Fun with Friends

I always have a list about a million miles long of things that I want to work on eventually, projects or crafts, fun stuff that just always gets put off. So, I started a Thursday morning procrastinators club. I've opened my doors to any of my friends with projects that they need to work on. (or who just want to hang out) The moms work on their projects while the kids play together. It has been really fun! Zach is always looking forward to having his friends over.

What better way to spend a morning than with friends!

Fun Day

I told Zach this morning that I had a surprise for him. I didn't want to get him too excited if things didn't work out. So he waited excitedly for us to arrive.

He was a bit nervous when we first got there. Sticking close to me and watching everything unfold with a concerned look on his face. (Kyle was completely uninterested, as you can see)
Though once and a while something would catch his attention.
See the tongue? Don't worry, you'll see plenty more of it. Are you wondering yet what the surprise was?
We had the opportunity to join a Mom's group today on a visit to....
The Fire Station!

I thought the firemen did a really great job of explaining things to the kids. They spent a lot of time showing the kids how the fireman, a very normal guy, would put on all of his gear so that he could go into the fiery buildings. They wanted to make sure the kids knew they didn't need to be scared of him and if they were ever stuck in a fire and they saw a man like this, even though he looked scary, he was really there to help them. I guess I hadn't really thought about how important that is to teach kids.
Zach was really nervous to get up into the firetruck but after I lifted him into the driver's seat he lost all inhibitions. (see, I told you there'd be more of that tongue)

He even dragged me around to the back of the truck so that we could climb in and check out all their gear.

My goodness those tires were big!
Kyle had to examine them up close while making silly faces at himself.
He promptly zonked out after leaving the station.
But our day wasn't over yet so we headed over to the museum to play in the children's area. Kyle was excited to play with some of his good friends there.
And dig for dinosaur bones in the packing peanuts, I mean, Dirt.
The boys worked well together as they searched for buried bones.
And Kyle practiced his pickpocketing skills.
All in all, it was a busy and very fun day for us. And it isn't even over yet! We're just home to take a short nap break and then off to enjoy some more adventures.

Sleeping like a rock

I always thought that the big brother was the one who did the torturing.

Not at OUR house!

Luckily, Zach could sleep through a hurricane, but Kyle is determined to test just how far he can go trying to wake his brother up.

The little devil woke up before Zach so I brought him in the kitchen with me. He promptly scooted back to the bedroom, climbed into bed with Zach, and stole Zach's chocolate milk. (Note the devious grin) He then proceeded to bounce up and down giggling hysterically as he tried his very best to wake up his brother.

It didn't work. Zach didn't even stir. He actually slept soundly for at least another half hour. He's going to be trouble as a teenager when we have to drag him out of bed. I might need to invest in an air horn.

Worth every penny

Sold some stuff at a garage sale this morning, just HAD to do some shopping at another garage sale down the street. I found this puppy that I almost bought new for Kyle's birthday but didn't. I'm glad I waited because this one was in like-new condition and cost me a whopping $2

It was worth EVERY LAST ONE of those 200 pennies. I would have happily paid 200 dollars for these kind of smiles. (assuming I actually had $200)

He reads too!

I'm pretty sure I have some similar pictures of Zach lounging, feet propped up, with a good book.

Today's Choice: If Dogs Were Dinosaurs

We've got a climber

So, I was putting laundry away the other day and I came back into the kitchen and found this:

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a climber!

I was totally shocked that he could actually get into this high chair without any assistance. It kinda scared me. It was like in those ghost movies when they leave the room and come back to find all of their kitchen chairs balanced precariously on one another. I had to do a double take, WOW! How'd he get there? The bottom step is well above his hip. I know I certainly couldn't have made it if I were his size.

It seems like he only started standing a few days ago and here he is. He's not a baby anymore. Today he started pushing things around and walking along with them. Chairs, stools, toys. If he can pull himself to stand next to it, he can push it to wherever he wants.

This could be a bit of a concern given his climbing abilities. If he can push a chair wherever he wants and then climb on top of it.... nothing is safe any longer!

Another new addition.

Remember a while back when we decided to adopt a couple of Gerbils? Remember how it didn't really last very long? I'll admit, it WAS my idea. Not the best one I'll admit. But this idea, this was NOT my idea.

Since we didn't do too well with the gerbils, Jason decided it would be a good idea to get a Guinea Pig instead. Oh my...
I guess he is kinda cute.

He's just a baby so really he's not much bigger than a large hamster. Zach is giddy, I am apprehensive. I guess time will tell how we will do with a new pet.

These are the sort of crazy things that happen when Jason has a weekend off.

(We are still trying to decide on a name. Any suggestions?)

While Kyle is sleeping...

While Kyle is sleeping, Zach and I like to PLAY!

(p.s. this is not typically where Kyle sleeps, it was just a kinda funny picture)

The other day Zach decided we should pull out our costume box. I collected a whole bucket-load of costumes after Halloween and he really hasn't shown too much interest. Finally, he has decided that dressing up is a fun and silly way to play. I tried to catch pictures of each costume change but they happened so rapidly I wasn't able to keep up. We started with a cowboy, then went on to a puppy...
Followed by a giraffe, a monster, a policeman and culminating in a series of super heroes. Specifically the robots of Transformers.
He even let me join in the fun! I thought it was pretty funny how he would take on each character for just a few minutes, run around the room barking or growling, and then hurry back to try on the next. Finally he went back to the giraffe he wore at Halloween and ended up wearing that until nap time later that afternoon.

Home Improvements

Jason just had his last break of the year so I kept him busy. Mainly it was all about the home improvements. But, as seen in the previous post we also had Kyle's first birthday. Since I forgot to take before pictures of our kitchen, you'll have to put up with a couple more party pictures so that I can show you my Oh So Be-A-Utiful walls. (YUK!)

You saw this one before, BUT did you notice the walls?

We had one wall that must have once supported cabinets or been where another wall ended because it was all wonky and patched up. We ended up giving up on it and just knocked it down. Then Jason put up new drywall, that's why you can see a raw drywall wall in the background with the patch from the screws and seams. Not so pretty.

On the opposite wall was this mess...
(not the party people- the wall. love you guys!)

Thankfully this was was somewhat salvageable but it was also patched up and the seams from the drywall were pretty visible as well as what may have once been a chair rail. We patched up the spots and then did a light layer of patch, sanded it and WA LA! An ugly, but smooth wall.

So, that was the before. THIS was the during.... (Yes, I was going in-SANE!)
But finally, I have a new shiny paint job in my kitchen and I kinda just want to sit in there staring at it all day. I LOVE the crown molding that Jason put up himself (Superman!) note:we haven't painted the ceiling yet so please ignore that part.
And the baseboards, ahhhhhh so pretty.
We used a slightly darker paint for the walls so that the molding would stick out a bit but still kept it really neutral. I'm a bit non-committal about decor and we may not be here forever so we wanted to keep it neutral.
It's so BRIGHT!
I have to say, it's definitely making me keep the kitchen clean. I just can not allow myself to leave anything out of place. Though, I'm sure in a little while I'll get sick of the "clean" feeling and start seeing it as "Plain" instead so I'd love some decorating advice.

p.s. there's a reason you don't see the cabinets in these pics. We haven't done anything with them yet. We don't have the budget to replace them but they are definitely NOT attractive. I just have to decide to paint or stain or... Something! That's for sure. I'll keep you posted. But for now... I just love it!

Kyle is One!

My goodness time sure flies doesn't it. My little baby is officially one year old. I can't believe it! Now, just a little warning... when Zach turned one we took a bunch of pictures and then by some catastrophe of technology they were lost. Luckily, I had posted a few of my favorite pictures on the blog so we at least had those safe. As a result of that, I plan on posting bucketloads of pictures from Kyle's birthday to make sure they too are safe.

So, here's the birthday boy looking all debonair. I made him this shirt with a big one on it and written at the bottom of the one in bright blue is the o-n-e. It turned out way cute but sadly, a little stiff since my sewing machine is on the fritz and I had to use iron-on stuff. Oh well, it's not like you could really see it anyway... it's the thought!

I put together a buffet of goodies for our guests to enjoy along with little goody bags in hopes that they would take home as much as possible. (Sadly, I think I still ate the bulk of it myself)

It's a bit of an awkward photo of people's backs but this gives you an idea of the sweet streamer decor that Jason put together.
Of course, Zach had to join in on the present opening.
The Cake... TA DA!


We ended up giving Kyle a chocolate cupcake since "the cake" was white cake (all I had) and for some reason I've always thought the birthday boy MUST have chocolate.
He was pleased.

VERY pleased!
He even stole the cupcake from the little girl sitting next to him. Luckily, she was basically done.
I sure love my little boy!

Current update

I'll let this post be without pictures even though it's against my usual trend. I really don't think anybody would want to see the top news of the day- My Foot!

For anyone who hasn't already heard, I had surgery on my foot Thursday. I've had a bone spur on the top of my foot for the last few years and recently it's started to really cause me some issues. When I went in to the doctor to see if there was anything to be done he said that it was actually causing some arthritis and I needed to have it shaved down and possibly fused. I opted out of the fusing for now but we went ahead with the exostetimy (big word right? I have no idea if that's spelled right) The hope is that without the spur I'll be able to wear foot inserts and prevent the arthritis from getting any worse and I'll be able to avoid more pain and suffering.

I was nervous about the recovery but it wasn't until Wednesday night that I realized how freaked out I was about the surgery itself. The last time I had surgery was when I was just a kid and I had my tonsils out. I was pretty sure I was going to die.

So when I got to the hospital Jason told the nurse I was nervoust so they gave me some versed (again, spelling?) They said it would calm me down. Apparently it did, Jason said I got super mellow and he got a good kick out of it. Then they came and gave me a little bit more and I don't remember a thing past it. I think that's the weirdest part of the whole thing. I was totally conscious, awake, aware of everything going on around me but I don't remember one bit of it! It's a bit unnerving to not know what you did or said. I can't imagine how people can get drunk and have the same sort of experience ON PURPOSE! Ya, I'll pass.

Anyway, now I'm recovering. I'm doing really well, I'm just going crazy. I sit and look around me at all the things that I think need to be done and I just can't do them. See, I'm really not very good with crutches. I've never used them before! My pits are SO sore. I haven't figured out how to carry stuff around while using them and so I've been trying to just hop. That is pretty exhausting, let me tell you. Hopefully these next few weeks will go quickly and I'll heal well.

Jason has been so helpful though. He has been really patient with my nagging and worrying. I sure got lucky with that one! He's been off work this week so he's been my personal slave. Great vacation right? I'm going to be pretty bummed when he has to go back in on Monday.

Little Artists

Here's some more pics from our Christmas Vacation at Grandma Gundersen's

Zach had so much fun with his cousins while at Grandma's house. Even now that we've come back to Illinois I can ask him who his friends are and he will list off all of his cousins without even a pause. He especially loved painting with Sarah. We've tried painting at home in the past but I think watching Sarah meticulously painting her "girl kitties" inspired him.

You can tell they were both deep in thought.

The finished product:

*Actually, he ended up going back to it and painting until every last bit was coated in a thick green goo. The next day he was inspecting their various creations and found that Sara's had actually accidentally gotten some bits of green paint on them. He very carefully picked out the correct paints and touched up her kitties to cover the green so that she wouldn't be upset. I thought it was pretty thoughtful of him.

Happy Birthday Zach!

Since I'm still playing catchup I'm just going to keep working backwards. Here's some pictures from Zach's birthday party at Grandma's house in Idaho. Since Jason was already back in Illinois we turned to modern technology so that he could still be a part of the celebrations. I hope that Zach enjoyed his day and that all of his wishes come true.

We started with Norwegian pancakes for breakfast as usual and then brought out some presents. Zach got just what he was asking for, Team Geo-Trax! Specifically, Samuel and Steamer.
Kyle promptly ate one of the train drivers and went on playing as if there wasn't a small toy guy hanging out of his mouth.
Kyle makes a pretty good present himself.
Grandma decorated a fancy schmancy train cake. I'm not sure it could have been more perfect. Zach LOVED it.

Especially the coal tender, complete with coal!

It was fun to be able to celebrate with all of his cousins.
Kyle was a bit apprehensive about the cake at first.
But he polished off his first piece pretty quickly.
And then dug into another.