April 2007 Archives

It's the eyes - too funny!

Round and round the Carter goes, she's spins in cute circles!  The Carter laughed at all the fun, POP! Goes the Carter!!!

WILD CHILD!  

I love shopping for furniture!  I think in a previous life, I was an interior decorator!  Love it!

Carter and I went looking - we were just looking for ideas for the new house ... and it kept us out of Daddy's hair!  We came across some cool stuff, like the oval sofas below.  However, I don't need to take out another loan for furniture!  I know I'm not as active in our finances as I should be, making me monetarily naive, but come on: $1500 for an arm chair?!?  That Carter will probably spill red Kool-Aid on???  Or that Andy will mess Gushers all over?!?  I think not!  Whatever - I'll go back to the World Market and get the set for under a grand!  And spend the extra I saved on Kool-Aid and Gushers!

It might be $1,500, but it's velvety, comfty and cute!  And I'm sure Andy hates it!  Ahhh ... home furnishing is such a compromise!

After Carter had a nap, I had a break, and Andy had a shower, we decided to treat Daddy to dinner (Cazador's, of course!!) for his hard day's work!  Our house looks like one of those old beater car with multi-colored panels!  

On our way out the door, we had to stop and smell the flowers!

"Pretties!"

We had to run to Home Depot for some home repair items.  Since it's not the most exciting place on the planet for Carter and I, we make our own fun!

Yes, I originally put the bucket on her head, but she insisted on putting it back on!

Total CHEESER, through and through!!!

Carter and I lathered up with the Coppertone and headed to the Blank Park Zoo today.  Andy was tearing down beat up siding and replacing it with new pieces, and the zoo sounded like way more fun!  We got there bright and early and enjoyed all the sights!  Carter was very interested in the fish this time!  Pretty cool!  And, we ended our day with lunch at "Acky's," which is Carter-speak for McDonald's!  What a great day!

Taking care of our baby-fine, porcelain Ginger-skin!

It's not walking the plank, but Carter did brave the rope bridge!

Another Mommy thought we were "too cute" and offered to take our picture in the butterfly garden.  Who was I to turn her down?!?

Carter and the Croc, officially seeing "eye to eye!"

Busy, packed, or totally empty, the PARK is the BEST place in the WORLD!

Mounting stairs completely on her own!

This is "that ornery look" I'm talking about!  I love it!

Peek-a-Boo!

"I love sliding with my Daddy!"

"Me and Mommy, being silly!"

 It's the little things like an evening of happiness that make parenting perfect!

Breen beanies + 'nana's = Happy Baby!

Giddy Up, Daddy-Pony!  Giddy Up!

Every bath night, Andy gets Carter ready for her bath.  She can take her own clothes off now and she'll put them in her room.  She returns to Andy, he takes off her diaper, and she comes running into the kitchen to give me my "naked hug."  Too cute!!!

I always said I can't wait until she's old enough to do chores!!!

She only gets to do the silverware, but she sure does enjoy helping with dishes!!!

It does, however, require a bit of reorganization!

For those of you who aren't aware, Andy, Carter and I are planning on building a home soon.  We've always had ideas in mind (I refuse to move into a new home that doesn't have an island!), and always said, "some day."  After patience (I know!  Me?  Patient?!?), our "some day" is quickly approaching.

We met with Chad Stutzman this afternoon (www.stutzmanbuilders.com).  He used to work with Andy at Principal, but quit to do construction full time.  He'd sent us some ideas and options, and we talked about options and our preferences.  He quoted us a price, and told us to go home and think of colors (COLORS!!!), and come back next week to get things underway.

We're thinking of a two-story home with a three-car garage.  It has one "open-aired" kitchen/dinette/cozy area that leads into a living room.  And we're thinking of making the formal dining room Carter's playroom!  Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a walk-in closet in our room.  

I can barely stand myself!  I can't wait for next week!  Let's get this thing going!!!

Our lot, or the one we love.  Note: it backs to a field and you can see no other house or existing building!  And Target is 8 miles away!

Bring on the selling!!!
Know anyone interested in a "cute and cozy" 1974 split-level foyer on 9th street???

Carter doesn't have to have one particular item, but she loves, loves, loves her blankies!  Especially her special "Grammy" blankies!

SWEET is RIGHT!

Andy had a dozen or so indoor projects that needed to be done - without the help of Carter!  So Carter and I visited Kelsey and the Tanger Outlet Mall today!

We were shopping for nothing in particular, which always means we came home with lots of stuff we didn't need!  I found some cute summery tops, and we totally scored on "buy one, get one free" items for Carter!  The boys got adorable sandals, and Andy even got a couple new polo's for work.

We love shopping!

The 2008 US Olympic Shopping Team prepares for the day's outing

Let's shop!!!

Thank goodness for spring-time weather!  Flowers and trees, wagon rides, playing outside ... heck, it's early enough in the season that I enjoy mowing! 

What a cute mug!

"Bi-Bur" is totally going outside with us - he's a bird, duh, he belongs outside!

What a couple of sweetie's!

Picking "dandy-flowers" is now "Chalupa weed control!"

Coutney spent last Saturday night with us while Brian and Anna were away at a wedding in northern Iowa.  Of course  it was a real treat for this Grandpa and Grandma!

Courtney and her "Dora" doll

The shredded white "Easter" grass was great fun!

Give Courtney a wet cloth and she will scrub your kitchen clean!

Our cell phone contract is finally up, and we purchased new phones this evening!

If you remember back to October, Miss Carter-Cutie-Pants threw mine in the clothes basket, and I unknowingly tossed the clothes in the washer.  I guess it's what I get for mocking the "water damage warranty!"

Me and Carts-Magoo, waiting on Daddy to go to the store!

She didn't wait patiently, but she did make a new friend at US Cellular!  

This is my schnazzy new Razor (YEAH!), and yes, I got the $5.99/month water damage warranty this time!!!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear ... you know how it goes! 

And, so does Carter!  She knows every Teddy Bear move!

She's got it all: the brains, the beauty, the bright smile!  She's aces to us!!!

We went out to dinner this evening with Rory and Andy.  Per usual, Chili's screwed up (Ankeny's Chili's sucks!), and we had some time to kill.  So we went to Target, then met the boys and hung out.

And, we learned, life really is all about Carter!

And we wouldn't change that for anything!!! 

Yeah, I'm a big deal, I know!

Andy, Andy, and Carter playing hand stack ... making Carter the center of attention, just what she loves most!

Who knew there were brown cows that made brown milk?!?

"Who knew and why didn't they tell me?!?"

And today was supposed to be bad?!? 

It was an awesome day!!!

The bad phone call I expected from a parent never came, I got to play games with my 3rd and 4th period kids, my 5th period collaborative math kids are mostly passing (4 outta 5 ain't bad!!!) and my next year's group is dwindling by the minute!

Carter helped picked up after the art project at the daycare.

Andy is 20/20 in one eye, 20/30 in the other and both eyes are healthy.

Does it get better?!?

Oh yes!

The Kenny Chesney 2007 Flip Flop Summer Tour hit tonight!

Kelsey came up (woo hoo!) and we went to dinner.  We went to Chili's but decided we weren't waiting and went to Cazador's (that's probably the worst thing that happened all day!!!).  We filled up on chips, queso, salsa and girl talk.  Then we ventured to Wells Fargo, where there was the "Sexy Tractor" declaring that Kenny was in town!

Pat Green opened, and it was wonderful.  He sings this "Baby Doll" song that was huge when I was pregnant, and I remember sitting at stop lights, 8 months pregnant and emotional, crying over the lyrics!  

Then Sugarland came out, with there weird carnival vibe, but it was awesome!  I always think of Mackenzie when I hear them!  They were fun, and crazy, and totally deep-south!  They sing "Twice the Speed of Life," and the chorus says something about if she's half as wild and free as I am, then I don't want to miss a single night.  That made me misty also.

Then came Kenny, with the pirate theme!  Hot!  It was loud, wild, and fun!  We belted out songs like we were "Big Stars" (ahh cha cha) and danced the entire time.  His opening song was "Beer in Mexico," which is the song that has made me decide I'm spending my 30th birthday in Mexico (amid my upcoming mid-life crisis!!).  He also had the little girl song - "she smiles back at him, holding that teddy bear ... blue eyes and mounds of curls ... and there goes his life ..."  I know, I'm a mess.  And then there was the tractor song, that I can never handle calmly!

It was, as always, a fantastic time!  It was fabulous to get to spend an evening with my sista and have a ball!  

Who's scare of superstitions, anyway?!? 

At the Cazador, we had great food and got caught up on everything.  Per usual, we fought about the check, but settled it over the gum balls on the way out.  We totally scored:  we got 4, instead of the norm 2, for a quarter!  That pretty much set my tone for the night!!!

Kelly & Kelsey - Playboys of the Southwest ;)

Opener Pat Green
My favorite Pat Green song - Baby Doll
When you close your eyes, you hear the music playing
You can see her dancing underneath the spotlight.
When she was a younger girl - a pretty heart in a tainted world
Not sure who you wanna be
Your daddy's little drama queen
I know that when you find yourself
You'll be more than just a baby doll.

Sugarland, who I love!
My favorite Sugarland song is rough ...
#1 - Baby Girl
"Remember me in ribbons and pearls.
I still love you more than anything in the world,
Love, your Baby Girl."
I cry every time!

And #2 - Speed of Life
"Now our oldest girl is almost grown,
And she's got a boyfriend of her own.
I heard her sneakin' out with him last night
And if she's anything like me
She's desperate to be wild and free ..."

And my boyfriend, with short-man's disease, is still tops on the list!
There really are too many to even start with, but I do love the one about the
"Juggling, struggling, closing big deal.  Walking backwards in high heels ..." and
"Every not and then, I'm right up on the edge, dangling my toes out over the edge.  I just thank God you're here ..." and
"Sun-tanned toes, tickling the sand ..." and
"Want a towel on a chair in the sand by the sea, Wanna look thru my shades and see you there with me ..." and
"With our rock and roll t-shirts and our typically bad attitude ..." and
"He didn't reach around for the whiskey, didn't pour me a beer, his blue kinda went misty, said 'You can't find that here'..."
but my absolute favorite, makes me jump and scream and yell every word to is the dumbest song on the planet .. and I love it!

"She thinks my tractor's sexy , it really turns her on
She's always staring at me , while I'm chuggin along
She likes the way it's pullin' while we're tillin' up the land
She's even kind of crazy 'bout my farmer's tan
She's the only one who really understands what gets me
She thinks my tractor's sexy "

Go ... go buy your Flip Flop Summer Concert tickets! 
I'll go with you!!!

Where else is this so great?!?  

Pizza - check!
  Beverages - check!
Best seat in the house - totally CHECK!

Oh yeah ... one of these two friends looks please, do he not?!?

"Me and My Gang!"

First the DVR, now this!  Thank you, TiVo!  You are wonderful!

The plastic air-pillow secured a "free gift" from TiVo.  To Carter, it was the free gift!

Kelsey's MySpace quote says something witty about the only way we know educated people still exist is thanks to the bookstore (I completely massacred that quote, but you get it!).  We discussed homophones, idioms, and puns today at school, and we created some silly visual representations of the things we say.  See - there are intelligent people around!  

"Raining cats and dogs"                  "Get a life" (my 2nd favorite!)

"I could eat a horse"                  And, my favorite, "Devil Eggs!"  Ahh cha cha!

After unpacking all of our junk and our Easter goodies, Carter and I snuggled and horsed around.  This kid loves nothing more than being wrestled with!  

Happy gingers!

Later in the day, we went to Gama and Didi Chalupa's for Easter.  After naps and snacks, Carter colored another stash of eggs.  By now, she was a pro, and created some beautiful, multi-colored masterpiece eggs! 

Shortly after egg coloring, Uncle Corey and Gama hide some special Easter eggs for the girls to find.  They were a bit confused at first about what they were looking for.  They both found eggs and returned them to the basket.  Courtney brought two back and Carter returned one, but then wanted to take hers and Courtney's three back out instead of hunting down more!  But they're both geniuses, and soon figured out the secret of the Easter Egg Hunt!  They both received some wonderful things in their many Easter baskets - floral, adorable spring dresses, great books, treats, piggy bank money and toys.  It was a great Easter!

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter supper (who knew you could put water chestnuts in green bean casserole?!?  It's a casserole revolution, and mine will never be the same!) with the family, and then (why?!?) played a "rousing" game of Phase 10 later.  From this point on, I swear I'll never play Phase 10 again!  I'll stick to my crappy Poker face!

Hopefully you're Easter or Easters were as great as ours!  

"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket!"  Unless it's your new dying method!

Prior to the egg hunt, Carter wasn't sure if Cousin Courtney was an alley or enemy!!!

But the Partners in Crime soon worked together to find all of the hidden Easter Eggs!

Hide, seek and return to the basket, while we all looked and "awww!"ed over the two cutest, most wonderful girls in the world!

Courtney, Bunny, and Carter inventory their Easter basket goodies!

DOUBLE TROUBLE!  

Today was an experience.  Not one that I had expected, but an experience to say the least!  Grammy, Poppy, Carter and I colored our first Easter eggs - ever!

I expected that Carter would quickly swipe at cups of dye, spilling everything everywhere or that she'd toss drippy eggs on the floor and try to drink the vinegar-water-dye mixture.  Surprisingly, she did great!

She sat with me, and then we Grammy.  She initially watched as we'd put an egg in the dye with the little dipper.  She tried the dipper, then lost interest and moved to dying with her hand - or simply dying her hand!  She would grab, calmly and peacefully doing so, the eggs from the dye and then "tap" them dry on the paper towel.  She'd move them from color to color, making really cool tye-dye'd looking eggs.  She'd giggle, ponder and look at her yucky hand (I couldn't help but think how much she looked like Elphaba, from "Wicked," the Wicked Witch of the West, from the musical we drove to Chicago to see a few weeks ago!).

She did wonderfully and we all had a ball with her!  

Good Bunny!

Table prepped - check
All hands on deck - check
Let's color eggs!

Such delicate concentration ... to begin with!  By the end, she was pounding the eggs on the paper to dry them!

Look at that furrowed brow of contention! 

"Why am I green?!?"

"Who cares why I'm green!  This is great!"

Andy, Carter, and I are heading home for Easter weekend.  Friday and Saturday, we'll be spending time with Grammmm and Poppy in Brighton, and then Saturday afternoon and Sunday we'll be at Gama and Didi Chalupa's.  Look out Easter eggs, you will be colored, exiled and hidden, and hunted down!

Happy Easter!   

MAD BABY, visiting the Easter Bunny                FUNNY BUNNY, having her own party!

The time has come.  It's the moment that, as a parent, you dread and hope never arrives.

Carter loves a boy.

Stephanie Alexander sent me this incriminating photo from last weekend's dinner at Andy's.  Carter hearts Isaac, and Isaac hearts her, too!

Won't this be a great piece of blackmail in 15 - 17 years?!?

When Andy wears them, it's to protect his still-recovering eyes.  When Carter wears them, it's for the full coolness factor!

Totally awesome, dudes! 

I am too hot to handle!
Andy update: DOING WELL! 

The Mom and Daughter who shop together, stay together!

"Look at all our cool buys!!!"  

Carter has been eating solids foods for over a year now, and has "mastered" utensils for quite some time.  But, by the looks of it, you'd think she was a newbie!

Shy spaghetti-pie!

Silly Face!  Gross Face!!

Yeah ... the bath makes me happy as well!  Check out our cool new find - Elmo Bath Fizzers, in red, blue and yellow!  Cool!