Family

Family
You MUST Chase Your Dreams, For Your Dreams Will Not Chase You

Monday, October 31, 2011

Elmo LIVE!

So a mom
of one of the gal's I work with
was nice enough to give us
Elmo LIVE tickets she had won online

So Saturday we packed
the girls up and headed
off to their 1st "concert"

They were SO excited
and Nolee kept asking when
"Melmo" was coming out

We had great seats
although the girls were too excited
to actually sit :)


We had a perfect view of the stage



I wish we could have gotten a video
of Nolee dancing - too cute







Thanks Wanda - they LOVED it!!!


Friday, October 28, 2011

Photo Blocks

So for Scott's birthday this year
I tried to think of something
that was creative & fun

I remembered him saying that
he didn't have any updated pictures
of our family on his desk

And since we had just
did our awesome sessions
with Carrie House
my wheels immediately started turning

So I looked at what we had
around the house
and came up with the idea
for some photo blocks

I cut my 4 x4 into blocks
using Scott's table saw
and I may have scared years off of both our lives

When cutting my last block my 4x4 was down to about 7 inches long
and I may have been being a scaredy pants
and not holding onto it tightly enough
only because my fingers were fricking close to the actual blade!

Well I still have all my fingers
but a portion of the 4x4 flew off the table saw
and hit the wall with some pretty good force
which I'm extremely thankful it hit the wall
and not me

This brought Scott running out to the garage
I think he was expecting blood
He offered to do the last cut for me
which I gladly accepted

So after my near death experience
I gathered my blocks & the rest of my supplies


I painted all the blocks white
and then attempted the mod podge transfer
I have been seeing all over pinterest

I printed my photos off on a laser printer
brushed a layer of mod podge on my block
and placed the photo on there
ink side down

After they had dried I sprayed them lightly with water
and gently (gently is key here) started to rub the paper off
with my fingers

I found that if I let them dry for just a couple of hours
this worked best
if I let them go for longer
it was harder to get the paper off

Here is what the pictures looked like


This is a good example where I wasn't so gentle
but I liked the worn look so it was okay

I then added another layer of mod podge
on top to protect the pictures
and it made it shiny :)


I also added some letters to the blocks
so they spell out a few different letters
and I figured Scott's students would get a kick
out of playing with them



I roughed up the edges & added
some paint to give them a antiquey look
...and then of course forgot to take more pictures :)

I really like how these turned out
and how simple (and cheap!) this was
I'm already thinking of more
mod podge transfer ideas to try out :)






Thursday, October 27, 2011

Gymnastics

So we signed Lilly up for gymnastics
this semester
She is learning how to do somersaults
jump on the trampoline
and walk on the balance beam

The balance beam has been a love/hate relationship so far
some days she loves it
and some days she hates it so much she cries if she has to do it

So being the loving father he is
Scott took her and practiced the "beam" after school
he put the weight bench up on two large boxes
and had her practice walking across
& jumping down
I got to see the proof on his phone camera

The next time at gymnastics she rocked that beam
she may still have needed to hold her coaches hand
but there were no tears, only smiles
and she was so proud of herself

If she gets nothing else out of this experience
I hope she realizes what a great father she has
who will always be there for her
to help her conquer her fears

Here's some pics from parent night





This one so wanted to join in on the fun
and had a great time playing & jumping
on the mats 



Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Little Things

This morning we woke up
to sounds of giggles on the baby monitor
in Lilly's room

and yes I realize she is 4 years old
& right down the hall
but ever since she had her seizures
the monitor has stayed in her room
...she will probably be a teenager
before we remove it :).

So Scott went to check it out
and found Nolee
in Lilly's room
in Lilly's bed
sitting on Lilly

When Scott asked her what she was doing
she said
"Jus looking"
& started giggling again

And that is how I found them all
this morning at 6:15 am
in Lilly's room
in the dark
all three laughing

and my first thought was
that I have the most wonderfully blessed life ever :).



Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Roadkill Rescue

If you have not checked out
the blog Roadkill Rescue



you should head over there right now!

It is so amazing to see
how creative people can be
and how thinking outside of the box
can result in some really amazing pieces
and how some of these pieces
litterally started as "trash"
on the side of the road!

I am lucky enough to be featured
on this awesome website today
for my fireplace transformation
insert my happy dance here...
and be extremely happy you can't see
what a goofball I look like :)







Friday, October 14, 2011

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday
 to my one and only
to the one who stays calm
as I get all stressed

the one who is laid back
and thankfully able to go along
with the crazy ideas I have
or reel me back in if needed

the one who has the magic touch
and can put both our girls to sleep
by rubbing their backs

the one who still loves to be a kid
and can get right into our girl's make believe worlds
or create his own that involves
monsters & safe havens & lots of fun

the one who can always make me laugh
who I can really talk to
& never get to spend enough time with

Happy Birthday
to the one I cannot live without

Love ya Babe!


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Plug In Air Fresheners

I don't believe I have ever shared our
run in with air fresheners on this blog
and why I will never, ever, ever
have one in my house again

I'm not sure what made me think of this
since it happened over a year ago
but since I did
I thought I would share

Note this really did happen to us
it's not something that happened to a friend
of a cousin who heard it from their uncle
who is twice removed (whatever that means)

This all occured on 8/5/10

I just wanted to share with everyone our eye opening story about plug in air fresheners…I’m sure some of you are already aware of this, but I was not.

Thursday night after being home for about an hour I started to feel spacey and my head felt fuzzy (yes I know even more than usual J).  The girls were starting to get a cold so I figured that I must be coming down with the same thing.  Anyway I didn’t think about it again until our dog Charlie woke us up in the middle of the night hacking.  Scott got up with him and took him out and he ended up puking.  After Scott took the dog out he noticed that there was a haze in the living room and he said he now felt spacey and fuzzy too.  I was feeling worse and my arms felt heavy (a very odd feeling).  Well our first thought was carbon monoxide so we called 911.  We got the girls up and all piled into the ambulance that showed up to wait while the firemen checked the house (the girls thought this was great and were completely fascinated by all the gadgets in the ambulance).  Well after about an hour and half of searching the house and coming up with no carbon monoxide readings one of the fireman noticed one of our plug in air fresheners was turning black.  It was that kind that has a little fan on it to blow the nice fragrant air throughout the entire house.  Well it was blowing smoke throughout the entire house.  Another of our plug ins (we had 5) was so hot the fireman couldn’t take it out of the plug without his gloves on.  Mind you we had just changed all the refills on our air fresheners too – so it’s not like they were empty and burning up.  They fireman said that Charlie probably got sick because he was home all day and was exposed to the smoke inhalation for a longer period of time (really glad we got a dog now!!).  The fireman also informed us that plug in air fresheners are some of the worst fire hazards you can have in your house and in his personal opinion they should be illegal.  So needless to say we have thrown away all 5 now.  Anyway I just wanted to share in case anyone has these in their house as we have learned the hard way how dangerous they can be!

So please please please pass this on
to all your family & friends
it's scary to think that we may
have never woke because of something
that is supposed to make our house more inviting

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The other big gift :).

Do you know how hard it is
to think of gifts for the second girl?

She gets all the hand me downs
so we are good on clothes

And oh my gosh if you've ever seen our house
(and the 4 toyboxes full of toys)
you know that she's not in need of more toys

So when my parent's asked what she would like
I immediately thought about that big yellow bus
that sits in my dad's driveway 9 months out of the year

Nolee (and Lilly) are both fascinated by it
and call it Papa's bus
Everytime we see a bus on the road
they ask if it is Papa's bus
(it's cute really)

Anyway she took her first bus ride
and loved it
never wanted to sit down or still
but loved it none the less




Wednesday, October 5, 2011

2nd Photo Session with Carrie House

We had our second photo session
with the amazingly talented Carrie House
this past weekend

We did 2 locations this time
and added some new props

The girls were less than cooperative
(even after we bribed them with snacks)
but I LOVE how the pictures turned out

Now I just have to figure out which
pictures to order & how I'm going to frame them
I have some crafty ideas in mind...
we'll have to see how they pan out














I LOVE this next one
I think these goofy natural pictures just seem to capture the real us
because all 4 of us are natually goofy :)




Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The BIG gift

When we moved into our house
our wonderful neighbors
asked if we wanted their old playset
as their kids were getting older

The only stipulation was that
the neighbor kids could play on it
whenever they wanted to
not a bad deal if you ask me

So we moved it
(with their help)
and stained it to match our deck
added a couple swings
and left it at that

Our girls love it
and can spend hours out there
the only problem was that
Nolee is actually able to climb up to the second level now
which is taller than I am
and would do it whether you were helping her or not
(which tended to freak me out...I keep picturing broken limbs)

So we decided as her birthday gift
we (with the help of family) would add a lower level
that was more friendly for 2 year olds
and of course still appealing to a 4 year old

The unstained wood is the addition
plus the yellow slide
the very bottom portion can now be storage
for their toys..or a secret hideout
(if you aren't afraid of spiders)


We wanted to do something different than a ladder
so we went with this plank/rope combo
and yes it reminds me of a dog plank...but the girls love it
and I have no fear of Nolee falling



We added a steering wheel
which was the only dang accessory left at the store
since this was the end of the summer
but the girls love it
and drive their fort all around the town :)


We also added a table/bench
which they love for their pretend meals
...it also is a great hiding spot (and is a safe neutral zone)
for when the big monster is out & about
(monster = Scott hunched over like the hunchback of Notre Dame
moaning and walking with a very distinct limp...it's freaking hilarious)

Oh...and by we (throughout this entire post) I mean Scott
I was in charge of the ideas on this one
and he was in charge of putting it all together


When we told her this was her birthday present
her face lit up so bright
and then they played & pretended for hours


We plan on staining next summer
to match the rest of the set
and who knows...maybe we'll add on again in a few years :)







Monday, October 3, 2011

Nolee's 2!

Well she is officially 2
We had chili & cupcakes
and both turned out great

We had Nana's & Papa's
Aunts & Uncles
Great Grandpa's & Grandma's
and cousins all over to celebrate

She had a blast
and all the kids played so well together

I still can't believe my baby is 2
and is beginning to resemble a toddler
more than a baby
and loves to do everything herself




She requested the fork by the way
and the milk
She wouldn't touch the cake until she had them
Goofy girl


These Dora books were the 1st present she opened
she is a bit obsessed with Dora books right now
Just books mind you, not her Dora doll, or the Dora legos
we have, just the books


And this is where she put them (under her bum)
while she opened the rest of the gifts
so no one else could play with them...
but she did share everything else she got