Gift Ideas

With Gabe's upcoming birthdays, I've been getting lots of inquiries as to what to get the little fellow.

I suppose what I should reply with is,

"A box."

What We've Been Up To

I haven't blogged much...or talked much on the phone. Nor have I done much laundry, cleaning, sleeping...

Instead, we've been soaking up the days we get to spend with our nieces until they're once again across the country to the edge of the land.

What we've been busy doing is laughing, making memories, going to the Science Center, going to Gus' Pretzels, going to see Wall-E, giggling, poking fun at each other, staying up waaaaay past our bed times, and making the perfect picture.

Like this one:

4 bears (cousins) in a bed

Unspectacular Quirks

I was tagged by my new blog-pal, Julie (my hyperlink isn't working, so imagine her blessedby5 blogspot hotspotted there), for a new meme...of 7 "unspectacular quirks". And Julie, I have way more than that! But I'll be brief, for my babies are sleeping & I have much to do.

1. Turning off lights, pushing in drawers, putting pens in pen holders, throwing wrappers away, straightening, other similar compulsive acts
2. Strange primate habits such as picking at my children (their ears, their faces), & peeling the burnt (peeling) skin off my loved ones (& you if you'll let me)
okay, #2 was really gross, don't hold that against me
3. Singing harmony to anything: the wonder petz theme song, happy birthday, elevator music, (anything I overhear)
4. Singing everything: commands to my children ("goooo get d-resssssed!"), answers to Jeff, what I'm looking for
5. Trying to convince the driver to say, "to go" at the drive-thru window
6. Trying to save money on everything ... from buying things on clearance, used, garage sale finds, flea markets, free samples, coupons, etc. IT KILLS ME TO PAY FULL PRICE.
7. Consolidating (this is probably a nervous habit) - I absolutely love the feeling of taking something almost gone (say for instance, oatmeal bars)...and taking the 1 or 2 oatmeal bars out of the carton/box, and throwing it into recycling.
Okay, that's 7...but I'm just getting started.
Julie - Don't send the meme police on me. Please.
8. Q-tips. It's time I come clean about this. It's like an addiction. I must clean my ears daily. Otherwise, I feel like they're incredibly dirty & they itch. When I went to Nicaragua, in missions, I didn't have one. And I almost lost my mind. I was ready to pick up a jungle twig & risk rupturing my drum, just to get my fix. One time, I had the 'wrong' brand (that doesn't fluff well on the ends) & the cotton part came off.
IN MY EAR.
And I was like 19 & here I lay w/ my head on my parents' kitchen table - while my dad operated w/ a pair of tweezers, trying to dig it out. ALL THE WHILE, my mom was scolding me for this terrible habit I had.
Talk about humbling.
And 16 years later,
I'm still hitting the cotton stuff.
okay, #8 was embarassing too. Why am I doing this?
9. Pestering my hot hubby. Be it sticking stuff on his back, or honking while he's crossing the parking lot, I am nothing but a nuisance to that poor guy.
Why does he put up w/ me??
10. Paying w/ exact change. Anymore, I'm a big-time debit user. Becuz of our society making it easier & easier to pay at the pump, the window, while healy'ing by the register, I'm a sucker to the convenience & use the c/c mostly.
But, there's nothing more satisfying that coming up with 86 cents & handing the cashier at Target 8.86 for the razors you just bought.
(may or may not have happened today after church)
11. Using the pampered scraper with a lysol wipe, and getting into the edges around the kitchen faucet / sink.
Oh the crud you can dig out.
12. oooop, I hear little footsteps upstairs.
I've been caught.
Taking time for myself.

PS Did you know that 'Meme' is the name my nieces have used for me for 17+ years now?

Hey, before you go, say a prayer...or 2...or 3 for my friend mckmama's mckmuffin which is baking away in her mckoven. His/her little heart is beating much too fast & she's currently hospitalized while they work their medical marvels on him/her. I'm trying to keep tabs on the situation.

They Flew All the Way from California

And man!, are their arms tired!!


The day is finally here!! No more chains left on the THE GIRLS ARE COMING HOME countdown paper chain.
We were too busy watching the reunion of our kids, with 'their girls' to snap a photo of their first moments running to each other down the terminal...but rest assured, it was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. And even caused some of the other travelers, to ooh & ahh.

Flynn is in HEAVEN with her girls around her. She sang for them, laughed w/ them, & pretended w/ them on the way home.

Bubs is equally as thrilled. Since he didn't get to sit RIGHT NEXT to one of his girls, he did as much hugging as he could do.

And as a welcome home to STL, we stopped at Fortel's, some of STL's finest pizza (matter of opinion, I like my food bready).
And some more of STL's finest (raise your hand if you think this is better than mountains).

A Father's Day Photo

All the grand kids around their Papa.

We Should Be a Reality Show

We've been saying that ever since we said "I do" & it only seems to ring more true through time & all the experiences we - well, experience.

And not exempt from that are the W E I R D neighbors we have.

Let me just give a little background info to paint an accurate picture.

Our subdivision is a pretty nice one. The oldest home is probably less than seven years, ours is six years old, & the newest are just a couple of years old. Most of the subdivision is made of homeowners who show a great deal of care of their home & lawn, & appear to be pretty wonderful people to live next to.

We don't live on that street.

No sir.

We live in party cove. On frat row. Where the living's good & people party like it's 1999.

For real.

Now the craziest we get here is a little game night now & again. Or having friends over for a dinner that extends to the late hour of 10 o'clock.

Insanity.

But I realize that a good portion of the world, live a tad different than us. And so with that understanding is a realization that our neighbors are going to have some fun every once in a while that might mean more cars in our cul de sac, or some laughter outside our window while we're watching the nightly news (on the tv we don't have).

What I don't understand, is the neighbors to our left, who we refer to as "Bussies" (because she drives a small bus which she parks IN HER DRIVEWAY or ON OUR ROAD between bus runs or when she's home for lunch --I wish I was joking!!), partying in their INFLATABLE pool, with ANOTHER COUPLE, at 1 a.m., with their 1980's BOOMBOX pumping out some classic rock.

Or how ONLY 4 people sounded like 10 outside our window while I tried to get a good night's sleep (because some people get up early on a Sunday morning).

And how it sounded like they were tearing down our privacy fence & throwing around an empty bucket.

Also, why would you crank up a radio to unbelievable decibals, while entertaining another couple.?

Another reason we're ready to move.

Eating Grammy's Face

If it works, then do it.

And making people's faces out of food, has worked the last couple of days. The other day, Flynn ate two Papa faces & Gabe almost ate a whole Nana face.

This is Grammy's face. Flynn requested the elbow mac for "Gammy's Curly Hair".

And don't worry PeePaw, Gabe requested you as well. And ate most of your face.

Seriously, I'm Not One of Those, "I get paid to tell you how great this product is" Bloggers

I just really like this thing. And chances are, you might too!

This is the Christmas gift, Aunt Gi got my kids. Here's how she got the idea...we were at Target & I pointed to it & said, "Hey, get that for the kids for Christmas."

And she did.

...and we love it!

The brand is BOON, and Target sells it for $30 I believe.

It adheres to the inside (or I guess outside if you wanted it to for some crazy reason) of the tub. Above its eyes, is a little shelf (where we keep baby bath & shampoo), we hang mits/cloths on the frog's 'hands', & the handy scoop on its back, holds on the bath toys.

And if the toys don't fit in the frog's back, they go bye bye.

Not really.

But I wish.

The frog coming to live w/ us, meant that the ugly blue crate which formerly held all the bath toys, got to go the recycling bin, with it's crazy soap-residue bottom.

Anyway, props to the frog.

Gabe's So Cute

The progress on his speech is exciting, but I really will miss the part of his childhood where his lack of language was sheer endearing.

Like when we're out & about (which happens quite often these days) & he sees something we have here at our house... say a certain toy, he gets extremely excited & starts shouting, "HOME! HOME!!"
(then I try to stretch that & say, "Yes! We have that at our home.")

He LOVES to sing. And he LOVES Spiderman. Which is perfect because it gets him to practice his S. Which he just altogether omits...
"'pidaman, 'pidaman, you 'iendly, 'eighb-a-ood 'pidaman."

And by the way, how did he learn about "Pidaman"? Save for a pair of underoos, the kid has never seen the webbed wonder. Well, at Alex's bday party. But for real, how in the world did he come about such a love for the hero?

Gabe's favs:

• 'Piderman
• trains
• WonderPetz (again, has only seen 3 of the videos & can't get enough of Ming-Ming)
• Momma
• chocolate soymilk
• singing
• church
• horses
• bubbles
• coloring w/ markers
• paint
• sand
• peeing on trees (learned while camping & had a hard time understanding that we don't do that at home)
• doing somersaults (or 'forward rolls' as they're dubbed in acro)
• his buddies Trey & Owen
• the colors green & blue (& purple if you're talking popsicles)

Doesn't so much like:

• swimming
• cold foods (except of course, for the choc milk)
• his car seat (too bad, Bubby!)
• being told what to do
• going to sleep
• sitting still
• being told what to do
• sitting still

I can't believe that in a little over one month, my baby will be branching from toddler to preschooler. Makes me sad. So many stages we've left behind. But lots of fun ones ahead!

Cuties

Cleanin' Out the Cell Phone Faux Toes

and when did I find?...

Do you remember the parking spot stealer & Fake Ponytail?

Feast your eyes amigos:

even after attempting, re-attempting, & re-re-attempting, the spot stealer & honking ignorer still managed to park horribly...we were out of our car seats, across the parking lot, & headed cross the cross walk by the time she was done parking.

"Honey, just ignore them, they don't know any better...they've never been in a pageant."

Sundays, Everybody's My Pumpkin

On Sundays, you'll find me everywhere at church. Most of the time, being a lead teacher in an area, caring for & teaching kiddos the most important thing they'll ever learn.
It's not hard for me as I love kids & loving on them is the main perk of my job.

This past Sunday found me in Gabe's room of fellow two-year olds & loving on a little sweetie pie named Isabella. In an exchange between her & I, I replied to her with, "Okay, Pumpkin!"

This alarmed Gabe (who is typically not possessive),
"Momma, ME your punkin!!!!!!!!!!"

Pet Peeve

When ONE HOUR PHOTO takes more than one hour.
(why would I pay extra for a service that you're not providing??)

What's Grosser than Gross

this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Mt2E1M6dU&eurl=http://www.google.com/reader/view/

Tonight

was smooth sailing.

kids singing.

wave bottle - making.

learning 'bout the blind man who was healed.

pudding eating.

having fun.

VBS Night #1

included dry ice...
a white lab coat adding 10 (or 100) pounds...

and my little darling LOVING her evening filled with new songs, yummy snacks, a fun craft, & learning even more about Jesus.

VBS Starts Tonight

Bubby's Boo-Boo

When I cut Gabe's hair last week, I was very close to shaving his head into a nice, low-humidity cut for our dog days here in sweaty Missouri.

But something told me to just shape up his would-be faux hawk; and keep it long on top.

I am so glad I did. I think that extra fluff on top kept his injury from being really nasty.

You see, we set up our desktop in the playroom. So I can work down here & be more productive, as they work at being productive play'ers.

And also, so our girl, the computer genius, can get her game on in the comfort of her bitter-green walled space.

And whilst I was upstairs preparing dinner, she must have pointed out her latest boo-boo to her Bubby. A teensy spot rubbed raw by her sandal. And the sweet Bubs that he is, he bent down to kiss the top of her injured doggy.

He raised up with force, & hit the top of his head, on the bottom of the monitor (which is definitely not a dangerous object). There is a small round piece, which I assume everyone's monitor has -- and wouldn't you know it, that's the exact spot his head made contact.

He let out a cry, differentiated from the other fighting with sibling type of cries, that sent me sprinting down the steps. When I got to where he met me, the gash had started to puddle & was starting to roll down his crown.

When we got him to the bathroom, it had covered his face & rolled in his eyes. Quick thinking enabled me to grab a RED wash cloth & surprisingly, Jeff did not faint (& luckily he was only in the driveway leaving for his soccer game).

It quit bleeding in record time. He must've been working on dad's side to keep dad from being late to his game.

And these kids, have I mentioned how tough they are?? -- after I told him it would be fine, he immediately quit crying & let Jeff hold pressure on it, and wash it, let us check it.

Here's how great it looked the day after:

I would've made a way bigger deal out of it, had I been here alone. I tend to TOTALLY FREAK OUT in emergencies.

And now, five days later, it's just a dime-sized ding.

I thought it was fitting that he was wearing this shirt:

You better believe it Bubs, your mom is blogging this....your first big one.

Happy on the Fourth

Photos from the FIREWORKS EXTRAVANGA (I couldn't have named it better myself).
Hey, who says a cell phone can't take a good photo? (I've NEVER been able to capture firewords with a camera):

For the first time in their lives, I allowed my kids to live la vida CARNI.

And they rode rides that are probably rarely inspected.

I didn't let them ride anything higher than 1 feet off the ground & made Daddy ride the crazy strawberry ride with them:

Our family photo ended up all Blair Witch looking.

Okay, now on the actual FOURTH, we decided to go strictly family home time & haven't left these four walls.

I took a quick break from my VBS preparation to coordinate some fun art projects...

Gabe was all business making his patriotic flag slash fans.
After playing with the bendy capabilities of her straw, she was able to concentrate on the task at hand, FIREWORK art.



Notice the symetry in FJ's art, versus Gabe's random style.


I was actually impressed that he blew -- I was afraid he would be confused & do the opposite.

Then that would've been a different kind of art.

Next on the list, taco salad & red rice cripy treats.

Livin' la vida liberty!

Safe Cheese

Flynn was so excited to get, try, & enjoy her first (that she remembered) package of 'american' slices of soy cheese -- that I had to capture it on video (pardon the cell phone quality).

Why I'm So Busy

Getting this ready.

Remember the Videos I Promised to Post

Here they are, in all their glory:

part of the reason I married my hot hubby - his mad dance skillz.