Walking stockings

3 happy kids

they were all so excited to get into the new bunk bed. The youngest one less excited when I ripped her out of the bed to put her in her crib.

Betty right now

Thats 2 lollipops, one bag of m&ms.

Went shopping on Halloween.

asherism

asher wanted something to complain about on sunday, so he complained that it hurt when I was putting product in his hair. He normally loves to have his hair styled, so I tried to cheer him up by showing him the results in the mirror. He just stuck his lip out and said "I look like a meerkat.". I tried forcing it into a bit of a mohawk shape and he cheered up enough to pose for this photo.

Ryans Birthday

Ryan had a birthday last week and we squeezed in a quick birthday celebration after soccer practice. The best part, aside from our happiness that ryan made it to 36, was that Ryan and I ate peach-raspberry pie for the next 4 days and the kids never asked for any after that first night.

Ava is a Terrific Kid

I went to an assembly at Ava's school today because she was named the Terrific Kid for her class in October. they called each kid up and read all the nice things their teachers wrote about them. When it was Ava's turn I could see that she was sucking in her cheeks and biting them to keep herself from smiling.  I wish I had gotten a picture of it. She is such a funny girl! She is definitely terrific and she tries her hardest to have perfect behavior at school. Ava is kind and helpful and she is a great listener. As much as she tried not to show it, Ava was thrilled to be the first Terrific Kid of the year!

Here she is with her bumper sticker and finally, an excuse to smile!

Turtle Pond

One of our favorite spots in our neigborhood

Takin'care of chickens

We have been caring for our neighbors chickens for the past week. The kids, especially Betty, have been loving the it. almost every time we go Betty calls out to the chickens with a loud "Hi-lo chishens!" at the beginning and she usually refuses to leave at the end.

chickens are shifty little critters, with their beady little eyes and jerky movements. we watched one find a worm yesterday, and then she trotted frantically around this tiny pen while the others chased her. then another chicken nabbed the worm from chicken #1 and tried to eat and run away from the others at the same time. the only chicken who did not get the worm was sweet, fluffy, tiny Suzie. suzie is a bantam and her ggs are so cute the kids forbid me from eating them.

Here is asher feeding them peices of grass. yesterday a chicken pecked his finger and Asher said "that is how they show their yuv!" (We are hanging onto ashers speech impediment until it stops being adorable)

we have a first-timer here

I went up to the attic tonight and handed the potty down to Ryan. by the time I got myself out of the attic Betty had peed in the potty. Yay for Betty!

"Smile, Betty!"

Betty

It started out innocently enough

Juliet wanted to hold the "baby" Betty,
It was bound to end this way

Bathroom stripped down

There used to be a shower here

Bathroom destruction has begun

Ryan m is destroyong our bathroom. Though we will miss some of our old bathroom, I am hoping I can replicate the previous owner's  eye for detail. Let's take a look. First up, the vanity for ants. It really coordinated with our extra slim and short  shower door opening, which I did not get a pic of.

Next, the lighting fixture picture, in which  you can also see part of the wallpapered medicine cabinet (or can you? They are so cleverly camoflauged).

I can't say the last item was intended by the original owners, exactly, the process was probably more organic than that. This is a photo of the slimy festering cracks that surround our sink drain. Also note the wallpaper border attached to the mirror, because one should never miss a wallpaper border opportunity.

First days of school

The first day Ava was apprehensive but excited and when our neighbor came to pick her up she bounced right into the car. The second day it took me 90 mins to get her ready because all she would do was lay around and moan "I don't want to go to school" and fight me if I tried to put clothes on her. I was sad that the drama started so early in the year, but today she went with only a few protests.  At least she has her glittery shoes to keep her happy.

New fringe

I made these bangs as thick as possible but she still as Michael Bolton hair when its not in a ponytail.

Teef

Thank you, Betty, for clocking Ava with a tube of wrapping paper.

Hallelujah, the tooth is gone!

This is killing me.

Snaggle tooth

Ava showed me her loose tooth one day in May. Later that day, she fell on some gravel and hit her face and one loose tooth became two very loose teeth. I have seen her baby a loose tooth before, never wiggling it and barely allowing it to be brushed but I still thought she would end up losing at least one of the teeth before school was out for summer. Here are the teeth today.

The teeth are practically floating and they now change shape on a daily basis. at one point she had a huge gap on one side which caused people to ask her if she lost a tooth. Now one is wonky forward and downward and one is wonky back. My question now is will se still have them when she starts school again in 3 weeks?

Surprise ambush

New orthotic sandals

Ry says I look like a Jersey Shore grandma.

Fauxhawk

It's not my first choice in haircuts for my son but Asher is SO excited.  Contrary to his original theory, they did not take the hair they cut off of the sides and pile it up in the middle of his head. The ladies at great clips know what they are doing!

Hooray for summer!

I can't believe it's already July! Here are some pics from the last couple of days...Ryan mowing with the kids (this is the part where he ran out of gas) and the peaches I canned with our dear neighbor, Melanie. It was our first foray into canning and it was a success. Did it save us money? No. Time? We spent a lot of it. But we had fun and these are tasty peaches.  wish I had the beach pics ready to share-maybe next time!

kitchen before pics

This is our kitchen before remodel, which is not as bad as mid-remodel. It just got worse with every layer of vinyl we removed.

(almost) Finished Kitchen!

We (almost) finished our kitchen weeks or maybe months ago. Sorry for not posting sooner. I'd post when it's actually finished, but I don't know when we (ryan) will get back to the odds and ends. Who needs outlet covers anyway? just kidding, mom.

For Context purposes, here I am standing in the family room looking at the kitchen. Previously, the wall with the mirror continued, closing the kitchen off.

I put the kids to bed 30 mins ago

and just as I was about to threaten to turn off the hall light if I heard another word, I heard a very loud whisper from Asher "I yike you, Mom."