Greetings and Proof We're Alive!

Wow.  It's been ages since I've actually had a wholesome post.  This year is flying by and most of the time I feel like I'm barely hanging on.  I often question how parents of more than one child do it.  This one I have seems to consume every minute that I'm not at work or sleeping.  At even sometimes in my desperate attempts to get a nap in, she still manages to consume that time.  But.. really, I wouldn't have it any other way.

We're in the stages of moving.  Well.. we still have a month and a half before actual move date.  But lucky me.. I've been living with a hoarder for the last  3 1/2 years.  Yeah... every single thing down to a key to some old lock from some old place has a meaning to him.  I've finally threatened bodily harm to him encouraged him to start purging some stuff that he could live without.  Yes.. you can get rid of that old receipt from 2001 from when you got a tank of gas, a pack of smokes, and a 20oz Coke.  And yes.. go ahead and toss that employee handbook from your high school job.  I'm pretty sure you're never going to work there again.  Considering the place was closed down over 10 years ago..  You have pictures of your friends from when you worked there.  And memories in your brain.  I'm sure you'll never forget those days just because the handbook gets tossed out. Love ya, babe!

Anyways.. we've also been out and about enjoying this beautiful fall weather before we're bombarded with hundreds of inches of snow again! (Dear Mother Nature, I will kill you!  Love.. Me)  We've hit up the zoo, the pumpkin patch, the apple orchard, the parks, etc etc etc.  Lots of cute pictures of my girl will follow at the end. (But hey.. slow down.. and don't skip ahead.  You might miss something interesting.  Or not...)

Today.. well.. it's a pretty special day.  No.. I mean besides it being the 197th anniversary of the conclusion of the Battle of Leipzig. It's also Mother Teresa Day in Albania.  One of Jimmy Carter's daughters is celebrating her birthday today. AND.. so is my better half!  Yep.. he's the big 3-5 today.. but doesn't look a day over 50 ummm 21 or so..  Happy Birthday my love!  Thank you for being the amazing, wonderful, awesome, hilarious, intelligent, and brilliant man you are!  You're the butter to my bread and all that jazz!

So yeah.. that's us.  Busy but loving life!

How about you? How are things? Yeah.. I'm talking to you out there (assuming you're still there.)

It's In The Air...

What's that you ask?

.... FOOTBALL!!! ....

We love some college football in this house!  Me and Kylee cheer on the Nebraska Cornhuskers (GO BIG RED!) and my honey is an Arkansas Razorbacks fan (yeah.. exactly...) because he is currently boycotting the Ohio State Buckeyes due to all of the changes going on with the Big Ten.

Kylee is a huge football fan.  She has her own football.  ("Fooball!)  and she throws her hands up in the air and declares touchdowns with the best of them.  It's so cute to see her excited about it.  And just another thing she can bond over with her daddy.

Without going into quite the debate.. I'm just going to say that I do not support the Huskers move to the Big Ten.  I'm going to miss the teams we've played against for years.  The rivalries.  It's not a move I'm at all excited about making.  But you go where you have to go, I guess...

So I'm going to enjoy the cool Fall weather, the chili, the chips and awesome dips, the cold beers, and whatnot and cheer on my Huskers in their last season before the big switch.  Cheering right along with me .. is this cutie..

Wherefore Art Thou?

Summer days.. it's you I'm talking to!
Where have you gone?

I am refusing to believe that August is less than two weeks away!  How is that even possible?

It has been such a hot summer.  Skin-melting-hotter-than-hot kind of weather.  Our yard has taken such a beating.  We've gotten a shit-ton    our fair share of rain and then some.  We've had flooding all around us and I swear you combine that and the crazy humid temperatures we've been having and it's no wonder the mosquitos have been out in packs.  Tim.. bless his heart.. loves sitting outside at night and having a few cold beers.  I do too. But NOT in the summer! I have no desire to become any insects source of a blood transfusion. Get back to me when the temps drop and those damn things leave!

When it's possible to go outside and not melt into a puddle before you get out of the driveway, we have!  We've enjoyed time at the pool and splash station, the park, the library party, the lake, a couple of parades and festivals, and going for ice cream!  Nothing super adventurous has gone on.  But.. I think that's what I've liked about this summer.  It has been so relaxing and chill.  Exactly what we needed!

So.. while I'm sad to see the summer days go soon...  I've got arms wide open to welcome slightly cooler temperatures and bug free zones!  I'm not looking forward to the snow and freezing temperatures again. So.. maybe.. Autumn can stick around for a while. A VERY long while...

   Hey, a girl can dream, right?!

What has your family been doing this summer??


Oh.. and feel free to enter my Boogie Wipes giveaway.  It ends on Sunday. Or something like that.

And I've got a review and giveaway coming up for some awesome cloth trainers!  WooT WooT for potty training!!

(Red)(White)(BOOM!)

Yes.. it IS July 10th.  Yes.. I am just now getting around to putting up my 4th of July post.  Not that I have to explain myself but.. I haven't been able to use my computer for a few days. WHY? Because.. my sister decided that my computer needed a few hellacious trojan viruses.  I mean really.. only the cool people have them.  I couldn't even get past the Windows welcome screen.  How wonderful is that? It's not. It sucked. I contemplated death to my sister a couple of times.. I won't lie.  Because, you see, I am a lover of all things photography.  BUT.. I'm terrible when it comes to organizing, editing, etc.  I'm also horrible when it comes to backing them up.  Which means  bajillions  thousands of my photographs were in jeopardy of becoming.. "extinct" !!  Luckily my aunt knows someone who knows someone.. well anyways, this someone gave my aunt instructions (from Portugal!) on how to fix my computer.  And.. VOILA! Here I am again.  Anyways...

Saturday night we went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings because my friend works there AND I love their wings.  After dinner we went to the park for a bit and then home to cover ourselves in bug repellent, grab some drinks and snacks, and head to a neighborhood park area.  They were having a huge fireworks show.  The parking was crazy when we got there and after driving around for about 10 minutes we found a good spot and started the hike to the park which took less than 10 minutes.  The show was really great.  I was worried Kylee would hate it.  (As she tends to hate lots of loud noises and puts her hands over her ears)  But.. she was armed with her apple juice, Dora fruit snacks, and she really enjoyed the show and kept saying "pretty".  Back home and she went straight to bed about 10:15ish. 

Now as mother nature frequently loves to do.. she decided to rain on our actual 4th of July.  Literally.  All morning it rained and poured and rained some more.  So that parade we were going to go to? Didn't happen.  Instead.. Tim went to work (which he was scheduled to do anyways) and Kylee and I went to WalMart.  Kylee got a new toy to play with (a moving, meowing, purring cat) and I picked up some paint and accessories to give our bathroom a little makeover.  So we came home and Kylee played with her kitty, ate fruit snacks, and watched Barney.  I started in on the bathroom.  (And finished in about 2 hours since our bathroom is not that big at all..)

Nap ensued.

Then when Kylee woke up we decided to pack it up and head to dinner.  After driving around and realizing the two places we really wanted to eat at were closed (*sigh*) we decided to eat at IHOP.  I mean really.. if you don't love breakfast for dinner.. I don't know if we can be friends.  So we grubbed on pancakes, hash browns, eggs, fruit, etc. and then rolled our bodies home.  We sat out in our neighbor's driveway and watched everyone who had come to the top of our circle shoot off fireworks.  The highlight of Kylee's night was getting to feed the neighbor's dog a grilled hot dog.  She LOVES dogs and she kept saying "nom nom nom" with each bite Body (the dog) took. It was SO cute.  Finally about 11:15 she started getting really tired and went straight to bed.  It was a really relaxing weekend and I enjoyed all the family time.  Getting Kylee back on her sleeping schedule took a couple of days but it was totally worth it!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful time celebrating the independence of our country and managed to give thanks to the soldiers who are away from their loved ones fighting for our freedom. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Hip-Hop-Hip-Hop

Hip Hop!

Hip Hop!

Easter at our house,

Was kind of a flop!

(But a very good flop!)

Yes.. I did that on purpose. And yes.. I am a nerd! So what?

Easter evening was pretty fun.  We sat around the tables with dye and eggs and had a grand time.  I also broke out the coloring books and crayons for Kylee.  And OF COURSE.. there was banana cream pie. My little family loves us some banana cream pie.

Kylee has been working on two new teeth so she wasn't feeling the greatest.  She also had a little cold and that just added to her sickies.  Her poor little cheeks were so red and chapped looking.  Put after we colored the eggs and some pictures and finished our pie I put K in some Easter-y props and snapped some pics. (Please forgive the messy face.. it was before bath and we had lasagna for dinner..)

Cute, no?

Well then Easter morning came and Kylee AND Tim were both sick!  Kylee was getting over the cold still and still trying to pop out some chompers and Tim had a chest cold.  Fun, fun, fun! So no church for us.  Kylee didn't get to wear her Easter dress.  Its okay though. It's just a cute pink sundress and she'll be able to wear it to church another time and minus all the accessories she can wear it this summer.  So no big loss. 

So Easter was spent hanging out in our pajamas.  Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought and watching movies.  By mid afternoon and after a nap.. both my loves were feeling much better.  Kylee was even running around and playing and Tim was coughing much much less.  So my sister came over Easter night to stay the night.  Kylee loved hanging out with her little cousin outside.  She kept running over to him and giving him hugs and kisses.  She's going to make a great big sister in the future! 

So while Easter wasn't what we had planned on.. I loved every minute of just being with my family!

Sunday Funday!

So.. it's not often that we find ourselves with nothing to do on the weekends.  This weekend we went to a wedding reception Saturday night and Sunday afternoon we were supposed to do a mall walk to help raise money for adults with special needs.  Unfortunately, Kylee had other plans.  She decided to sleep in (after rockin' out at the reception until late into the night) .. and so we missed the mall walk.  But quickly came up with other plans!  Which included packing up and driving the 54ish miles to Lincoln, Nebraska.  Once we got to Lincoln our first stop was Raising Cane's. Oh. My. Amazing!  They have some of the best chicken strips and the most AMAZING dipping sauce!!  Even Kylee was loving the dipping sauce!

After leaving Raising Cane's we made our way to the Lincoln Children's Museum.  Now we have a museum here..but the one in Lincoln is AWESOME!  (Yes, I think a children's museum is awesome.. so what?!)  Kylee loved running around and screaming at the top of her lungs.  She loved playing volleyball with her daddy in the Husker sports area! (And she was so talented that she was tossing the balls under the net two at a time!)

She wasn't so sure about riding on the horse. But loved playing with the saddle!

The Children's Museum is outta this world!!

After we left the museum we went on down to the Westfield Mall.  I was a little apprehensive about it when we first got there.  From the outside it looked a little rundown.  But once we got inside it looked like every other mall I've been in.  We got some delicious snackage in the form of fresh cinammon pretzel sticks and slush drinks.  Kylee was all over the pretzel sticks.  We walked around a bit and let Kylee play in the playground area and then headed home late in the afternoon.  It was the perfect Sunday Funday with my perfect family.    (And Kylee did AMAZING on the drive there and back. No crying, no fussing, and even napped a tiny bit!)

What did your family do this weekend?

Tea?

WalMart has been having some AMAZING clearance sales lately!  We got her a too-cute-for-words Radio Flyer horse last week.. and today I got her a fun and cute tea set (originally $16.99 and on sale for $7..score!).  After a trip to Books-A-Million and lunch we got home and sat down for some tea!  Kylee loved it and continued playing for almost half an hour!  She offered us both tea and was "pouring" it soo nice and offering up yummy pastries!  I don't think I ever had a tea set as a little girl.  Or I don't remember it anyways if I did.  I can't wait for more tea parties with my cutie girl.  (Warning: Many pictures following!)

Tasting it first to make sure it's alright!

More tea for everyone!

Concentrating so hard..

Stacking the cups.. she sure is a tidy girl!

Mama loves her tea.. thanks baby girl!

Tea parties sure are a lot of fun!!

My Precious Baker

So since the roads are covered in snow, ice, and other craptasticness (what a word!)...me and Kylee are still indoors. In our pajamas. Finding ways to stay entertained.  I decided today was the perfect day in the ice cold tundra to make... Banana Muffins!!  So I headed on over to Cat Can Cook and snagged up the perfect recipe and headed to the kitchen.  Kylee was very excited for this because she got to cross over the gate to get into the kitchen which pretty much never happens!  We washed our hands and set to work. I had already measured things and set them out.  Life with a 13 month old requires preparation and planning.  Let me just say... it was a BLAST!  Kylee actually helped a lot!  She put in flour and helped mix and stir.  She also laughed when I was cracking the egg.  Silly girl!  The muffins turned out great and we each enjoyed one with a nice cold glass of milk! 

Here she is checking out the ingredients just tossed in

Then we have to stir it up REALLY good

Bake it in the oven at 400* and enjoy smelling the yumminess coming from the kitchen

And then time to ENJOY!!