Archive for August 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

Weekend Update!

We had taken the kids furniture shopping on Thursday and Friday night. I won't lie. It was hell. No one wanted to be furniture shopping and we all acted that way.

So, Saturday morning we were in need of some fun. Hello MO Transportation Museum! The kids had a good time and it was interesting to climb inside and take a look. Justin and I both got the feeling that the workers here would rather chat trains with each other and not with the patrons. Kind of like they were annoyed that we were there type of thing. And they really make it known that "This place could be AWESOME if YOU would give more money!" "It's up to YOU!" "Wanna see that boat in water? Well, it'll be a floatin' when YOU decide to cough it up!" "Are you bored? Well, it's because YOU haven't given enough!"

I'll stop now. This was the best picture I could get of the punks.


We then headed to Kirkwood, enjoyed pizza at Dewey's, where we became that family whose kid spills his father's soda, breaks the glass, and cuts his leg on glass shrapnel. Besides that, it was a nice morning.

It's good to get out and mingle.

Sunday after dinner, we bundled up, went outside and made S'mores. The kids are always this happy. Always. If anyone would like to borrow them and experience the Happiness, just let me know. I'll drop them off.


Vance shows off his new haircut. Still doing the goofy smile thing.

Notice our deck? Yes, it's peeling. Travis will be here tomorrow morning to power wash and then to stain later on in the week. We're looking forward to it.


The best $50 we ever spent? That baby gate that blocks the stairs. It's removable, so we bring it out when we need it. Let's Mommy and Daddy not be goalies for little girlies.

Happy Monday. Welcome to your week.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Project Sunday

Justin is getting ready to replace the doorbell. Follow along step-by-mis-step on Twitter!

Friday, August 28, 2009

One year ago



Just came across this picture and had to share. It was taken a year, almost to the day, ago and look at the chubbiness! Those cheeks! That wrist!

Mail!

It was an exciting mail day yesterday. I had been waiting on two packages and they both arrived yesterday. Hot Dog!


I ordered another print from Loobylu for Vaughn's room. I'm a fan of her illustrations and will somehow get one of her Marshmallow Punkdorf bunnies. (They are stuffed bunnies that resemble the Waldorf style of doll making. That's really not important. They are adorable and would be perfect for Vaughn's room. Anyways...she doesn't make too many of them, sells them on Ebay, and they always seem to soar over my budget. Scroll down on her site and you'll see the prints and the bunnies.) The print came yesterday. Need to get a frame now.

I also got some clothes that I had ordered for Vaughn, but turns out they don't fit. Everything has to go back. Bummer. Back across The Pond they go.

My time is up. Must go!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Vaughn's 15 month appointment (v. creative)

It was confirmed by the doctor. Vaughn is still The Big Lady.


Big Lady Love, we like to call her.

Her doctor compared her to being a small 2 and a half year old.

Yup, Big Lady Love.

She's in the 99% for weight and 97% for height.

Everything else looks good. Big, but good.

We'll take it.

Nutella, Vaughn, and Garage Sales

I saw a commercial last night for Nutella, advertising how healthy it is. "Full of nuts! And a just a hint of cocoa! Perfect breakfast for the kids!" That was their angle. This made me happy for about 2 seconds, then I remembered I have checked the nutritional info and I know better. Damn Nutella advertising people catching me off guard...



Today, Vaughn has her 15 month check-up. Yes, she's almost 16 months, we're a little late. I haven't weighed her in awhile, so it will be interesting to learn her stats. This month she has started to learn her body parts. Right now she knows where her feet, arms, tummy, eyes, nose, and mouth are.


One more question for the Garage Sale Pro's: How do you know how to price things? It's been about 7 years since I've even been to a garage sale, so I have no background info to go on. I'm clueless and almost ready to throw in the towel on the whole thing. And do people buy adult clothes? Should I focus on just the kids stuff???

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Fancy Toes

Over the weekend, Vaughn's Aunts painted her toes for the first time.


She loved having it done.


She's a girly girl.


Monday, August 24, 2009

Butterflies!

Butterfly family picture


Vance and Vaughn checking the butterflies right before we released them


He wanted one to sit on his finger, but this was as close as we got.



It was tough letting them go for Vance. I'm sure it brought back memories of letting Daisy go. He cried a little and kept asking if the butterflies would remember him. We assured him that they would.

Video of Butterfly





Saturday, August 22, 2009

Vance, Kung Fu Style




Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I'm not fancy. My curtains should follow suit.


Today we de-fancified the bedroom curtains.

Yet again, more maroon colored drapery panels were exiled to the garage sale pile. It is clear that the original owners loved them some maroon.


This was Vance's attitude towards the whole production.



I think I'll sleep better tonight without those fancy things looking down at me. One should never feel outclassed by their window treatments.

Butterflies!

Here's the butterflies. Look closely, they're hanging from the top in chrysalis form.


They'll be busting free soon, so time to move them to their new home.


Here we go! Pretty soon we'll have butterflies. Vance has already named them all. We'll have to tag them so we can tell who's who.


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

First Day of Preschool!

Vance


was pumped*

about his first day!


* Totally random pose. I did not ask him to do this. It just happened to be his best smile. Go figure...



I was finishing painting the guest bedroom. Vaughnie was innocently napping. Vance was creating messes like no other. Don't you worry, this mess continued on in his bedroom and right down the stairs to the family room. There he used every single couch cushion, throw pillow, and blanket to build a skyscraper. For fun, he brought down the fake trees from the Dino Bucket and cars to fill the garage. And tools! Don't forget the tools! He took direction from the Bob the Builder movie about skyscrapers that we had watched beforehand. It was actually cute - he even was using some old building blue prints I had around for "measurements".

I did get the bedroom finished and put back together. What a great feeling that is! It rained here the majority of the day, so we used that to our advantage.

Off to get Vance ready for pre-school! First Day! And Jack goes to Kindergarten today! Ryan is off to second grade. Everyone head over to my sister's blog. I'm sure that with both the kids in school she'll have time to post pictures of the kiddos before school!!! Nothing like a little peer pressure!

Monday, August 17, 2009



It didn't rain here yesterday, but it looks like we're going to get some this morning.


Friday, August 14, 2009

What's frosting my cookies right now

I'm the perfect height that the pockets on my shorts always catch on the kitchen drawer pulls. Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

At 6:20 this morning Vance and I were putting sheets into the washer. It's sheet day today. And I figure if Vance insists on waking up so early everyday I might as well put him to work. Sheets were followed by his butterfly book and puzzle.


Butterfly Update: 3 out of 5 of them entered their pupal stage yesterday. The last 2 had joined them when we checked on them this morning. It happened pretty quick and it's been really interesting to watch.

Vaughn's shoes for the wedding came last night (I love you Nordstrom). She loves shoes. 'Shoe' was one of her first words. Actually, she calls them "shoe shoes". So we all call them that around here. Cute, but I'm sure annoying to others. I tried the shoes on to make sure they fit, then took them off of her. She brought the shoes back to me so I could put them on again. She wore them for the rest of the night.

We started painting the guest room last night at 9:00. Guess what we'll be doing tonight after the kiddos go down. Fun, fun!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

We're smack dab in the middle of Weddingpalooza around here. (My little brother is getting married.) One fabulous shower down, two more to go.


That's what's been going on here. Lots of prepping and planning.

Slow day today.


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Justin's India jet-lag has been hurting our taped TV watching. Last night we finished So You Think You Can Dance and I'm happy that Jeanine won. Although I'm still bitter about Ade being voted off too early...


Tonight, if he's not too tired, I'm hoping to start watching Top Chef Masters. I think we have three of them to get through.

Yes, Justin looks a bit anorexic in the picture I posted of Vance. (Hi John! That would've made a good comment! Just an idea!) He has lost weight due to exercising, eating better, and oh, 3 trips to India within the past 4 months. He's just one more parasitic stomach infection away from his goal weight! I kid! I kid!

Today is all about fun. Might try a new playground out for the kids and then meeting Justin out for lunch. This is Vance's last "free" Wednesday ever. Next week starts pre-school 3 days a week. Can't believe he's old enough for that!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

When I took Vance to school this morning there was an unusual buzz in the air.


They had contacted KSDK over a year ago to have the kids do the "5 is number 1" thing and found out they were coming today to film. They were asking that everyone sign release forms because they didn't know what classrooms would be taped. So, Vance may or may not be on the 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 news. Keep an eye out for him. Today he's wearing his bright orange dinosaur t-shirt.

Vance got a butterfly farm for his birthday back in May. Yesterday we received butterfly larvae in the mail. We now have pets.


For the first 7-10 days we leave them in the container in which they came. We're not supposed to shake them around or anything like that. They have everything they need in that container for this stage of life. Vance pleaded for them to stay in his room, so that's where living right now. We had the talk many times about not taking the lid off, not carrying them around and leaving them put on his dresser, no you cannot hug each one of them right now, and so on and so on.

I got Vance set up with a highly educational show yesterday while I went to the basement to run. When I'm done I walk up the basement stairs and he meets me at the top of the stairs, butterfly container in hand. "Look! These little guys are MOVING!" I assure them that this is normal, because THEY'RE ALIVE. We had the talk again about not running around the house with them.

He's having a great time watching them. He checks on them several times a day and gives us reports on how his 'pillars are doing. Instead of saying "chrysalids" he says "crescent rolls". I love it and haven't corrected him yet. I forgot to snap a picture yesterday, but will today. We have 5 caterpillars now. We'll see how many make it to the next stage of life!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Harvest Time

Vance brought two sad looking beans home from school back in May. They were wrapped in a wet paper towel, with a note to plant them after they started to grow roots.

We planted both of them, but one didn't make it. Today we harvested our first bean. (I think it's a lima bean.)




Big eatin' tonight!

While playing in the water this weekend,

I have no idea why all of Vance's clothes were on



and why all of Vaughn's clothes were off?



I have no idea how that happened. We are definitely too reserved for naked backyard swimming. Definitely.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

For the past 12 days I've been operating with half a heart, which is directly related to the fact that I've also been working with half a brain.


Justin returns this morning from his third (and final, hopefully) trip to India.




Friday, August 07, 2009

Experiment of the day

Can Stridex pads heal cracks and dry skin on your feet?

My mom heard this somewhere. This is what you do: Rub a Stridex acne pad on your feet. Follow with a heavy lotion (we used Eucerin), then socks, right before bed.

I did wake up with smoother soles, but should have done one foot with the way I mentioned above and the other foot with just lotion to compare.

So, I guess it does work.

Another question: Can you sleep with socks on? I'm a sock sleeper. Justin is SO not. No way, he can't do it. And he feels strongly about it.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

We have toys coming out of our ears. Actually, not as many toys as I've seen at OPH (other people's houses), but we have our fair share.


Not only do we have toys we have an abundance of stuff. Superfluous items. Many things.

We're needing to chuck weed and clean house over here and it makes me cringe, but I think we're needing to have a garage sale. And quickly.

I've never done one, don't know how to price many said items, so A-Googling I will go. I'm going to need help (Mom!). Do I need tables to set things on? Tips would help, if you have them!

....................

While trying to clean out the toys that the kids don't play with I realized something. Vaughn never played with baby toys like Vance did. All she was/is ever interested in was whatever Vance was playing with. Is this the deal with second kids? I'm going through Vaughn's basket of toys thinking, "she never played with this, but she's already too old for it". Guess I can get rid of it.

Busy day today. Gotta get a move on...



Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The Rev

I was ordained last night. I don't really feel any differently yet, but I'll let you know if I start feeling holier than thou. My certificate calls me Reverend, but I'll still answer to anything you yell my way. Justin pointed out that I can baptize the kids now, since we never got around to doing that. Maybe next bath time?

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Where are the "severe storms" that we're supposed to be getting? Surprise, surprise, not a drop of rain here yet!


I haven't checked the weather since yesterday afternoon, so I'm sure they've drastically changed it by now. Like a little old lady I got my major errands ran late yesterday afternoon because I didn't want to get stuck in the elements. I have, more than a couple of times, got stuck with both kids in the rain. No fun unpacking groceries and kids into car seats in the pouring down rain. I was actually looking forward to a little storm...

I need to get Vance signed up for Fall soccer today. Last night he informed me that he'd like to take, "little guy dance classes" (his exact words). Hmmm.....Think there's room in his schedule for both???

Monday, August 03, 2009

1 year ago today



One year ago today my brother cut down the big tree that was hogging the flat part of our backyard.

It was a nice tree, but it seriously was smack dab in the middle of our tiny backyard.

Whoever planted it there was not using his or her thinker.


2 years ago today

2 years ago Team Little made the 5 hour drive and visited us in Wisconsin.

Because we're a whole lotta fun, we took them to the Mustard Museum.


It just happened to be National Mustard Day and there were free hot dogs.


Actually, Mount Horeb has the world's largest collection of prepared mustards. And is also the Troll Capital of the world. I kid you not. It's quite the well-rounded city.


I have no comment about this picture, but I will tell you that this happens to me more than it should.

 

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