Secret Agent Training Site

Last weekend the kids were getting stir crazy from being cooped up. The cold weather (20's with sub zero wi d chills) is keeping us from much play outside.

So off to Pinterest I went and found a treasure of a site. And this is what we ended up making.

The kids crawled, high stepped and had an overall good time. And it lasted for the whole weekend. Luckily we didn't need that section of hallway.

Its My Birthday

Its the BIG one. The big 4-0. No i am not depressed. I am owning this baby!!! Im in a great spot. I have a great job that i love. I have a great home. And most importantly i have a great family that is all safe and healthy. What more does a girl need?

TJ took me to Indy for the weekend. We stayed in a corner suite at the Canterbury Hotel with valet parking. I could get used to that! But it turns out I am content with cookies and milk or beer and chips; neither of us were too keen on the champagne although i enjoyed the strawberries. We had dinner at the Palomino and went to Crackers for a good ab workout. It was a fun night.

And the kids enjoyed themselves spending the night at Grandma Connie and Grandpa Jakes. They swam in the bathtub and camped under the pool table.

On my birthday, the folks at the office took me out for Mexican for lunch. They even brought out the Monster Sombrero. TJ made me tacos for dinner and an angel food cake which resembled Crater Lake but was delicious with strawberries and whipped cream.

And i got about a million well wishes on Facebook plus emails, texts and cards. It was a good day.

Tuck’s First Basketball Practice

It’s begun.  Tuck has entered the World of Sports.  We signed him up for Micro-Basketball at the Boys and Girls Club for 4 and 5 year olds.  It’s going to be like herding chickens!

 

He is a pretty good shooter but his dribbling skills have something to be desired.  Of course he hasn’t had much practice over his few 5 years because all of our basketballs are low on air.  It seems we can find either the needle or the pump but never both at the same time. 

He told me last night that he was going to score 130 points and they would all be slam dunks.

It’s going to be a good 10 game season and we are all looking forward to it.

Halloween 2012

This was a big year for Halloween.  The kids are old enough to do some pumpkin decorating on their own.  I still could not come to terms of Tuck and a knife so he still had to resort to painting his pumpkin. 

These two look a lot alike right?  It’s hard to tell the talking head from the pumpkin.  And they are both just so darn cute.

And this was one of my big holidays for successful Pinterest inspiration.  These mummy juice boxes were a big hit and the Frankenstein green pudding cups went over well too.  But somehow I failed to get a picture of those.  And don’t you love Kora’s dismembered leg.  I think it adds to the Halloween gore.

We went with a Star Wars theme for Missy’s annual backyard party.  Last year TJ told me he would grow out his beard and dress up as Chewbacca so I held him to it.  But somehow I missed getting a picture of him.  2 days before the party Tuck started dragging his heels about dressing up so we had to go rent the movie then he was totally on board with being part of the theme.

Kora made a convincing Yoda.  Her coat is an old bath towel and her hood started out as a polo shirt.  The ears turned out a bit droopy but I was still proud of my attempts.  And she won “Cutest Costume”.

Can you even tell my attempt at Princess Leia?  I think I totally nailed the braids.

And here is Luke Skywalker.  His favorite part was the pool noodle sword. 

And what would a good fight be without a sword wielding Yoda?

Missy had her party on Saturday since Halloween falls mid-week.  So we got to dress up again on Halloween day.  It was going to be a fight to get them back into their Star Wars costumes so they both decided they could be Cowboys.  Doesn’t he look like a real bad guy?

These are the kids new authentic Texas cowboy hats that Grandma Deb brought back from El Paso.  Aren’t they just the cutest?

Kora was mad that I made her put her boots on the right feet before we left.  It was pretty chilly that night so we made a pretty short night of it and walked two blocks of Main Street.  The kids still ended up with a pretty good stash of candy.  Kora was pretty scared of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow family and wouldn’t you know that we would run into them at least three times. 

I think this may have been my final year of getting to choose the kids costumes.  I am sure next year Tuck will have plenty of opinions of his own.  I guess I had a good run.

New Year's Resolution 2013

My New Year's Resolution is to get back to blogging.  I think I missed the whole year of 2012 so here goes.  This one will be simple since I don't have a lot of time and haven't taken time to plan it out.

Yesterday was my last day off for the holiday break before getting back tot he routine of work.  So while TJ and Kora napped, Tucker and I ran some errands.  We went and found the local eagle's nest and saw one of them in a neighboring tree, exchanged some Christmas gifts, picked out a printer (Thanks Dad!), dropped off movies and got gas.

Tuck did so good while we were out so we rewarded ourselves with ice cream (Don't tell Dad and Kora!)

Then Tuck proceeded to fall asleep in the car on the way home.  And slept until nearly 630 after I carried him to bed. 

So TJ, Kora and I made homemade pizzas (Tuck made his much later in the evening).  I had made pizza dough for breadsticks for a family dinner earlier in the week and doubled the batch planning for tonight.  It turned out really good and the kids liked rolling out their own crusts.   I really can't explain why Kora eneded up sans clothes by the end of the baking period.  And I can't explain her infatuation with "hot salt" aka pepper, especially considering Tuck's complete aversion to it.

So there you go.  My 2013 inaugural post.  I am so proud of myself already.

Happy New Year, best wishes and all things happy to you in 2013.

Tucker Lost His First Tooth

On a Wednesday afternoon Tucker told me he had a loose tooth.  Of course, my first reaction was: Did you get hit? Did you fall down? Do we need to go to the Doctor?Because surely you are not old enough to start loosing your teeth. 

But he assured me that he was not injured and that he WAS indeed getting to be a big boy. 

So speed up to Saturday.  He was sitting on the floor watching cartoons and he just turns to me, holds up his hand and says: Hey Mom, I just lost my tooth.  Here it is.

And sure enough, there it was.  And there was the gap in his smile.

I couldn’t believe how little it was. 

And then I get a lesson on how we have to put it under his pillow so the tooth fairy can come and leave him money.  I didn’t even get a chance to tell him.  Where does he learn this if not from Momma?

So that night we put it on the table beside his bed, since it was so tiny.  And I assured him that the tooth fairy would use his (yes he’s a he, Tuck said so) scanner to find it.

And the next morning, Tuck came running into our room, upset because there wasn’t any money on the table.  But instead the Tooth Fairy put the $5 under his pillow. 

We are still negotiating with the Tooth Fairy on the price of the remaining teeth.

My Upholstery Project

 

I bought these legs as part of a whole bedroom suite set at a yard sale 2 summers ago.  I had and idea for what I wanted to do with it but it took a while before it all came together.  Thanks to Pinterest, my inspiration was combined to become a finished product.

 

I sanded the legs down and spray painted them bright blue.  The blue was a bit too intense so I added some black and then sealed it.

Then I bought a canvas drop cloth.  $6 for a 6x9 piece.  Can’t beat that bargain for fabric.  Again this was inspired by Pinterest. And another Pin gave me the inspiration for my painting pattern using a water bottle lid, another lid, a toilet paper roll and a Qtip.

The wooden base for the cushion was some leftover pieces from an old desk. I added some padding, some batting and stapled the whole thing together. I think it turned out perfect.

So did Tuck.  He helped with the drill to attach the cushion to the legs.  He’s quite handy.

And it’s all done in the nick of time.  I will put it in the basement bedroom.  Jenny, Mandy, Rock and the boys come in 2 weeks and this will be the perfect place to put a suitcase or sit down for a bit.  I’m so excited it’s done.  And so excited that I am accomplishing some of my projects inspired by my Pinterest obsession.