Friday, April 30, 2010

It died

This afternoon Luke and I emptied the dishwasher.  This is a chore that occurs every couple of days, and I love my little helper.  Although his method of dumping all the silveware into the drawer is a little unorthidox and he scares me when I turn around and he has a glass in each hand, I will gladly sort silverware at a later time (give the kid a break, he can't really see into the drawer!) and buy more glasses if need be just to have that sweet face around.  Today though, we had to mourn.  I pulled out the bottom rack and this was laying in the heating coil. 


Rest in peace sweet sippy cup lid.  You did your job well. 

Note to self.  Make sure sippy cup lids are properly placed in the upper rack before turning washer on. 

Something else also died today.  My precious boy's love of band-aids.  Okay, that's kind of a stretch because I'm not sure if he really loved them or not, but let's just go with it.  He'll love them eventually.  Late this afternoon he was playing out back and skinned his knee.  This one was a doozy with blood and everything.  I scooped him up and plopped him next to the sink and somehow I managed to clean it amidst the shrieks of pain and wiggly legs that didn't want soap on them.  Then when it still wouldn't stop bleeding I thought "Hey!  I'll get a band-aid!  Kids love those things, they make everything better, and then he'll stop screaming!" 

Big mistake.  As soon as I pulled out the package he looked horror stricken and started waving his arms, all while screaming even louder.  The noise escalated as I opened the band-aid up.  And as I was trying to apply it (in and around the 10 hands he grew to slap it away) you would have thought it was an alcohol soaked gauze.  I figured once it was on there he would see it was okay and get over it.  Nope.  An hour later I ripped it off.  Maybe that's why he didn't want it there in the first place. 

One a cheerier note, look what came in the mail for me today! 


Jill hosted a give away a couple of weeks ago and she was giving this note book cover away from Lindsey (coinsidence?!).  I've really enjoyed having her blog added to my daily list of reading material!  Both of these ladies are so talented when it comes to crafting.  I always love whatever they come up with. 

And finally, last but not least, I'll leave you with a sweet picture of Luke from this morning, to counter act all the screaming you've got pictured in your head right now.  We were waiting for his new ECI case worker to come (Dawn's baby decided to give her some trouble and she had to turn over all of her cases early.  boooooo.) and he thought he'd have a little milk in some semi-privacy.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Brussells sprouts?!

I don't know what came over me tonight at the grocery store.  I have never in my life had brussells sprouts.  Every now and then I see them and wonder what they taste like, but then I always think about how they are the default comparison to something horribly gross.  But tonight was the night.  Tonight I decided to buy some, cook them, and eat them.  So I did.  I made a nice little dinner of sesame teriyaki salmon and butter garlic rice with french bread.....and brussells sprouts.  I sauteed them in olive oil and used my grinder of garlic/cracked pepper/sea salt to throughly douse them and you know what?  It wasn't terrible.  Defininatly tasted a little cabbage-y, but I made it through.  It actually complimented the teriyaki very nicely. Cody thought I was crazy (I told him I didn't expect him to eat any at all) and Luke took one like and made a face, but I did it.  I ate brussells sprouts.  Cody actually fell asleep on the couch and didn't eat my dinner at all.  Now do you see why I hate cooking and rarely do it? 

And can I also talk about this wind we are having?  Oi.  It's HORRIBLE.  It was so bad that at nap time Luke's bedroom door was rattling so loudly I had to crack it open.  And all the windows and outside doors were closed.  Oh man, speaking of nap time.  Dude wouldn't sleep at all.  This morning he actually let me sit and rock him for a long time, and I think he dozed off.  And we've talked before about if Luke drifts off for even a moment before nap time he won't go down.  After two hours I finally had to stay in there with him to prevent any more toys from leaving the shelf.  His bed is low enough that I'm able to sit on the floor and still rest my head on his pillow next to his head while my arm is lovingly cuddling him/holding him down.  It took all of 4 minutes for him to conk out.  But the little man wasn't out for long.  He only slept for an hour as opposed to 2-3.  I put him to bed early tonight.....we'll see how he does tomorrow. 

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Bubba

If I knew Luke was going to be a terrible big brother, the thought of him being an only child might be okay.  But this is what I found him doing today.


Not shoving it in Kayden's mouth, not forcing him, just sweetly placing the bottle within reach so he could get it if he wanted.  I didn't have the heart to tell Luke it was all done, but Kayden didn't seem to mind so I let it go.  In fact, Kayden thought it was funny and got the giggles.  See?  Someone needs to make a tape saying "Have more babies" so I can play it after Cody goes to sleep and will subconsciously need babies everywhere.  Yes, I think that's a fantastic plan. 

And now for a story of a different breed.  Yesterday I washed all the new towels I bought for Luke's bathroom before I put them on display or away.  And today I cleaned this out of the lint trap.


It was the biggest, thickest wad of fluff I have ever seen in my whole life.  I mean, it took up the whole compartment.  Aren't so soooo glad I took a picture of it?!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Totally embarrassed

This morning Luke woke up at 7- waaaaaay earlier than, well, ever.  Evenutally he got tired of being locked in his room, so he started crying/fussing at his door (now, before you feel sorry for him, this is that fake-I-want-attention cry that he shuts off the moment you open the door and smiles like "that's right.  I got what I wanted.")  I yelled from my bed, while my head may or may not have been under the pillow, to GET BACK IN BED PLEASE!!  The crying/fussing didn't stop, so I was forced to get up.  But where was that little stinker?  Sitting smack in the middle of his bed, grinning. 

It was playground day today, so we went ahead and got dressed, ate breakfast, and left the house by 8:45.  It's a Christmas Miracle!  (name that movie)  We went to Target where I got new towels for Luke's bathroom to match the stool, and I tried on a few things.  One of those things was a new swim suit (there is a small chance we might get to hit the beach this summer).  Oh man.  Bikini's do not look the same on me anymore.  I even got the size bigger than my undies are, and they were too small.  I couldn't tell if they were physically too small, or just cut that way on purpose, but there was too much panty sticking out everywhere for me to feel even remotely comfortable.  And I won't even talk about the top.  Let's just say bandeau style is not my friend.  I tried on a couple of shirts too, and they weren't good either.  I think my wallet was glad all the clothes and my body were at war today.  It also got me to thinking.  I don't want to go on a diet, per say, I don't think I could ever in my life stick to a diet, but I do need to start making better choices for myself.  Like, maybe having water after my Dr. Pepper instead of another Dr. Pepper.  And limiting it to one scoop of ice cream instead of 4.  Who knows.  Maybe I'll actually not be ashamed of my body this summer.  I always have good intentions like this.  But then I get derailed.  Like tonight.  Mere hours after I made this decision I couldn't for the life of me bring myself to cook dinner and ordered pizza.  Then ate 4 slices.  But I had water insed of DP, so does that count?

After Target we went to Lowe's to get flowers for a big pot Mom gave me (which I had forgotten to get out of the back of Cody's truck and now he's told me it's at work because he had to move stuff yesterday and it got in the way.  I'm going to be a little peeved if it's gone tomorrow.)  and to get the polyurethane.  By the time we got all that done we still had  20 mintues to spare before I told people I would be at the park at 10:30!  We just got there early.  And it's unfortuante that we did, because some Methidost church's preschool was having a field trip.  There were about 100 kids all in blue shirts with a million adult chaperons clogging up the place.  As annoying as it was, I think Luke and Jayden (Tamera got to come!) had fun running around.  Eventually Luke started to get clinging and whiney so I deemed it lunch and nap time. 

We got home and I immediately put Kayden down to sleep and fixed Luke some lunch.  Then I got him off to bed and I went out back to spray down the step stool.  I shalacked the heck out of it.  When I finished, Kayden was up.  Booooooo to not getting any Momma time.  I brought him into the living room with me to watch tv, and someone comes walking up the sidewalk.  I meet him at the door so he won't ring the door bell, and what does he hand me?  A city warning to mow by Monday or we will get a ticket.  I'm sure my face turned bright red.  How......embarrassing.  I take great pride in how my house looks on the inside, and it horrified me that the outside was bad enough that someone called us in.  Of course Cody could have cared less and almost didn't mow tonight, but there was no way I was sleeping tonight before it was taken care of. After numerous threats and a little pouting, it's done.

And now I'm going to get in the shower (nope, didn't do that today) and then go straight to bed.  With any luck I'll be tucked in a good 15 minutes earlier than normal.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Painting a step stool

So Saturday I started a project that is, for the most part, finished.  Mom bought Luke a step stool for the bathroom at Canton a month or so ago, and I've been trying to decide how to redo the bathroom and then paint it to match.  I've made my decisions and the paint has made it final. 

First I started with a plain stool that Dad puttied and I sanded.


Then I removed the child to start the blue base coat.

(What.  You lookin' at me?  You-a think I'm-a movin'?)

While that dried over night I created a cut-out of the step, drew out the design, and cut out what I needed to.  Template complete!


Then comes the layers.  Each layer required it's own tape and had be allowed to dry before moving on. 

First layer:  green


Second layer:  navy


Third layer: cream stripes going in one direction


Fourth layer:  cream stripes going in the opposite direction.

Just a tip.....when you are making things that need precise lines, it's best to go over with the base color after taping before adding the actual color you want to prevent bleeding.  Example:



And if you get impatient and start painting the top color before the base color is totally dry, you can use your leg to wipe off your brush. 


Once it's all dry....voila!  A step stool for a sweet little boy!  All I need to do it get some polyurethane to seal it all in, but since that's clear it won't look any different in a picture.  And it only took three days and horrid back pain from hunching over!


The shower curtain in his bathroom is cream, so I'm getting some navy and grass-green towels to mix and match for a finished look.  A little boy's bathroom that's not overly kiddy!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Don't cry over spilled....cranberry juice

I really should have updated each day this weekend instead of trying to recap it all now, but I didn't.  So there.

Friday night Cody and I had Luke in the car.  Cody hates my car and refuses to drive it, if it can be helped, so I was behind the wheel.  We were approaching a stop light and apparently I wasn't slowing down soon enough for him, so Cody told me to start slowing down.  Really?!  In my head I was thinking "Excuse me buster, but not only have I been driving for 10 years, but I have been driving THIS VERY CAR for 10 years.  Do Not Tell Me when to slow down."  Instead I just told him to take a chill pill.  Once we were almost stopped I thought I'd be a little obnoxious and press really hard on the break to jerk to a stop the last couple of feet.  You know, stick it to the man.  As soon as we all thumped back into our seats Luke shouts out "OOOOOOoooooohhhhhhhh!"  We just busted out laughing because there is no telling where he picked that up. 

Yesterday I spent the day doing odds and ends projects around the house.  Like taking all of the little boxes of baby clothes stashed around the house and condensing them into two huge tubs.  Nothing like a woman with baby fever going through a stash of sentimental baby clothes.  On the plus side, they are all organized and concisely put away and ready for a trip up to the attic.  I also got the base coat of paint on Luke's step stool.  And cleaned the floors at 10 pm.

After church today I had lunch with my group of friends and it took 2 hours.  They were soooo slow (the servers, not my friends).  And it culminated with Luke dumping an entire cup of cranberry juice on himself.  When it was time to go his pants were so wet that he was literally waddling.  I was wearing white pants, which meant I couldn't hold him, so he had to just waddle on out.  Except he wasn't watching where he was going and ran smack into some dude's chair.  He fell over crying hysterically, and I couldn't pick him up to hold him due to the aforementioned white pants.  I'm smashing his face into my shoulder to quiet the screams, apologizing to the guy for creating a ruckus during his (probably) slow meal, and staring at the wet splotch on the floor from where he fell over.  Finally we make it out to the car and I just striped him down.  That lead to a car ride home that looked like this. 

(aren't you glad I happened to have my camera?)

When we finally made it home, at almost 2, I just put him straight to bed.  The child slept until 4:45.  Tired much? While he napped I took the opportunity to start painting the design on the step stool.  Maybe when I'm finished I'll attempt to make a tutorial.  Because everone wants to know how to paint a step stool, right?  Tonight was small groups at my dear Sara's house, and from 5:30 to 9:30 I sat out on their back deck and visited the whole time.  It was glorious.  Of course I had my occasionally running arounds in the name of child location (mine doesn't seem to care whether or not he's around others), but otherwise it was a totally wonderful evening.  I don't even care if I got mostiquo bites.  And if you know me, you know that's a big deal.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Don't bake live plants.

Sorry about skipping out on you last night.  Yesterday afternoon, totally out of the blue, I suddenly got horribly sick.  It was AWFUL.  But I'm better now, so we need to catch up. 

I finally got on the ball and finished some sewing that I've been meaning to do.  Kayden's mom, Ashley, saw that onesies that I made for Ryan a few weeks ago and decided that he needed some too.  So I whipped them up this little number. 


And while I had the sewing machine out I thought my beloved son needed something new with my touch to it too.  So I made him this. 


One more thing to knock off my to do list- make the insert to this coffee mug that Mom found for me a couple of months ago.  Except it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  You are supposed to just use paper to decorate the inside, but being the sewing fanatic that I am I just HAD to make something out of fabric.  Then I spent two hours of my life today trying to stuff the darn fabric in there. 


Another thing I accomplished was repotting my herbs.  Remember how I planted some seeds?  Well, last week it rained for a couple of days, and before I rescued the pots inside they totally drowned.  Utterly and completely drowned.  I thought by bringing them inside they would have a chance to dry out.

Wrong.

Apparently storing pots of soil in your kitchen sink only makes the soil mold.  White fuzzy mold.  On the dirt.  Around the sprouts. 

Being the ingenius girl that I am, I thought, well what if I helped them dry out faster?  If the moisture was gone, that would kill the mold right?  And what's dryer and warmer than an oven that almost cooled down from cooking dinner? 

So not only did it not dry out my soil, not kill the mold, but it made my plants look like this. 


Notice how days later the soil is STILL wet?  Yeah.  It was that bad.  After watching them die a slow and painful death this week I decided to suck it up and buy more seeds.  Except when I went to Walmart they didn't have any chives.  Ironically, that was the plant that was the most moldiest.  But on the bright side, when I go to Lowe's and buy more chive seeds I can get some mint seeds too.  Nothing says summer like making mojito's from you very own mint.  Anyway, another bright side was that this time I learned my lesson and stuck the empty packet in the back of the pot so now it won't be a guessing game as to what's growing where. 


See?  Much better.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Nothing!

Today I did.....nothing!  It was grand.  I thought about doing the housework that I should have done yesterday.  But I didn't.  I thought about doing some craft projects I've been meaning to get around to.  But I didn't.  I guess I did do a few things.  Like change a million diapers. (5 of them were poopy, between the two boys)  And name hundreds of pictures for Luke.  (why did I get him that picture book of your first 100 words?) And cleaned spilled yogurt off the couch and my behind.  (nothing says "motherhood" like a back end that is splotched with key lime pie flavored dairy products) 

I may have even said a few threats at nap time today.  Someone didn't want to sleep, and kept getting up and playing with his toys.  When he got out his keyboard and started playing tunes on the floor I barged in and took charge.  Keyboard?  Out in the hall.  Toddler?  Back in bed.  Once I got him all tucked in again I asked him if he wanted his paci back.  You know what that stinker did?  Pretended to be asleep and wouldn't answer me! It was awesome.  So I left with the paci.  Which meant 20 minutes later I had to go back in there when he was still babbling, although this tims he listened to the threats and was sitting in bed as opposed to the floor. 

After work Cody went to Dillon's house, which meant Luke and I were on our own for dinner.  Not being sure what I wanted to eat, I decided to kill time by piddling around in some stores.  One of the stores I went into was Tuesday Morning.  I've been there once, maybe 10 years ago.  Man, that place was like Goodwill, except the stuff wasn't used.  I hope.  And I uttered a phrase I never thought I would.  "Luke!  Go put those panties back where you found them.  No! No! No!  Don't get any more panties!"  We left quickly after that. 

Shopping didn't help me decide what to eat, so we just started up the highway.  I saw Mimi's Cafe and thought that would be a good choice since Cody hates it and refuses to take me there.  I got the best french toast stuffed with marmalade and cream cheese, topped with blueberries and strawberries with a side of scrambled eggs and sausage.  I got Luke pancakes in the shape of Micky Mouse, with a side of frest fruit.  When he saw my sausage though, he just had to have it.  I put half a link on his plate, and the next thing I know he's almost gagging on the entire thing he's stuffed in his mouth.  In typical mother fashion I hold out my hand so he can spit it out, and holy moly it's like the clown/scarf trick where it just keeps on coming.  I had to laugh to keep from gaggin myself. 

And finally we get to tonight.  Once again Luke tried to play a concert on his keyboard after lights out.  Some how he found it.  In the dark.  And he managed to turn it on.  In the dark.  And push the right buttons to get the songs to play.  In the dark.  I believe that will become a living room toy.  Not a bedroom toy.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Gotta blame someone!

This morning dawned dreary again.  It didn't rain (I don't think) but the clouds were still low.  I've worn glasses since 5th grade, and the first thing I do in the morning is put them on.  Okay, it's the second thing I do.  The first thing is more like pray that Luke hushes so I can sleep in a little more.  But that's not the point.  The point is that this morning I couldn't find my glasses.  The last time I remember seeing them was when I snatched them out of Luke's grubby paws yesterday as he tried to staighten them out.  As I searched high and low, I had visions of a meddling little boy with Momma's glasses, hiding them somewhere like the trash.  Like he did with my cutting board Saturday.  I even called Cody and asked him if he had seen them.  You know it's desprite when you ask a man where something is located.

I ended up having to put on my contacts (something I don't do anymore unless I'm going somewhere more classy than the grocery store) and was overwhelmed with the desire to purge my house of all the things hindering me from finding them.  I sorted the laundry out of the closet and kept going. Two hours later I ended up filling up a huge trash bag full of clothes and shoes.  And my closet is reorganized.  Then I moved on to Luke's room.  I filled up a trash bag in his room too, of empty hangers, toys he doesn't play with, and boxes.  

Now did I get my typical Monday cleaning done?  No.  But I did get 6 loads of laundry done.  Load #5 was the sheets.  Guess what I found stripping the bed?  Yep.  My glasses.  They were squished between the night stand and bed frame.  Soooooo......there is a good chance that Luke didn't have anything to do with their dissapearence.  Oops.  But, in my defense, he tends to do things like this when I'm not looking. 

(and excuse the Christmas pj's, we got them good and stained today so I won't feel bad about tossing them)

Guess what I won today?!  Over on A Pocket Full of Posies Jill was giving away a notebook cover from Pleated Poppy (she has also has a blog and her name is Lindsey too)!  I'm so excited because it's stinkin cute!  And you know me and cute crafty things with fabulous fabric....I ams SO there!

And now I just have to vent a little.  Is there anyone out there that is NOT pregnant?  It honestly feels like EVERYONE I know is pregant or just recently had a baby.  And with the curse that is a Facebook addiction, it seems like every other day someone is announcing they are with babe. It's just really frustrating and hurts.  From the sounds of it, Cody doesn't really want any more kids, and I can't imagine not being pregnant one more time.  *sigh*  okay.  I'm done venting.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Lots to tell

Ugggg.  What a busy weekend.  Where do I even begin? 

Friday night I thought I would have nothing to do.  Cody was supposed to go out with his friends after work, but he suprised me by showing up at home.  We went to Fuzzy's for dinner, although we ended up getting it to go due to a fussy kid.  Waiting in line for 30 mintues + grumpy toddler + a daddy with a low patients thresh hold = not the fun family dinner I had planned in my head.  I went to bed a little earlier than normal that night.

Saturday dawned dark and dreary.  The rain had come.  Hung out on the couch for a little while, made a onesie for Sunday (pictured at the end), and then once I put Luke down for a nap I went to visit my dear Sara for a couple of hours.  She got put on bed rest on Friday for high blood pressure for the whole weekend so I went to keep her company.  We'll find out tomorrow morning if she is released from the bed rest or will have to continue.  We're praying on the side of release.  When I came home one set of toddler sheets I had ordered had arrived, so I got Cody and Dillon (who was over for a visit) to transform Luke's crib into a toddler bed.  That's right folks!  My baby is in a big boy bed!  It looks so cute. 


And he LOVED it.  He immediatly climbed up in it and started rolling around.  This is him "going night night".  


He cracks me up. 

Then we dropped him off at Mom and Dad's because Cody and I went to dinner and a movie!  I made him take me to get sushi.  And then we went to see Date Night. 

Oh. My.  Goodness. 

At one point I was laughing so hard tears were forming in my little eyes. 

When we got home it was time to put Luke in the big boy bed.  AHHH!!!  I tucked him all in, turned out the lights, and shut the door.  We didn't hear a peep out of him.  Until about 15 minutes later when there was a "rattle rattle" coming from his door.  The little stinker was trying to escape!  Luckily his smart momma had baby proofed the inside of the door so he couldn't open it.  Cody told him through the door to get back in bed, and we didn't hear from him again.  I checked on him before I got in bed myself, and bless his sweet little heart he was sacked out, just like he should be in his bed.  I love him. 

Today it was still dreary outside, and pretty chilly.  Luke and I were super early to bible class, because I was not about to miss my girls this week!  Oh my, they were so funny.  I think the highlights of the chit chat was finding out someone didn't get to come because she didn't take her allergy medicine last night,  praying for a dog's allergies, and trying to answer the question "why" in response to EVERYTHING that was mentioned.  I mean, she asked why I was born in June when I told  them when my birthday was.  I told her because that's when my momma had me!  Then to my pleasent suprise, my good friend Shae and her family were in town.  We got to have lunch together and spent a long time catching up.  I sure do miss them! 

After lunch I ran home to put Luke down and change my clothes....I had a baby shower to get to!  Nap time is what I was most nervous about with the bed, and sure enough 10 minutes after I shut his door there was a familiar rattle.  Once again I told him through the door to get in bed, and this time he cried about it.  I felt bad about cutting and running at such a crucial time, but *shrug* oops.  Have fun with that Daddy!  I had a great time at the shower, I visited my little heart out.  I didn't get home until 3 hours later!  Then tonight was a good service at church about becoming an intergenerational church and it was REALLY interesting.  Afterwards I spent another hour standing around visiting!  I don't think I normally get this much adult talking in a WEEK!

So see?  It was a good weekend.  Busy.   Drizzly.  But very very good.


Thursday, April 15, 2010

Another busy day

Today was a lot more hectic than it should have been.

Last night there was a book fair at church, and of course I bought a book we already had.  That happens occasionally.  So this morning at about 9:30 I loaded the boys up and went back up there to exchange it.  Then we went to the bank.  Then we went to Walmart for some groceries and to see if they had any toddler sized sheets.  Do you know how hard it is to find those?  I'm going to have to order them online because I can't find them ANYWHERE.  I don't enjoy ordering things online.  I enjoy the pleasure picking it up, holding it, purchasing it, and taking it home that day to enjoy.  Not waiting.  And waiting. 

But back today.  We went home after Walmart and as I unloaded the bags I realized I didn't get eggs.  The eggs I needed for a recipe I was making today.  Luckily the boys were still in the car so I grudgingly got back in and headed up to Tom Thumb.  While hastiely trying to get the eggs and get out, I managed to knock over a plant and totally bust the pot, as well as knock some bags of cough drops off their display.  I felt like a total winner.  By the time we got home it was way past lunch time so I fed them quickly and put them to bed. 

Except Luke didn't want to cooperate.  The last few days I've been making him say /p/ before I'll give him his pacifier.  Today he didn't want to do it, so he got no paci and screamed about it.  For 2 1/2 hours.  I was so frustrated with him by that point that I ended up yelling at him to either say it or quit screaming.  I scared him so bad that he quit screaming and fell asleep.  But I felt soooo guilty.  Score one for a bad mommy moment. 

In the mean time I got the tort made for the dinner we were going to tonight, and then I was able to start sewing.  The lady who's house we were going to also had asked me to make her future grandbaby (arriving in July) a golf themed onesie since her son-in-law (baby's daddy) is a big golfer.  I had it in my mind that it HAD to get done today, so I totally stressed myself out about it.  I really wanted to make a hooded towel as a present from me, but it was getting down to the wire and the lettering was screwing up and I was so fed up with all that had happend that I said SCREW IT! and have now endowed Luke with a navy towel with the letters "pa" on it (the baby's name will be palmer).  Oi. 


But the dinner was super fun.  It was just our bible class/small groups people, and I always enjoy a night of good food and fellowship with them.  Luke defininantly was a stealthy meddler at their house though.  They had their dogs kenneled on the back porch, and at one point I saw him try to feed them his sandwich (I couldn't get out there fast enough so I stood at the window banging on it to stop) and give them an ipod he found lying around (someone else caught that quickly).  He found their key board to the computer and tried to leave them a message and found the front door unlocked and tried to escape.  Never a dull moment with that one.  I don't even think I told you about the time a couple of days ago when he totally played me and Cody.  He came up to me and handed me his cup (his way of telling you he wants more) wanting juice, but there was still milk in it.  I told him he had to drink his milk before he got juice and gave it back.  I WATCHED HIM take it, calmly walk to Cody in the other room, and HAND HIM THE CUP.  What?!  How do they know to do that?  I quickly informed Cody of what was going on and Luke was in for the shock of his life when Daddy said the same thing Momma did.  Stinker.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

ARG...STAINS!

So just about every morning Luke has strawberries with his breakfast.  I have finally stopped cutting up his food.  He will pick up the strawberry and just take a few bites out of it until it's gone, which is fantastic except for the strawberry juice that runs down his chin.  I generally make him wear a bib if he still has on his pj's, or just take his clothes off and wipe him down later.  This morning he took too long to eat so I finally left the breakfast table and sat with my coffee to start catching up on my DVRed shows.  A little while later he comes up to me, pulling on his bib as if to say "I'm done, get this thing off of me!".  So I ask him if he's done, he says "yeah" and I take it off. 

An hour later I look over at him sitting in his chair reading and he looks like this.


Really?  I specifically put his bib on his so he would NOT stain his shirt.  Apparently he went back later and ate the berries that he didn't finish before.  *sigh*  At least he's almost out grown those pj's. 

Not long after that we were playing on the floor and I look to my left at the entertainment center and I find a new decoration.  (and some awesome fingerprints on the digital frame)


I did not leave that there.  I guess he didn't finish his chocolate chip muffin for breakfast either.  20 minutes later it was gone.
 

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Flowers

Today we weren't home more than we were home.  That never happens.  First we went to Kid's Kastle.  It's this ginormous playground that has more nooks and crannys and little passages than I have ever explored.  Every little boy's dream.  Except for my little boy, who apparently doesn't like gravel or tight spaces.  But we played for a little while and then headed to Lowe's for some flowers.

Saturday when Luke and I were at the birthday party, Cody did some work in the front yard.  The only thing is that he didn't actually work in the YARD, he cleaned out my flower bed.  Which normally I would have been very grateful for, but I had kept all the plants from last year to see if they would come back.  I probably should have communicated that at some point.  My bad.  So I needed some new flowers for the flower beds. 

We came home, ate a quick lunch, and I got both boys down for naps so I could go do this.  Ta da!

(Don't mind the crab grass there on the left.  I got spray for that today too.)


Our yard may be full of mowed down weeds, but at least the flower beds are bright and cheery! 

By the time I got done and showered off the boys were awake.  Boooo to missing my quiet time.  So we headed off to Walmart to get some much needed groceries.  Can you believe I was completely out of fruit?  I can't remember the last time that happend.  I was having to get creative with food for Luke. 

See?  Busy day. 

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Weekend happenings

This weekend went by in a flash.  Yesterday morning I took Luke to his friend's birthday party.  Except I thought it was at 11 at the grandparents house, when in reality it was at 10 across town at a park.  Oops.  Eventually we made it.  And I even got a bite of the cupcake. 




Last night I went up to the church and hung out with the youth group girls for a spa night.  We had tons of food, foot spas, lots of nail polish, and beads to make jewelry.  Super fun and super girly! 

This morning before church I checked on my seeds (which I do several times a day, every day) and guess what?!  We're growing!  And this time I promise not to pull any of the seedlings up.  I don't know which seeds these are, but I'm sure by the time it counts I'll have figured it out.  Two pots down, three more to go!

(I promise where my finger is, there is a tiny tiny little sprout)

Friday, April 9, 2010

I have a problem

Sometimes when I'm sitting in a drive thru and it's taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. I am really really REALLY tempted to put the car in park, walk up to the window, and politely ask why it's taking so long.  I mean, I am completely aware that the people inside are doing the best that they can to move the line along (at least that's what I choose to believe), they are not just sitting around taking pleasure in making people wait, and my turn will come eventually.  I would just like to know why it's taking so long.  It would make the waiting seem a little less pointless.  I was in the waiting line at CVS yesterday for my allergy perscription and I swear I sat there for 20 minutes.  But I was not about to get out of the car and go inside.  Luke has come to a stage in life where he hates hates hates to get back into his seat and screams bloody murder.  If I got out to go in, then we would have to get back in and I didn't want to face the scream.

So that was problem #1, and here is problem #2.  It's completely different.  You see, it's about my vice.  I can't resist it.  It is........children's books. 

Tonight Luke and I were on our own again, and I didn't want to just get something delivered like last Friday night.  I didn't know what I wanted to eat, I just wanted to get out of the house.  So Luke and I headed out and went to Half Price Books until I could figure out what I wanted for dinner.  When we left, we weren't alone.  We were accompained by 4 more books to add to my extremely large children's book collection. I'm talking hundreds of books. This time all the books just happend to be........now don't laugh.......Christmas books.  I didn't even realize it until we got home.  But I'm really excited about them!  I got Olive, the Other Reindeer (I already had the companion book to it which is Olive My Love.  Odd, I know, that I have the second one before the first), Mooseltoe (I also have the first book that goes with this, Moosestach, about a moose with an out of control mustache), Auntie Clause (about a family's mysterious aunt who always disapears around Christmas time), and Texas Night Before Christmas (do I even have to explain how awesome that one is?!). 

Then we went to La Madeleine's for dinner.  I'm just loving the age that Luke is right now.  He is becoming better and better behaved in public, and he's still so friggin cute that I get compliments ALLL the time.  He sat in his own chair, no booster seat, with his own dinner and ate like a big boy.  He stayed close by me when my hands were full of drinks.  And you know what I love about living in Texas?  How nice people are when they see you need help with your kid.  Tonight I had a random person get me a high chair just in case I needed it.  Yesterday at Target Luke got both boots stuck in one leg hole of the cart when I tried to put him in, and I was laughing so hard as I was trying to pull him out that I couldn't, and some lady came over and helped me.  When I have both boys with me I never ever have to open my own door to the store.  And when Luke is not being a sweet boy and screams in a store, no one gives me a dirty look.  Just chuckles and pats on the shoulder with a "We've all been there."  I love Texas.  I hope that people where you live are just as understanding. 

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Cold feet and blue lips

So the first thing I did this morning (after waking up at the un-godly hour of 7:30 AM with Mr. Chatty Cathy) was call the AC people to see when they could come out.  I mean, it was 8:03 and I was praying they opened at 8 instead of 9.  Praise Jesus- they not only answered by they had someone at my house by 10:30!  Another huge blessing was the fact that the weather was gorgeous today, so with the windows all open it stayed a breezy 74 in the house.  My feet were cold.  Thank you Jesus for taking care of me and my babies today!

Back to the story.  So the dude came out and after poking around told me that the compressor fan was out.  So that's what the circular saw noise was.  He told me it would be $479 to replace.  *gasp*  For one little fan?!?!  Holy moly.  But then he told me that our whole unit really needed to be replaced, and that would START at $5000.  Start.  5 grand.  I wasn't really suprised that he said that.  The unit is origional with the house, which has already had birthday number 30.  Yes.  It's ancient.  But unfortunantly we don't have any insurance/warrenty policy that would cover replacing a unit that's just plain old and we don't have that kind of pocket change, so the quick fix of the fan will have to buy us some time.  And $500 doesn't look so bad when compaired to $5000.  That's a whole extra zero.

So all of that took pretty much the entire morning and early afternoon.  Plus the fact that Luke wouldn't go down for a nap really made it all fun. I mean, I put him in the crib at 12:45 and at 1:45 he was howling.  It started a chit chat with himself, and then I went into rock him.  Big mistake.  That's why an hour later he was voicing his frustrations in tears.  But I knew eventually tears would give way to sleep, and I was right. 

After he got up, at 4, I quickly got him dressed and headed out to get a hair cut.  Lord have mercy, the horror.  The girl wanted to try clippers on him to get it more even and I have never seen the poor child more terrified of anything.  Not needles, not the shower, not the vacuum, not even spaghetti.  That boy was HYSTERICAL.   She switched back to scissors, and things were okay until she had to use the little trimmers around the edges.  Panic and hysteria resumed once more.  We tried pinning his arms and head.  I tried holding him standing up.  I tried holding him sitting down.  I tried to give him a sucker.  There is a massage place next door, and I sure hope no one was trying to relax at that time because it sounded like a horror film. 

In the end he got a good hair cut.  And a sucker.  His first sucker.   I probably shouldn't have picked out a blue one though, because then he ended up looking like this.


Can you see the wide circle of blue around his lips?  If he were napping at this point someone might try to resuscitate him.  And it didn't come off with wipees.  Nope.  It took an hour for it to wear off. 

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Yesterday was Monday.  That meant it was cleaning day and laundry day, nothing worth talking about there. 

Today we had a few fun things on the agenda.  It started with a 9 AM doctor's appointment for me.  I was in dire straights for a refill on the allergy meds and apparently you have to pay a $20 co-pay to say "I need more allergy meds".  He didn't look at me, he didn't ask me anything, just filled it and sent me on my way.  Please tell me why that couldn't be done over the phone. 

We also had our weekly playtime at the park this morning at 10:30, but we had about an hour to kill in between the dr and park time.  So, I took a stab at taking the boys to Starbucks.  It wasn't too bad at all.  Kayden just sat on the table in the car seat (love that age!) and Luke did fairly well.  He ate the breakfast I brought for him, then of course wanted part of what I ordered, and then entertained the fellow patrons by trying to "get away" with things like walking close to the door and grinning at me like he was hot stuff.  It was all good and well until he actually got half way out the door and I had to run across the seating area to retrieve him.  Then I felt we were just being distractions to the people trying to do actual work, so we left.  I got the boys out to the car with my coffee still intact, but that's when things took a sour note.  I had the coffee on the back of the car while I buckled in Luke and a strong wind blew it over.  So bummed.  I had only gotten 3 sips of it.  The only thing that made me feel okay with the situation was the fact that I had gotten weighed at the dr's office.  I was so pleasesntly suprised at the number on the scale that I figured why ruin it with a calorie laiden drink?   Plus I could get a huge Dr. Pepper later and not even feel guilty about it. 

We went off to the park and got there a few minutes before our friends did.  Poor Luke got really interested in the birds and spent a good 10 minutes trying to catch himself a crow.  And wouldn't you know, he didn't get a single one.  We played out there until 11:45 with Jayden and his mom Tamara, until SOMEONE was so tired he was crying over ever little thing.  Like how I wouldn't let him go play in the parking lot or in our empty car. 

We took off and I stopped at Chick fil A for lunch (told you I could have something and not feel guilty about it!).  The rest of the afternoon was slow and easy, except for the fact that our air conditioner quit working.  So now we are all hot, sticky (the humidity is really up there), and personally I'm dreading trying to sleep in this.  It's supposed to rain tonight, so we can't even leave the windows open.  Not that I could anyway, I would be listening to all the noises outside and paranoid that men in black ski masks were making their way inside. 

Sunday, April 4, 2010

He has RISEN!

What a beatiful day to celebrate.  Last night when I put Luke to bed I got to tell him all about today.  Today is an amazing day that we get to remember.  Today is the reason we are truly alive.  Today is the reason we have hope.  Today is the reason we have a future.  And all because THE Lord, in compelete love, had the compassion to experience Hell so that we could have everything.  EVERYTHING.

Amazing.

As you do in most celebrations, we had a little gift exchange.  Okay, we gifted Luke in the traditional Easter manner.  He got to wear his super handsome Easter outfit to church:


He got his Easter basket before we left:


After nap time we had a egg hunt in the back yard:



And we at ate lots and lots of candy:




I didn't even let him eat this much candy at Halloween.  I'm becoming a big ole softie.

Then we came in and busted out the car that was inside the big egg and his new bubbles.  Oh my, we had not done bubbles in a long time, since he's really been old enough to enjoy them I guess, and he LOVED IT.  I got the biggest kick out of watching his entire face light up and him flapping his arms around like a maniac trying to "catch" them.  And apparently we haven't gotten down the concept of blowing, because I would catch a bubble on the wand and he would "blow" it off.....which really meant he would lean in closer and closer until is eventually kissed it and it popped. 

Tonight Cody picked us up dinner from a new place- Fuzzy Tacos.  I don't like Mexican food, and I don't like tacos.  Oh. My. Word.  It was pure amazingness.   I could eat there every day.  I had never had it before and I wasn't particularly looking forward to tonight's entree, but I'm so glad I went with it. 

Also, we still had a wild banshee at 8:50.  Bedtime is usually 8 at the latest.  Cody calls him Raptor-boy when he gets to shrieking like that.  I'm talking running races with himself crazy.  He would go "Ahh...ahhh....gooooo!" and then tear off through the house (that's translates "Ready.....set.....gooooo!" for those of you who don't speak Luke-talk).  This kid was on more of a sugar high than he knew what to do with. 

Today we got to revel in the fact that our Savior lives and enjoy the Sabath.  We had more candy than should have been allowed.  We had a great lunch with the family and a relaxing dinner with the Von Trapp family singers (Sound of Music was on).  It was a grand day.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

LTC convention

Tonight was the LTC convention and I just have to say our kids sounded great!  We even got the comment from a judge that we were the best performance they had heard all day.  Wow!  I am so proud of what they accomplished and how hard they worked.  Afterwards Cody and I met up with some friends at Blue Goose and sat out on the patio for a couple of hours enjoying a gorgeous Saturday night.  We even were home by 9:30.  Does that ever happen? 

Now I'm just looking forward to tomorrow- Easter!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Random Bits

1. There are a couple of new shows I've been watching lately.  Some I'm proud of, some I'm not.  After a multi-year hiatus from VH1, I've been sucked back in by Sober House (which was preceeded by Celebrity Rehab) and Jessica Simpson's Price of Beauty.  I'm actually really glad to see good ole Jess in a show that doesn't make her look like a blubbering fool, and it's been really interesting to learn about beauty in other culutres.  And obviously those were some extremely guilty pleasures.  What I'm proud to proclaim I watch is Modern Family.  Oh. My. Gosh.  I think it's my next Friends.  I've had a hard time letting go of that one. 

2.  I think it's hysterical that Luke hates having dirt on his hands.  Whenever he gets them dirty outside he will come in and have me brush them off.  He'll just walk up to me with his hands out- palms up- and make a noise in the back of his throat.  I'll brush them off, he'll go running back outside, and 2 minutes later he's back. 

3.  I'm really not sure what I should write down as his "first" word.  He says something that sounds like "that" and "this" and any time you ask him a question he'll answer "yes", no matter what you said.  Also recently he's started saying something along the lines of "go".  Do I pick one of these?  Do I wait until it's more clear cut? 

4.  I made and ordered my 4th photo book last month.  I keep forgetting to tell you about this one.  To flip  through the books I've made you can go here.  You could even buy one if you wanted, but I don't know why you would really want to spend upwards of $70 for books of pictures solely of my son.  At the end of the month is my one year anniversary of the blog, so I'm going to upload all of my posts to a book format and get it printed so future generations can read what life was like in the early 2000's.  If' it survives a couple of hundred years, being passed down generation to generation.  Or just for Luke and his future kids to see what kind of mess he really was.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Green Thumb

I'm trying to plant stuff again.  Yesterday Luke and I went to Lowe's and got potting soil and a bunch of seed packets.  We also nearly got blown away standing in line due to some wickedly strong wind that's whipping through here, which lead to my rosemary seeds getting blown away.  Super bummed about that but maybe I can get some more soon.

Anyway, I got some basil, parsely, cilantro, and chives, which I planted last night in little pots and put them outside my back door.  I went to check on them this morning and there was nothing. 

Just kidding.

I know I"ve got a week or so before I can use them to cook.

Plus I also got some grape tomato seeds, spinach seeds, and zinna seeds.  I thought I might plant those in this little strip of yard in between the house and the sidewalk that leads to the driveway in the back yard.  But right now that little strip of land is totally and utterly consumed with weeds.  So if I get them all dug up in the next week or so I might try my hand at grown me some veggies.  The last time I tried to grow vegtables I was probably in middle school.  I was so worried that the little sprouts coming up were weeds that I pulled them all up.  Is any one suprised that NOT ONE thing grew in my little garden?  Not one.  But that summer we sure did have a nice clean flower bed.

Now switching gears, I forgot that I had hidden the camera in my robe pocket the other day to keep it away from Luke, and I had a few things to share.  Like what we wore Sunday morning to church:


And also a 10 second clip of Luke "talking".  I know I've mentioned several times about how he is behind verbally, so I wanted to get a video him.  Not just for you, but so that one day when this is all behind us we can look back and laugh.  I just hope he's not 30 when we can finally look back and laugh.