Monday, August 27, 2012

Super E

I know I've mentioned this before, but I am completely and utterly obsessed with Pinterest.  I have gotten so many cute and clever ideas from this site.  While I wish I could take credit for all the nifty little things I make and do with my kids, I've got to give credit to good 'ole Pinterest.

Which is where I got the templates for some cape and masks I made the kids.  However, since Drew is only concerned with things on wheels, I was only able to capture a photo of Missy Lucille.


Holliday Park

So I've got nothing unusual, exciting, or outrageously fabulous to report in this post. But I captured some great photos that I'd like to preserve in my family's memory bank, so here's to a post at one of our family's favorite parks: Holliday Park in Indianapolis.

Gettin' after the monkey bars.
She's a pro.

Taking a walk on the wild side.
On all fours.
(Drew's a little more cautious than Emma)

My lil' tree climber.

He goes EVERYWHERE with a train, truck, plane, or car.
Everywhere.

Impossible to get a picture of both of them looking at the camera.
At least the ambulance is sitting pretty though, right?

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Emma's First Day of Kindergarten

Emma's first day of Kindergarten at her new school was last week and man, was she ever excited! Truth be told, I think the girl has been ready and waiting to start Kindergarten since she was like 3 years old!

So in honor of this momentous occasion, I created a "Kindergarten Countdown" that we put on her closet doors. The two weeks prior to the "big day," she'd remove a clothespin from the clothes-line calendar to tell me how many days she had left.

It was cute!

But not as cute as her "My 1st Day of Kindergarten" picture.......

Monday, August 13, 2012

Emma's 1st Fish

Emma won her first fish at the Indiana State Fair.

And it lasted a full 18 hours before passing away.

Upon Emma's wishes, we paid our last respects to Mr. Fish in a somber Toilet Bowl ceremony.

We have all fully recovered from the pain and heartache that we felt for Mr. Fish during those 18 hours with our family by purchasing a new goldfish named Ms. Princess.

She is now going on her 7th day of life.

And I have a feeling she may not make it much longer as her owner is too lazy or some might say: could care less to clean her bowl.  Gasp!
Don't let these smiles fool you.
Behind those smiles, there is heartache. Turmoil. Utter devastation.

Taking a moment to say a final prayer for Mr. Fish.

State Fair Fun

Another fun item to check off of our Summer Fun List is our annual visit to the Indiana State Fair.  We always enjoy going every August, and this year was no different.

The only thing that we could have done without, was the Swine Flu that Andy got 2 days after visiting the swine barn.  Poor guy!  Prior to going, we had heard that a few pigs had high fevers (and then - go figure -  a day later they ended up closing the barn because of the flu outbreak amongst the pigs), but we aren't the germ-a-phobe types who freak out at every little sickness that we hear about.  I come from the philosophy that a little dirt and germs never hurt anybody.....which is why I believe my kids and myself have immune systems as strong as armour: I was and they were subjected to germs early on, allowing their bodies to build up an immunity from the get-go.

But anyway.  That wasn't fun for Andy.  Especially in a truck-stop hotel room in Michigan (which is where he was 2 days later, on business.  Why his school can't book a nicer hotel is a different subject, BTW.)





Emma has NO FEAR.
And Mommy has a big brain. She made Daddy go on this with her!
That's her and Andy alltheway up there.

This ride is more of Drew's pace.

I seriously can't stand it.
He keeps getting cuter and cuter.
My little man.

And she keeps morphing more and more into me.
Which is such a wonderful, loving, never-one-to-talk-back-or-have-an-attitude type of lady.
Love her!

Her 1st fish.
That died the next morning.

Does anybody recognize this?!?
If you grew up in Indy between 1983 and 86, then you know that these are the old Show Biz Pizza characters! I couldn't help but take a picture of this retro display.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Fun with Painter's Tape

It's amazing what a little painter's tape can do. 

Drew loves - and I mean LOVES - planes, trains, and automobiles.  They're the first things he goes to when waking up and they're always in his hands no matter where he is or where is goes.  He sleeps with them, parks them in their "garage" at night, and even takes them in the bathtub with him.  (If he went on the freaking potty, I'm sure he'd bring them in the John with him as well.  But that's a whole different story.  One in which you don't want to get me rallied up about.)

So I thought it would be fun to make a big obstacle course out of some painter's tape, all throughout our basement.

It was a huge hit.  Emma even enjoyed it!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane.....it's Supergirl!



Emma's 2nd Lost Tooth

Emma lost her 2nd tooth last week.  After being loose for about a week or so, she finally wanted it out so Daddy did the honors.

It was actually a pretty proud moment for me.  As he was trying to pull it out, Andy kept asking her if it was hurting, because she was kinda breathing hard; sucking her breath in.  At first she was saying no, then she finally said, "Yes, but you gotta push through the pain Daddy."

I guess she has been listening to us, after all!

It's the weirdest thing: with both her teeth thus far, her permanent ones have come in behind the baby teeth.


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Kelly & Steph's Dr Seuss Baby Shower

Thank God for Pinterest.  Without, I wouldn't have been able to come up with nearly as many cute and clever ideas as I did for Kelly and Steph's baby shower.

But cute and clever it was!

While the theme had been chosen weeks and weeks before the shower, all the prep work, baking, crafty, and stressing didn't start until the week of.  No, it wasn't because I was being a procrastinator.  Every free moment I had - which was few and far between, as I was at the peak of my training regimen - was spent swimming, biking, or running.

But the 18 hours of sleep I got in final 5 days before the shower paid off.  Because it was so stinkin' cute and super, super fun!

(If there's a recipe and/or tutorial I used, I tried to include the link within each item below.)
Menu
Cat in the Hat Cookies
Green Eggs and Ham Pretzels
Assorted Truffula Fruits (caramel-dipped grapes, gummy Lifesavers)
Truffula Seeds (purple M&M's)
Willy Waterloos Rock Candy
Turquoise and Red Twizzlers
Thing 1 Thing 2 Cupcakes
Chocolate Fountain w/ the fixins'
Cheese Tree
Green Eggs and Ham Deviled Eggs
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (colored Goldfish)
Ham and Cheese Sammies
Beezelenut Splash (Spite + Jello) in Lorax beverage dispenser
Bottled Water

Decor
Truffula Trees
Diaper Cake
Cat in the Hat Entry Standee w/ guest sign-in/keepsake book (Happy Birthday to You by Dr Seuss)
Photo Booth
All things red turquoise!

Games
Goldfish Guessing Game
Baby Quiz
Timed Baby Tray Guessing Game


Chocolate Fountain and Goldfish Guessing Game

Goldfish Guessing Game







Truffula Trees
(These things hung out in my house for a week; kids loved 'em!)

Having a little fun setting everything up before the guests arrived!

Diaper Cake





The invitation I had custom made