The Kids

Yesterday, I posted pictures of the house, so all that's left for me to do this weekend is post pictures of the kids. I made Ashlyn a tutu last night, and we drove out into the country to find a good place to take some pictures. There are way more of Ashlyn, only because all Austin knows how to do is sit.

17 Days until Closing!

We've started packing. No wait, I've started packing. I just can't believe we're going to be homeowners so soon! And then what will I have to blog about?

Here it is! It's the kitchen! It's obviously missing the stove, fridge and microwave. But those were all packaged up and in the garage.

Ashlyn went right to the little pantry, opened the door and said, "SNACKS!"

These cupboards are from the master bathroom. Two sinks are a luxury we've been wanting for awhile now.

Rusty kept trying to get Ashlyn to use ther new toilet, but she wasn't buying into his bribes.

They finally put our rocks on the outside.

That's our backyard. I know it doesn't look like much, but they've started the landscaping process and two days ago it was overgrown with weeds taller than Ashlyn.

And this is our front yard. I think Ash is going to be disappointed when it's all grass.

Just a quick favor

To anyone who has my blog linked, I would like to ask that our last name be removed from the link. (Our first names are fine). Thanks!

Two-year-olds

What's wrong with this picture?

If you don't know, it's because you don't have a two-year-old. Ashlyn and I have a ritual we do every morning. I make her oatmeal, she gets mad because there are lumps in it. I flatten the lumps, and then Ashlyn gets mad because there's not enough milk in it. So I add more milk, and Ashlyn will start eating. But upon realizing that she is eating with a purple spoon, she throws it across the room and demands a green spoon. So I go and get her a green spoon, but by then there are more lumps and we start all over.

Ashlyn's new thing is piggy tails. Although every morning she wants atleast 7. Good thing she can't quite count yet.

Only in Boise

I can't believe it can drop 20-30 degrees in just a few days. This was Austin last weekend hanging out in our new pool.


And this was today, we were inside and COLD!

We failed

Ashlyn really shouldn't take naps. Even if she falls asleep for 20 minutes, it means she won't go to bed until midnight. So 5:00 comes and she's completely wiped, but we do everything we can to keep her awake! In extreme cases (like on a trip down to visit our house), we bribe her with ice cream cones.

It doesn't work.

Two Weeks and Counting

That's when we have our pre-final walk through. Check out our floors!

We close in less than 3 weeks!

What were they thinking??

They obviously didn't do their market research! (That's a little plug for Rusty). No parent of a two-year-old would make their pullups like these! Don't they know that the diaper with the one "Ashwyn" on it will never get worn when there are diapers out there with two "Ashwyns" on them???

Anyone want half a box of pull ups??

Bacon!

I just can't believe how much Austin loves food. Anyways, I thought he'd love some bacon, so that's what we gave him. He sucked on it for a very long time.

Isn't he just so cute here??

New Plans

I figure I need to consolidate all of my blogs into one. That way if I decide to go private (which is looking more and more likely) it'll be easier to get to my blog. So that's what I'll be doing the next little while.

This bugs

I'm an avid "Dear Abby" reader. So in today's column a lady by the name of Kathleen wanted to get the word out that in celebration of National Women's Health Week, "we are offering a free Health and Beauty Kit that includes tools for making informed choices about the cosmetics and other products women use everyday."

I have no problem with that.

Here's my problem. The information is being sent without charge because the "effort has already been paid for with taxpayer dollars, including postage and handling."

Can they really not think of anything better to do with our taxes!!?? Why is it that the government feels like it's their responsibility to make sure women know how to put on makeup??

This is why we all need to go out and vote for responsible government officials!

My Hobbies

It has recently come to the attention of a few people that I have a life outside of the internet. I know, shocking huh? *Insert rolling eyes emoticon.

Anyways, I thought I would write down a list of things that I work on when I get a few minutes away from the kids.

Movies. Yup, I make a video every year of my family. I edit and put to music all the clips that we have taken throughout the year and make DVDs of them.

German. I try and study it a little bit everyday. I don't like any of the German grammar books I have found, so I'm writing my own as an easy reference.

Art. Not many people know this, but I can draw pretty well. I'm currently designing a fairy tale themed room for Ashlyn.

Sims2. I'm a Sims 2 freak. I love the game. Sims 3 is coming out next year, and I can hardly wait!

A book. I would love to write a book. I have been DYING to write a book! I think I'd like it to be a historic fiction during the Revolutionary time period. The purpose would be to inspire some patriotism in my fellow Americans, we're seriously lacking that.

$252.38

That is how much we spent on gas last month. So we've limited our trips out to our house to just once a week. It was a nice surprise to see most of the siding done and all of the texturing and painting done on the inside.

We close in one month!

I'm FREEEEEE!

This makes me empathize with women who actually breastfeed their kids.

Austin can hold his own bottle now!!! YIPPEEE!!

And because I'm taking a picture of Austin, of course Ashlyn has to have a picture of her doing the same thing. It's just the nature of siblings.

What is my deal??

I need help from my fellow bloggers. For some reason, (and it's making me really mad!!) anytime I press 'ENTER' to create an extra line in between paragraphs, it doesn't show up on my blog! I've tried everything...

If you have the answer, please enlighten me!

I'm starting to get a complex.

Story #1:

I just watched a fun commercial that had people skateboarding. It said this at the end:

I love my life, I'm not willing to mess it up with a pregnancy.

Story #2:

The other night, I was reading a story to Ashlyn and it was about two dinosaurs that found an egg that hatched. They went in search for the baby's mother. Of course they ended up finding its mother, but during their search they ran across a dinosaur and asked her if she was the mom.

The response?

"I'm too young and pretty to be a mother."

Verdict:

I've messed up my life twice now, and I'm not young and pretty anymore. LOL

AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!

I've never wanted to make my blog private, because I feel like that defeats the purpose of blogging. However, I've installed sitemeter and blogpatrol onto my blog so I can track who visits. And I got the dreaded visit early this morning.

LaPorte, Indiana.

Some of you girls who read my blog knows what that means. For those of you that don't, it means the "picture-stealer" has been visiting my blog.

A course of action has not yet been determined....

This is against the greater good...

but I got tagged. Actually, I've been tagged quite a few times, but I normally ignore the "tag" because I feel like it perpetuates the idea of forwards, bulletins, application requests etc. All of which I am morally opposed to.

But a friend went so far as to leave a comment about my tagging on my blog, so Meg, if you really want to know 6 random things about me, I will oblige.

1. I hate chalk. Seriously abhor the stuff. I can't think about it without getting chills down my spine. If I ever have to touch it (which was never the case until Ashlyn discovered sidewalk chalk) I get a paper towel, because nothing would be worse than having to touch it.
2. I had no idea how much I weighed all through high school and college. I think that's really weird, especially for a girl. I didn't become obsessive about my weight until after I had Ashlyn and was FAT.
3. I read obituaries. Every day! I check Facebook, my email and then I read the latest obituaries in my local news.
4. I love to check the mail!! It's like Christmas everyday. Not that we get packages or presents in the mail very often (or ever!), they're mostly just bills, but it's still fun.
5. I hate wearing pants. I would rather freeze than wear them. Good thing it's finally getting warmer again!
6. I don't remember movies. Even hours after watching a movie, I couldn't tell you a thing about it. But I can remember just about anything that anyone ever says to me or that I read.

Another attempted Photoshoot with the Kids

I've recently learned that, "But mom, he's touching me!" is totally innate. I spent the first 15 minutes just trying to get Ashlyn to put her arm around Austin. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

I tried so hard to get Ashlyn to smile, but she just wouldn't. Oh well, this captures the attitude she's had the last couple of months perfectly!
Deer in the headlights.

Finally a good one!

Shin Splints

I've got shin splints, real bad. But I've almost made it to my 5K goal! I ran just a couple of laps short of 5K last night. The only thing that kept me from finishing it was the pain in my legs.

Mudded

I will blog about something more than our house, I promise! But we've got about one more month to go!!!

Classic two-year-old.

GIVE

ME

the CAMERA!!!