5 weeks to go . . .

Actually the title of this post has NOTHING to do with the pics, but right now that is how my brain is wired!!!! Last Saturday, we had the chance to zip down to my dad's parents and spent an extended afternoon there. The kids took good naps on the way down, we had a good visit, and Kayla only cried (screamed, actually) for 1 hour on the way home! It was a great day, though! OK, the pic above . . . my uncle/aunt who live nearby have this domesticated deer who chills out in their yard. So, we just HAD to check it out -- pretty unreal, eh?


It's been a long while since I've had a meal at G/G's -- so many memories of when we were younger and there were about 20 cousins there at the same time! Good times!

Great Grandpa, Joshua (sorry about the picking of the nose shot),
Great Grandma, and Kayla

Yep -- grandma actually played Mario Cart. The funny part? Joshua explained it to her b/c she has never played it before. Go Grandma!


AWANA had their grand prix this past week -- and yours truly managed to have dead camera batteries during the event, so this is it for pics. Let's just say that we didn't exactly bring home a trophy for speed or design, but I GUARNTEE you that we would have taken home the "Most-Loved" trophy -- hands down! Joshua's car was thoroughly tested against kitchen cabinets, baseboard trim, and down the steps!


Joshua is still in his "I'm gonna make something out of everything mode" -- it's great. I've gotten so I get out the "craft box" at 7:30 am (no kidding) and don't put it away from the kitchen table until 5:15 -- b/c it is ALWAYS in use! So, yesterday I looked in the living room and saw the following items just chillin' -- all products of this week's creativity! Above is a laptop (a cereal box flattened, taped "inside out" and a keyboard image printed/taped on. (mama's contribution)
This contraption is supposed to be like quad drums. The paper plates started as "big eyes", then morphed into "quad drums" and then Joshua informed me that Uncle Ryan's drums were MUCH BIGGER than just two drums, so we added a third drum.

This would be a bird house -- I don't remember where the cardboard came from! A side note . . . all of his projects are thoroughly taped for stability . . . scotch tape just doesn't cut it. Must use duct tape.


We started transferring our ancient VHS footage onto DVD today, and we saw a few minutes of the cruise we went on for our Honeymoon. One of the clips showed the "towel" animals and Joshua was fascinated. So, Bryan looked it up on YouTube and viola . . . an elephant out of an towel!


We actually got a little snow today (little, meaning no more than 2 inches!) and the kids were just DYING to play in it. I know -- you people up north are probably just rolling your eyes about now! I don't know what the deal is, but Kayla LOVES these glasses -- she asked for them today before we went out -- and ironically, they were still in the diaper bag from Thurs. when we went to the park WITHOUT COATS ON. Gotta love KS weather!

Joshua's snow removal instrument of choice . . . a toilet plunger, of course.

What else would you use???

Nothing too new . . .

Nothin' too new, but thought I'd post a few pics. We celebrated my sister's b-day last week . . . Happy 27th little sister! (For the record, she MUCH prefers the angel food cake UN-frosted!)

Joshua has been in a "Mr. Tangible" mode lately -- these paper plates started as huge eyes. Then, with some yarn around his neck attached to the plates, they became like quad drums! So fun to see his imagination at work!


Last weekend, he and Bryan spent some high quality bonding time working on his AWANA grand prix car. Joshua wanted a "Larry Boy" car -- so Bryan psuedo-carved the shape (without a vice!) and then turned Joshua loose with markers to "decorate" the car! We'll keep you posted this next week after the big race!


SO . . . this would have been the "not-highlight" of this past week. When the kids were being WAY TOO QUIET while I was preparing lunch, I went upstairs to find this in my bathtub. Usually, I have them "help" me clean up the mess as part of their punishment, but I figured they would get way too much joy out of the process. (Kid shaving cream + water + 4-year old boy . . . hmmmm) So, they sat in corners while I (with my oh-so-not-small-belly) cleaned the mess up.

So . . . as I was talking with Joshua about the bad choice of making the mess, Kayla comes up with something on her pointy finger. I say, "Kayla -- what is that?" (She has been quite fascinated lately with picking her nose, so I COMPLETELY expected her to say, "burger.") No . . . instead she says "Poopy." For real.

So . . . I postponed my "conversation" with Joshua, took care of Kayla's little "issue" and then went downstairs to finish preparing lunch. Fast forward 30 minutes. We had just finished lunch, and Joshua runs in saying"Mommy . . . Kayla has a bloody nose." I only wish he had been kidding.

I think the nap/quiet time that day was the most-celebrated nap of the entire month!!!!!


You know how I said Joshua has been into "making" things . .. well, he made a "picnic table" with the vacuum box and his blankie. (Yesterday when he made it, it was complete with duct tape -- today it was just the blankie!). So, we had our traditional Friday cinnamon rolls (from a can, ya know) picnic style!

That's when being mommy is SOOO worth even days with shaving cream, poopie fingers, and bloody noses!

Wonderful Weather!

We've been taking advantage of some WONDERFUL weather the last two days -- today we went to the park after naps/quiet time -- who would have thunk in Feb???


OK -- do you happen to notice a "trend" in our children's facial expressions? What's up with that????

This would be Bryan at the controls of the camera!

Yesterday we went to the zoo -- it's nice to "eek" out a few more trips before our pass expires in April. We have LOVED having it this year -- I am so glad I was talked into it! By the way, this pic wasn't completely spontaneous . . . I begged Joshua to hold her hand so I could get a "silhouette" picture for a project I'm working on. Still didn't get a good silhouette pic, but we'll keep working on it!


I think this creature was REALLY, REALLY excited about the prospect of getting fed. Kayla, on the other hand, was REALLY, REALLY apprehensive about the excitedness of this creature!

Should have cropped this -- oh well, still a good picture of the two of them!

Even managed to sneak in grilling out tonight!

Last but not least, this would be the "I have 8 weeks to go" picture. wow.
(Technically, I now have 7 weeks, 5 days, but who's counting?????) And no -- don't you even mention the possibility of going past the due date. Seriously.

Sorry folks . . .

OK, I just now realized HOW LONG it's been since I last posted . . . sorry! This past week, we took 2 days and made a trip to St. Louis to see my grandparents. We were intially going to see them on our way back from WI over Christmas, but some health issues came up, so that had to be postponed. Anyway, we had a great time with them! The kids loved playing "catch" with Grandpa (technically Great Grandpa, but that's way too complicated at this point!).


Between the shoe horn, the magnifying glass, and the stash of Great Grandma's canes, the kids were "set" with "toys" to play with!


We grabbed lunch at McDonalds (for the record -- it is G/G's favorite place to eat) before we headed out. It was super, super good to see them!


I got all sentimental on the way home and we took a 20-minute detour to drive by their "old" home -- the place my grandma lived for over 80 years. So many memories from that house . . . I'll stop now!


Doesn't this just make your heart rate drop -- any parent of young kids will identify, I'm sure! On the way there, Kayla refused to take a nap -- so the trip was . . . um . . . a bit rocky, shall we way! But, on the way home -- bliss . . . (for an hour, anyway!)


As we were driving west to go home, dad was driving east towards St. Louis, so we met and had dinner together. Joshua had trouble putting the details together (Are we going to their house? Is Grandma going to be there?)


Last week, Bryan got super creative and decided to "make" a "Wall-E" out of stuff around the house. Then, he got SUPER creative and rigged it to "ride" on one of Joshua's remotes.

The finished product! We've had fun with it!