Spaced Out

It has been a project in the planning stages for months. We have lived in our house for 6 years as of next week and Harrison has never had his bedroom decorated. He has lived with builder beige walls because he couldn't decide what he wanted. When I re-decorated Maddie's bedroom last summer, Harrison asked if his room would EVER get done. We started talking and looking - he loves dinosaurs, science and space. We looked on-line for ideas and he was most excited when he saw a solar system mural. With that settled, we bought the mural ... and then nothing happened! I had to get through the holidays - then unexpectedly found myself working 60+ hours each week for work. Knowing the room would never get done if I didn't give myself a deadline, I scheduled this weekend with dad to have him come help hang the mural. I finished painting the bedroom at 3:30 Saturday morning and slept until dad arrived at 10:30. It was a long and knee-creaking day but the mural is done. We spent today assembling a storage cubby and working on accessories. Maddie bought a space shuttle poster from the Smithsonian for him that we framed and hung over the window. We still need to assemble his black bookcase headboard and I need to paint his dresser, but his room is put together enough for him to enjoy it and he's thrilled with how it turned out. When dad asked Harrison if it looked ok, Harrison said "Ok?! It looks GREAT!!!" Thank you so much Grandpa!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Poor Ed. He flew to Phoenix Saturday morning for a golf weekend with his brothers. The weather in Phoenix has not been cooperative, as they were greeted by unseasonably cool temperatures and scattered showers. They hit a bucket of balls at the driving range but it was raining too hard to play a round. Similar story today. At last check, there's a 70% chance of showers tomorrow as well. I'm sure he's having a good time just being away from the usual grind and spending some time with Jace and John but it's disappointing. Oh well ... guess Ed will have to take another vacation sometime soon - this time with me!

Fun With Eisley

The kids wanted to get out of the house Saturday so we went to lunch at Leatherby's and to play with Eisley. She was happy to have cousins to play with and she showed off all of her new tricks. She plays peek-a-boo, makes a pug face and can walk with the push toy all by herself! She is so observant ... it was fun to watch her watching my kids and trying to mimic what they were doing. She is so comfortable with them, she climbs over them on the floor and plays like she is one of them. She is such an easy going baby, she reminds me so much of my girls when they were younger. She loves to entertain, just like Denice did at that age.

90th Birthday Open House for Grandma

February 12, 2010: Grandma Clara turned 90 years old! The family hosted an Open House to celebrate her amazing life. Aunt Diane had put together a beautiful display of framed photos and decorated the tables with fresh flowers and garden themed accents. Cousin Nichole had created a dvd slide show of family photos that played at the entrance where people could write messages on papers featuring copies of the same photos. The signed pages were assembled in to a commemorative guest book for Grandma at the end of the evening. Mom and Aunt Annette helped with the food and kept the buffet table stocked all night. Various grandchildren brought different desserts ... I made my sinfully delicious mint brownies.

It was a wonderful evening spent with family. I was most touched by the comments from dad's various cousins about how close our family is. They were all so impressed by how well the siblings get along and how the grandchildren are so comfortable with all of their aunts and uncles. Several of them had assumed that Eisley was mine when they first saw me with her. A couple thought Olivia belonged to Denice! I love that despite the fact that we see each other on a fairly regular basis, we still enjoy being with each other and genuinely like one another. Some various photos that I was able to get before my camera batteries died:

My cute little man with his oh so nutritious dinner that he obviously served up himself! I am pleased to see that he had celery sticks to help balance the sugar cookie and pretzels!
I had a great time with Eisley while Denice enjoyed a child-free meal! Eisley loves necklaces so she was content to play with my necklace while her mom ate.

Beautiful girls ... Denice, Olivia and Deb.

Allyson was having fun with her dad. Bryan would lean back with her on his shoulders and she'd laugh and laugh. She is growing up so quickly!

Mr. Creighton didn't want to stop chewing his food long enough to smile for a picture. I was lucky to get this one of him with his mom, Sara!

The table decor was lovely. The fresh flowers and framed photos were perfect.

My lovely ladies ... Maddie and Liv.

Miss Keira did not want her photo taken. She would run and hide each time she saw the camera pointed her way. She thought she was being sneaky - I managed to catch her before she dove under a chair. The photo isn't completely in focus because she was moving, but I love the expression on her face! Gotcha!

Little Eisley, working on tooth number 2, was being awfully silly with her tongue! She was happy to have a necklace of her own when Keira shared her bell on a ribbon.

Little Asher is so adorable. He was shy upon arrival, until Olivia came along. He was more than happy to go with his "Wivi!" He was so cute all night - especially when it came time to put all of the chairs away. He was very concerned about what was going on. I explained that the chairs were going night-night because he was worried about them going on the cart under the stage. He then proceeded to help us "carry" the chairs by holding on with one hand. He's such a big boy!

Me and my honey. Ed met us at the party because he had to go straight to the gym after work. He's in full on marathon training mode. I was happy he was done in time to join us.

This was just funny ... Eisley gnawing on a cup because her mouth was sore!

Beautiful Michelle with little Eisley.

Our family with the lady of the hour. Grandma told me she'd been sure that no one would come. She had a fantastic turn out and I think she enjoyed the evening. We had a nice visit as we looked over old photos. There was one picture of Grandma at the age of 4, with the family outhouse in the background. She shared a story with Olivia about how she and her sister had dropped their cat down the outhouse and I saw a look on Grandma's face as she told that story that made me think she'd probably worn that same mischievous expression when she was 4!

It does kind of answer the question as to why my family are really not cat people!

Happy birthday Grandma!

School Valentine Boxes

It's that time of year again ... the kids bring home a paper that says they need to decorate a box for Valentines and thus the challenge is on. Every year, the kids have come home with stories of amazing boxes that other kids had. Every year has ended with Olivia in tears because she never wins a prize. This being her last year in Elementary (gulp ... it's painful to type that out!), it was time to step up and think of something creative that would give her a shot at winning a prize.

Harrison, who can never tell us what he does want, only what he certainly does NOT want, was no help at all! I researched on-line for ideas ... found some darling ideas for boys that are not frilly or mushy.
I suggested a pirate ship.
Absolutely not.
Firetruck?
He rolls his eyes.
Dinosaur?
His eyes light up.
He goes to bed once he has finished writing all of his Valentine's.
I attempt to find a dinosaur picture on-line that we can print out. Ed is cranky and beyond irritable when the picture he prints doesn't fulfill the vision that I have in my head. I want something cool. I tell him it looks lame. He gets upset and tells me I'm investing way too much in a box for a 3rd grader. Thus proceeds the battle of wills. It's 10:30 and I give up looking on-line when nothing we've found will work. I dig through Harrison's closet in the dark and come upon a book of his that gives me a brilliant idea.
15 minutes and some precision with a razor blade, and we have not a dinosaur but a dragon:
3-D, popping off the box! Nothing girly or mushy about it! Harrison liked it, once he got over the fact that his mother took a blade to his book. I promised him I was careful so we can glue it back into the book. When Ed picked the kids up from school the next day, he saw the parade of children with their over-the-top Valentine boxes, obviously created by ambitious parents who didn't wait until 9:30 the night before to start on theirs! Harry's friend had a 4 foot tall mail-box with working door and Valentine decor. Ed told Tyson that his mailbox looked good. Tyson said, "Yeah - my mom made it. But Harrison had the coolest box!" Ed suddenly understood why pasting 4 inch pictures dinosaurs to the box was a lame idea!

Challenge Number 2: Creating something for Olivia. I proposed a Twilight themed box - we could make a 4 poster bed with tulle netting and a poster of Bella and Edward on the wall. Olivia wanted something different. She wanted large hearts attached to a box. I didn't want to disappoint her with my inability to draw large hearts to attach to a box! I told her to let me show her some other ideas. One visit to Hobby Lobby and a few bucks later, I had the supplies needed to create a very cute and very hairy Love Monster! She loved it!

The best part ... the smile on her face when she burst through the door after school, anxious to tell me that she won the prize for "furriest" Valentine box!

Super Bowl Sunday

We enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday with company. James, Denice and Eisley, Heather and Sage, & Chad and Becky joined us for an evening of food and football. Eisley was very happy when Harrison shared his Nintendo ds with her!
Sweet kisses for her mama.

Heather and Sage.

Sage had a blast, playing with Harrison and playing with Charlie.

Becky and Chad. Their little girl is due in mid-May and we're so excited for them!

Rachel's Baptism

Miss Rachel was baptised this morning. Harrison and I enjoyed lunch with the family that the Jenkins family hosted at the church. Rachie was very nervous but came through like a champ! Cute Keira ... this picture cost me a dollar!

Asher was being silly and tried to run every time he saw the camera. He was my little buddy today - I got him to eat most of a roll, we played peek-a-boo with his blanket and he let me take care of him when his mommy was busy with his baby sister. I adore this little man. Deb was able to snag him long enough to get a quick pic snapped.

Cute chunka-monka Senya with her mommy.

Little Eisley ... this little girl steals my heart every time I see her.

He's My Son

He's definitely like his mom ... curled up in a chair, music playing and book in hand. I just had to laugh and grab the camera when I saw him. The only thing missing is my blanket that I usually have draped over my legs!