EFC

This post is Especially For Cassie. I can't imagine that many people really care how we've decorated our teeny, tiny matchbox house, but since Cass requested, here you go. And you are also responsible for leaving the first ever Cassie comment on my blog, since the entire post is dedicated to YOU!

Everyone else, feel free to skip the post...There are no kid pictures to make this interesting. You can read it if you want to get to know my true, boring self.



I take it back. There are kids. SLEEPING KIDS! I know, they both went down for a nap at the same time, and slept for 2 hours. And I cried tears of happiness.


Does the bathroom color scheme surprise you? I can't get away from the green.


And I get lots of comments on the table. Not compliments, just comments. I can't tell if people like it or think it's way weird, but I.LOVE.IT.


And my half planted garden. The other spots are for lettuce, which I can't plant yet (still a titch too hot). I'm in love with the garden, and Andrew seriously wakes up every morning asking to water his plants.
Last of all, nothing to do with anything, is this not the CUTEST thing you've ever seen? I bought it for Molly's babe (she's having a girl!!) and I want to keep it for myself. You know, just in case I EVER get a girl.

Henry J's new 'do + Andrew the Grouch

Justin and I took the boys to get their hairs cut. And guess what? Underneath that rug formed on his head, we found a baby. But we think it's a different baby than we used to have. Weird.At least the forehead hair didn't stick around. That was kind of gross.

And we also found a mean, grumpy almost-3-year-old who does NOT like being interrupted during Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

And I know I mentioned that Henry was sleeping through the night. False alarm. He's not. But he did FINALLY catch on to the bottle holding thing.

And you might be wondering...

Why Justin is absent in all of these events? Well, he's at school.

Here's a fun tidbit:

Justin has this "conquer the world" walk (anyone who served a mission with him is laughing right now) that has only gotten worse since school started. He just kind of dashes around everywhere he goes. That said, he sometimes forgets to pay attention to small details.

Like which carton is milk and which is buttermilk.

Did I know he put buttermilk in his Raisin Bran? Yes I did.
Did I warn him? No. No, I did not.

(If he was paying attention, he probably would have thought it was a mite strange that I was taking a picture of him eating cereal.)

More Best Days

As if Katie wasn't enough, the day after she left, Rick and Doris rolled into town for the weekend. Andrew literally could NOT believe that his Grandma and Grandpa came to HIS HOUSE! In Texas!

We didn't do much sightseeing (I don't know why...College Station is SUPER exciting), but we had SO much fun. The boys were spoiled with attention, and I was spoiled to have visitors and a free arm at church on Sunday. My in-laws make the list of top 10 most influential people in my life, and I LOVE being with them. They are fabulous grandparents and in-laws!

And thank you Rick for helping me "make my dirt" while the lovely Doris helped with the boys. One more project that I don't have to do on my own. Three cheers for you.

Best Days Ever

If anyone knows me well, they probably know much about my sister. I talk about her a lot.

Eek...I know. It was really hot and my makeup kept melting off my face. But, we didn't take many pics together.

She's my favorite sister ever (lucky dog, she is...I only have one sister) and spending time with her makes me feel like a million bucks. So you can imagine my sheer joy at the thought of having her all to myself (well, sharing with my kids) for 10 days. And I've got the pictures to prove it.

Okay, so this isn't a picture proving anything about Katie, but Andrew takes his writing very seriously...Moving on...

We went to the children's museum in Waco. Super awesome. And the dress-ups fit perfectly! Could not have been more pleased.

I'm ashamed to admit I actually considered walking out of the museum with this beauty. The wooden shoes would have totally given me away, though. Like, hey, who let the Dutch girl in?

I could have stayed at this model train thing ALL day. Andrew liked it too.

Katie, however, needed to get somewhere quick. As you can see.

We built Legos in the Lego Castle exhibit. Andrew thinks that knights are "good nights." Cute.

Of course I always have to try a few new recipes when we have guests. So, crisp ravioli with fresh tomato sauce? Yeah. I know.

We also went to the Blue Bell (Ice Cream...redundant reference for Texans) Factory. Come to mama. Also got this bonus free paper hat.

Best part of the Blue Bell Factory: Andrew took so long to eat his ice cream that some dripped on his hand. He looked at it with disgust and said, "What is happening...(dramatic pause)...to my hand?"


Henry did most of his sightseeing from the stroller.

We let the boys swim a lot. It was really hot for Katie. She found out I have not been exaggerating how hot it is here.

While the boys swam or jumped, Kates helped me build my garden boxes. She is just so handy with the drill! (giggles ensue)

Thanks to Katie for giving me great joy in being able to share the lovely land of Texas with you.

My big buddies

It seems like the boys are growing up at lightning speed lately. Andrew has been advancing quickly in his speech and thought processes. He cracks me up every day. He's learning to tell stories lately and it is super funny. He told me one about a dinosaur, a bear and a dragon (who morphed into a lion). It ended with, "and they all said, RAWRRR. And they were friends. The end."Play-Doh is a big hit lately. He's very careful with his creations.


This is the book his AMAZING nursery teachers from Pleasant Grove sent to him. He reads it once or twice a day, after which he usually says something like, "I live in a new house in Texas." On Sunday, he asked to go to "the white church with my Brother Lloyd." So sweet.

I love this picture because he looks SO old and mature.
So far, Henry has seemed to be a really quick learner physically. He figures out how to use his body to get what he wants, whereas Andrew for sure used his voice. Either way works. I love little Henry's energy at most hours of the day. I wish I could figure out the video function on this new camera so you could see him bouncing in his Jumparoo. The picture will have to do.
Here's our other big buddy. I only got this close because he was actually dead. Bleh. It makes my stomach CHURN just looking at him. When Justin spread out the spidey's legs, he was as big as Justin's hand. Gross.

I feel dumb.

We have ants. Billions and BILLIONS of ants. In a weak and somewhat idiotic attempt to get the guys in our backyard, I put a little ant bait/trap thingy on top of the ant mound. After I sprayed it with the hose. And guess what? That have ABSORBED IT into their new home. (Which they rebuilt really fast. I was kind of impressed.) I'm sure it is sitting over their mantle in their little ant cave and they are just laughing at me, thinking I could get them with one puny trap. AND, I have fireant stings/bites all over my hands and legs from the boogers living in my pantry. Yep, you read that right. MY PANTRY.

But I have a message for you, little fellas. I do not give up easily. And I have a LOT of money for ant killing tactics. You will pay for this. Consider that a threat.