Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!!

Laura and I got all dressed up for Halloween this morning. Laura was very patient while getting her princess hairdo! She also helped me find pointy shoes for my witch garb. She took us all getting dressed up very seriously.

When Laura realized that Daddy was not getting dressed up, she took matters into her own hands. She picked out an orange shirt for him to wear. Then, while we were enjoying our morning chocolate drink, she decided to "turn Daddy into a pumpkin." So, we did. Jason was a good sport.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Halloween Prep

Laura has been doing daily preparations for Halloween. We eat breakfast each morning in our witches hats. She bought the hats with her Daddy last week and insisted on having these two matching hats for us. Sometimes we are nice witches and sometimes we are mean witches. But we always are witches over warm chocolate.

She also practiced Trick-or-Treating at Grandma and Grandpa F's house on Sunday. She loved eating the Kit Kats and handing them out to anyone who would ring the doorbell. Aren't Grandmas and Grandpas the coolest?!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Friday Night Entertainment

So, instead of spending tonight looking at this,
or looking at this

we will probably be looking at this.

Poor little Laura has been super sick since Tuesday evening. She's had a massive fever and been throwing up almost constantly. Finally, today after our second trip to the doctor she seems to have turned a corner.

The Guster concert we had planned on attending tonight got cancelled because a member of the band had pneumonia. (At least Laura isn't THAT sick.) And we had rescheduled with our friends Andrea and Mike to go to a movie and dinner instead. Fortunately, they have kids and understand the need to stay home with the barfing boo. So, we will spend our Friday night enjoying the thrilling entertainment of The Land Before Time movie.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Dirty or Clean?

Laura has had a "little cough" for the last few days and has decided that the only thing that will help her feel better is "Berry Warm Chocolate". Not hot chocolate, mind you. She will remind you that she doesn't like it hot; she likes it warm. She has been going through about two cups a day. Crazy kid.
Last night, however, she discovered a much more fun way to get her chocolate fix...brownie mix! Melinda decided to make brownies for our FHE treat, and Laura was more than happy to help her clean the bowl and spoon. What a good little helper she is.

Laura also has been obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as of late, so she arranged her letters on the fridge to spell MOUSE. (They've been scrambled since.) Which is pretty amazing considering she sings the song "M-I-C-K-E-Y how 'bout U-S-E".

Monday, October 23, 2006

Master Minded

Yay for Jason who got a bee in his bonnet and got TONS done this weekend on the Master bed/bath home improvements. At some point while doing all the caulking, I threw out my back and was almost NO help for the rest of the weekend. Yes, I spent Sunday flat on my back.

We (mostly Jason and some help from Dad F) got the bathroom completely finished. We installed the counter, sink, baseboards, toilet, hardware (drawer and towel), shower curtain and mirror. Phew. That was tons! It looks beautiful, feels posh, and it’s wonderful to have 2 working bathrooms upstairs again.

Jason also did a lot on the Master bedroom. We found a screen on sale at Target that matched the refinished set from Mom and Dad. So, with Mom and Dad’s help driving the trailer, we picked it up along with two tables. We used the side tables as nightstands and the screen as a headboard and we love it. What do you think?

Pumpkin Patch and Pictures

We took a break from all the home improvements this weekend (it was kinda forced due to waiting time on the grout) to go to the pumpkin patch with Laura and Grandma! It was piles of fun. Laura walked and walked the aisles to find her perfect pumpkin. We ended up with 3 pumpkins: one Daddy sized, one Mommy sized, and one “little tiny pumpkin” Laura sized.

Laura would run from pumpkin to pumpkin. She would stop at a pumpkin and say, “I found one.” We’d respond with, “Do you like it?” She’d then say “Nope,” and run to the next pumpkin she found acceptable.

Laura also loved the haystacks that were there.

She turned her “little tiny pumpkin” that she carried on her lap the whole way home, into a Jack-o-Lantern, or as she says a “Pumpkin Patch” when we got home. When we told her it was too small to carve she improvised. She worked on it for 15 minutes to get it just right. She kept erasing with a licked finger. Here she is showing it off.

Laura is taking marvelous care of her “Pumpkin Patch.” She puts it on the porch in the morning and brings it inside in the evening when it’s “too cold” for the pumpkin.

We also received all our ordered family pictures, got them in frames and hung/arranged them in the family room. Laura loves being surrounded by family and so do we.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Self Defense and Book Club

For Young Women's this week we had a class in self defense. It was awesome. Lots of the girls' moms came and really made it wonderful. We felt stupid punching the air, but it was SO GREAT for the girls. I am grateful these girls have had a lesson on it, the world is so scary these days. Here are some pictures of the girls learning about strength, battling with the guy in the big red suit and me cheering on one of the moms.

We also had book club this week. It was on Twilight and almost every lady loved it...some even as much as I did! We have switched from being church sponsored to being a neighborhood club. I'm enjoying the freedom of choice that gives us now. We had a lot of ladies come and I hope it just grows! More time with smart women is a good thing for me!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Mean Old Witch

Laura is in love with witches for Halloween. She talks to the mean old witch on the phone (as Jason mentioned in an earlier post) and howls with laughter at each cackle. However, my favorite thing she does is to sing the "I'm a Mean Old Witch" song in character. She wears my black winter hat, puts her magnetic cat from her Cinderella set on the broom and goes to town. Isn't she darling?!

Click the picture or here to see the video

I'm just hoping that she doesn't decide to dress up as a witch for Halloween. I'd prefer to stick with the costume that is already hanging in her closet!

Monday, October 16, 2006

So, We're Stupid

I think the success we had tiling the master bathroom on Friday gave us a little too much confidence. Instead of doing the easy project we had planned for Saturday night--grouting the bathroom floor--we decided to do the biggest project we had left; refinishing the bedroom furniture we got from Mom and Dad F. Let's just say that we had a miserable Saturday night that lasted until 2:30 the next morning. But we stuck together through it all and thanks to some great teamwork, our bedroom furniture project is now done! That's right, we've actually finished a project. Didn't it turn out nice? (Yes...that is my subtle way of asking you to tell us how nice it looks to make up for our horrible night)

Zoo

After a long and tiring day of installing tile on Friday, we decided it would be fun to take Laura to the Zoo on Saturday.
As luck would have it, Laura's friend Lily and her family wanted to go to the Zoo the same day. It was loads of fun to go to the Zoo and for Laura to have a friend that she could run and play with the whole time. They had a grand old time looking at the giraffes
checking out the monkeys

and playing on the tigers!

After a long Friday of working, Melinda and I really enjoyed getting out of the house and spending some time with our girl.
Although, I have to say that I think Laura's favorite part was this little witch we found along the way. In the mornings, she's been playing a game with Mommy where she talks on the phone to the "mean ol' witch". She LOVES it and has had the most fun I've ever seen her have in the mornings.

Friday, October 13, 2006

I'm Floored

We have laid the last piece of tile ever to be laid in our current home. Yes, we recognize that we are home-improvement junkies, but there is no other place to lay tile, so we truly are done! Jason took a half day off and my parents joined us for a tile laying session.

We decided to tile in a different order than usual and it worked out beautifully. We finished with all the cutting and got it mortared to the backerboard. The next steps, grout and sealant, are a breeze. We were floored at how much we got accomplished today. YAY! Not much more and the master bath should be done.Naturally, my parents were a massive help. Dad is a whiz at the tile saw and Mom has an eye that is unequaled. Plus, they watched the Boo for us while we got messy in the mortar. Laura read with Grandma and particularly enjoyed the Grandpa slide. Thanks for all your help, Mom and Dad!!! I'm floored at what a good team we make while laying tile.

Final thing I'm floored about: I did something crafty. Yep, you all should be floored too. Mind you, it was with much assistance, but I did it. I made this board (stenciled, a true craft, not my usual vinyl lettering craftiness) for an Enrichment activity. It fits perfectly in the laundry room. I must be branching out. Are you floored??

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Sleep? Who Needs Sleep?

Ever since Laura had to give up her binkys, she's had a hard time sleeping past 7:00 am. She's been coming into our room around 6:30 or 7:00 for the past few mornings and always wants the same thing. "I just want someone to play with me". It's a good thing she takes after her mom and is such a cute little nerd. Every once in a while, something that seems to be irksome turns out to be a "proud parent" moment. So please excuse me while I brag.
Tuesday morning she came in after Melinda had left to go walking with her friend, Karyn, and was FREEZING. She wanted to go down and play on the computer, so I told her she had to lay in bed with me and snuggle for 2 minutes to warm up before we went down.

Laura: 1....2....Done.
Jason: No Laura. Two minutes, not two seconds
Laura: Well how long is two minutes
Jason: Well, we have to count to 60 two times.
Laura: Ok. (Counts to 20 and pauses)
Jason: (Just for fun) 21...
Laura: (Counts from 21 to 29 and pauses)
Jason: 30.
Laura: (Counts from 31 to 39 and stops, looking at Daddy)
Jason: (Now very proud of our little Smidge) 40?
Laura: (Counts from 41 to 49)
Jason: 50
Laura: (Counts from 51 to 59)
Jason: 60!!! Nice work, Laura. What number were we counting to?
Laura: 60! We did it! YAY! Now can I go play on the computer?

So she was basically placating me so she could get what she really wanted; the computer. But I'll take my little moments with my girl anytime I can get them.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Project Progress

We finally finished stripping all the furniture last night. It was a huge process! We sure are hoping that the DIY instructions we have are accurate when they say that stripping is absolutely the hardest part of refinishing furniture. Does anyone have any advice on staining: tricks, etc?? We'd like to avoid looking like this again.
The Master Bath has been put on hold while the furniture has been getting done. In other words, not having the cars in the garage was more annoying than only having 1 bathroom upstairs. Oh my, we are glad that the downstairs bath is finished.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Cabin Birthday

The thing Laura wanted to do very most for her birthday was to go to the cabin. Well, and go to Disneyland, but we just did that. Fortunately, the cabin is a bit easier on the wallet.

Our friends Brian and Steph came with us and brought one of Laura's favorite friends: Whitney. They gave her a princess dress for her birthday and it hardly came off the whole time we were up there. Here's Laura blowing out more candles up there in the princess dress.Naturally, the river was the biggest hit with the kids. The weather was lovely on Saturday; nice and crisp, but not raining. Check out that carpet of leaves.Here are Laura and Whitney asking for "big rocks". It was all about the splashes this trip. However, little Tay got the biggest splash of all when the water was too appealing and he became the splash. And, here he is before the splash.Laura had a grand time and it was a wonderful end to her birthday celebrations. We're all sad the cabin is being closed for the season. But, that grin on Laura's face will make sure we come back lots next season.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Bye Bye Binka

Laura has known for months that her pacifiers will be going away permanently on her third birthday. She's had them only in bed for ages, but "big three-year old girls" don't need binkys at all. So, we decided to make the letting go a little more exciting. They flew away by balloon.We tied 7 balloons to the bag and had Laura put all her binkys in the bag. While she was putting on her shoes to go outside and let them go we lightened the bag so they would actually fly. (Not even a single binky in the bag allowed it to float.) So, we sealed up an empty bag with tape and Laura let them fly away.

She has had a rough time falling asleep without them, but has not asked for them. All told, the separation has not been quite so bad as we had feared.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

3 Years Old!

Our beautiful Laura is 3 years old today. Here is a picture of her "birthday princess" outfit she picked out for herself. Yep, the jeans are sparkly, the necklace is princess and the shoes light up.This birthday really has been all about Laura's girliness. Here she is enjoying her "Belle" cake at Grandma and Grandpa's. All this cake joy (and a birthday meal tailored specifically to Laura's tastes) was after shopping for a princess computer game. She is obsessed with this game.

Oh how I love my brilliant, compassionate and funny little girl. I can't imagine life without her!