Sunday, June 10, 2007

Life's a Beach


We had a really nice day at the beach today. We got there before it became too hot and crowded, and left after about 2 hours - as it got to be hot and crowded! Once home, LB took a nap and Big Al brought BB to the park to ride his bike. The training wheels are officially off! BB got it on the first try. We knew he was ready, it was just a matter of going for it!


Worries seem to go away while at the beach. And that's always nice......

Friday, June 8, 2007

Feeling Scrappy?


First of all, Blogger is being a total B$%@# this evening - and I'm not able to "move" my pictures around. Basically, the words I'm writing aren't making much sense in relation to the placement of the pictures, but you guys are smart. I know you'll be able to figure it out!!! Plus, you can always click on the pictures to make them bigger if you need clarification of what is what.
"dear Santa" - a lame title since the letter I wrote on this page is to LB, from me.....not to Santa from LB. The "dear Santa" is a rub-on and it just looked cute with the rest of the page.

The next one is a page for our annual Christmas picture/card. I have a designated Christmas album that is now, officially complete (Christmas cookies 2006, Christmas tree cutting 2006, Christmas morning 2006) for last year. Yay!


Next page on the right is "Sweet Child of Mine"
I love how this one turned out.




Next up on the left, is "4 wheelin' ". This one was fun because I actually painted the mud splatters. I hadn't broken out the paints in awhile because I've been on an ink bender. I forgot how much I like to use them.

Next (below) - "Up, Up, and Away!"
I just love the picture of BB mid-air. There was a time when he never would have done this. Such a big boy now..... Anyway, the cloud print is actually fabric! The swirls on the lower right are the journaling. I penciled the swirls, wrote the journaling, and then erased the pencil marks. Sometimes I get so sick of journaling blocks.....



Next (below) is a simple page that I did for the car show we went to in January. The pictures weren't that great (note LB picking his nose and BB cracking up in the background) but the boys were (still are?) in a major car-loving phase, so it had to be done.





I'm sure you noticed all the name-blocking sticky notes (for the blog pictures). You know how I'm a little bit crazy? Well, now you have more proof. So - six pages down, more to go. If only I could escape to my scrap room more often. My little oasis......



















Thursday, June 7, 2007

Aside from a few wayward watermelon seeds - my carpet is springtime fresh.

Thankfully, whatever LB had has left him and he's feeling much better. On Tuesday night I slept fitfully, in fear that he was going to vomit on my head. That exact thing happened last summer. You haven't experienced DISGUSTING until you experience hot vomit seeping into your hair and neck at 2AM. He still sleeps with us. I know....I'm so progressive. It's funny even to me that I am so "modern" in some ways, and such a flippin' hippie when it comes to certain parts of my parenting. Here's hoping he won't be putting his keys on the night stand and crawling into bed with us when he's 17.

Today LB starts his little karate class. CUTE! I'm sure he'll do well. He's full of energy having eaten his weight in watermelon this morning.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Giving serious consideration to concrete flooring and a hose attachment for my kitchen sink.


Today we brought Big Boy to see "Dr. McDreamy" (have I mentioned my slight crush on our wonderful pediatrician?) for his Kindergarten check-up. He passed the hearing and vision with flying colors, and at 49 inches tall and 68 lbs. is proportionately off the charts. No big surprise there. He's technically a tad overweight, but I can say with a clear conscious that he exercises (playing, running, riding his bike, etc.) every single day and really doesn't eat a bunch of crap! As a matter of fact, he isn't even much of a snacker. The Dr. isn't at all worried being that he's seen Big Al, and noted that we just have big, tall, strapping kids. He also told me that BB *will* play football.....whether I like it or not! Hmmmmm....we'll see. Anyway, BB withstood the finger prick anemia test, and 3 vaccination shots and was such a brave boy about the whole thing. "It hurt a lot, but I hung in there Mommy!" he said in his darling, chipper way. The capper was peeing in the cup. That, he thought - was just hilarious. "My turn!" "My turn!" said Little Boy.

After the appointment, I brought the boys to one of their favorite places since we were nearby - "the train restaurant." Not it's actual name, but that's what we call it. It's a really cute little lunch place that has electric trains/trainscapes set up all around for the kids to watch. There's even a Thomas table!



By this time, it was the afternoon and I was hoping LB would take a nap. No such luck...the boys played outside until Big Al came home - at which time we all went to the weekly Farmers Market. Our decision to go there had NOTHING to do with my wanting kettle corn. It really didn't even cross my mind. Yeah...right.




We bought strawberries, kettle corn to bring home, and a few other things. The boys played in the kids area for awhile, and BB picked out some sunflowers. That's sort of our thing.....we go every week and he gets to pick which flowers we buy. I know I've mentioned it before, but I just love that he has such a thing for flowers. As an aside, I jokingly colored one of his toenails red with a marker the other day while he was watching 'Go, Diego Go' and I thought he was going to come out of his skin!!! "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? I'M NOT A GIRL! EW! EW! COLORED TOENAILS ARE FOR GIRLS! I HATE THIS! TAKE IT OFF!" So....I don't know where I was going with that....but whatever.

Anyway, we got home a little later than planned and my grand dinner plans just didn't seem so grand.....so I decided to make scrambled eggs, strawberries, and wheat toast for the boys because they were so tired. I figured Big Al and I would likely have something else later. At this point, we wanted them fed and bathed so that they could go to bed.



As is the routine, Big Al gave them a bath and brushed their teeth after dinner while I was playing happily in my scrap room. I had the baby gate up (subtle, I know) with the door open. This way I was able to hear what was going on, yell things like "I just HEARD you smack your brother. KNOCK IF OFF" and just pretty much micro-manage while enjoying my "me" time. I heard LB coughing and then I heard BB say "GROSS! MOMMY! LB IS THROWING UP!!!" I get up, wondering where in the hell their father is only to realize that he is outside doing something.......and LB has indeed puked EGGS AND STRAWBERRIES all over the beige carpet, AND his red Pottery Barn chair. Nice. And yes, I had to name drop about the red chair, because would the damage be as sad on say - a KMart chair? No. I don't think so. The fact that I now had to clean this disgusting chair cover and not just toss it is significant.

Thanking God that I wasn't still in the first trimester of this pregnancy because this clean-up job would have surely been the death of me - I start ordering people around and cleaning up both my slimed child, and the carpet.
Quick commercial break to plug this stuff:





"Stain Buddy" available at QVC.Com. It is worth every.single.penny. Seriously, this stuff is miraculous.
As is I think pretty normal, LB now felt just fantastic. I know when I have a stomach flu, the only relief is that hour or so AFTER emptying the stomach. He was running around, wanting to play, etc. Having just SCRUBBED the hell out of the carpet, spraying Lysol on every surface other than the offending child, and placing another order for Stain Buddy online, since I just used an ENTIRE bottle - I had a chat with Big Al. My partner. My helper. My backup. He was on his way upstairs to play with the kids who, with all the excitement had found a second wind. I gave him an old stock pot lined with a tall kitchen bag and instructed him (while making eye contact....because we all know that if we aren't making eye contact with them - they for DAMN sure aren't hearing us) to keep this near LB at ALL times. If he coughs? You have to be RIGHT THERE with the pot. He may seem better....but in 30 minutes or so....you just never know.
I threw all of our old, now disgusting barfy dishtowels and rags into the washing machine and set it to the "SUPER SCALDING WATERS OF HELL" cycle before heading back into my scrap room.
Wouldn't you freakin' know it? Fifteen minutes later I hear LB coughing....and I just know instinctively that Big Al has dropped the ball.....or "pot" as the case may be. A second crop of strawberries.....this time down the stairs. Excellent. SOOOOOOO - the whole process starts again. Big Al is in deep trouble. He realizes this as I hand him a pack of baby wipes (to pick up the chunks), what is left of the Stain Buddy (not a whole lot), and the last clean rag. I took my child into the bathroom, nodded toward the stairs, and said "Good luck with that" -
because the pot never made it up the stairs to begin with.
It kills me that he for even one second - doubts that I know everything.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Park Pictures

Today we went to a new park. Like most places around here, the surrounding area was really pretty. The park itself was just so-so, but at least I got some decent pictures! The kids had fun, and I had fun stalking them in my paparazzi-like way. You'll notice that BB's hair is getting long. I LOVE it. I'm growing it out so that he'll have that cute surfer style that's in right now. It was always sort of longer and curly when he was younger. I don't know why I was having it cut into a typical boy haircut for a while there. If any little boy can pull off longer hair - it's mine. He can no longer use "kid shampoo". His hair simply demands something better. Not Mommy's expensive, can't-be-bought-at-the-grocery-store shampoo, but at the very least - Daddy's Pantene.

Silly boys........











A Spider web!!! The bug fascination continues.......

New and exciting pregnancy symptom: If I stand up for more than 15 minutes, my entire left thigh goes numb. Fun!!

The good news is, I'm 7 months pregnant and have only gained 9 lbs. That for me - is fan-freakin-tastic.

Now, if we can just get the nursery painted......