Ok, OK . . so it's been a while!

Since I had a "friendly" slap-on-the wrist from a friend today (that's you . . . Hyla!) that it had been a while, I decided to get going on the blog again!

Several weeks ago, my mom, myself, and the kiddos went to IN to a cousin's wedding. We stopped in St. Louis overnight to see my grandma and grandpa who just moved next door to my aunt and uncle.

Grandpa and Kayla -- there are 90 years between them!

Grandma, Grandpa and the kids. Even though we were only there 12 hours, the kids really warmed up to them and we had a great time together!

The remainder of the trip, however, from MO to IN went NOT WELL and we hit every conceivable road block, construction, etc. Frustrating.

We stayed with my brother and sis-in-law so the cousins got to be together -- fun times! Well, fun times, fight times, fun times, fight times . . .you get the picture! Typical toddler times!



Joshua has really started going to town with his legos -- I was glad I snapped a picture of this because 2 minutes later, he ripped it apart! It is a remote control airplane complete with remote! He definitely gets his ingenuity from his father, not from me!

The moment we've all been waiting for . . .

OK, well not this moment! My family got suckered into coming over after church on Sunday and formed a "brigade" to move all of the JUNK from the basement up to the office so that we could have the carpet laid. Thanks guys! We owe you!

The view as the carpet dudes got here . .

The finished product!!!! I decided that my dream of getting everything "in place" before I posted pics would just NOT HAPPEN for several weeks, so here is the "kid friendly" basement!

Another view!

The toys that have been boxed away, dust-covered for months! We are loving chillin' out in the basment!

A quick catch-up

I will try to keep this in chronological order . . . you're welcome, Rebecca!

Last week, we (Bryan) got ready to install the pre-hung doors that we had purchased only to realize that the "oh-so-competent" prior owner didn't make the door ways wide enough -- like it lacked 1 1/2 inches. (Stupid us didn't think to measure BEFORE it was drywalled, mudded, sanded, mudded, sanded, mudded, sanded, primed, painted . . .you get the drift.) Not happy times at the Nelson household. So after weighing our options (custom doors, delaying carpet (NOT an option in my mind) my father suggested ripping out one of the 2X4's since it wasn't a load-bearing wall. Worked like a charm! Bryan was a bit apprehensive, though, and rightly so.

Last weekend we went to Huff-n-Puff -- Uncle Steve went with us -- lots of fun!

Joshua undoubtedly thought that the balloons were loud . . . .? (It IS a little alarming when they light up -- or whatever that's called).

Beautiful.

OK . . . so we waited and waited (like 30 minutes) for a crazy balloon animal, only to get to the front of the line and find out they were closing shop. So -- we asked if we could have the "demo" on the front of the tent -- definetely not my first pick, but fulfilled our obligation!

Happy Labor Day, Everyone!

Just for fun!

Bryan labored all day in the bathroom . . . literally! He humored me and took the plunge today to get the ceramic tile down in the basement bathroom. We've (He's) never done ceramic tile before, so we knew there would be a learning curve. Just gettin' started . . .

Wow -- look at that amazing cut around the "toidy" -- he's incredible!!!! (Yes, I'm just buttering him up!)

The smile says it all . . . "I am SOOOO excited to spend my entire labor day on my knees in the bathroom!!!!"

Ceramic is all cut -- still need to grout, seal, trim . . . etc, etc,etc!

Zoo and Ice Cream

I am SOOO glad I was convinced to get a zoo pass this year -- even though I'm not a huge zoo fan, the kids LOVE it! Kayla especially enjoys tormenting Joshua by imitating the macaw's obnoxious noise. Couldn't get them to hold hands AND look at me . . .oh well!


Up close and personal with the cat. Wow -- I was just hoping with every fiber in me that the lion wouldn't decide to go crazy with us that close -- instant nightmares for Joshua. Pretty cool to see, though!


Last week we learned the letter "I" -- what a perfect opportunity/excuse to make homemade ice cream!


Trying to keep warm Joshua's skinny little legs warm while eating FREEZING cold home made ice cream is quite a challenge!

Basementing . . .

This pic was actually from last weekend . . . I guess I stopped posting pics because the lack of obvious progress during the sanding/mudding progress was a little demoralizing, to say the least! Bryan finished the sanding last weekend, and that was a HUGE accomplishment!

You know that your family has been a bit consumed by this "little" project when your 22-month old mistakes the stud finder for a phone!

At last some gratifying progress! Bryan is currently putting the second coat on the walls/stairway -- yeah!

Sure glad it's "labor" day weekend as it very appropriately describes our plans for the next couple of days. Hoping to get the bathroom floor tiled . . . maybe. The carpet is being installed in 9 days . . yes . . . 9 days, so we gotta keep movin'. It's a good thing, though -- we're ready to be done!

Oh, pardon the artistic dust circles on the pics -- not sure what's going on!

Happy Anniversary!

I thought my hubby would get a good chuckle for me to wish him a "Happy Anniversary" underneath this picture!!!! We celebrated our 7th anniv. yesterday (holy cow -- where did the time go?). Grandma and Grandpa Varner watched the kids, and we had a great date! How much better does going on a date get than going to Outback and picking out carpet!!!

As for the picture above -- Bryan's slowly but surely getting the sanding done -- that white dust just gets EVERYWHERE in the house! He (and so am I) is really, really ancy to get this "step" done, but is happy with how it is looking so far.


Since both kids were up by 6:30 am on Sunday morning, I thought it would be a splended opportunity to take some pics before church, since usually, we're . .uh . . . a little rushed, to say the least! But, as you can tell, that plan wasn't exactly a smashing success!


OK -- last weekend, Uncle Brian and Jennie stopped by to see the astounding progress on the basement and on their way out, Brian created a "connect the dots" for Joshua -- the first one he had done (yeah, I know, I'm failing as a mom). Anyway, look closely and the connection between 2-3 and 3-4 . . . we thought it was quite humorous! I guess next time we need to clarify that the line needs to be as straight as possible!


Um . . . yeah . . . those are band-aids. Last night at G/G's, while Mom was putting Kayla to bed, Joshua managed to find the band-aid box and meticulously applied highly "medically unnecessary" band-aids to his leg. You do have to marvel at his exactness, though, don't you??

And, speaking of Joshua antics . . . we have been watching lots of the Olympics -- including the gymnastics last week. Well, several days ago, he and I were making sugar cookies, which involved flouring the pastry cloth before rolling the dough. Well, I let him get some flour and HELLO, he grabbed like 1 1/2 cups of flour -- we definitely didn't have any stickage problems. OK, fast forward to that evening after dinner. I said, "Joshua, you wanna watch some Olympics tonight?" He said, "Yeah -- just like when we made cookies." I was so confused . . . and then it hit me. The gymnast use that chalk stuff for their hands . . . Joshua grabbed all of that flour for the cookies . . . how in the world does his 3-year old mind make that connection????

It's times like that I am SOOO glad I have the chance to be at home with my kiddos to share those memories! (I will need to be reminded of that later this afternoon when I am going crazy!) Hope you all have a great week -- don't stay up too late watching the Olympics!

County Parade 2

NOTE: For whatever reason, I can only upload 5 pics per post . . . does anyone have any suggestions as it is HIGHLY annoying . . .

OK -- As always the Varco Motors Entry is a family affair -- Bryan is in the truck above--

Bem --

Bryan's girlfriend, Jennie
(sorry Ryan -- didn't get a picture of you -- just your 4-wheeler!!!)

I'm a moron -- forgot to rotate it! I would be remiss if I didn't mention on the snail-pace of our basement finishing -- HOLY COW, will it every get done? Bryan's hanging in there, but we're both a little weary of the process to say the least. And, the kids are DONE, I repeat, D--O--N--E with working in the basement!

Sanding drywall dust is just a bummer, eh? Stay tuned . . . maybe by Christmas!

County Fair!

I'm a week late in posting these -- but better late than never! There's nothin' like the County Fair -- and SHOCKINGLY, it was very comfortable -- not blistering hot, in typical KS fashion.

Joshua could barely wait for the parade -- his candy "bucket" was ready for action!

Still waitin' . . .

In the middle of the parade we looked up to see lots of people from church marching for one of the politicians -- super fun to see them!

How precious is that!
(Notice that Joshua's candy dish was VERY close by -- he was very hesitant about evern setting it down!)

Coolest Rainbow!

Several nights ago, there was the HUGEST rainbow (and a faint double rainbow)! It was so cool --

Did I mention it was huge???

OK . . .so here's the funny part. Bryan was sitting on the porch with Joshua and decided to use this "teachable" moment and re-tell the story about Noah's ark, the rainbow, God's promise, etc. So, after Bryan's long spiel, Joshua says to him "Daddy . . . . why are all of those cars over there?" (A neighbor was having a party). Something tells me he wasn't trackin' 100 percent . . . .!


Tonight's "fun activity upstairs while Daddy's in the basement" was making sugar cookies (from a mix, of course!). Not only did we cut them out . . ..

but we also "painted" them -- very fun! Joshua, however, didn't see any particular need to rinse his brush after using different colors . . . so many cookies have a very "brown-esque" look to them! It's the process, though, right?

This and That

Went to the zoo last week -- for some reason this picture cracked me up! Thought I was doing a good thing by going early (9am) but undoubtedly, the animals are not "morning animals" as very few of them were in their designated areas. Oh well -- it times like that, that I love the zoo pass! Better luck next time!

And of course, it was followed by the train ride -- it was starting to get a little toasty by now . . can you tell????

Our church has the VBS carnival last week and Joshua managed to squeeze in a quick game at the end -- Thanks, Abe for doing the game "one more time" -- Joshua STILL talks about the arrow thing!


Q. How do you know that your kids are up to something??
A. It was WAY too quiet! (and they aren't fighting!)


And, to save the best for last, this is the latest on the basement. Still working on taping/mudding the 1st coat. Starting to wonder if it will EVER get done . . . hang in there, Bryan!