little helpers

Everytime the vacuum comes out at our house, we have 2 little helpers who EAGERLY want to help. In fact, they are so eager, that it's hard to actually vaccum around 2 little people who are trying to grab the handle from me.

Luckily, Dave found 2 of those push vacuum's (I don't know what they're really called...but the thing that Taylor is using). Dave's grandma used to sell Fuller Brush (cleaning supplies) and we gained these when we moved into her old house when we got married. If you add our swiffer vac, and the real vacuum....we have enough things for everyone to push.

Our vacuum might be 20 years old...or older. That's just a guess. But it's another thing we gained when we moved into our first house (I did a post on it back in June 08). It belonged to Dave's grandparents. So needless to say, we are in the process of saving for a new vacuum. This one is just not cutting it!

Here's the one we have our eye on...the Dyson Animal (there are couple different models we can choose from)

We have a chocolate lab inside, and we definitely need something that is going to clean up better than our current one. Does anyone have this? Or another vacuum that you'd suggest?

Maybe I'll like to vacuum when I know it's actually doing something!

our fence fell down

(kind of funny that my last post was pictures of snow, and these are of a nice springy day...that's Kansas for ya!)

One thing I hate about Kansas weather is the wind. Really, I HATE it. It puts me in a bad mood. Especially when it does things like this...

I forgot the take a picture immediately following this incident...but the important thing to know is that we used to have a wooden fence here.

Then we had 50-60-70 mile an hour wind. The fence lost.

Dave spent all day last Friday putting it back up.

This little guy just adores his daddy and wants to get in on the action so bad.

Luckily, it was a beautiful day, so we all hung out in the backyard with him.
I don't know if this was ideal for Dave...as he had two little eager kiddos wanting to help so badly.
He didn't seem to mind though.

Not having a fence sure makes it easy to escape from the backyard...whether you're a 2 year old or a dog.

We had to keep calling these 2 back into their own yard.

Lots of exploring in the yard and playing with lumber.





Dave was getting mad that I was trying to take pictures of him. But seriously...how could I resist?

I let him pick which picture I posted....I would have picked the full body one, with the tool belt and all, but he didn't like it.

Regardless, I'd have to say I definitely got myself a hottie!
(a hottie who is turning 30 soon!)



Hey Wind- I DARE you to try to knock this fence down now!
Don't mess with THIS guy - He says it's hurricane proof!

spring snowstorm

I know, I know, I'm a little late with these pictures.
This spring snow hit us about 2 weeks ago. It's obviously all gone now.
This is what was coming down when my friend Jess and I got our pedicures...if you read my previous post.

I love snow. Even in March. It came just in time for a lazy weekend at home, cuddling and doing not much of anything!




Oh, how boys love their toys...
Well, this isn't really Dave's....it's a gift we all pitched in and got for his dad last year. But Dave has fun using it!



This was Mason's first time in the snow. Earlier this winter when it snowed, he was sick and we didn't take him out....he watched from the door.



As you can tell by the runny nose, he wasn't 100% WELL this time either...but we had to take advantage of this last "surprise" snow.


Papa came over to help shovel too.


All in all, this little guy wasn't very happy for 80% of the time we were out there...but I snapped pictures anyway!



Always wanting to help Daddy!



I really do love winter...maybe not AS MUCH when it's suppossed to be spring time...but I still love it!


BUT, I am also ready to have the kids outside, swinging, running, taking walks...which I believe will MAYBE actually begin to happen!

out for the count

We never had this happen with Taylor....



We were just carrying on with eating our own lunch and getting Taylor what she wanted, we didn't even notice he was sleepy. We looked over and found him like this.

His head kept falling into his cup! We finally moved it for him.

I've always laughed at pictures I've seen from others with their children falling asleep like this.
So now we have pictures of our own!




Poor little guy...gets a little tired about 11:00 in the morning now that I'm not having him go down for a morning nap. He does well, and he's sleeping better in the afternoons. We just have to keep GOING...if we stop, or ride in the car, or just sit....he's OUT!

silly

Until I catch up on editing pictures, I'll leave you with this...


It's always fun with Daddy takes pictures in the evening when I'm gone to a jewelry show...so I can have a LITTLE glimpse of what goes on!

I was out of town this weekend while Dave held down the fort, which he is AMAZING at doing! My sister-in-law and I went to KC to meet with a few of the Premier jewelers in our downline who are from the St. Louis area. In the past we've gone all the way to St. Louis to see them, but this time they met us half way (not really half way, but close enough). Before we met up with them on Saturday evening, Stef and I did some shopping. It's impossible to go to KC without making a stop at The Children's Place Outlet!!!

I think we did more eating with our Premier girls than anything else! We ordered On the Border and brought it back to our hotel....I ate so much I think I was uncomfortable all weekend. But I ate more. We had a yummy FREE breakfast Sunday morning and then lunch at TGIF's with Megan (our Premier upline) who is from KC area! We forgot to bring a camera to get a picture of all of us.

It wasn't all food and shopping....we DID do lots of training in between it all!

gotcha!

If you notice the time of my post last night....it was still April 1.

HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!

We have loved reading your comments! BUT......we are still holding to the fact that the tradition WILL NOT be continuing!









For those who need extra clarification.....we are NOT pregnant!

spoke too soon

So we have this tradition going in our small group.

There have been non-stop pregnancies since our current group first started.

It started when I was in the hospital having Taylor.
The Smith's were pregnant with Ollie, and Kirtley's were pregnant with Eli.
When Kendall was in the hospital having Ollie, Alisha was pregnant with with Abby.
When Alisha was in the hospital having Abby, I was pregnant with Mason.
When I had Mason, Kendall was pregnant with Lily, and Sarah with Alexis.
When Kendall had Lily, Shannon was pregnant with the newest upcoming little one!

SO, the big joke now is that come August, when Shannon has her baby.....someone needs to be pregnant. Everyone seems to think it's our turn again. We have made it quite clear that we will be breaking this tradition!

We just had this conversation AGAIN last week.

So yeah.....as the post is titled.....I guess we spoke too soon.

The tradition will continue.

go to time-out

I'm going to attempt to tell this story without a picture and it just may not be as good as it is to me...but here goes. Dave was gone when this happened, so I had to attempt to tell it to him too! Luckily, he laughed hysterically and was able to picture all of it....so hopefully you can too!

Yesterday, Mason and I were in the basement.
The usual routine...he goes for the remote and my phone, which are sitting on the coffee table.
I say "no no"
He tried to run off with them.
I grab them, put them back and keep my eye on him.
He grabs them again.

After I get my phone back from him again, I say
"do you need to go to time out?"

Okay...you gotta know that I have NEVER said this to him before. Other than slapping his hand, talking sternly and giving him "that face"....I haven't really thought he is ready for any other discipline tactics. It was closer to 18 months (??) when we started time-out for Taylor. I know, I know, every kid is different. But I really could not imagine my 12 month old little boy sitting in time-out.

So when I said this to him....I really was not expecting ANY reaction. It just kind of came out.
I took my phone back and carried on with tax work on my computer.

Then I saw him walk towards the corner (the same corner Taylor sits in for time-out) He caught my attention, as I was wondering if my comment really had meant something to him. Then I noticed that Taylor's princess car was in that corner.....
so yeah, nevermind, he's just going for the car.

I then watched him move the car out of the corner and push it pretty far away.
He then turned around and walked back to the corner and sat down and just stared at me.
It wasn't a sad stare.
It was more of a PROUD stare, as if to say "I can sit in time-out too!"
At this point I am laughing out loud, wishing my camera was by me and attempting to capture it on my phone, so I can show Daddy when he got back.

Little Mason...sitting in time out!

He stood up and walked towards me. So, just to test him, I said
"you go back to time-out"

and he did.

I was thoroughly entertained. I wish I could have staged lots of naughty things for him to do, just to send him to time-out and see if he'd go. I know, I know, that sounds so mean....but it was the CUTEST thing EVER to see him just go and sit in the corner when I had no idea he even knew what time-out was.

I ended with the usual routine we have with Taylor.
"okay, come her and talk to Mommy"

He RAN!
He was SOOO proud! He looked so intently at me, those big blue eyes just waiting for me to talk to him. Usually these talks aren't fun...this is when we talk about what Taylor did wrong and she's asked to apologize, give hugs, etc. She DEFINITELY does not run to me and look eager to have this conversation. Oh, but little Mason was just so eager and so proud! I couldn't stop laughing.

So although he WENT to time-out, I'm taking that as a sign that he is not ready for it....as he sees it as something to be proud of instead of something to avoid.

But this is one of those things that makes you realize how much they are watching, listening and learning every day. He has watched Taylor get sent to the corner, he knew exactly what I said, and what I meant. These kids are amazing....the things those little brains can do!!

a steal!

Okay, so I am by no means a pro at all this coupon stuff. It seems to be the craze these days and I am learning a lot from a few blogs on my side bar: Money Saving Mom and Couponing 101 . There are tons others, but these seem to be my favorite for now.

I just had to share one of the best deals I've seen so far in my early days of couponing....


WAL-MART: Kraft Salad Dressing for $0.08!!!!




From what I hear, these salad dressings are priced at $1.58 right now at Wally World. I think this is true, because I was just there and I remember seeing a shelf of them on sale. I just passed because I didn't need any right now. BUT NOW....you can use the $1.50/1 coupon in Sunday's insert (not sure if that is the Smart Source or the Red Plum)...and you can get these for $0.08 each!!! So yeah, I decided I needed some now, and called my mother-in-law and asked her to clip hers out for me too...so I can get SEVERAL!

We used to use off brand dressing and only had 1-2 bottles on hand. But thanks to my friend Kendall, who introduced me to the Kraft Food and Family Magazine a few years ago (subscribe here), tons of our favorite every-day meals call for lots of these dressings.

So if you can't tell, I'm pumped!! I'm not sure how long the dressing will be on sale...so I'll definitely be hitting the store SOON!

I hope someone's as excited about this steal as I am!
And no, I promise I'm not going to become one of those couponing or deal saving blogs, I'll leave that to the pros...I'll just share when I'm SUPER excited!

our new friend

Hopefully you all saw my previous post about the new member of our family!

I just wanted to share with you all the fun we are having with her....
She loves to be outside too....although we have to hold on to her tight or she'll get away from us.



She loves to swing....

and go down the slide...

and she's even been present at the dinner table with us...
Taylor even helps her eat.


There's love all around.

Mason's even taken a liking to her too...


Unfortuneately, our friend isn't going to be with us much longer.
She has begun to wear out her welcome.

Her days are definitely coming to an end.