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!

All in a Week!

I just had to laugh yesterday -- at about 5:00, I decided that I would get out the playdough for the kids to have some good, quality activity time while I finished getting dinner on . . . .


. . . let's just say that Daddy's version of good, quality activity time at 5:30 completely blew my version out of the water!



Yesterday was a monumental day at the Nelson household . . .Kayla slept in her "big girl" bed for the first time. She hasn't figured out yet that she can GET OUT of bed on her own -- so I'm sure once that little detail is realized, we will have a few battles to face! But, for now, how precious is that???? (BTW, her room is not completely lit at night -- I had the flash on!)


For you inquiring minds who wanted a preggo picture -- here it is! 12 weeks to go. Holy Cow. Actually this picture doesn't make my belly LOOK as big as it FEELS most of the time. My back is really, really giving me problems, but I'm doing my best to just take everything in stride . . .! The realty is starting to set in -- all of those "must get done before baby comes" projects are probably not going to get done -- oh well!

This was the view in the kitchen at 9:10 pm this evening.
This was the conversation that took place in the kitchen at 9:10 pm tonight:

Bryan: "Um, Lisa . . . what time does Lowe's close?"
Lisa: "Um, let me call and fine out."
Bryan: "I hope it's 10."

Can I just say "Hallelujah" for Lowe's being open until 10 pm!!!


This picture doesn't do it justice . . . but Bryan replaced the kitchen faucet tonight -- I couldn't believe he got it done so quickly. The old one was leaking, and I REALLY wanted one with a sprayer since washing Kayla's hair is just a MAJOR ordeal in the bathtub . . . I know, I'm very spoiled.

Anyway, you done yourself proud, dear!

Warm Weather!

We took advantage of the warm-ish weather and GOT OUTSIDE on Friday -- most excellent! When we mentioned to the kids that we might be able to play on the swing set, they were SOOO excited -- and then Kayla specifically requested her sun glasses . . . go figure!

There he goes!

Showing off her green tongue after the fruit snack!

Aunt Bem was over for pizza last night and after Joshua demonstrated his summersault, she volunteered to show him a cartwheel . . .

Holy Cow -- she actually did it!

Zoo in January??????

Since it was in the low 50's yesterday, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to get out of the house and use our zoo pass! Wa-hoo! The weather was actually super, super nice -- with coats on, it felt fine!

The kids thought it was funny the ducks were "walking" on the water (ice!)

Kayla on the playground at the zoo.

How is it that boys can get a game of "tag" going in about 2.7 seconds????

Christmas in WI

We got back several days ago, and just had a blast with M/D in WI! It is truly one of the few times I feel like we relax as a family! We left after the Christmas Eve Service at about 8:30 pm and pulled into their driveway at 6:30 AM (note -- it took 10 hours). Besides having a filling station that pumped about 1 gallon of gas per hour at 2am, the trip was very uneventful. The kids were pumped about watching "Wall-E" on the way and I think Joshua finally went to sleep at about midnight!




The ping-pong table got some decent use this visit -- mostly Bryan and Grandpa, but Joshua tried to join in on the action at times! He actually did half decent and LOVED trying to play!

Father-son bonding!

Kayla opening gifts -- sorry, these are a little out of order, I guess!

Grandpa reading the Christmas story.

The best part about WI this year was the SNOW -- and LOTS of it! When we pulled in on Thursday morning, it was piled high! We brought the kid's snow gear and had a blast. Well -- Kayla wasn't so fond of the sled, I guess!

Bryan positioning Joshua for the perfect run down the hill!

In action! We actually just used the snow banks from the parking lot for sledding -- there was plenty of slope involved!

Mommy and Kayla

Grandma is such the trooper -- She was always willing to bundle the kiddos up and hit the snow for a few minutes!

Our little marshmallow!

Yep -- the whole bundling up part is always a blessing, isn't it????

Bryan showing Grandpa the finer details of the iPhone! We left at 10:45 AM to leave WI, and arrived at our house at 11:45 PM -- yep, that would make the trip home 13 hours long! But, the kids did just pretty good during the day and it was SOOO worth it!