Pin-cess

After we got home from buying groceries, I sent G (dressed in a knit shirt, pants, and tennis shoes) to her room to play for a bit.  When I went back to check on her she tells me...

"Mommy, I a pin-cess!"

Pancake Night

J went out to eat with a few guys from our Couple's Bible Study tonight, so the kids and I were on our own for supper.  Sounded like a good night for a special treat...we went with Blueberry Pancake Night!

One drawback with doing Pancake Night without J (the best pancake chef EVER), a few are going to come out looking like this :)

FINALLY...a meal we can ALL agree on!

Taking the Training Wheels Off

As I mentioned in my previous post, C learned to ride a bike without training wheels last weekend.  I was really surprised at how quickly he picked it up since our last attempt at learning this skill didn't go well!  Here are some pictures.  I think you can see from the look on his face he was pretty excited...

He still has a little work to do on his dismount. Right now, his strategy is to "abandon ship" whenever it is time to stop :)

J showed C a trick or two...

Included in the tutorial was a demonstration of a "wheelie"...which didn't end well.  I hate it didn't work out for J, but the up-side is I don't think C will be attempting one anytime soon :)

As for accidents, C has done pretty well.  Though he had a run-in with my dad's truck and, yesterday, our mailbox, he is relatively unscathed.

I'm really happy that C has learned this new skill, but I didn't realize just how much I relied on his training wheels too.  Now that he's on just two wheels, it seems like he's going soooo much faster and the potential for injury sooo much greater!  I guess he's not the only one who has to get used to not having training wheels :)

Over the River and Through The Woods...

Since most of our immediate family still lives in our hometown, we go for overnight visits pretty regularly.  The kids LOVE going because J’s mom and my parents both live in the "country.” Which basically means a WHOLE lot more space and translates to a lot more freedom for them to run around, climb trees, yell, scream, and pretty much whatever else their little hearts desire so long as they stay away from the road.


Saturday morning/early afternoon we spent time with Grandma Brenda and Aunt Staci.  They have a really nice, large circular driveway – perfect for scooter races!

Despite how it appears, Aunt Staci was not chasing G with a broom :)  She's multi-tasking: sweeping leaves off of the driveway while racing with G...

Later that afternoon we headed over to my parents house (about a 3 minute drive).  G went with my mom on the golf cart to visit Meme (my grandmother) who lives next door.  And my dad brought out a small boy’s bicycle, that he’d found and repaired, for C.  Within 30 minutes (or less) C learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels!  Quite an accomplishment for a Saturday afternoon :)

On Sunday before heading home, we stopped by to visit with Great-Grandma H and thank her for the Valentine’s cards she sent the kids.  We had a nice visit, a little adventure :), and a quick snack with her before heading back home.

And of course, the kids are already asking when we are going back!

Is Anyone Cheerful?

Is anyone among you suffering?  Let him pray.  

Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing praise.  James 5:13

Well, I'm cheerful but NO ONE wants me to actually sing (trust me)... 

This has been a fun week that, as I look back, was just chock full of wonderful blessings!

Blessing #1 – It is mid-February and we are all HEALTHY!  This is a first for us.  In years past, C has kept us busy going back and forth to the doctor’s office with ear infections, snotty noses, allergies, and wheezing/asthma attacks!

Blessing #2 – The temps have been in the mid-60’s to mid-70’s since Monday, and since we are all HEALTHY we’ve been able to spend LOTS of good quality time outdoors!  I find that SOOOOOO therapeutic after being cooped up in the house with two very energetic kiddos for the last several COLD months!  I swear before this week, you could literally SEE the pent-up energy radiating from their little bodies.

Blessing #3 – I met Mrs. Delores.  A little background…for awhile now, I’ve been praying that the Lord would open up the door for our family to minister to/serve an elderly or “shut-in” person.  I contacted a local a ministry that focuses on connecting people who are elderly or disabled that need help to folks who are in a position to assist them.  I was getting a little discouraged because the ministry contacted me several times in the past few months, but for one reason or the other I was never able to help.  But in the Lord’s perfect timing, He connected us with Mrs. Delores.  She is a real delight to be around and I’m super excited that we are able to help her!

Blessing #4 – We were FINALLY able to visit with Leah and Grant (my cousin and her 3 year old son)!  She’s like a sister to me, but we don’t hang out nearly enough for my taste because we live about 1 hour and 15 minutes apart.  As always, our visit was lots of fun for the kids and encouraging for the adults (well, at least this adult :)

Blessing #5 – I’m part of wonderful women’s Bible study and couples’ Bible study groups – and was able to attend both this week because we are all HEALTHY!

Blessing #6 – Enjoyed playtime with our best friends and neighbors!  I’ll admit, there is part of my “country girl” nature that can become discontent with living in a neighborhood.  The next time that happens, I need to just tell her to “ZIP IT!” ‘cause having great neighbors (of which I have in abundance) is pretty darn cool!

Blessing #7 – Received our Costco American Express Rebate Check in the mail – SWEEEET!!!!  Now, if I can just refrain from spending it all in Costco when I go to redeem it for cash :)

Blessing #8 – Somehow we had enough spare time at the end of this busy, crazy, fun week to spend the morning with the kids at a really neat local park that we had never been to before.  Here’s some pictures (the color is a little off in some of the pictures because my camera is smarter than I am :) …

The kids were excited that I FINALLY (as if Valentine's Day was 10 years ago) let them eat their "Dip-n-Lick" candy...

Catching Some ZZZZZZZs

We played Hooky from our standard Monday afternoon plans (laundry and naps/quiet time) to meet some friends at the park and enjoy this AMAZING weather!

Once we returned home, we started working on that neglected laundry and turned on the TV to watch a cartoon or two.  About 5 minutes in, I noticed this...

The accompanying snore made it all the more adorable :)

The Way to G's Heart...

We decided to go ahead and give the kids their Valentine's presents this morning since weekday mornings tend to be very hectic.

G squealed with delight (literally) when she received these.

She promptly removed her church shoes and put the new flip flops on - over her tights - and paraded around the house.  (I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a picture :)  

After she woke up from her afternoon nap, I painted her toenails with parkles (sparkles) polish and took a few pictures.  I have a feeling that the days of such excitement over a pair of $6.99 flip flops are numbered...

As a side note, C quite pleased with his gift as well...Star Wars underpants.  I will not, however, be posting pictures of him sporting his new Tighties 'cause that's just mean :)

Hall Bath Reveal...It's About Time!

FINALLLLLLLY!  J just finished re-installing the cabinet doors on the vanity, and we are officially DONE with the bathroom reno!  I have to say, I'm really pleased with the results!

Here's a Before picture

Prepping the room to remove the popcorn

No turning back now.  Trying. not. to. panic :)

Popcorn removed, now on to drywall prep

Preparing the drywall was a VERY dusty process.  I wore long pants, socks, and tennis shoes the entire time and my feet looked like THIS by the end of the day...

Ceilings painted

Starting on Crown Molding

Any project that J and I embark upon will always require at least a little bit of improvising...it's sort of a tradition (the improvising - not the roll of toilet paper :)

Crown Molding done and looking good despite the fact that neither the ceilings nor the walls were plumb

Project Casualty...also another tradition.  J didn't mind though.  He took advantage of my guilty conscious due to my culpability and convinced me that we should take the toilet tank lid from the toilet in the Master Bathroom to replace this one. He then installed a new toilet (aka "The Throne" - his words not mine) in our Master Bath.  I don't get the fascination, but he seems to be very pleased with the arrangements  :)

Ta-Da!

A few more Before/After pictures (the vanity appears black in the pictures but it is actually a dark brown)

This faucet is probably my favorite part of the reno - not only is it pretty - but the kids can use it without adult assistance (our old one was difficult to work).  As far as I'm concerned anything that increases their bathroom independence is a VERY good thing :)

Now that Newman has been redone from top to bottom and all of those troublesome issues seem to be behind us (I HOPE), I might just have to rename him...if he continues to behave himself :)