Funny fellows

Christopher asked me one afternoon if he could have a bowl of marshmallows...and I said, "Sure" thinking he'd grab one of the normal small snack bowls. I came downstairs afterward to find this--these funny fellows found the biggest bowls they could get their hands on and filled them with marshmallows and then you see their choice in utensils:

Later on, after the sugar high wore off, they crashed on the (coverless) couch like this...what cuties.

18 weeks old

18 weeks old is 'overdue' here I know. I had that little interruption with iPhoto issues and then life has just been overwhelmingly busy. And then of course, baby boy was not entirely cooperative...but here's proof that he isn't always smiling:

Poor guy was getting a cold (and we've both been dealing with it for more than a week now, ugh.)

And earlier this week he went in for his 4 month old check up...his stats: now at 15 lbs & 25-1/2 inches long...a growing boy!

And sorry now...I got carried away with photos, so forgive me for throwing these all in.

I love this one with the crazy green glow and that chubby little dimpled fist:

Ah, Mom! Enough with the photos already!

Just one more...love you baby!

Hot stuff

George & I attended the Spring Fling ward activity a couple weeks ago...we were invited to dress up from any era from the '50's on...so we did. I hope next year they decide to do another talent show instead of this activity (again)...it's fun but I've had a special talent in the works for these last few years that I'm dying to share at just such an occasion. : )

Are we not a sight to behold?

As if I hadn't made a big enough fool out of myself that night, we realized on the way home that we needed to make a quick pitstop at Target & couldn't do it after taking the babysitter home...so that meant I had to go INSIDE Target dressed like this. And it wouldn't have been so bad if George had come in with me as we clearly were dressed up together for a party...but alone I just looked downright silly! And he refused to come with me!

Embarrassing is an understatement.

I heard people say "Whoa! Did you see that?!" and "Oh dear" among other things as I walked past in my hurry to get in and get out fast.

Zachary was along, so I dressed him up too, although he ended up looking more like an Oompa-Loompa than anything remotely 80's-ish. Sorry I never did get a good shot of him...here he's dancing with Sis. Allen:

Ft Stevens

A couple weekends ago, George had reserved a yurt up at Ft. Stevens & took the older 2 boys with him. They spent a lot of time just exploring the coast the first night & the next morning explored the fort itself. Fun times, and looks like they had the place pretty much to themselves!

Can I just interject here a moment and say how much I admire the friendship my oldest 2 boys have with one another? They are true buddies--far closer to each other than any of the other boys, though they all are good buddies together...these 2 just have an extra special relationship.

As George was getting ready to leave for this trip, he kept asking if I was sure I didn't want to come along...well, I told him, I do want to go...I just didn't want to bring the 2 littlest guys along--so I suggested we just leave those 2 with Christopher while the rest of us hung out at Ft. Stevens...that suggestion didn't go over too well. : ) Next time for sure though! Way fun!

Trouble *averted*!

I'm on the verge of panicking...my iPhoto is not working and hasn't for a few days now (I think we may have pushed it to its limit...there are a LOT of photos in there!) This could be a true tragedy!

*So proud of myself!!!! I fixed it myself! I had to rebuild it. So relieved. : )

Posts abundant with photos forthcoming.

Week 4, and it's over.

I think I'm the only one who stuck it out through all 4 weeks of the Fit Game...so I guess that means I WON!!!! And that means I won the fabulous prize--an all expenses paid road trip to Kansas City this summer!!! : ) (Ok, so we were already going & will pay all expenses from our own pockets...but I'm STILL a winner!)

Honestly though, I do feel like a winner. I've dropped roughly 8 lbs since starting the game. Not bad! I haven't done so hot with exercise between being so busy with the house projects and the unpredictable weather, so it kinda confirms my opinion that 'you are what you eat'...in other words, it's eating habits moreso than physical activity that determines weight... But anyway, I'm happy with how things are going and will continue with it. I don't think I'm going to keep tracking points, at least for a few weeks while I get these big projects finished here at home. If anybody really does want to play the game again with me just say so & we can pick a new start date.

A Kitchen Odyssey, Part 1

Meet our kitchen, as she formerly appeared:

She's been in need of a little facelift for quite some time...and the time has come.

Removed some cabinet doors & then the oven came out:

And all the contents of those lower cabinets reside in this corner of the toy room for the time being:

Then came the chore of removing the old countertop:

A tad more difficult than the bathroom countertop had been...but George managed it!

And out came the kitchen sink:

George's demolition work (with a glass of chocolate milk there to reward his effort!)

Removing the planks of wood that served as backsplashes before:

Sanding:

Sanded & ready to begin painting:

A coat of primer: (And notice it's dark out...all of this pretty much took place in one day to this point.)

A coat of paint:

And the countertop guys came in & did the plywood & shiny sink there:

We finally decided on a faucet:

The first part of the new granite countertop is in! Excitement!!!

Here the guys are cutting in the opening in the granite for the sink:

And now they test the new faucet to make sure the hole in the granite is big enough!

George installs the faucet:

And that's the end for now...there's a lot more work to be done, so stay tuned.

I'll just throw this in here since it seems as good a place as any--so here is the place that did our countertops... They use prefabricated granite so the cost ended up being half as expensive as every other place we checked out. I really liked these guys! Huge thanks to Nicole B. too for referring us to them!

17 weeks old

17 weeks old... Man, it's getting hard to remember which week I'm on anymore...

As always, smiles...

And this I love:

And this one I love just because those baby blue eyes are so perfectly pretty:

Another fat baby face:

And my wiggle worm who kept kicking the blanket up after I smoothed if flat time after time:

And drumroll please for this week's major achievement:

............................................

First taste of rice cereal!

Tulip Fest 2010

There was no school on Monday...the odd no school days are days I like to get out & do fun stuff with the boys since usually the crowds are smaller & I just plain enjoy hanging out with my boys! The weather forecast for Monday was disappointingly dismal though and we woke up to heavy clouds and giant wet puddles...I'd tentatively planned to go to the Tulip Festival already but the weather wasn't cooperating...at least I didn't think it was when I'd broken the news to the boys that we wouldn't be going. Then what do you know, the sun came out!

We ran a couple errands (most importantly to get Anthony a new pair of rainboots...he'd outgrown his most recent pair) and finally hit the road for the Tulip Festival down in Woodburn, OR at the Wooden Shoe Farm.

They have a bunch of fun activities (most of which are free!) like this horse/tire swing:

And the duck races:

And this slide:

And of course, they have TULIPS! Have I mentioned that I happen to love tulips? : )

Some of my favorite people among some of my favorite things:

And me & Zachary:

And the boys loved the mud--we got out into the muddy part of the field and no exaggeration, Anthony yelled out, "This is HEAVEN!!!"

They went from puddle to puddle to puddle...eventually having a contest to see whose boots could get the muddiest. I'd say they all won as they were fairly equally mud-ified by the end, but Benno won for being the muddiest overall.

Muddy boy.

And my boys are crazy about big old machinery like these old traction engines they had parked up by the fields...

Really, an awesome day! We got ice cream cones on our way out & I bought a few bouquets of tulips to enjoy at home.

The weather couldn't have turned out to be any more beautiful! We only wish some of our friends could have joined us...I blame the earlier icky weather for scaring so many of them away!