Live from Tormville!

Happy Monday!

Guess who lost a tooth at our house yesterday! 

 

he made me squeeeeeee

rule of thirds - my favorite rule 

Brian came home from school today and ran upstairs with his backpack in hand.
He came down again very quickly with his hoodie zipped to the neck and a smirk on his face. Two seconds later he was opening the zipper with a 'ta-dah'
A new shirt. I love it!  I had NO idea.  
Brian's self drawn portrait is the one on the very left of the bottom row.

Squeeeeeeee!

Cutest shirt ever.  

________________

ETA:   Since there were so many that were interested, I dug around a bit and found out a little bit more about these shirts. 

They were created through j.j.jinkleheimer & co., the owner being a parent of one of Brian's classmates, but you don't have to be local to have these shirts made. I got this from Art (the parent and owner), which I'll just cut and paste here:

Basically we just need the kids to take a plain white piece of paper and with a thin Sharpie marker make their drawing and sign their name under it.  We then take all the drawings and scan them to resize them and add the appropriate text.  I would then email the client the final proof to approve.  You can choose the t-shirt color and the imprint color.  Prices do vary depending on the quantity ordered and how many pictures we need to scan.  Thank you, Art

Neato, right? 

Their contact information can be found here:  jjjink contact info

 

warning: wobbly kid on a two wheels

 

On Monday we got an email that next Monday is a biking thing for Cub Scouts.

Which finally pushes the need to get this kid on a bike to the top of our busy lives list. Where does time go?

He lost a year due to his femur break and spica cast
And then we didn't have a bike for him
And then we didn't have training wheels

And then last fall we got two bikes but no training wheels and man, it's not as easy to teach bike riding as it was 7 and 13 years ago.

Where does time go?

This spring we had two bikes,two pairs of training wheels, and two boys overdue for learning. The boys have been biking laps daily now with the added assistance.  

And then the notice about Cub Scout biking and a little pressure to not be the only kid on four wheels.  

We took the trainers off on Monday and he did just fine, went all the way around the block last night no problem but is struggling with starting. A few more days of practice and he should have it, with a few scabby knees and elbows. Just don't bike too close to him yet. 

We took Mark's training wheels off too - but he still needs a bit more practice or older sibling assistance.

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Others stuffs

• It was too windy for ballooning last night
• We might have to retrain Tippy to be an outside dog. She was an outside dog for 13 years until she came to us, and even then - she was completely outside from July until the snow flew. These last two nights she has woken earlier than usual and tried to get outside - eating nearly all the doorwall blind slats in the process. My kitchen looks like a warzone. Either she goes back outside, or I hang bells from the door. 
• While I was laying in bed awake from 5-6:30 this morning with my husband snoring beside me - my husband was apparently oversleeping. He usually has a fluctuating schedule in the morning and as long as he works his time, it's okay.  Apparently today he had a meeting - and didn't even have time to make coffee because he woke up too late. Oops. 
• We're like ships passing in the night. 
• We did have time last night to discuss the purchase of a storage box for the van that I had found used online, and he did have time to go and see it. It's perfect, and purchased just in time for his and Allan's four wheeling camping trip coming up. If they put all their muddy gear in there instead of in my new van, it'll be worth it. 
• Mark only has 3 days of school left, and this morning I'll be helping in his class. I'm so glad that the 7am school cancellation call (due to no power) we got this morning wasn't for our elementary school.
• That was quite the wind that brewed up quickly last night. I thought someone was knocking on my door at 11:30 but it was my new watering can (Mother's Day gift) that the wind had slammed against it. 
• We've decided to try some diet elimination things with Wendy to see if we can help her bellyaches - so now we're working on menu plans and debating if we should do dairy first or wheat. They both seem daunting to me now and will require lists. Suggestions welcome.
• My knee is feeling a little better today - I actually took the stairs up normally. Taking the stairs up one at a time is so much more of a drag then taking them one a time coming down. 
• time to pack the kids backpacks.....
• be good

Day 24: A Smile

It's been a day. I'm hoping to sleep well tonight. 

full speed ahead

Life has been busier than usual lately. Our calendar is full. Add to that my husband's crazier than ever overtime and we're taking each day one little moment at a time, doing our best to make it from one day to the next while hoping we don't drop too many balls along the way. 

Last night we slotted for working on Brian's Pinewood Derby car. While the event is still ten days away, a glance at the calendar shared that there are actually only 2 or 3 nights left to work on it. 

Brian's 7th birthday is on Saturday, but we'll take him out to dinner tonight because it's simply not possible to squeeze it in over the weekend.  Brian wants Red Robin.  I can't even remember the last time (if ever) we went out to dinner at a restaurant as a whole family, so it should be a hoot. Brian's choosing Red Robin quite likely because it's the only sit-down restaurant that he's ever been to, he doesn't know his options. It's just not something that we do.  By chance, I took the youngest to the Asian Fusion Buffet last week and he held up the napkin by his plate and with big eyes said, "I get my own napkin?" 

Yep, tonight should be a hoot.

This morning I have to run for some cupcake ingredients and start on the cupcakes Brian will bring to school tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I'll share some scrappy things, the cupcakes I made - providing they turn out, and most likely some funny tidbits from dinner. 

Happy Thursday! 

 

 

hello weekend!

The boys were blowing bubbles in the backyard after school yesterday. I think that was a February first for us. We expect to be having snowball fights at Easter - of course, That one we've done before. 

Today?

Today I'm hoping to get some sewing done. I've pulled out the 6 foot folding table again and have a few projects lined up. What I seem to be lacking lately is motivation. I've noticed I'm not the only draggy one this week, so I blame the weather. 

After getting some sewing done, I'm also hoping to make a few cards, and I need to run a few errands and then sit down and really try and figure out what's the best possible way to run my Sunday in my husband's absence.  While we're making hay while the sun shines, and we're grateful that he's working - it goes without saying that some days will be trickier than others.  In the grand scheme of things, it's not something to get overly stressed about.  But it also goes witout saying that the planner in me will lay out all the possible scenarios, and then figure out if there are any that I haven't thought of yet. 

I fill my time.  *wink* 

eta:  within 2 minutes of me posting this blog, one kid slammed his knee into the table so hard, we had blood, and another one (the one I was going errand running with today) came downstairs announcing that she has diarrhea.  Happy Saturday! 

lazy days of winter

We want snow. 

Two new smiles headed up the hill

A four day weekend seems long when we've completely altered two of the smiles in this house during that time. 

Brian is going up the hill with a gap, and Wendy got her braces yesterday morning. She's adjusting. He's giddy that it only took the tooth fairy two nights to show up. It's been much longer for other teeth. 

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• Today is so rainy, gloomy and dark that going back to bed sounds like a good option
• or creating all day.
• I tallied up my total biking miles last night and I'm at 1059.63 - plus the 6 I biked this morning. That puts me 100 miles this side of Wyoming and still over a 1000 miles to go until I get to Oregon. I'll get there. Those darn 5K trainings totally botched my biking schedule last year.  *wink*
• yesterday we had chicken noodle soup for dinner. Today it's chili.  The newly in braces kid gets to plan the menu for the week
• We have no snow. Again. This winter blows. 
• oh hey - just checked the weather to see if we had any snow coming in the next 10 days and it says that today's rain is going to turn into 2.6 inches of snow! 
• Now I'm smiling
• A couple days ago I posted about a sale - today is the last day of that sale. Don't miss out! 
• Time for me to get it in gear.....

Happy Tuesday! 

 

Happy Sunday!

Happy Friday!

Random jumbled thoughts from the ol' noggin: 

• Every day I think that surely that tooth will fall out Today! But it hangs in there. Our kids prefer the dangle until it drops method of tooth losing. 
• Money can't buy happiness, but making it to the payday and then getting an overtime check sure does make me grin. 
• My husband finished his work in Arizona yesterday, and is spending today on a sight seeing road trip to Sedona. I'm hoping he takes pictures.
• He gets home tomorrow evening. My goal when he's gone for a week like this is to make sure there aren't any leftovers in the fridge that were there when he left. I do aim high. 
• I saw this new Retro Kitchen fabric on Pinterest yesterday and I had four yards ordered within 15 minutes. They were out of a lot of it already - so I'll be stalking for more, but I ordered enough to make a new valance for our doorwall. *pumps fist*
• I'm very disappointed in our winter. 
• I'm not ready to put my 6 foot table away yet. Still so much I want to get done. 
• We have two three day weekends in a row. Is that fair?
• My kids aren't excited about this Monday off. Wendy is getting her braces, and Allan has to babysit. Hey, that's life. 
• The photo lady at Costco is going to know me by name by the end of the year if I keep ordering my Project LIfe photos weekly. Today I paid her the $1.10 I owed her in quarters and change. 
• I wear my new glasses all the time now, it's actually hard to focus now when I take them off. But I'm still getting used to them. They get dirty so fast!
• 13 days without chocolate!
• Someone asked how I like our new percolator.  I do like it, but I can't quite get used to the fact that it doesn't beep when the coffee is ready. 

Happy Friday!