mostly pictures
Lanette’s first princess party. She doesn’t actually have any princess dresses, but she feels like a princess in this dress!
Saying goodbye to her friends….sad.
We decided to pack the kids first so they won’t get in the way while we pack every thing else!
P.S. I had a great birthday. We ate at Tucanos (Brazilian Grill) and watched “Leatherheads” at the dollar theater. I also got to enjoy cake and homemade ice cream with Kirsten, Steve and my mom. Aaron’s mom watched our kids – so it was a great date. Then I got to have MORE cake with my kiddies that night…mmm. cake.
Buff Bread
A few weeks ago my mom was here for my sister’s graduation and she gave us a loaf of homemade bread. As we were devouring it we had a conversation that went something like this:
Me: Mmm. Mom makes the best bread.
Aaron: No comment. Still eating. You need to get your mom to teach you how to make buff bread.
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of eating my mom’s homemade bread you know that it is true – it is buff. It’s the kind of hearty wheat bread that makes you feel like you could go out and take on anything! She’s made about a million loaves in the past 20 years so she is an expert in my opinion. When I mentioned to Aaron that she was going to come visit yesterday I was excited. It is always fun for everyone when Grandma comes (hooray!). Aaron was thinking with his stomach and suggested that maybe this would be a good time for a little baking demonstration. Does it sound like he prefers my mom’s bread to mine?? Yep. Don’t worry. I’m not offended. I bow down to her years of practice! Anyway. She came. She taught. We ate delicious hot homemade bread for lunch (I know you are probably salivating…so am I!). My kids enjoyed the one on one with Grandma (which is unique…my sister’s baby is grandkid #47!) When dinner time rolled around and Grandma had to gone to take care of someone else Lanette asked “who’s missing?” “Grandma!” Well, even though Grandma is gone – her bread is still here!
I don’t usually get all gushy, but as I was talking to my mom this morning checking on the status on my new nephew I started reflecting. She came when Lanette was born and cooked and cleaned and cuddled. She made Lanette a blanket that she treasures to this day and then she left me her sewing machine – so I could learn. Then I got mastitis just as she was getting ready to go home…so she stayed extra days and took care of me some more. When Parker was born I was a nervous wreck about leaving Lanette to go be induced. She came and stayed with Lanette so I wouldn’t worry. Then she happily dealt with Lanette who had a cold, diarrhea and threw up while I was in the hospital. I wasn’t worried. My mom isn’t squeamish. She knows how to work. Having her as a houseguest is pure pleasure. Thanks again mom. The best part? I know she’ll always do everything she can to help me when I need her. Even after 27 years. She’s still mothering me and it’s a good thing ’cause sometimes I realize I still need it!
A jumble of thoughts
Well, the day of moving is creeping closer and my anxiety keeps climbing ’cause I keep putting off the packing. I don’t want to start to early and have to live amidst boxes for weeks and weeks. At the same time how much time is really necessary? We are close enough that we’re starting to try and live off the food that we have on hand (which might be kinda gross), but still far enough away that I want my kids to have as much “routine” as possible. The loans are on their way. Yikes! Do you have any tips for living the next year as cheaply as possible? Where do you routinely save money?
My lil’ sis is a mommy! I’m so excited for her. Her little guy is such a cutie (he was born on mother’s day) and we got to spend part of our mother’s day visiting them in the hospital. Is that a worthy mother’s day activity or what! Oh, and Parker was very jealous of me holding the new baby. It made me realize that no matter how gown up he gets he’s still MY little guy.
I’m getting up there in the age category and I keep wondering if I’m getting any wiser. I know Aaron is -he planned a surprise mother’s day (which took away all expectations and was awesome) so that we could really appreciate my birthday celebration. No emotional mother’s day display’s for me this year! I just smiled at all the poor women who were glaring at their hubbies in church ’cause they weren’t making the day perfect enough. Plus, I don’t force myself to do dishes on Sunday anyway so When Aaron did them it was just plain nice.
I love reading blogs, but I really hate word verification if I want to leave a comment (no offense to those word verification people out there). Why? I don’t know if I’m just stupid or what, but half the time I have to type it twice. I’m a college grad for heaven’s sake. Do I need some special degree to recognize if it is a j or i in some random font with half bolded letters? Sheesh. Does anyone else have this issue? Just me? darn.
We finally know for sure where we are living while Aaron is in school. It is nice to finally have an address and the prospect of having 2 toilets in the house is enough to make all of us jump for joy. One pot and 3 people is just not enough. (I know, I know…there are people who have it worse, but still it is one of the thing’s I’m looking forward to the most. Why? Lanette ALWAYS has to go at the same time I do!!) Am I a little nervous and the prospect of going back to student housing? Um, yes. Although I am excited too. Most especially for the included in the cost of rent cable, internet and local phone. Oh and the free shuttle for Aaron to campus. Can you understand the excitement the prospect of having total and complete access to a car 24/7?? Now if we could just afford to put gas in the darn thing!! 🙂
Lots of changes coming for us, but right now we’re just chillin’. Makes it hard to come up with “post-worthy” ideas! So – got any tips for me?
Getting to know Parker
A few things you may not know about our little guy!
* He can’t get out of bed with out dragging his stuffed Lion and Tiger along with him.
* He downs ice cream like there is no tomorrow. He may never know about the so called phenomenon of an “ice cream headache”. He’ll probably always think that is a load of hogwash.
* He walks like a little frankenstein. I know he can bend his knees…I just think he doesn’t want to!
* He has 2 main responses. If he knows you and you catch his eye he’ll give you a killer grin! If he doesn’t know you very well he will start shrieking and stick out his bottom lip in the biggest pout ever.
Dresses, dancing and dandelions
It is like the switch has been flipped and all of the sudden Lanette is becoming very girly. I would never profess to be a girly girl so seeing my daughter dragging out dress after dress to put on has been pretty amusing. After she gets decked out in full dress she asks for me to put on music so she can dance. Then she proceeds to twirl and twirl until she’s all twirled out. It is pretty adorable.
Also, thanks to the load of dandelions in our front yard she has become obsessed with little yellow “flowers”. If it weren’t for the darn bees that accompany dandelions I think I’d be in heaven. Free flowers for my little gal anytime she wants them!!
Oh, and if her joining the ranks of the girly girl types wasn’t already complete – she’s fallen in love with the Fancy Nancy books my sis in law Liz recommended. Now if I could just get her to fix her hair….
Funny Things 