May 2008 Archives

After a warm day out on the golf course, playing and watching the pro's, I thought I'd be a good Mama and fill the pool.  I figured after a long nap, it'd be warm enough.  It wasn't, so I made trip after trip from the sink to the pool with hot water.  It still must not have been warm enough; Carter wouldn't get in any deeper than her little ankles.  And, even when she did get in, she'd get right back out and dry herself off!

... thinkin' about getting in ...

... then again ... maybe not!

She was much happier running around and wrapping up in her towel!  Cheeser!!!

Andy's been volunteering for the Principal Charity Golf Classic.  He was one of the marshal's along the 17th green.  I know - too bad he didn't get to be one of the guys with the QUIET sign!  How cool is that?!

Marshal of the 17th green.  He means business!

SCARED and HAPPY to go see golfing

Welcome to the Principal Golf Classic, pro day.  We got to see Jay Haas (I think) and the backs of some others guys who, I guess, are a pretty big deal!

It was a gorgeous day, the course was beautiful, and Carter and I had a ball!

Playing on the 18th green

Fore!

Andy and I have taken Carter on tricycle rides while skating.  She's always been fascinated by our skates, so I got her a pair of her own.  Princesses, of course!

We geared up with pads and a helmet (nerdy, but safety first!), and donned the skates.  It was completely wobbly and totally fun!  Carter did an awful job, but she had a ball attempting to skate.  We "skated" - mostly dragging her! - to the mailbox.  By the end of the adventure, she was more stable, and she was able to recover from a slip.  But she's not going to be an Olympic skater any time soon!

"Look!  I'm skating!"

After many giggle-filled wipe outs, Daddy carried her back home.  She's mostly boo-boo free, but she's got two tiny blisters from her new skates.  Yes, they require band-aids.  

Smile!

Okay, let's face it: Carter's a Drama Queen.  A Diva.  A lover of the limelight! 

TaDa!  With sequins and feathers, she's ready to take the stage!

It was just too cute to not add to the blog!

How hot is it???

Carter, Miss I Can't Stay Still Longer Than 11 Seconds, stripped herself down and called dibs on the slider, aka "the wind tunnel."

Bring on the Summer!

IT's HOT!

No, I don't condone feeding your toddler dog food.  But I do support puppy chow!

I suppose it really wasn't fair to give her the peanut butter to "pour."  Everything she's ever poured actually pours!  The look on her face says it all: peanut butter doesn't pour!

Adding the "Hexagon Crisps" to our bag

The traditional taste test ...

... and the messy mug!

Silly!  The cereal goes in the bag!  Not the cook!

If the Durango could talk, it would be calling DHS and blaming Andy for neglect!  So, today, we washed, waxed, vacuumed, cleaned carpets and even washed windows!  

Classy! 

Yeah, let's teach her to use the hose!  Good idea!

"Let's spray Mommy!"  .. and you're both toast!

"I scrub the bottom!"  It is perfect height!!!

I agree: fettuccine is very tasty, but I don't know that I would go so far as using both spoon and fork and fingers to poke it in! 

But, to each, his own!

It's so good!

The garden's planted, the flowers are blooming, and the trees are here!

Andy picked out a flowering pear for the front yard and red and yellow maples for the back.  I know they're just trees, but it feels much more cozy now! 

SO CUTE!

1 .. 2 .. 3 .. LIFT!

Carter and Andy make the tree feel at home.  Check out their pensive faces!  

The red and yellow maples in the backyard

So here is our newly renovated swing set!  With the breezy days we've had, it's taken many a coat of primer and paint, but it's ready for lots of fun summer days of play!  And it's been tested and tried by an extremely rambunctious toddler! 

A cute and very excited Carter

Before: It's a great swing set, but we were worried that the rain might cause the rust to grow and we've had to get rid of it.  Carter would be livid!

After: I pained the metal tan, like the house, and the seats hunter green and candy pink.  It's fun but still neutral.  The best part is that it's protected from rust and easy to clean up when it gets dirty!  And Carter loves it!

This evening, we had a friendly get together, joining Illinois through the Metro!

Laura and Olivia are visiting from Illinois, and they (and one tasty cake!) came to visit.  Our beloved Isaac and Stephanie came from Newton (with yummy candy sushi!), and Andy and Rory, pizza chefs, came, too.  

No, I'm not just all about the food.  But it was delicious!

Olivia (3 years), Carter (2 1/2 years) and Isaac (2 years) ran and played and had a ball while the adults made pizza and played catch up.  Isn't it terrible that we don't all get together more often?!?

It was a wonderful evening, one we'll have to do again soon!  Thanks for coming over, and for cooking for us, guys!  We had a great time!!

Andy and his helpers made little pizzas for the kids.  Each got to custom order and help!

Stephanie, Olivia, Isaac and Andy watch, eagerly awaiting homemade pizza

MOVE and let Chef Andy work his pizza piazza! 

After pizza, the kiddo's ran .. and ran .. and ran.  Olivia and Carter held hands and fled from a chasing Isaac.  Did you ever notice that poor Isaac always seems to be chasing Carter?!?

Our beloved and very tired sweeties: Isaac, Olivia and Carter

Saturday morning, Andy, Rory, Carter and I went to the Farmer's Market (aka "Old McDonald's Farmer's Market" according to Carter).  We got lots of yummy plants for our garden.

Sunday, we planted all of our goodies.  "What's that?" asked Carter.  "This is what you'll be eating when the zombies take over," said Andy.  "Oh," answered Carter!

So ... how long until we're eating maters?  And has anyone had any luck finding that Reese's plant??? 

Rory and Carter looks for the perfect peppers

The wonderful but very crowded Des Moines Farmer's Market.

Mother's Day, part 2.  Carter and I got our flowers, and Andy, Carter and I spent the morning outside.

That's my Sweet Girl!

 Carter and I planted my Mother's Day flowers before we jumped into gardening

Andy and Rory plot out the tomatoes, peppers, green beans, radishes, carrots,  lettuce and spinach.

Carter works on her own little garden ...

... and Andy oversees the work!

Andy and I celebrated our anniversary Friday night.  But I think that our anniversary is really a celebration of more than just the day we were married.  It's a time to be thankful and celebrate all that we have, like our happy and healthy family!  So we spent the afternoon at the Blank Park Zoo, enjoying all things Chalupa!

Carter, very excited to be at the zoo!

She loved the otters!

"Nemo has done so much for the animal kingdom!" Andy said when Carter screamed at "Nemo" and ran to the fish tank!

Celebrating Chalupa's!

Carter crosses the bridge

Smile!

What a super day with my amazing family!

May 17th, 2008 officially makes the 5 year point for Andy and I!   That's 1825 days, or 43,800 hours, or 2,628,000 seconds of marriage.  Ooo-ee-vay!

As long as that sounds, it's been wonderful!  We both agreed: things would definitely not be the same, or near as much fun, had we taken this walk with anyone else.  There have been some bumps and detours along the road, but our current destination is wonderful.  I honestly don't think I'd have changed a single thing in the past five year.

... well ... maybe I'd have gone to see KISS open for Aerosmith ... 

To celebrate, Andy and Rory watched Carter while Andy and I went downtown to Dos Rios Mexican restaurant.  It was beautiful out, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend the evening anywhere else with anybody else!  We ordered a pitcher of margarita's and guacamole - it doesn't get any better than that!!

My tasty margarita and my rad sunburn! 

HAPPY 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! 
Hopefully, then next 5 will be just as much fun!!

We are planting a garden.

Never mind the fact that me purchasing a plant is like a death sentence.  And Andy and Rory may be moving super-far away and won't be much help (whatever, Beaverdale is far).

We are gardeners.

Rory and I, with the help of Carter Kay, broke up the ground in the backyard for our spot.  When we were nearly finished, Andy 2 came to help (why didn't I think of that?!!).  Rory and Andy tilled our "little" patch, which is  not mostly dead, yet.  We've got plenty of space for greeny beanies, carrots, peas, egg plant, tomatoes, peppers and onions!  Yummy!  Do Reese's grow on vines?  I guess that's something to look for when we go to the Farmer's Market Saturday for plants!  Wish us luck!

Andy and Rory talk gardening 

Andy mans the tiller while Rory, Carter and I break up the ground.  And, no, I'm not about to chop of Carter's little fingers with my shovel!

WE LOVE THE SWING SET!!!

Poppy and Grandma brought it up last weekend, and we've been on it about every evening!  It's going through a little "renovation" at the moment (just wait for the grand reveal), so I'm not showing you much (that's why I haven't posted photos!).  Just enough to show your the adventurous smile on Carter's face as she yelled, "Higher, Mommy!  Push me higher!"

We LOVE the SLIDE!

We LOVE the SWING!

For all of those hard-working mother's, who go and go with a smile, who never complain despite some bumps in the road, all of you who love whole-heartedly, even through the tantrums and husband moment, remember that we appreciate you.  Even if we don't say (or make you buy your own Mother's Day breakfast!), right Andy???

In the spirit of our Mother's Day tradition, we planted flowers (that I bought at Menard's) to put on our new deck!  Carter helped, and they look great and we had fun!

It wasn't the best Mother's Day, but it was Mother's Day.  It's not just about one single day.  It's about the moments in life that warm your heart, make you proud, sad, silly and curious, the times that make you laugh out load, and all of those discrete moments that prove your truly loved.  So, really, happy being a mom, Mom's.  We love you!!!

There may not have been a card, but she still loves me!!

Naughty with our flowers

THIS is Mother's Day, right here!

Zach, Stephanie and Isaac made the soggy afternoon trip up from Newton for a Science Center play date.  Honestly, we could have saved our admission fee and just ran around the lobby!  As far as Isaac and Carter were concerned, just being together was enough (how sweet is that?!?).   We explored the world of motion, stars and toddler land, and then had a very kid-friendly dinner: Spaghetti Works.  Ironically, spaghetti was not the hit of the night.  It was chocolate pudding!  How can you argue with chocolate pudding???

Thanks for coming up to visit, guys!  Unfortunately, being in different (but closer than Davenport!) towns and busy schedules, we don't get to have these fun play dates/catch up days.  But with summer, we'll have to be better!! 

"Look!  I have a bubble!"

So ... technically ... does this soapy mess replace bath night???

They always did enjoy this thing!

Carter likes to talk to the animals!  Dr. Doo-Carter!

All I heard on the ride home was, "Where Isaac go?" "I love Isaac!" "Isaac is a good friend!" "Mommy! I love Isaac!" 

And Zach and Stephanie say this boy doesn't eat!  Carter already has him eating out of her hands!  Literally!

I agree: Spaghetti Works is so yummy I could lick the plate, too!

Zach, Stephanie, Isaac, me and Carter.  THANKS for coming up and spending the afternoon with us!  

And ... just for a nostalgic glance back ... our last Alexander/Chalupa trip to the Science Center looked something like this (September 2006):

Carter was trying to toddle walk and Isaac was still checking it all out, but they loved each other!

At 13 months and 8 months (a year and a half earlier!), they liked that weird golf ball spinny thing, too!  

This week was Teacher Appreciation (and boy, with some of the crap that went down this week, I truly feel "appreciated!").  As a thanks to our building, our administration got everyone I-Cubs tickets.  They were free, we were feeling brave, so we took Carter!

She had a ball!  Everyone in our section had heard all of my Carter stories, and they loved her!  She got to play with our associate and her boyfriend, she got cotton candy, pop and nacho's, she played with a co-teacher's daughter, there were fireworks ... and she even kinda enjoyed the game!

Go Cubbies! 

Vaugh, Carter and Angie, enjoying cotton candy!

The view from Carter's eyes

"I like baseball, Mommy!"

Not Wrigley Field nachos, but they'll do!

Top of the 9th, 0 - 4, two outs, but hey, no pressure, right?!?

Loyal Cubs fans

Go Cubbies!

Andy's already proved two things:

A) He can be our Handy Andy, like when he built the deck at the old house.

B) He can also be a bit on the ... sluggish side.  Remember that it took him a year and a half to build the afore mentioned deck?!

Taking these two things into account, we had a builder come out and build our deck.  The job took them three days, start to finish; the same job would have taken Andy .. oh .. about two year!  We're not laughing at your, we're laughing with you.  Oh wait .. you're not laughing ..

Carter watched the final steps of installation, which I'm sure made the guys wholly at ease!  We put the deck furniture back together, brought the toys to the yard, and Poppy brought up the swing set!  Now, it it'd just be sunny, we'd have our own little paradise!  

No pressure, really!

THE DECK!  It's monsterous!  And we LOVE it!

Done!  Ready for a sunshiny get-together!

This is the story of a lplain ol' white cake ... 

Jazzed up with some neat food coloring, a creative Grandma and an ornery Carter

"Whoosh" and "Wizz" all the color around

"Around" not "in your mouth!"

And what would a cake be without frosting?

A frosted Carter!

Oh ... that looks so good!

I have to admit: I'm a bad mom.  We did not do May Baskets, and I'm an awful parent.  But, we did make a from-the-heart thank you for a friend who did remember! 

We got all sorts of creative and finger painted!  It was really a dribbly, squiggly mess, but it was fun!

A masterpiece!