My favorite price

FREE!
We have been talking about getting Kara a play kitchen for her upcoming birthday and have been shopping around, trying to decide which one to get. There is such a wide range of styles and prices! Well earlier this week we were visiting our friends Sam and Sarah who had a SUPER cute play kitchen for her kiddos and when I asked her where she got it she asked if we wanted it because she's been trying to give it away for months. One problem, getting it home... It should fit in the CRV right? Well it would fit INSIDE, but not through the door (which is annoying since this is part of why we bought a "crossover" vehicle). No problem, my mom lives very close by and has a big truck. Well after trying to coordinate the schedules of 3 busy families for the pick up and drop Jeff, being the handyman that is, decided it would be much easier to just take it apart. So, a quick trip to ToyR'Us for some play food (gotta have play food in a play kitchen), some elbow grease and Voila!

I don't remember how many years...

this thing has been sitting in the closet since I made it, but It's finally mounted and hanging on the wall in my kitchen. Thank you Honey! ooxxooXoXXx

Fun with friends

Two things I love about where we live are all the fun things to do that are very nearby, and there are lot of other families with children Kara's age. Two of our favorites are walking the Tradition Lake trail, and Central Park. The Tradition Lake Trail is just one exit east off I-90 and with a couple toddlers it takes about 2 hours to walk the loop. (Last year when Jeff and I would go with Kara in the stroller the whole time it only took 45 min.) But hey, its not about speed, its about enjoying the journey and there's just the right amount of trees that you can enjoy the sun without worrying about getting burned. Central Park is walking distance, from where we live, but it's also up a hill so sometimes we drive. Also, the drive home often puts Kara to sleep. :)
Jonas who is 2 and a half lives downstairs and Kayla who is almost 3 lives two buildings down.

First Pedi

With all this beautiful weather I've been wearing sandals a lot, and was getting tired of seeing my toes looking so plain. So, I decied to find out if I could still reach them and give them some color. Being the mama's girl that she is Kara noticed what I was doing and wanted her toes done too! Of course after they were done she couldn't resist touching them and she smudged up the big toes. Oh well, looking forward to when she's old enough to go get pedicures together for real! :)

Its....

a head...

a spine...

a foot...

an Andrew...

Such a girly girl!

Lately Kara wants to wear dresses ALL the time. If she's not wearing a dress, or a dress that she feels is dressy enough either goes to her room and retrieves one, or she cries and points at the closet. Its especially important to her to be wearing a dress if there's music playing, or a cartoon with music/dancing (i.e. her new favorite "Cinderella"). Well last night I had dressed her in a soft cotton summer dress, thinking that would be comfy to sleep in, like a night gown. Well that wasn't good enough. She wanted to wear her fancy black and blue dress with the flared sleeves and tulle under the skirt that she wore for her Santa picture. So, that's what she slept in. didn't seem comfortable to me, but it made her happy.

One of THOSE days...

I didn't write this, but when I read it I could totally relate!


Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D.
Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the
basement, I notice that there are cheerios all over the floor and my
car keys are in the cereal bowl.
I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the laundry. I lay my
car keys down on the counter, put the cheerios in the trash can under the
counter, and notice that the trash can is full. So, I decide
to take out the trash.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take
out the trash I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off
the table, and see that there is only one check left, my extra checks
are in my desk in the office/playroom, so I go to my desk where I find a
sippy cup full of juice. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I
decide I
should put the sippy cup in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head
toward the kitchen with the sippy cup a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye - they need to be watered. I set the sippy cup on the
counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better
put them back in the bathroom, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I
set the wipes back down, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot
the TV remote, one of the kids left it on the kitchen table. I realize that
after school when they go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote as
they fight over who lost it, but I won't remember that it's on the
kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den
where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the
floor. So,I set the remote back down, get some paper towels and wipe up
the spill.
Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed, the bills aren't
paid, there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter,
the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my
checkbook,I can't find the remote, I can't find the wipes, and I don't
remember what I did with the car keys.
when when I try to figure out why nothing got done
today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long,
and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help
for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.