A Little Something New

I've added some new items to my painting and design blog. Click on the photo below to see them.  Use the new menu at the top of the blog to quickly see all that I offer.  Thanks for looking!

Even When Potty Training . . .

. . . never give up on accessories!

This was day one of really giving it a try all day. Apparently all past successes have been completely forgotten.

I realize her clothing is a bit odd for potty training- why no shirt? Well she actually spent most of the day bottomless in a t-shirt. Until a little girl from down the street came over, so I put training pants on. Then we had tomato soup for supper- which she did a pretty good job of serving to herself. Her shirt did need to be removed however before she was allowed to "move freely about the cabin". She then became our after dinner entertainment. Slipping into her evening shoes, picking up a handbag, and going on parade. I goofed with the camera and did not get the funniest moments which were her showing off her jumping skills in the high heels.

Spring Break 2010

What a great Spring Break we had. We spent time with our family and friends at Gattitown, the Science Museum, and the zoo. We also had fun eating lunch outside a few days- once on the deck at Kiefers, on the playground at the zoo, and under an umbrella at Renaissance with a pretzeldog and a coke. One of my grandmothers (Nan, for those of you who know the fam.) has been in the hospital, so we visited her in the middle of the week and went to Brent's for a FABULOUS hamburger- can't wait for the renovations to be complete so we can go back and try out their breakfast. Nan got to go home the next day so Wilson got to spend the night with Granna. Saturday was the annual St. Paddy's 5k & parade. The boys went down for the races, but Moo was a little under the weather so she and I stayed home. They had a great time and ran well- Wilson placed 2nd in the 5 and under category. We ended the week celebrating my grandfather's 88th birthday at my grandparent's house after church. One thing about Spring Break in MS never changes- the crazy weather. The heaters were on on the porch at Kiefers Monday, we got a little sweaty at the zoo on Thursday, and it was snowing on us on the way to church on Sunday.

Pinkalicious

Pinkalicious is Miller's favorite book right now. We read it daily while holding the plush character doll. She's just about got it memorized. So, in honor of her new literary discovery we decided to try baking cupcakes one day. This was her first adventure in the kitchen and she did fairly well- although she takes right after me, more batter in the mouth than in the pan! We also made a few in ice cream cones, which was a huge success and much easier for a toddler to eat. She had fun dumping stuff in the bowl, counting the eggs, and putting the sprinkles on. They turned out very cute and quite tasty, if we do say so ourselves!

Anyone Else Dream About Possums Last Night?

I did. The following took place under the deck in our backyard. It did not end well for the possum. Unfortunately it was a fighter and it took the better part of the afternoon and evening to die. Another big thank you to our neighbor Will for coming to our rescue. These things always happen when Phil has a meeting after work. Jack is really good at being a wire fox terrier (click & scroll down to "origin"). He was in our backyard going ballistic- I could hear him all the way upstairs. I went out to see what in the holy heck he was barking at and couldn't find him. He was under the deck, nose to nose scraping with this possum. I tried to remain calm but was really worried about Jack's underbelly coming into contact with possum claws. And, as I said, he's really good at being a WFT- he isn't going to leave something in a hole until it's got a gun pointed at its head. It's what they're bread for- no training required as you'll see in the video. Thankfully the possum grew tired of fighting and ran to an area under the deck where he Jack were separated by a joist. That's where our video picks up- I could be composed enough to video! I'll spare you all the gory details but Phil came home from work and attempted to, well you know, in the afternoon when Jack discovered it but we had to wait for Will to get home to finish the job with a more powerful weapon. It was a long day. Jack was worn out and extremely dirty. I'm thinking about tearing out the deck this weekend- anyone want to get some frustration out with a sledge hammer? Dirt cheap therapy, this Saturday, my backyard.

Treats for a Princess

Thank you Ms Ann for having princess cookies at the Bagel. Granna and Miller spent the day together last week while Wilson went through the torture of the stomach bug! This was just what they needed to make it until nap time.

Miller's new spot

Wilson gave Miller this baby doll high chair for her birthday. He was so excited about it he couldn't wait for her real b'day for her to open, she opened on her "party day". Which left me with a 2 year old insisting on her new toy, about 1000 screws and pieces of pink particle board cut loosely in the shape of a high chair, 5- 2year olds on there way to my house, and a 5 year old who lost interest after the paper came off and was no help what so ever! We got it put together, but Miller did not get to eat breakfast before her party. She made up for it that night, though. She put her PJ's on and I turned around to find HER squeezed into the baby chair. Notice the tummy hanging over the tray. What a mess.

26.2

The day after Miller's birthday Phil and I left for Orlando where Phil ran his first marathon. It was below freezing the entire time and the water provided on the course was frozen. We had to get up around 3:00am to be on a bus to the start by 4:00. Despite this Phil completed it in just a few minutes over 4 hours and lived to tell about it! He had a tag on his shoe that would send text messages to me letting me know where he was, his pace, and his expected finishing times. I tried to pass the messages along to our family at home, but seeing as it was about 4:00 in the morning here and taking my hands out of my mittens was excruciatingly painful- I gave up and we just called everyone from the hotel when he was done. Before we left, I was able to put his anticipated time in on the race website and it put together an itinerary of where I should be when to see him. It was so cold that I mainly just did laps around the parks on the monorail until it got close to time for a sighting. Below are some videos that I got of the race. Sadly I missed him coming across the finish line. I really don't know how, other than the fact that 26,000 people ran the race. Oh well, thank goodness for cell phones. He called me when he finished and we were able to find each other. What's funny is that that was not the first time we'd talked since he started the race. It was kind of bizarre to have him call me while he was racing, but on the other hand, it would be a long 4 hours just riding around with my book!

This is the wheel chair racers- pretty impressive

This is about mile 4. I totally lucked up and was on the same side of the road that his wave was on.

This would be the last time I would see him on the course. This is right after he ran through the castle in Magic Kingdom. Look for a guy in a yellow shirt- Phil's behind him in a black shirt & grey hat. At least I think that's him. Pretend with me will you- otherwise I was in the freezing cold for nothing. Little did I know they literally ran right through the grounds of our hotel- I could have just stayed there and had him call me when he was getting close. Oh well, I wouldn't have missed my own race through the parks attempting catch him- it was pretty fun!

The kids stayed home and were shuffled between family and friends- thanks so much to everyone who took a turn with them. It had been three years since we had a grown up only trip! We had such a blast- I think our favorite part was all the new restaurants we tried. We ate at one of the African places at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, an Irish pub complete with dancers, took in the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues, had Italian in a great spot at our hotel, and finished the week off eating diner with the princesses at the castle in Norway at Epcot. We did not know that we were going to be dining with royalty (or having our picture taken with them) so that was a pretty fun surprise. Just FYI with anyone with little girls- this is a great deal. You get a great meal and several pictures taken with Belle befor

e you are seated. While you're eating your pictures are delivered to your table. Belle was quite impressed with my Beast- she said her's had never run a marathon! We also had a couples massage the day after the marathon, went to a movie one afternoon, walked around the boardwalk area, and enjoyed one day park hopping.

Typical Men, Waiting Until the Last Minute

I forgot one Christmas related story so I'll stick it here before I get too far into the postings of 2010!



Wilson was reflecting on the Christmast story one day. "So, the shepherds were first and then the wise men came . . . becuase they had to go and buy their stuff. Right, mom?"


Something like that. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

January 7, 2010

This is Miss Priss on the Real Day! She wore her Happy Birthday hat and cupcake dress to school and took "cupcakes" to share with her friends. (the were actually iced cookies from the bakery at Kroger because her mamma was leaving the next day for WDW, but her way sounds much more homey, so we'll stick with her story!) As you can see from the pictures, the hat stayed with us until it was dark outside. This one loves to be the center of attention.

And the center of our attention you are, little Moo. You are constantly entertaining us with your new vocabulary, new phrases, new songs, new dance moves, and new trouble! You are super smart although at times that gets overshadowed by your live out loud attitude and cuteness. You were singing the ABC's and counting to 10 by the time you were about 18-20 mos old. Around that time you were also able to recognize a "group" of two without counting. "look mamma, it's two babies!" You love going to see Ms Lizzie at the library for Mother Goose on the Loose at Baby Bookworm time. You really get into all the rhymes, songs, and dances. I'm amazed at how quickly you retain songs. You usually only have to hear one twice before you know all the words. A favorite from Mother Goose on the Loose is "Two Little Dicky Birds". You use your two pointer fingers to be the two little birds- one's named soft, one's named loud. When you get out of sorts in public you can usually be turned around by asking you if you brought your birds. Through a tear stained and red face a little grin will appear along with two little pointer fingers right in front of your face. Of course its' not always that easy to get a smile or to get you to comply. One of your favorite tricks to pull is to completely defy an instruction, look me in the eye, and say "one . . . . two . . . three . . ." I used the counting when we were still waiting on your vocabulary to come in so I would know for sure that you'd had a chance to understand what was asked of you before you were punished. Apparently you did. You still love to read and some of your favorites are Princess Baby, Olivia, Pinkalicious, Mother Goose, and a little Golden Book called Little Mommy. You love playing babies, cooking in your kitchen, playing with your dollhouse, and dressing up. You also can't wait for Wilson and his friend John Clark to get out of the car for school in the morning. When the car door shuts, you promptly grab their action figures and begin playing "Bapmam". You are very social and associate what I'm wearing with who you're going to get to play with. If its workout clothes you start asking for Walker & Thomas, if I'm dressed up it's "go see Moca (Monica)" the nursery helper at church, if Wilson's heading out the door in the morning you want to go see your buddy Caroline who happens to be John Clark's sister. "Baby Girl" (as your brother still calls you) you bring a smile to our face daily and have added a little pink fuzzy to our hearts that we didn't know we were missing. We love you!

Miller's 2nd B'day Party

Miller celebrated her birthday a few days early with her closest buddies and cousin. She is really into Mother Goose these days and we used that as the theme. Her invitations had the Baker's Man on them and invited guests to

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man!

Bake me a cake as fast as you can!

-Miller’s Turning Two!-

So, let’s . . .

Hug her, and tickle her, and mark her with a kiss

Please come and celebrate and watch her make a wish!

Her cake looked like a book opened to Baker's Man's page and her favors were sets of book plates with various nursery rhyme pictures on them for her friends to put in their books. They were in small boxes covered in brown & white nursery rhyme toile with pink trim that matched the plates we ate snacks off of.

Incidentally, they also matched her outfit. I got a sewing machine for Christmas from my parents and this was one of my first projects. Hot pink and white toile pants with brown minky dot ruffle cuffs and top with an appliqué from the toile print with a border of the minky dot.

The Turn Spin Bike

This is Wilson on the maiden voyage of the "turn spin bike" (if you google that you won't find it, but you will if you type in Razor Rip Rider 360- he sounded like Ralphie from a Christmas Story asking for it!) Anyway we have all had a turn on it from both of my parents down to Miller. It so much fun- the back wheels are casters so it spins around in a circle if you turn hard enough. Fortunately Wilson also learned how to ride his regular bike without training wheels Christmas Eve morning. So, the turn spin is often free for me to play on in the driveway.

This was his gift from the Ethridge grandparents. We had to assemble as soon as we got home from their house. We then had to move the kitchen table out of the way so that Wilson could try it out because it was raining outside. As I mentioned- it make very good turns, so it's an excellent indoor bike on cold, rainy, snowy days. Thank goodness- we've needed it!

Also in the video you'll see:

1. a glimpse of our dining room table set for Christmas dinner (the only other visual proof I have that there was a Christmas celebration at my house)

2. Wilson has not caught on that a video camera takes MOVING pictures. He just stares at it smiling waiting for a click and a flash! It's so funny- he's so smart, but this he just doesn't get it!

Celebrating Christmas with the Wilsons

On Christmas Day all of my family came over to our house for lunch and presents. We had a great time, unfortunately I have NO pictures of it. If I did you would see my parents, my brother, mom's parents and her brother, dad's mom, my kiddos and hubby. The above video of my mom in a santa hat riding Wilson's new "turn spin bike" will have to do!

Christmas Morning at Home

Wilson and Miller waiting to go into the den to see what Santa left. He built a wall of cardboard blocks so they couldn't get in without mom and dad knowing!

Christmas Morning at Home 2

I appologize for the quality of this video (little did I know I had a new video camera waiting to be opened!) Anywho . . . I had to include this one because it's one of my favorites. When it starts Phil has just asked Wilson what he got. In case you miss it, he says "every single LEGO". There are nights when we're cleaning up his room that I think he's right! (There are literally THOUSANDS of them) Santa left us a note saying that he had to clean out his workshop and he thought Wilson would probably enjoy some of his extra legos. Boy was he right!! Wilson has not stopped building! A very special thank you to Santa's elves in Elmhurst that so graciously outgrew their collection and passed it on to us! Wilson will thank you when he's old enough to know how much help Santa has.

Christmas Morning at Home 3

Celebrating Christmas with the Ethridges- Christmas Eve

Monkey See, Monkey Do

So pleased that my daughter is able to teach her cousin such adorble things as the above pose. Well, I supose someone has too, since he doesn't have an older brother to do the corrupting.

Christmastime at Pat Pat and Paw's

Wilson and Miller helped Pat Pat decorate her tree one night. Pat Pat probably has the biggest Christmas tree we've ever seen. I think she leases it out in the summer months to smallish wildlife.

Christmas Program & Party

The 4 & 5 year olds did a great job in their Christmas Program. We were quite impressed with all of the songs they had learned and with all of the solo's the 5 year olds had. Thanks to our adoring audience of grandmothers, little sister, dad, aunt Amy, and little cousin Matthew! Wilson loved looking out and seeing all of your faces!