It Still Serves Us

I remember eating ridiculous quantities of tacos at it. 

 

I was pregnant with Ross and living in the Granger house with Mike.  We had that 50's style kitchen with the checkerboard floor (stick on tiles).  My oven had just been upgraded and there was always a bag of frozen Snickers in the freezer and the smell of Asian beetles each time the vacuum turned on.  2005.

 

In 2009, we moved it to Winterset.  It worked as a 'kitchen table'.  We had the large dining room table (since we had our first 'dining room'.)  I painted it with chalkboard paint and thought the kids would have fun with it.  Eventually my dad build me a breakfast bar and the table went to the basement. 

 

We sold our Winterset house and moved to a rental.  For the next year, the table sat next to the wash machine and held laundry soap, vinegar and bleach.  2014

 

Then yesterday happened.  The weather cooperated and it was time to take my oak table outside to be sanded.  The table top is solid oak and NOT light.  Ross was supposed to help me carry it outside to the sawhorses, (he was home sick with a fever), but ended up pinching his hand in the table and pretty much told me I was going to hell. 

 

Therefore, I was on my own. 

 

It wasn't pretty, but I managed to hoist it up there on my own.  I'm a fighter.

 

The legs are headed to DeWitt where my dad knows a guy with a dunk tank.

 

The sanded beast.

 

 

Mike came home from work and decided it'd be best to stain/finish it in St. Charles where it will live.  I agree.  Therefore, we were short a dining room table. 

 

Guess what?

 

My laundry soap can sit somewhere else.

 

 

I think I'll make tacos for dinner.

My Girls

Just a few fun photos of my girls...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, to be a kid again.

First Invite

Molly received her first friend birthday party invite Thursday. 

Each time Ross or Maisie get invited to a friends house, I watched as Molly's face fell and her eyes welled up. 

It ripped my heart out each time.

 

Therefore, watching her face when she realized she'd been invited to a birthday party was beyond joyful.

 

The next 2 hours involved the following:

 

Molly coloring birthday pictures for the birthday girl before rinsing the photos in the bathroom faucet to 'erase' the marker.

 

Unrolling an entire tube of Christmas wrapping paper trying to figure out how to seal the birthday card.  (which I think may actually be a sympathy card from Ben Franklins)

 

and quoted the following:

Maybe everyone will get her a Barbie!

How do they know what house we live in?

Does Sarah (birthday girl) like blue?

Which day am I gonna go?

Who will take all the kids to the party?

She's so mean.

Who gets to open the presents?

I hate her dad.

I'm scared because I sleep in Pull-Ups and she doesn't (the party's not an overnight)

 

 

She can't wait.

Editing... more than a verb.

I'm not sure if it's the fact that it's finally Wednesday; or the fact that I had to yell "No butt touching!" after school today more than once; or the fact that I returned from the grocery store to being told Molly ate a pencil and noticing the cat dumped my potting soil all over carpet.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Ross ate the last pack of Tinkerbell fruit snacks (which has been untouched for over a month) just as Maisie decided she wanted it; or that Molly 'dribbled' on Ross' blue velour chair and was anxious to show him the wet spot.  You can imagine the next 3 minutes.  Maybe it all comes down to the fact that a well-know grocery chain (which shall remain nameless opened in Winterset on Tuesday). 

 

In the meantime, I've managed to break my grocery list into chunks. Why?  Simple, so I can shop Fareway every single day.  Not everyone has that capability, but I do and I'm taking advantage of it.  I realize it's only been one day, however I've detected a certain comradery with my fellow grocery shoppers over the past 24 hours.  It's like an unspoken language when you enter Fareway.  Eye contact is openly made and friendly hello's are exchanged whether your in the parking lot or in the cereal aisle.  The hello's seem to be code for, "We've got Fareways' back and the new grocery chain can, (in Ross' newest term) "suck it".

 

I love this town.

 

With that said, I've found a temporary fix to my photo dilemma.  I'm trying a 30 day trial of Adobe Creative Cloud.  It's not bad.  I've watched some u-tube videos on Photoshop CC and have learned all about removing unwanted objects and making layers to adjust exposure and levels.

 

By the way, I had not watched the U-tube videos before editing the below images. 

 

I absolutely love the below shot.  It looks like Papa kicked the ball.  What would I change?  Not much.  I wish I could see Ross' face though.

 

I love this photo because it shows Goose in the center looking at the hoop.  I have Papa and Ross in the background (slightly blurred) which makes the shot active to me.  However, in hindsight I should have straightened the photo so it wasn't crooked.

 

The following two photos show Ross in motion.  He loves looking at these more than anyone else.  I'm usually behind him when he looks at photos, and his cheekbones rise significantly when he see's his basketball shots.  I love it.

 

 

 

Not a terrible black and white shot, however a pole is coming out of the center of his head.  Had I watched the U-tube tutorial prior to editing, this could have been avoided.

 

A boy and his dog.  What could be done to fix this photo?  So many things.  However, this is the boy who gave me my world. 

 

It couldn't be more perfect.

Back To School

Monday morning was not for sissys.  Molly wouldn't open her eyes and claimed she 'hated' the shirt I picked out for her.  Maisie was crying her skirt was too tight because it was Molly's and she had to pee, but couldn't get her skirt down.  Ross was complaining he couldn't drawl a locust. That was before he remembered he hated his haircut and would seen by everyone in school. 

 

Moo eventually woke up and didn't cry again until she entered the school.  Ross turned violent when he eventually remembered his haircut and blamed me for giving him a round head instead of a flat one in utero.  Maisie put her leggings under her skirt (the skirt had spanx) and was able to go potty easier, however she wasn't thrilled the whipped topping on her waffle smeared all over her fork when I cut it and insisted on a new one.  Mike acted distracted with his phone and conveniently left the house early.  Can't say I blamed him. 

 

They arrived home from school with 100+ subtraction facts I needed to check, reading log questions I had to check, parent signatures I had to 'unforge'  (Maisie forges my signature on her homework everyday).  The majority of her cold lunch had to be tossed because her best friend Delaney bought hot lunch.  When Delaney buys hot lunch, Maisie ends up buying hot lunch and her cold lunch goes to waste.  That was all before Maisie dumped a glass of cold water down my lap and then a glass of Kool-Aid into the recliner within 30 minutes of each other. 

 

I had planned to post a whole series of fun weekend pictures I took but my photo editing software has suddenly crapped-out and I'm unable to access Sunday's photos.  Therefore, I spent a large chuck of the afternoon searching for solutions to the problem with no luck.  The other chunk of the afternoon was spent reuniting a lost dog to her owner on the west side of town.  It's a long, happy story but I'm not getting into it today.

 

I never thought I'd say it, but having the kids home from school was so much easier than sending them to school.  I think I'm ready for summer break.

My world, lined up like a train.

 

choo-choo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggestions for purchasing new editing software or solutions for repairing Photoshop Adobe Elements 10 are more than welcome!

 

Spring!

A peak into our first day of Spring....

 

 

 

Stay tuned!

Spring Break Wrap-Up

Oh Spring Break, you cracked me up.  So many moments... here are a few of my favorites.

 

1.  Me, "If I could take each of you on a private vacation, I think I'd take Ross to a desert somewhere in Arizona.  I'd probably fly Maisie to New York to go shopping and see a show."

Ross, "Where would you take Moo?  A farm?"

 

2.  On St. Patricks Day the internet was filled with pictures of festivals, parades and parties.  I tried explaining the tradition of St. Patricks Day celebrations to Ross.  He replied with a sideways frown, "That actually sounds really dangerous."

 

3. I'd been up with the kids through the night and upon returning to bed, (after crashing into the vacuum and stepping on a vanilla wafer, Mike murmured, "What's the deal?"

Me: "Oh, everyone had to change their unders.  Molly's fighting stomach cramps, Maisies got a sweaty butt and Ross is pissed because he's inconvenienced.  Everyone's freezing but wont get under their covers because they don't want to mess up their blankets.

 

15 minutes later I was summoned back into the kids' room.  Molly had to poop and Ross was super-pissed he'd been woken again.  Molly ordered me to stand in the hallway and 'not hear her' in the bathroom.  Her comments to herself during the ordeal had me nearly wetting my own pants.  It sounded like the bathroom scene in Dumb and Dumber.  "That was awesome... A squeaky one...Mom, don't hear me in here... stay out!... I couldn't resist singing the diarrhea song (when your sliding into first...) to which all the kids joined in on.  

Upon returning to my own bed again and stepping on the same crushed vanilla wafer, Mike asked, "Now what?"

"Molly's better."

 

Until next year Spring Break!

Movie Theaters, Haircuts and Roberto

I wanted to take the kids to a movie this week.  However, movie prices are crazy... even the matinees.  And the prices don't even include snacks!  What happened to the $1 movies I frequented in Ames?  Or the DeWitt theater on Wednesday nights?

So, while the 'Messiest Playdoh Recipe in the Universe' was being created in my dining room, we discussed a solution.  We would turn our living room into a movie theater. 

We reserved 'Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day' from Redbox.  Bought movie theater popcorn and every variety of gummy candy you can think of.  The suede reclining chairs were pulled out and every shade was drawn to darken the room. 

Go Big or Go Home

In other news, Kratt made a friend.  We've named him Roberto.  Kratt watches for him out the window.  He's black.

Kratt had a friend at our old house too.  That cat seemed sickly and we were always amazed it hadn't died yet.  He was black too. 

Ironic.

 

Ross asked me to check his head for lice. It was itchy.  I suggested I cut his hair. He reluctantly agreed.  The clipper kept pulling his hair with certain shield sizes and I was forced to stick with one size for the whole head.  I tried using scissors for the top of his head, but I couldn't get the fingerwork quite right.  I ended up buzzing him.  He was pissed and called Daddy immediately to complain after chucking a wad of playdoh at my jaw.

So that's how Wednesday went.

I think the haircut is adorable. 

He thinks he looks like Cailou.

Spring Break

I used to dread Spring Break.  It meant my kids had to spend a week at daycare.  They'd rather be at school than spring break or summer vacation or 3 day weekends.  It gnawed at me like nothing else ever had.  I was not good at handling working-mom guilt. 

Mike will tell you all about it.

This is the first spring break I'm spending with my kids.  If you recall, my kids were shipped to my parents in Long Grove last year at this time so we could move into our rental.  (Yep, I'm fully aware it's been a year). 

Over the weekend we were teased by the summer-like weather.  Goose is loving it and so are we.

Mike and Goose are buds.  Below you can see them fighting over a bone. 

I know.

I think Goose might need a buddy so I can have my husband back.

Molly continues to melt my heart and lets just say I'm so glad she has a sister.

Swinging is much for fun with your best friend.

I don't have to say much about the bottom photo... it speaks for itself. 

I love this girl.

Leaving the Pack

I can almost remember the lineup.  Brenya, Rachel, white kitten, Baby Popple, Caramel and something else which I've forgotten.  They laid by me each night like soldiers.  In order and taking up more space than I did.  But they were necessary for a good night sleep.  They were my security. 

 

I cannot remember the last time I slept with them.  I cannot remember why I eventually packed them up.  The memory of having them is so clear... yet the memory of outgrowing them has slipped my mind. 

 

They have since been returned to me and I've excitedly offered them to my own children, halfway expecting them to cling to them as I once did.  Yet, they did not.  My kids adopted their own security items.  Especially Ross. 

 

He's slept with the 'pack', the 'heard', the 'farm' since he's been in a crib.  I suppose that's why it caught me off guard when he decided to pack up his animals.  In his words, "I don't want to get rid of them, I just want them off my bed.  Except Hippo.  He can stay".

He stuffed them into a Menards sack which he threw onto the top shelf of his closet.

I realize it's a perfectly normal right-of-passage he was bound to go through.  Lord knows I don't want him taking his 'pack' with him to college... but still. 

 

I know one day he'll probably pass them onto his own kids.  I also know his kids won't love them nearly as much as he has. 

His animals' job has ended.

 

I swear it's like Toy Story all over again around here and I'm an emotional wreck.  Damn hormones.

 

We've Turned A Corner

At the construction site...

We

 

 

Have

MUD!!

 

 

Which can only mean one thing...

 

WE MADE IT THROUGH THE WINTER!