Rubber ducky, you're the one...

Our bath time routine goes a little something like this...

Step 1. Line up all toys very precisely on the tub ledge so as to have an audience.

Step 2. Examine all body parts to make sure everything remains intact. Also, scrub belly button with toothbrush. Or face. Or toes. Basically, scrub everything but your teeth.

Step 3. Throw a fit when getting hair/body washed. (I refrained from taking pictures at this point so I could concentrate on the slippery toddler)

Step 4. Watch every last drop go down the drain because you are told you have to get out once the water was gone.

Step 5. Look really adorable.

Take that Martha

Though we got a fantastic deal on these barstools, I've never really liked them. I didn't really want to fork over the cash for new ones so I thought "what would Martha Stewart do? She would refinish them!" (Okay, I can't back that last statement up. I never ask what Martha would do...purely for the fact that the answer would probably be way out of my league and therefor depressing).

So first we took the barstools apart so we could recover the top with this great fabric I found ON SALE! Luckily my sister Jo was around for this part as I shouldn't be allowed to attempt my first try with a staple gun by myself.

Then I painted the legs to better match the top...

and voila! They still could use another coat of paint but honestly, isn't this way better than before? I think the most impressive part of this is the fact that I actually completed a home project. Never in my life have I cared about craft stores or home improvement stores with any kind of enthusiasm. Now I drive a minivan and get excited when my JoAnn's coupons come in the mail. I think motherhood is turning me into a sissy.

Toxic

On of our newest favorite activities is drawing with washable markers. So many times throughout the day I feel a little tug on my pants accompanied by a "play mawkers mama...play mawkers mama! over and over, each time getting exponentially louder. Usually I am happy to appease him because 1-it is something that keeps him occupied and happy and 2-it gives me a chance to do whatever I need to do in the kitchen (the kitchen or dining room is the official land of the markers because of all of the wipeable surfaces). So he draws away and I get to cook dinner: win win.

We are however, having some trouble getting him to limit his drawing to paper and not the table, walls, his clothes...

...or his face. Anyone know if washable markers are toxic to those who ingest them?

We recycle

Every monday afternoon Tyson gets a couple of playmates in the form of our neighbors. Owen is almost exactly a year older than Tyson and Grace is 8. Since the boys don't know much about Hannah Montana and Grace doesn't really get her kicks out of watching the tractors in the field, it can be challenging to come up with activities to keep all age groups entertained. Instead of choosing to enrich their minds with something educational (blah blah blah), I decided to let the kids go wild with some old magazines.

At first, only Grace really understood what was going on.

Then they really started getting into it...

literally...

At this point, their dad showed up to pick up his kids and witnessed this scene.

I wouldn't be too surprised if they found another babysitter.

well hello there...

Well...umm...long time no blog and all that. Things have been nuts around here. In addition to the nuttiness, I have been having some troubles with the relationship between camera/computer and user. It seems that photoshop and iphoto are not friends. They hate each other with the same passion that is typically reserved for MSNBC and Fox news. Long story short...I am still working on converting some of my raw images of some pretty neat things like the train ride into JPEG's so I can actually download them to here. In the meantime, I will just have to share some of the other images that are actually cooperating. These were all taken on our trip up north to visit my sister Jenny and her family.

Tyson spent the entire trip following his cousin Teagan around (he's closest in age and older so that makes him very cool...obviously).

Teagen spent some of the time snuggling with his new baby brother Tucker.

Then all but one of the Grandkids got together for a picture with maca and papa. (We missed you Tate)

And Tucker spent the entire time eating or looking deeply concerned with the world around him.

I'm still kickin'

Hey all (and by all I mean all 6 of you who humor me and read this blog...and are nice enough to pretend it's interesting). Somehow the entire month of March slipped by without a blog post and now I'm just trying figure out how to catch up. I have many many pictures to share (shocking I know) but right now my camera is charging up so I will give you a little update via actual words instead of pictures until I can get my images downloaded.

This month has been nuts. It started out with Jason making plans to visit South Dakota to possibly see his sister Becky play at the state basketball tournament. Our plans changed quickly when his beloved great grandma Mina died. She was quite the lady who lived to be 98 years old. Needless to say we headed back to SoDak as a family to pay some respects. Unfortunately, his great aunt died the day after we arrived at the age of 96. (My grandma is currently in her late 90's as well so I'm starting to think we need to boost our retirement plan). Though it wasn't the greatest of circumstances, we are always very happy to be back in Pollock. The drive however, sucks. It is so hard to be living this far from family. Tyson slept a total of 30 minutes on each round of the 12 hour (one way) drive. Anyway, we returned for a total of three days and then Tyson and I headed to the local Amtrak station and boarded the train to northern Minnesota to visit my sister and her newest little nugget Tucker (along with her other little nuggets Tate and Teagen). It was a blast. The boys played non stop and Jen and I got some good girl talk in...well in between all the chaos that is little boys playing. Now we are home and plan to stay here for awhile. I promise to update with pics as soon as possible.

for Phyllis...

The summer after I graduated high school I moved into my aunt Phyllis and uncle Bob's house so I could work in a nursing home until college started. Anyone who's met my aunt Phyllis knows that Martha Stewart's got nothin' on her...especially when it comes to quilting. Before you can even utter the words 'pregnancy test' she's already got a baby blanket made and in the mail, somehow magically matching the decor of the nursery. So over the course of this summer I watched her quilt...and I watched my cousin Rachel quilt...and soon I thought, "hey, this business looks fun. I should try it."

I was wrong.

Turns out an 18 year old who just moved out of her parents house for the first time doesn't really like quilting. She probably wants to spend all time off eating cereal and watching bad soaps. Phyllis eventually finished it for me because she's cool like that...or perhaps because she had the ability to predict that I wouldn't actually finish anything of this crafty nature for another decade. So this one's for you Phyllis...I finally did it!!!

My mom and I tore apart my uniforms that I wore in Iraq and I attempted to make something pretty out of them.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little proud.