but you can see the Snow Fountain on the end.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Happy Birthday to Me!
Here's a link to some pictures from my birthday weekend. I am planning to upload some to the actual blog. It just hasn't been cooperating with me lately. Here are these for now. :-)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108551&id=543072123&l=c866afce4b
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108551&id=543072123&l=c866afce4b
Love Machine
Yesterday afternoon, after we went for a walk in the awesome fall weather (been in the 60s and 70s...and this morning was upper 30s lower 40s when I went for my jog) we came home for a snack and some "quiet" time (without the tv on as background noise). The kids kept asking me to play their musical toy doggie and they were just dancing and having a ball. We probably played it about 10 times or so. Here is some video.
P.S. I'm trying to get birthday weekend pics up...but blogger and facebook are both not letting me upload. It's very annoying! Maybe you'll get to see them by the time I'm 30! :-)
P.S. I'm trying to get birthday weekend pics up...but blogger and facebook are both not letting me upload. It's very annoying! Maybe you'll get to see them by the time I'm 30! :-)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Cheese!
Alec got a hold of his Daddy's old Red Sox hat and put it on himself. He was just playing around. When I brought the camera over to get a picture, he came running up to the gate saying "CHEESE!" Daddy taught Alec and Emma to say that for pictures. Emma came right in after him exclaiming "Cheese!" as well.
The Many Faces of Alec
Here, Alec is trying to mimic all of the faces that Daddy and I are making. Too cute!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Cookie
Warning for Natalie: this is probably going to annoy the snot out of you. I know your aversion to animals in the house, and I understand why. But, we let Cookie into our lives and hearts on a whim 4 years ago, and even though she can be dirty and smelly, and sheds her body weight in hair almost everyday in the summer...she is a loyal and loving friend, and we love her very much!
Even after almost 18 months of really being treated like a "dog," I'm pretty sure she still thinks she's a person.
Hmmm...
Funny Buddy
Two cute things Alec did this morning:
1. Walked up to me with a play teacup pretending to sip on it and then exclaimed "mmmm, tea!"
My Nana would be so proud!
2. Brought me a goldfish crumb that he'd found on the floor. I said "Thank you, Buddy! What a good boy!" and he emphatically shook his head up and down in agreement with me. But then he put his hand out as if to say "stop...wait, there is something you're still missing, Mom!" Then he took my hand (very seriously) and flipped it over palm up and gave me five. Basically he was like "Hello! I'm supposed to give you five when I do good stuff!"
I love my job. :-)
1. Walked up to me with a play teacup pretending to sip on it and then exclaimed "mmmm, tea!"
My Nana would be so proud!
2. Brought me a goldfish crumb that he'd found on the floor. I said "Thank you, Buddy! What a good boy!" and he emphatically shook his head up and down in agreement with me. But then he put his hand out as if to say "stop...wait, there is something you're still missing, Mom!" Then he took my hand (very seriously) and flipped it over palm up and gave me five. Basically he was like "Hello! I'm supposed to give you five when I do good stuff!"
I love my job. :-)
What I Did During Monday Morning Nap
Remember the new flower bed I was talking about? It was already dug, thanks to my husband, Mr. Muscles...it's really quite comical when I try to dig into the sod. I'll bet I look so cool to the people driving by as I jump up and down on the shovel trying to break ground with my entire body weight. This works great when its just soil...but as I mentioned before, those !#$%^&* ROCKS are everywhere. Anyways, he did the hard work getting the ground torn up and I pulled the grass chunks last weekend. So romantic!
Anyways, in the hour and 45 that I was outside yesterday, I added the good stuff (Miracle Grow moisture control garden soil) to the clay and rocks and got it worked in, edged (a pain in the rear), planted (and dug up more rocks), and mulched. I kept pushing through, even though I could tell early on that my body would be paying...and it did, and even though I was going to have to teach modern that night. I could tell that my back and rear end were in knots after about a half hour. I'll bet yard work burns a TON of calories. Anyways, here are some pics of my major accomplishment for the day. The crepe myrtle we ordered will go in the empty spot on the corner. I didn't take pictures of the awesome sunburn I got on my back and shoulders. :-(
And just in case you're wondering, I did survive modern. :-) But my run this morning was pretty darn slow.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Our Weekend
I realized tonight that I haven't posted in a while! I've been keeping up with everyone else's blog...but failing to update ours. Truthfully, our lives have gotten a lot busier as of late. With the fall semester in full swing, it seems like all of a sudden we have a LOT going on. Here's a rundown of a typical week right now. Monday nights, I teach. Tuesday nights are free as of right now. Wednesday nights Aaron gives guitar lessons and we have church. Thursday nights Aaron has softball...and when it ends, he'll probably pick up some more guitar lessons. Friday nights- 2 times a month, we lead a young adult study group at the church and 1-time a month I'm going to start going to teach Ballet V in Ft. Smith for WAB again. By the weekend, we're pretty exhausted...but also determined to do something productive with our time. This weekend was a pretty good mix of rest and "getting stuff done."
Friday evening, we had our church young adult group Fall Kickoff event at our pastor's house. It was a fun, adults only night. We had a great time and got to discuss our calendar of events for the fall quarter.
Background for Saturday...Aaron and I have slowly landscaped our yard over the 6 years that we've lived in this house. It has been a rather long and ongoing process. When we moved in there was nothing. Not a bush, a tree, a flower...well...I'm sure there were weeds. Actually, the sod was even dormant and they laid it in the summer!!! They didn't water it in, so we didn't get to see green grass until the following spring. So, we've had a lot of work to do. The great thing about doing it all yourself, aside from saving a lot of money, is the pride and sense of accomplishment you feel when you see a beautiful finished product. BUT...it's a lot of stinkin' work! If you've ever lived in Arkansas...you KNOW how much work. The soil is full of red clay and ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS! Plus, I've killed two cacti in my lifetime, so the odds have been pretty stacked against me. Anyways, we have a big flower bed between our garage and front walkway up to the door, and we have a retaining wall garden in the front as well. The retaining wall is one of Aaron's great accomplishments. For two people who know next to nothing about DIY, we've done some decent work. But the retaining wall is lovely, and has really added curb appeal.
So, last weekend, we dug a new bed on the east side of the house. Aaron has been wanting to put in some bushes, and I wanted something biggish on the corner of the house. We've also been dreaming about putting in some trees for a very long time. Saturday, we went to Garden City and finally bought our first trees!!! We got a red dynamite crepe myrtle for the new bed on the corner, a gorgeous snow fountain (weeping tree that will have pinkish white blooms in spring) for the end of the retaining wall on the other front corner, and a Japanese blood maple ornamental for another bed that we plan to dig to "mask" the ugly utility box in one of the back corners of the back yard. When they get they're shipment of maples this week, I will choose one more regular maple for the front yard. We want a few more shade trees for the backyard, but are planning to build a deck (not this year), so we want to wait and see the dimensions for that until we do the big trees back there.
The rest of the day was devoted to watching the Sooners kick some Golden Hurricane butt, and perhaps even a little more exciting- the USC Trojans GO DOWN against Washington!!! Oh, what a glorious day for football it was yesterday. We were very, VERY stoked!
Today was church, of course...and then a lot of just lounging around the house. I did make a run to town to get a few more small plants for one of the flower beds. I will work on getting those planted during naps this week. I'm hoping to have things looking really nice for the arrival of my folks on Friday. My birthday is Saturday, so they are coming to celebrate with us. I'm turning 29...my last hoorah as a twenty-something. Guess I'd better do something awesome this year, huh?
Well, I'll quit rambling now and get back to the Cowboys game with my husband. I'll get some pics up soon...because I know that's what everyone really wants. :-)
Friday evening, we had our church young adult group Fall Kickoff event at our pastor's house. It was a fun, adults only night. We had a great time and got to discuss our calendar of events for the fall quarter.
Background for Saturday...Aaron and I have slowly landscaped our yard over the 6 years that we've lived in this house. It has been a rather long and ongoing process. When we moved in there was nothing. Not a bush, a tree, a flower...well...I'm sure there were weeds. Actually, the sod was even dormant and they laid it in the summer!!! They didn't water it in, so we didn't get to see green grass until the following spring. So, we've had a lot of work to do. The great thing about doing it all yourself, aside from saving a lot of money, is the pride and sense of accomplishment you feel when you see a beautiful finished product. BUT...it's a lot of stinkin' work! If you've ever lived in Arkansas...you KNOW how much work. The soil is full of red clay and ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS! Plus, I've killed two cacti in my lifetime, so the odds have been pretty stacked against me. Anyways, we have a big flower bed between our garage and front walkway up to the door, and we have a retaining wall garden in the front as well. The retaining wall is one of Aaron's great accomplishments. For two people who know next to nothing about DIY, we've done some decent work. But the retaining wall is lovely, and has really added curb appeal.
So, last weekend, we dug a new bed on the east side of the house. Aaron has been wanting to put in some bushes, and I wanted something biggish on the corner of the house. We've also been dreaming about putting in some trees for a very long time. Saturday, we went to Garden City and finally bought our first trees!!! We got a red dynamite crepe myrtle for the new bed on the corner, a gorgeous snow fountain (weeping tree that will have pinkish white blooms in spring) for the end of the retaining wall on the other front corner, and a Japanese blood maple ornamental for another bed that we plan to dig to "mask" the ugly utility box in one of the back corners of the back yard. When they get they're shipment of maples this week, I will choose one more regular maple for the front yard. We want a few more shade trees for the backyard, but are planning to build a deck (not this year), so we want to wait and see the dimensions for that until we do the big trees back there.
The rest of the day was devoted to watching the Sooners kick some Golden Hurricane butt, and perhaps even a little more exciting- the USC Trojans GO DOWN against Washington!!! Oh, what a glorious day for football it was yesterday. We were very, VERY stoked!
Today was church, of course...and then a lot of just lounging around the house. I did make a run to town to get a few more small plants for one of the flower beds. I will work on getting those planted during naps this week. I'm hoping to have things looking really nice for the arrival of my folks on Friday. My birthday is Saturday, so they are coming to celebrate with us. I'm turning 29...my last hoorah as a twenty-something. Guess I'd better do something awesome this year, huh?
Well, I'll quit rambling now and get back to the Cowboys game with my husband. I'll get some pics up soon...because I know that's what everyone really wants. :-)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Alec's Suit
Tonight we tried on Alec's suit for his Tia V's ("auntie" V's) wedding in February. I have to admit, it's pretty darn cute. We couldn't get him to hold still for a picture! Tia, if the arras/tray are anything like a broom, it should all be good. I think he looks like he could work at a movie theatre with the broom and suit! ha! The hat, unfortunately is way small, as is often the case with infant/toddler sets like this. We'll see if we can find another hat if you really want one, Tia.
Dancing to Jazz
The kids love the music from Little Bill on Noggin (it's jazz). So, when we were having our morning Dance, Dance Party, I turned on the jazz music channel. Earlier they were both going crazy, but this is what I was able to catch on camera. Pretty cute!
Giddyup!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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