So ... today at church, in Noah's Sunbeam class they were talking about families ...

The teacher asked, "Noah, do you have a family?"

Noah responded, "Yes! I have Honey-Daniel and Francesca".

Daniel, the boys and I were running errands on Saturday and happened upon a carnival set up in the parking lot of our local mall. Daniel and I turned to each other and said, "you wonna stop?" and said, "heck yes!" so we did.

In the span of about 45 minutes we spent about $20 on rides for Noah (and one ride for Liam) ... somehow, it was worth it. Noah looked so happy and so cute getting into a miniature roller coaster and buckling the seatbelt himself. We didn't have to go in with him or set him up on any of the rides .... what a big boy. It's crazy sometimes to see him act like a little man. He was literally skipping around and pointing wildly at every ride saying, "I want to go on THAT one too!" Is it indulgent to do this? ... cuz we did.

But the best part of the 45 minutes for me was watching Noah and Liam go on one ride together. All the rides were for kids at least 36" and although Liam is a man-child, he is only 34" and he doesn't walk, and is pretty unstable (I really don't think it's his fault ... I mean, it's pretty tough to balance on round feet. His feet are basically water balloons). Anyway, Noah held on to Liam in this little boat ride and they went around a lazy river. Liam was timid at first, just sitting there in the boat, not moving and just smiling wide and looking around. But by the third time around the lazy river - he was splashing his fat fists in the water, giggling and he even stood up at the end (not a good thing). Cute. Here are a few pictures of the entire affair ... a few are blurry cuz we took the pictures with our cell phones:

OK, I am looking for input. I want to find a few songs to put before my cousin, Andrea, that I could sing for her and her honey at their wedding in August. Wedding songs ... let's start thinking. The first song on my playlist here is "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat ... check it out and see if you think it's "too cheesy" (that's what Daniel said).

What do you think??

I have hated our kitchen from the day we moved in. The cabinets are crappy and dated, the "breakfast nook" is our dining area and is way too small, the flooring is vinyl and the appliances are old. Slowly but surely, we have been working on the kitchen. Here is the progress so far:


before we moved in


beginning to tear out the nasty, dark wallpaper


newly painted yellow and white


added a sign, and some accessories


starting to paint the brown parts of the cabinets white and adding silver hardware.

If I had it my way, and about $30k, I'd tear out the cabinets all together and get new white ones with a few glass paned doors on some of the cabinetry. Then I'd tear out the laminate countertops and replace them with black solid granite (??) countertops. Then replace the sink and faucet, put in tile flooring and push out the wall in the breakfast nook about 6-10 feet to allow for a dining area of a decent size ... but that'll never happen, so it's up to paint and new hardware to do the job :)

Lately, the boys have taken up the habit of taking everything out of my spice drawer and spreading it all over the kitchen. Noah calls it "We're going shopping!"

So I got the idea to make a shelf unit to hold a bunch of kitchen items and play food for Noah and Liam in the basement.

Daniel half heartedly started the project last night and today I finished it. We used scrap wood from the rafters of our garage, cut them to size and nailed it all together. Then Noah and I painted it white with leftover paint. Then I got some fabric, sewed the edges and covered the back of the unit.

I wanted to have pretend food for Noah to put on the shelves, so I went through our pantry and found empty boxes and canisters and cleaned them out and there you go ... today's project - a grocery store for Noah.


Noah just sitting, watching the paint dry. He sat there in his SpongeBob chair with Ritz crackers and a glass of water for about 20 minutes ... it was awesome!


Evidently, he was not JUST sitting there. This is Noah describing the scary robot movie he was "watching".


Noah eating crackers ... he was a big helper on the project.


Ta da!


Thanks Aunt Memma for the WinCo shopping bag - Noah loves it!

Conversation Noah and I just had a few minutes ago:

"Noah, what are you going to be when you grow up?"

He said, "A lion tamer. Are you gonna be a lion tamer when you grow up?"

I said, "I grew up and I'm a mommy".

He said, "Maybe when you grow up you can be a mommy lion tamer. Are you a lion tamer?"

I said, "No buddy, I'm not".

He looked disappointed then said, "Maybe when you grow up you can be a lion tamer".

I .... LOVE .... SHOES. And I try and acquire as many awesome shoes as I can. I have been in search of some solid flip flops for the summer. I wanted something that would go with everything - dresses, skirts and jeans and shorts. I wanted something a little different than the everyday rubber flip flop and I found these at Macy's on sale and LOVE them. I have already broken them in by wearing them with a white cotton dress, jeans and grey leggings and it has been a success!!! NOW summer can get started!