Pee Pee!

My goal with Ava was to get her to pee pee on command, in the potty, before her second birthday. IT HAPPENED TODAY....TWICE!!! May not be a big deal to you, but we have been checking out the potty for six months with no interest until today. I am so excited. Once she FINALLY peed and got 3 M&M's, I think the chocolate hit her and she realized that peeing in the potty could be a very good thing....better go stock up on candy...

Spare Me!

My friend Sarah called me today and invited me and the girls to meet her and her daughters at the bowling alley for a game. I was excited to get out of the house so we headed that way. This was Elle's first time to bowl and she seemed to really like it a lot! Thanks to Sarah, we have a free pass for Elle till the end of August so Elle may be bowling a lot in the next two weeks! Here are pictures from her first try at bowling.

Body Painting

Because of the almost-but-not-quite rainy weather we had today, we decided to partake in a rainy day activity.....painting...except I think they misunderstood the idea of where exactly the paint was suppose to go. It made for some great pictures though!

To narrate, okay, um starts off so nicely and innocently but do notice the white tarp type thingy...I'm always prepared (I was a girl scout)

Oh look, mommy, paint on the end of my brush....how pretty.
I think I'll paint a lovely picture for you mother dear.

Yes, me also mommy. I did the sky and the ground and I'm about to start on your body.
Hey, where did that come from I think to myself....I was only looking at Elle for 2 seconds???
Back to Elle...Um, I think you forgot where the paper is Elle.

MY LANDS! What in the world?!!! (and notice if you will how by shear accident, she rubbed on herself some amazing lips!) This picture is just awesome to me.

Exactly what I'm thinking Elle....stop! That or where did mommy hide the chocolate???

Ava dear, I don't think painting the inside of your nostrils is a good idea....it might be difficult to get out at a later date. Plus you really need to have that chest wound looked at.

Wow, it must be cold in the kitchen.....your little tootsies are turning blue.

That's pretty much the same expression I have at about this moment.

Exactly what am I suppose to do with you now?

What a mess....what an awesome mess.

But it was worth it for this masterpiece....

and this masterpiece.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

My summer "vacation" is officially over. My husband brought my kids back home and in good shape. I am excited to get back to the daily chaos that is my life. Here though, is how I spent my summer vacation:

I totally immersed myself in scrapbooking! I am exhausted and I didn't think that was possible but when you focus nonstop on just one thing for hours on end, it's tiring! I feel so much weight taken off of me by getting the ball rolling again. I feel like I awakened some creativity that was getting lazy. I didn't work at all on Ava's 1st year scrapbook because that one doesn't continue to add to, but I will make it a priority to get it finished maybe before the year is over. Enjoy! Oh and of course, none of this would have been possible without my hubbies willingness to take the girls to Tyler for a few days. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Numbers

I love lists using numbers....
3 Code Reds
2 mini snickers
1 mini butterfinger
7 pieces of photo paper
8 pages completed
20 hours give or take an hour, of working on the pages
20 hours of TV (my brain is fried, but I have managed to control the urge to watch "bad" TV, ie. reality shows that have cuss words and lewd stuff going on)
7 hours of sleep
0 showers
2 times I've brushed my teeth (I'm impressed)
1 time I've gone outside (about to be 2, I'm going to stretch my legs and get the mail)
1 gun under my husband's pillow..loaded and ready
4 doors locked
1.5 double sided tapes I've used
1 CD listened to (Fleetwood Mac and it was loud and wonderful)
3 times I've thought I heard my kids and then remembered they weren't here
7 times I've talked to Shawn
2 times I've been kind of sad that I didn't have my kids and hubby here
24 hours till they return

The Surreal Life

I am having a major surreal moment right now. I can actually hear the fizz popping in my can of Code Red as well as the second hand of my clock and it ticks....I can't remember ever hearing this kind of quiet....at least in the last 4 1/2 years. Why, might you ask, is it so quiet at my house right now? It's not nap time?? My hubbie, who I might add is getting better and better every day at doing things that are WONDERFUL, took our two girls and headed to Tyler, about 10 minutes ago. The plan is to come back Saturday late afternoon. I am truly beside myself with how to handle this freedom. The idea came up as I looked at my LONG list of scrapbook pages I needed to complete to be caught up. It's REALLY long! I told Shawn that if he really wanted to do something to really help me, he'd take the girls for a little while and head somewhere. He agreed!!! I am so excited that he's getting to have time alone with them. Usually I'm the one in charge when it's anything to do with our girls so it will be neat to hear all the stories of how it was without me....hopefully it wasn't too fun and easy. My goal is to have at least 10 pages done by the time he gets back. After I finish I'll post what I got done. But, there is also a chance I will get one page done and spend the rest of the time doing whatever it is that people with no kids do....I've forgotten....I guess sit around and pick the lint from between my toes and watch so much TV that my eyes burn...oh and eat cereal for dinner....but I do that anyways.

Boo Boo

I always hate having to put that kind of title because you know that what I'm about to tell you and show you is sad. It's even more sad when it's a little girl. Well, Elle was playing on the couch this morning before lunch and jumping off the arm of the couch into a pile of cushions. They were all thrown into a heap between the couch and the book case. She misjudged how far to jump and where to land and did a face plant into the book shelf. She banged herself up pretty bad, but as far as we can tell, she didn't break her nose, by God's grace only! Shawn has a scar on the bridge of his nose from when he was a kid, so most likely Elle's going to be his twin. I'm trying to doctor it really well since it's lower down on her nose and a scar would really be visible. It's smack dab in the middle of her face, the first place people look. It may seem silly to you, but say a little prayer for her that it heals up nicely and doesn't leave a noticeable scar right there. On to the funny part of the story. While I was holding ice on her nose, I asked her if anything would make it better and she was so sad that she said she didn't want anything. I listed off a few things I could get her at the store and even her very favorite things weren't peaking her interest. Sarcastically I said "Would you like a pony?" She stopped crying and said in a nonchalant voice "Yes, I think that would do." I only could laugh. I told her that during her nap, I would go find her some good stuff to make it all better. Here comes the "see-my-kid-is-just-like-any-other-kid" part. After her nap, she came downstairs and asked if I had gotten her something. Well, I had. I got her bubblebath (we had run out anyway), a pink and red striped towel (we needed a new beach towel and they were on sale for $3), and a Colorwonder coloring book and markers (this was the one thing I was actually getting for the boo boo). I figured all of those things together would blow her away. Well, as usual I was wrong. She looked at me and said "What else?" I just about lost it. I told her that unfortunately that was ALL! She then proceeded to throw a fit, crying and saying in between sobs "I wanted a sucker!" in the most pathetic sad voice I've ever heard. So I did what any good parent would do. I took all the things away and gave them to Ava and told Elle that since she wasn't going to be grateful, she wasn't getting them. She had a nervous breakdown, but I sure do hope she learned a lesson! And yes, for the record, I do have a heart and yes it did break when she got hurt, and yes, it broke again when she didn't like what I had gotten her, and yes it broke a third time when I had to take all her new things away. Parenting is not for wusses. Going back to the nose, it is looking better right now though it's pretty swollen. She isn't in any pain on her nose anymore either so now it's just a waiting game for it to heal.

She's still just as cute as can be!

Ouch!

Blue Haven circa 1971

I bet you didn't know that our family was at Blue Haven in 1971. Well here's the proof. Okay maybe I should title this post "Fun with Adobe Photoshop."


You would have believed me if we had been wearing bell bottoms right? Right?

Preacher's Wives

Not much gives me a really good laugh, but I did think this was quite funny.

Miscellaneous Awesomeness

Craigslist, I love you so. You are there when I need you. You also provide cheap wonderful things for us to fill our house with. Thank you Craigslist. This horsey, which is for Ava for her 2nd birthday, was bought after seeing a post on Craigslist selling it for $50. It is in almost new condition and it sells brand new for $160. Oh the joys of a bargain.

This Vincent is our newest baby. My dad did it for my 30th birthday. We have it hanging in our stairway and it looks wonderful right there! We weren't sure where we were going to put it at first because it's BIG, but the stairway was just right. It's nice to have a change of scenery. My mom said that my dad has been painting like crazy lately, so I'm expecting 4-5 more paintings for Christmas...right Dad?

Do you watch The Office? It is probably my very favorite show ever. We bought every season on DVD and we don't do stuff like that. It's set in Scranton, PA and for weeks, every night after we bought all the seasons, Shawn and I would look at each other and say "Wanna take a road trip to Scranton?" Total cheeseheads I know, but we LOVE that show. Anyway, this came in the mail today from Shawn. It's a Dwight bobble head and every time I see it I will be reminded of all the fond memories of our road trips to PA....it's set to have the 5th season premiere on September 25th....we're counting down...

On tonight's schedule, hmmm....need to get some pictures of a project taken.....going to watch "P.S. I love you." Reminds me...make sure I have lots of Kleenex with me and make sure Shawn won't be watching with me...I heard it's a very sweet/sad and definitely chickish type flick and I haven't watched a movie by myself in a L O N G time....kind of excited...hope I can stay awake and not cry too much.

New Tradition?

For the last two Friday mornings, I've been allowed to sleep "late" and have Daddy, Elle, and Ava come wake me up around 8:30. Then we all throw our clothes on and head to
Daylight Donuts for breakfast. I had mentioned to Shawn after last week that we ought to make it a tradition to eat there Friday mornings, since Friday is his day off. He remembered! I was so excited to get donuts again! It doesn't take much to make me happy and donuts are high up on the list. Here's a few pics from what I hope turns out to be a long-standing tradition.

I didn't think her cheeks could get any bigger...I was wrong.

Like the outfit? Nana bought both girls some rainboots and they wear them ALL the time..Elle had her's on too...everyone in the store thought it was pretty cute!

Take a picture quick....I'm about to eat all the evidence.


Here's the order: Shawn: a large kolache and cream cheese filled donut, Me: 2 plains and a cheese kolache, Elle: a chocolate donut, sometimes with sprinkles and sometimes without, Ava: a bag of donut holes....which she can eat all by herself.


My sentiments exactly