. bed.

next morning was gift finishing and getting everyone ready and leaving for a mini-roadtrip to jo and lib's shower- (getting reaaaaly lost and being late), socializing, working through social anxiety, the usual shower goodness. observing love. eating fancy delicious food. being envious of jo's rockin' rockstar dress. thanking my stars that i didn't bring the babes with me. on the way home, getting lost again, the stars aligned and i ended up at the living earth, my most favoritiest place in worcester- hippies and stinkiness galore (mama al, did you love this place, too?) rushed in long enough to sniff around and squirt myself with some zum zum pathouli lotion. holy crap- i want to make out with the creators of this lotion. i was a hippie stinkin' goddess for the rest of the day.

so this is my life. oh, wait! the packages. the stinkin' packages! angela from love green dog rocks my world. angela, thank you! thank you! pictures to come, although stuff has been used and loved already. and auntie stephie sent some bookie love, which i received last night. thank you! i'm going to call you in a bit to talk about the day and see what's up. also, my mom got me a pair of kickin' dr. scholl's, in red- and i was lucky enough to stumble across a picture of her from august of 1977 wearing the exact same shoes. now, if i can only find a way to adjust that damn impossible strap! i'll officially be transported back to 1970-something.

photobooth friday: the anticipation edition

love the lights

love the old photos

gray waiting

more waiting

hum...still waiting.

daddy gets a piece of the waiting action

the family awaits



if you calculated how much, over time, i've spent on photobooth pictures, it would be scary. frightening. probably hundreds of dollars. but some people do crack....and i do- photobooths.

lots of plans for the day- including hitting up two photobooths, birthday style. i've got the best family that puts up with my strange requests. this morning- singing in bed and the snapping of gray's toes. there's nothing that puts a smile on my face faster than watching gray snap her toes. yes, we are a family of strange habits.

last night- delicious dinner of artichokes and red peppers and pasta at my mom's. the kids were cherubs after a less-than-cherubic day, and mama even got to sip on a pomegranite (ha! this is soooo not the spelling, but i don't do spell check) seltzer.

here's wishing you wonderful sprites a happy and mango-slush-sippin' day.

things i really freakin' love thursday

gray's art is becoming more fantastic with each passing day. yes, i'm biased. yes, it's a bunch of squiggles. but i love each and every one of those carefully placed and intentional squiggles.

bug carcasses. yes, bug carcasses. and playing frightening games like "hide the bug carcass on someone else's body".

mandala tapestries and green clogs and bouncy balls


what else? you ask.

well,

*the new ani cd although listening to it makes me feel old and frumpy and grown-up

*my new j.o.b.- and my first client yesterday. and after being in school for over a year, it felt SO STRANGE to get paid for what i was never allowed to accept money for before. almost surreal. and then i got a TIP! my first tip. it was weird and wonderful, and i treated myself to an iced coffee, one i earned with my own sweat and tears (ok, maybe not tears, but i was definitely sweating.)

*homemade eggplant casserole from my dad- and eating almost the whole thing

*going to shanshan's this morning and getting the best treat- carole king, joni mitchell, and crosby, stills and nash records. the best best part was that she borrowed her mother's monstrosity of a record player (speakers, etc) and set it up in her playroom so we could listen to my new digs- the kiddies were transported back to the 70's. luckily we weren't at my house or we'd have the incense going and the kids would most likely have been naked and eating potentially dangerous objects. it was the best morning ever. seriously.

*dreams of red dr. scholls

*not having m.s. yes, m.s. as in multiple sclerosis. crazy story, and to make it real short- went in for a routine physical, and left with a mri appointment to rule out m.s. so i've been going to appts, which i hate, and calling doctors to get my damn thing read, and finally, FINALLY almost a week later i find that my brain is ok. no m.s. hi, i don't have m.s. this is part of the reason why i've been distant and crazy here lately. worrying and not worrying about this nonexistent possibility. but i'm clean. and i have a normal brain!

*putting the kids to bed at 6pm and sorting my old pictures into decades. or more like "college" and "growing up" and "high school." it's like someone went through my boxes of photos and shuffled them. so i'm trying to get them in order. put in albums (ha!). i'm really bad with memories. i have such hazy ones. so organizing my visual ones may help me a bit. and also, does anyone have any advice on what to do with family photos (i.e. mom, dad, me and brother) all posed and happy when parents are no longer together? hum, questions.



also, i've been having some trouble with replying to comments lately-- i find that someone may ask a question and i won't be able to reply because there won't be a reply address, so i've decided to try to address questions in the comments section. so if you ask one, check back a day or two later, and hopefully i've answered you there. thanks beautiful peeps!

my life in pictures

this weekend we had a big surprise 50th birthday party for my dad at his house-- he thought we were having a small graduation party for my brother. he started getting suspicious when all these relatives started showing up, and i showed up with a big obnoxious sign. it was nice to finally be able to do something for him- he's constantly taking care of everyone and helping everyone and giving the shirt off his back, literally- i'm pretty sure he enjoyed his day.

this is my gorgeous new tea set from my friend amy. we got together this weekend for a girls night out and everyone took such great birthday care of me! i thought we were just celebrating nicole's birthday, so it was such a surprise when it was a double celebration. i love celebrating birthdays- some people can't get into it, but i'm all about celebrating birth and life. and pretty tea sets don't hurt either.

these bud vases make me want to cry every time i look at them. they are so organic and delicious looking. from my friend kim. and her story behind them makes them even sweeter. i heart my friends.

this is quickly turning into a "look what i got!" post. but seriously. look at this bag. could it BE any more nina-ish. i've been carrying it around with me ever since i got it. a new bag! i'm such a bag whore. thanks nicole!

the obnoxious sign i made for my dad's birthday. poster board is not my usual medium, but i was commissioned to make a sign, and this is what i came up with. my dad has had some serious hair styles. currently he's sporting some pretty crazy facial hair but his party on top is pretty tame. aaaah, here's to 50 more years of awesomely bad hair! (my dad's business name is "awesome stuff from the past-" hence, "awesome hair from the past".

saturday was picnic-y goodness. i don't think a day gets any better than saturday. so perfectly sweet that i can't even put it into words. family. picnic. grass. bare feet. food. blankets. quilts. games. silliness. balls. rolling around. leaf identification. bug carcasses. sound like fun to you? us gilberts are a bunch of dirty hippies.

this picture melts my heart.

as part of the sat. night girltime, we sat around and looked through all our high school (small, all-girls, catholic, oh-my!) pictures and newspapers and crap. it was pretty much frickin' hysterical. except i ruined.every.single.picture. in every picture all my friends are smiling like beauty queens, and i'm the one with my tongue out or humping someone or acting like a dork. hum.

seriously people. seriously.

evil little tinkerbell and her vegetarian fare.

pink frosting. cupcakes. two tiny little buns. even though it's hard sometimes, i heart being the mama of my little girl.


nicole's birthday bag (almost finished here, it got some button and ribbon loving after the pic was snapped). this bag drove me insane. do not sew cordouroy ever freakin' again. but i do love the way it came out. even though john told me it was the worst fabric combo ever invented. i still heart sewing.




could this post be any more all-over-the-place?

i've been collected records like a fiend, in preparation for my birthday present from my man. if you want to find us, we'll be spinning neil diamond on friday, singing our hearts out.

missin' you, my bloggie friends. missin' you.

new photobooth friday- beach love edition

new photobooth, originally uploaded by Nina Marie Gilbert.

on back:

"saturday august 5, 2006

salisbury beach, MA

joe's playland

taken 2 days after auntie stephie had andrew and tyler, and the same day gray and mama went into mass general to visit the new znoj parents."




i'm learning the more that's written on the back of photobooth pics, the more precious it becomes years later when everything isn't so fresh and new.

i'm seriously hearting how pummie looks so terrified of gray and i in the first picture. and how we all look shiny and glamorous and happy. and how the pictures get darker and darker- gray's face in the second one cracks me up. pummie's checking something outside the booth out in shots 2-4. it's pretty obvious that we're a bunch of dorks.

i heart my stinkin' family.

noggindrills and nevernudes

chaos contained, at least for a minute.

nakedness and fairy wings- does it get better than this?

crazy costume time.

the fairies (they like to think of themselves as princesses, but i say fairies because it makes me feel better about the whole thing).

naked pum, about to rip his wings off.



have you ever had words stuck in your head, and you can't help but say them over and over, whether it be internally or out loud? my friend joballs and i once talked about how she gets names stuck in her head. the past couple of days i've had the words "noggindrill" (from this kids show zaboomafoo) and "nevernude" (from arrested development) stuck in my head. over and over. sometimes in the same sentence. and yesterday i discovered that it makes quite a snappy little tune..."noggindrills and nevernudes, noggindrills and nevernudes..." repeat. repeat. repeat.

yes, i'm a bit insane lately. these past couple of days have totally rocked the cash-bar. monday: forest in the morning, forest in the afternoon. bird sanctuary with the p's. tuesday: packed up the crew, back to the bird sanctuary (which gray says so stinkin' cutely i can't even tell you) and we brought a ton of dress up costumes, and there's this open air stage and they went wild for hours and hours. i stripped down pummie and put him in a pink tutu and butterfly wings and took pictures. yesterday we drove to manchester NH (or man-chess-taaaah if you're from around here) and took the kids to a family member's book launch party at the see science center. tab rocks, writes children's books, is gorgeous and a fantastic mama, has a famous illustrator, and did i mention she writes freakin' children's books?!? see her at her marvin monster website. so proud. so fun. we played with electricity and dug for fossils and had lemonade and cookies. last night was fun with boo, and falling asleep waaaay to early. today was brownie makin' and cupcake eatin' and popsicle drippin' and inside and out funtime with the crew of wild and crazy kiddies.

did i mention lately that i hate (dislike really strongly, fine!) my sewing machines? while making a birthday present (not my own, but i've been recently obsessed with my upcoming birthday) i just about THREW THE FRICKIN' THING OUT THE WINDOW. i could not do that, however, because it's on loan from my mother in law. because i already broke mine. because i will never learn- i can't sew through eight layers of thick frickin' cordouroy. lesson learned.

off to plan more parties and presents and maybe wipe a bum or two in the process.

self portrait tuesday: enclosed spaces

me stuck inside the zoltan machine. yes, maybe this is a stretch, but i love how these pictures came out, and in my mind, it fits in perfectly with the theme.


if i owe you a call or an email or a package or a kiss or a hug, it's coming. i've been in the forest with lots of nymph-like children, hunting for mushrooms and lichen and throwing rocks in soy-sauce-like bodies of water. trying to reset myself and get ready for upcoming employment. plowing through stacks of formalities, paperwork, preparations. trying to nap. trying to center myself. trying not to drown myself in coffee. planning another huge party (details forthcoming). crafts and edible treats are dancing in my head. did i mention i have arthritis? i have freakin' arthritis! i'm in denial about this as i'm going to be an employed mama in less than a week, an occupation that i will be successful at only if i have the power of my hands. denial. denial. refocus. positive energy.

also, if you have time, go stop by femiknit mafia's site and see my kick-ass present that i can't wait to get my hands on! thank you in advance for such rockstaredness. meow!

funness roundup- the following randomness is not in chron-illogical order

jo and lib's party went off without a hitch. bowling was rad, the shoes were stinkin', and it seemed that everyone had fun. i was a slight mess because steph was in surgery while i was trying to prepare and co-throw the shebang. but it all ended up working out.

this thank you email pretty much made my life, maybe partly because it was written in hot pink. jo's probably going to kill me for posting this, but i'm taking the risk- because it really did make my day.

Dear Darlings,

I can't thank you three enough for last night! We had such a good time and it was amazing to see everyone mixing and mingling and having so much fun together. The venue was brilliant, the favors killer, the menu perfectly pink and tasty, the photos sweet n sentimental, the card retro & to be read over and over, the guest list list primo. And best of all, it has made me secretly happy knowing that three of you have been working together and getting to know each other a bit in the process.

I love you all and am so lucky to have each of you in my life. Not everyone has such true friends that they can always count on. I'm one lucky lady, and libby is too. You've all embraced her from the beginning and I can't thank you enough for that.

Your reward is that you don't have to wear matching dresses at the wedding. ;) Just kidding, I know there is no way I can make this up to you, so please just know how thankful we are.

Love,

Joya/Jo/JoBallz

gray and her new-mama-ified auntie stephie at mass general yesterday during our visit.

last night at the beach, we took to the kidlets to the arcade. it was sort of a trainwreck due to traffic and parking concerns, but we managed to eek out some good cheap fun. this is joey's first "ride" on a moving object- he loved it, surprise surprise. gracie was also along for the fun. the fun escalated to a new, germ-a-rific level when joey started making out with his little horsie. this may have been the longest ride in the universe- i got some exercise in while running around the damn thing trying to keep pummie from falling off.

this is me not receiving my call from zoltan. my look implies "zoltan sucks." zoltan was supposed to give me my horoscope, or my fortune, or something. but for .25 cents, he kept me hangin'.

blueberry picking last week with gray and little man and mafia. oooh, the love between these two. yes, they had their moments (spitting, etc) but for the most part were blueberry-eatin' angels.

pummie's first blueberry- he made this puckery cute face all on his own.

yesterday i was lucky enough to travel into the city with gray for a "girl date" to go visit auntie steph and brian and little andrew and tyler. they were still in the nicu, but brian took me down (luckypants!) to go see my little packages. first off, let me just state for the record that I LOVE BABY BACK HAIR! and these packages were covered in fur. i wanted to bust into their little cells and eat them. and the best part of the day was that i got to watch brian hold his son andrew for the first time, and change his diaper! (although i felt a bit guilty that steph wasn't there-). i felt really bonded with brian and was so honored to see him so vulnerable (singing to his wee and telling them how much him and steph love them). for a non-crier, i was definitely crying and using my share of crispy papertowels to wipe my eyes. i got to touch this wee package andrew- i adjusted his tiny knit cap. sorry about the blurriness of the pic- it's actually a pic of a pic.

beach + kiddies + crazy parents = photobooth fun and crazy antics. of course, you'll have to stay tuned until friday for the results of our adventures.

and on a final note- check out the final summer swappieness thingie at my SWAPARAMA MAMA site. happy swapping,- thanks!

photobooth friday and crazylandiness

happy photoboothie friday my dear peeps. sadly, this pic doesn't have anything written on the back. but it features me and s. and steph, my fetus friend who had her baby boys last night. andrew and tyler entered the world, both three pounds but healthy! i am finally an auntie and can't wait to get my hands on those tiny packages of znoj-i-ness. i'll be their crazy auntie and that's just fine by me.

the past two days were reeeeealy crazy. between the birth of the babies yesterday and the 2,001 wonderful and scary phonecalls associated with the teleconferencing of the birth, and then co-planning and co-throwing joandlib's bachelorette/shower in JP last night , and getting pummie's pictures taken yesterday at a portrait place (what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks was i thinking on this one?) and the bakery runs and the crafting of favors and the making of food in 100 degree heat and , oh yeah- today! today i offically "got" my job, filled out the paperwork, and i just walked in from yet another doctor's appointment (with both kids in tow- baaaad idea) where i was informed that i have arthritis in my first knuckle. hi, welcome to your massage, i'm your arthritic massage therapist! life is crazy. life . aaaaah. with the breastfeeding i'm not going to be taking anything for the pain and swelling,- so if there are any hand surgeons out there that would like to extract the big bubble of fluid for me, call me! and oh yeah, i start my new jobbiejob (eeeks!) next next monday.

the shower/bach was a big success (well, at least i think so, but i was planning it so that doesn't count, does it?). i'm pretty damn sure everyone had fun and relaxed and ate and playing littleball bowling with enthusiasm. i sure as hell did. i got the lowest score out of everyone and i'm damn proud! pictures and embarrassments to come.

in other news, a couple of weeks back i got THE BEST gift a girlie could hope for- a little personalized, hand-bound book from my girl d. it's seriously the best thing ever and i love all the colors and glitter and her-ish-ness of it. i could look at it over and over. so could gray. so as part of the friday madness, i'd thought i'd post the awesomeness for all to see. thanks, girl! i love you and your sis more than words can say.







each of you have sweet sweet weekends, filled with cool breezes and tight squeezes. love to my peeps!

empath-y

gray took this shot of me- upside down camera, crazymama face, bathing suits (i wear two in hopes that it keeps all my junk in check), head wrap with glasses- this heat is making us all crazy. please ignore the piles of laundry in the background.


so lately i've been thinking lots about being an empath. most people laugh (cough cough, johnny and boo) at me when i try to spark up an intelligent conversation about empaths- they just don't get it. but honestly, laugh as you may, i've been having some seriously powerful feelings lately that just don't have any other explaination besides truly chanelling into someone else's feelings. i was watching the news the other day about the war in israel/lebanon and i saw this woman mourning and i felt the bile rising up in my throat, i got all sweaty and hot and overwhelmed. i literally had to lie down and keep breathing until the whole thing passed. but it still really hasn't passed. i can't stop thinking about her, and the situation, and lots of other upsetting and gloriously wonderful things. i feel welled up with emotions that aren't really my own. my mind is racing with thoughts i can't control and at night i dream other people's dreams. there is no explaining it. so laugh you mo-fo's (kidding!)- but i honestly think there's something going on here.


today is mother-son day, as gray will be with my mom going to "camp." the thought of this "camp" makes me nervous and my mom is under strict orders not to take her eyes off my precious cargo for one second. so pum and i will be off on errand-adventures- we're actually going to attempt to get pum's first portraits taken and then we have preparations for the shower/bach party that i'm co-throwing in JP tonight. and then i have to get directions and stuff to get myself to mass general to visit my fetus friend who was admitted to the hospital until her little men arrive in the world. so today is filled with cupcakes and watermelon and strawberries and to-do lists. all with my little koala on my hip.

peace and loveliness to all my peeps!

forest therapy

this is our favorite "elephant tree" at our local library- since grace could talk she's called it the elephant tree, and i have to admit, there are many knobby knees and trunk-like limbs on this old soul.

this weekend i got the chance to spend some serious time in the forest with my men. there's just something about being in the forest, lost among the trees, that gets me right into the core of me. makes me feel like myself again. the forest as therapy. the forest as a sort of "reset" button. thank you to my lovely husband for knowing this about me, and for suggesting the most delicious adventures for us- and letting me stop along the way to peek at turtles and mushrooms and stick flowers behind my ears.

also been spending some time in the garden. when i get hungry i just have to go outside and pop a couple of cherry tomatoes in my mouth and i'm all set. and lately i've been all about eating basil. putting the leaves on my tongue and letting them sit there for a bit.

also been spending time at the doctor. well, i went once. and for anyone that knows me, this never happens. i never go. and i never go for a reason, and that reason is because i love to live in denial. i don't want to be sick. and i don't want anything to be wrong with me. there is never a such thing as a wellness visit (well, not when you're using traditional medicine). and while i found a doctor that i absolutely adore, i walked out of her office feeling like i may/may not have some pretty crazy things wrong with me. so more tests to come, and more updates, that is unless i'm absolutely healthy, which is most likely the case. however, i did just check the mail and the results of my bloodtest indicate that my old-school hypothyroidism is in fact back. so more bloodtests. gotta love the doctors.

sending out good vibes today to my peeps- m&i down south with their new one (congrats!), d&s (good luck! and please update me soon), auntie e (congrats on the new job!), and my fetus-friend (thanks auntie jojo for the term) steph who's on the cusp of becoming a mama of identical twin boys. please pray for her health and strength and beautiful mama power over these next couple of weeks. and to nine-ahhh and my man, who are mourning the loss of a friend and fellow soldier.

spent the day today with femiknit and little man, who's not so little anymore. yes, despite the heat warnings and dangerously high temps, we took the kids blueberry picking and to the park, where c and i were able to actually talk (imagine that!) because the kiddies were playing so good. yes, i had to whip out my boob to cause this parental bliss, but it was all worth it. my belly is filled with berries, and both my kidders are now in bed sleeping, red-faced and hopefully well-hydrated. it's fracken hot. thanks, c, for saying something to the effect of "am i your bitchy friend, your complainy friend?" and when i asked for clarification you said something like "well, your blog is always so happy- hap hap happy- and then when you get with me you're all real and stuff." and then i said something like "by real do you mean bitchy and complainy?" i guess i do have a tendency to keep this bloggie space filled with the sickly sweet (well, not to me- cough cough) positives. aaaah, c. thanks for keeping me on my toes and keeping me real.