It Begins

Introducing Goldie. 

I never understood why parents bemoaned carnival games so much. Till I was the parent. The parent in the unbearably hot attic lugging out a fish tank for a .10 cent feeder fish that I paid $5.00 to have the pleasure of "winning" knowing full well that this little ticking time bomb will probably blow by weeks' end. But because I went to the effort to set up the tank, I will dutifully explain the circle of life and rush out for another .10 cent feeder fish- just to avoid returning the tank to hell, er, the attic. 

The little things in life, right?!

Wordless Wednesday

Newly decorated camp bags, snazzy!

Summer : Week 1

Look at that! We made it through two things on our bucket list!! I could even argue three, as DH and I went to a concert Saturday night. 

We made our way to the science center. The ladies would have been equally happy to play along the harbor and chase ducks and geese I think. 

They enjoyed some Daddy time as they drug him all over the science center. 

Most of the exhibits are a bit above them currently. Thankfully they have a kids playroom which makes the cost of membership worth while. The ladies had a blast. 

Wednesday we made our way to the beach. The Internet lied! Instead of passing clouds we were greeted with sprinkles and a chilly 68 degree morning. Not exactly beach weather. But we made the best with strip and boardwalk. Hit the playground and bough new shirts. 

We made our way to Funland and had some treats before we left. 

We also made our way to the zoo on Friday. Not on our bucket list but fun none the less. 

I'm still chuckling over the escaped prairie dogs! I hope they keep a better eye on the lions! Speaking of which, Miss HAM asked repeatedly to pet one. I love the lack of fear! It's just a big cat, right??

This was as close as she got to that wish!

Now on to this week. I'm not sure how much we will get to cross off, especially with camp starting. 

Happy Monday!

"Hold on to your arm wrestlers!!"

Or arm rests as the rest of the world may know them! Don't ask me where they heard that one. But with every turn of our big, blue 'ban' (Tobias if your curious of its name-what do you call your car?) the ladies scream back to HAM to "hold on to your arm wrestlers!" 

Today Tobias is taking us to the zoo! 

Happy Summer!!

Summer Bucket List 2013

Guess who will be picking this bad boy up tomorrow!

The frame is waiting on the wall. 

As of tomorrow evening we will have two things to cross off and it's only the first week of summer break. I'm not sure why this excites me so much. The ladies were eager to make our bucket list and keep referring to it. We kept it simple, and realistic. Hopefully we will get to all of it.

Do you make a summer bucket list? 

Say What?

There are just something's that I will ever get tired of hearing from my ladies. Especially things that will fade with age. I do often stress correct pronunciation for gross mispronounced words and try my best to work on usage and tense. I'm secretly thrilled my girls use "may I" and knowing other people can understand them lessens my worry about lisps and future speech classes.

However, there are those that I let slide. Recently, I've found myself trying to incite them. Most notably are Claire's use of "ra-dic-lee-is" (ridiculous) and "fab-lee-us" (fabulous). Emma takes the cake though. She sends my inner sever year old into a full belly laugh with her "excuse me from my butt" line. E-V-E-R-Y T-I-M-E!! Straight faced! Still, there is the endless battle between the ladies when they are being too loud - "I can't hear my boice!!"  That, DH and I, just love to mock!

Of course there are other that get less attention, "lel-low" (yellow), "Mr. Denton" (Kenton-our dog), and "b'cation" (vacation). These have just become part of the vernacular around here. As have our own made up names for different places and the color coding of different playgrounds in the area. Sadly, they've also started a system for announcing which restaurant they'd like to eat and developed my mispronunciation of crayon.

I suppose it could be worse, but there are many of these that I will be missing in the all too near future! The march to our 4th birthday is coming to and end and I'm not sure I'm ready.

Any babyisms still lingering at your house?

A Little Effort

Just a little effort can go a long way. Sometimes a really long way. It can inspire you.

So for years I've dreamed up all kinds of projects for our house. Big projects, little projects. Projects that  could easily come to life, if I would just put in a little effort. Recently I have moved my dreams from home improvement to relocation. I've told myself it's not worth the effort, that I won't get a return. Tons of excuses- excuse not to love my house. While I've never loved this house, it is my home. At the very least I should be comfy and content, right? So that is my new goal. 

Goal officially stated : Make house homey. 

First stop, bathroom! 

I have loved this paint color since I picked that little swatch. It's muddy gray. I would probably paint the entire house this color, and all it's neighboring colors, if the hubs would allow it. Paint color is much debated in this house. Needless to say, 7 years later, the walls were getting a little rough. Mostly hidden behind hanging towels or baskets, the many nicks, scratches and scraps on the bottom three feet of wall- I wonder where they came from -were eating me!

Of bigger concern, I half ripped the towel bar from the wall when I was pregnant stumbling from the shower. Don't concern yourself with that math, I'm lazy and it still held towels. That was until Wednesday, when I ripped it from the wall. I posted a lovely picture of my to-do list and promptly ditched it to patch, paint, and SWIM! Feast your eyes on crappy phone pictures!

Silky smooth walls! (Bottom picture color isn't true) Thank goodness I hoarded all the old paint. It was a free facelift! Although I think it might be time for it to move on. [Note to self, save label!] On a whim Tuesday night I was digging through this local bargain store. They buy all the clearance/damages/off brand stuff from other places and resell it. Hello Ta.rget truckload, I will gladly buy random things for 75% off the original Targ.et price. 

Item bought: a hook rack that I am now using for towel hooks. So much easier! The casual look works well for four people sharing a cell of a bathroom.

So with one wall made over, I plan to move on to the ugly sink and vanity. Maybe add a shelf or two, and see where pinterest can take me! I don't foresee that cast iron tub going an-y-where, but I could certainly spruce the rest of the bathroom up.

Anyone else needing some house love? 

I'm so excited to tackle the house this summer!

Recent Randoms

A few recent randoms. 

I never get tired of the trains.

Girl talk.

I don't know what this plant is, but I'm dying to have one. 

This is Chloe the worm. Who walked all the way around the block with us so she could live in the garden.

Derecho, I laugh in your general direction! You did nothing but open my lilies!

Happy Weekend!

Picnic

 Did someone say lunch?

Struggling to find a great birthday gift for an awesome little girl was wearing me down. HAM turned the big T-H-R-E-E and I was clueless what to get. Not to mention I was dead set against her favorites. Nope, no princesses here.

However Cousin tipped me off. She said she was clearing things out and on the chopping block was the kiddie picnic table. HAM had outgrown it and it wasn't nearly big enough to entertain. Cause little people entertain, ya know. 

Picnic table it was!

I didn't fuss with too many action shots. I like my fingers.

I had three days to get it done. For me, that's record time.

10 hours later, presto!

And with no husband or childcare! I'm a rockstar!!

Not pictured: My beet red back that is still peeling two weeks later. 

There's really nothing better than creating something for someone. I made this table for her. I painted yellow for her. A picnic table is far from the most intimate gift, but it will see a lot of use and won't clutter up the house. That makes it a total win in my book!

Plus, this thing is a tank. It's big enough that I can sit! Score one for the lazy mom!

You'll never guess who's kids are clamoring for their own. 

Oh... Em... Geee...

Scratch all posts for tonight. I had pictures upon pictures to upload and set up posts. I was on top of things.

I deleted my picasa library.

All pictures, gone. This is what I get for trying to spruce up the place up a bit. Don't ask me how I did it, but they were all gone.

I frantically reconnected my picture folder. I waited as 4 years of photos came flooding back-but they weren't appearing.

Guys, I had only collapsed the photo folder in picasa.

I feel stooooooopid.

I broke out into a sweat, my heart was racing. For four minutes my little world stood still. Tomorrow I'll   try this game again, but for tonight I'm going to drowned my sorrows in some cookies and milk. And shop for a new external hard drive!

Wordless Wednesday

Wish me luck!

Monday Phone Dump

Hopefully my May pictures will arrive before July! Sending out shipping info BEFORE an item ships should be eligible for capital punishment. People, I'm a stalker and this half pound package of photos is KILLING ME with its lack of movement.

When was the last time you took time to splash?? HAM is a natural born splasher, Emma is just a more cleaned up version of PigPen.

And lastly, how can you turn down baby bunnies??

Monthly Photo Challenge: GREEN

First off, why does the blogger app hate me? Am I alone here? I have like 6 failed publishes. They've just vanished. Poor me was thinking that everyone left the party!

Ack!

Secondly, I'm not sure what is going on tonight but the pressure in my head is c-RAZ-y! Thanks Andrea?! I'm sure all the rain you've dumped has killed my pool levels... moving on.

Photo Challenge! Yay! Green was an easy subject this month with spring finally here. We have been outside non-stop and I am loving it!!!

Strawberry pickin'!

With friends of course!

Silly girl.

Flying HAM.

My little Who.

Bring on the sunshine of summer!

What green did you capture this month??

June Goals

Summer is here already!? Whatever happen to spring??

Last month I accomplished SIX of thirteen goals, although I did decide outright against some of them. I also accomplished sooo much more than what I originally intended in other areas that I'm going to consider May a win. 

However June and the start of summer is upon me. I am unprepared!

Family

• Summer Bucket List- our new family tradition
• Wills (how morbid!)
• End of school dinner date
• Father's day shebang
• B.E.A.C.H.

House

• Deck furniture of some sort
• Pool accessories
• BIG. GIRL. ROOM. Set up beds at the very least!!
• More flowers outback, and some shrubs

Crafting

• PL for May
• Print baby book pictures
• Pick fourth year pictures for book

Me

• Read two books

Yes, don't laugh. I've never been much of a reader so two books is a good goal for me. The stuff I read is rather dry and I can't get into fiction. However if I love it, I'll read it through DH's tv blaring. History, facts, and statistics-love it! First person accounts, biographies, and things covered in dust- I'm there! I'd love to work in almost any archive when I grow up. Not to actually archive, although I'd enjoy that, but just for the exposure. I've started using the ipad for reading and it works out very well for me so I think I'll continue. It's also super convenient, because when I tire of reading about the Gulag's hierarchy, I can pop over to tarjay and look at bedsheets! 

What are you doing this month?

Dear Child

Oh how I miss nap time! If only I looked so peaceful! Hopefully the peacefulness I rely on each day to restore my sanity does fade away anytime soon. I may die without nap time!