Happy LOVE Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! I hope on this Saturday you get to spend a little time with the people who mean the most to you. I know I get to!

Going out for supper with friends. Always a good time and I sure that tonight won't be any different!

We got quite a bit of snow here last night - more than they said!! Teagan and Tate love watching Brad scoop the driveway. They knock on the window, he throws snow at them, the laugh hysterically. That was my Friday night!Here is Tate licking the window while watching Daddy. Notice the snow still on window.Teagan is always willing to help us with Tate (whether Tate wants her to or not)! This picture was taken while Brad was supposed to be getting the kids ready for the day. Who is parenting who here? Just kidding honey!

Have a great day everyone! And maybe if your lucky your significant other will be saying this to you

All about the kids

A couple blogs ago I talked about how obsessed I am with blogging. Since some of my blogs lately have had nothing to do with my kids I decided to devote this one to them. Lucky me - they were in fine form tonight!!!It all started with supper. Tate has been treating supper as a kind of buffet lately. He eats for a little while and then hands over his plate and says he is done. He runs off to play only to return to look for his plate on the highchair and graze. We have put the kabosh on this, but tonight was kind of crazy so I let him.
While Teagan was supposed to be finishing her lunchable (I know not the best, but like I said it was an off night) her and Tate decided to play "peek" under the table. Notice in this picture how Teagan is getting her brother to finish the cheese she is supposed to be eating. I am not sure this will ever change - Tate will take food from anyone!!

Once Tate tired of that game (a whole minute later!) He got out his new shiny, red car from Uncle Shane and Aunt Lindsay. I wish I could put these in one of those animated books because the pictures in order are hiliarous. He loves to drive anything with wheels and makes a great engine noise!

This one is my favorite. Look at those cheeks!!


All done driving the car!
Whats up homie? Nice pants!

After supper was finished, and I use that term loosely, we moved on to baths. Teagan thought she would teach Tate how to blow bubbles. Mind you, Teagan just got brave enough to do this in the tub this fall, but believe me, she is an expert!!

After the bubble lesson Tate was on to torturing Teagan with splashing. I usually freak out because there is water everywhere, but I turned off the mom radar and just let them be kids. Teagan got a little tired of the splashing. Tate you ask? Never!! Please ignore Tate's obsession with himself at the end. Those of you who have boys know what I go through everytime his diaper is off!!

Trying to upload video.

Also - the screaming at the end is a daily (if not hourly) occurance. It is bordering on ridiculus!!

Since some of you don't get to see the kids too often I thought I would let you hear some of Tate's newest words. He is quite the talker! He has to be to keep up with his sister!!

Never mind this right now - I am having problems with uploading videos. Maybe later

Once Tate went to bed Teagan and I hung out for awhile. She doesn't have school tomorrow so we had a little girl time and painted her nails.

Has anyone seen my little girl? She was small and smiley with chicken fuzz hair. All of a sudden there is this grown-up wanna-be living in my house!

The man behind Obama's words

Somehow while wandering aimlessly around the internet I found out who writes the majority of President Obama's speeches. His name is Jon Faverau. This one might make you feel old ladies - he is 27!! While it is Obama's smooth, calm speech that draws us to listen to him it is the words that we really hear. I am amazed that a man 4 years younger than me carries so much responsibility. Plus, I think he is pretty darn cute! Bonus!!! He also dates a White House aide who posed for Maxim. This might be a couple to watch!Teagan and Brad are at the boys basketball game tonight. Senior night and the last home game (I think). I can't believe how fast time is going! Today was a beautiful day and a tease I think - it is supposed to snow tomorrow. I don't think it will amount to anything, but after 2 gorgeous days it will be hard to take. Off to fold laundry and watch some Real Housewives!! Good night!

A Dead Dove in the Fridge? Seriously?

I am dedicating this blog to my friend Amy B. I love reading her thoughts about the Bachelor and love how intense she gets about it. So, in honor of her I decided to tune into the last hour after watching Intervention. I changed the channel and see a scence of what looks like a backyard bar-b-que (harmless enough). Jason is trying to hula-hoop (Ok a typical family activity, maybe if you are in the circus). Anyway - the girl’s (Naomi I think) mom calls them over to tell a story. I think to myself “OK, so maybe she is really into signs” I keep listening. Sign? Not sure. Crazy? YES!! What happened next made me turn off the TV and decide to be done with the Bachelor until the last 30 minutes of the finale just to see who wins. The mom was keeping a dead dove in her fridge. What? Maybe she is an animal lover and couldn’t bear that it suffered, but why feel the need to show it to Jason and ask him to bury it and give the eulogy? Sorry Bachelor fans - I can’t do it!!

No new news on the homefront. Mondays are nuts for me. Teagan has dance and I feel like I am constantly running until I sit down around 9:00 to blog. Finally the kids are bathed, feed, and sleeping. I have caught up on my DVRd Nip/Tuck and Intervention episodes and am ready for bed. As I speak Brad has turned on the Bachelor - maybe I'll give it another chance!

I do have to brag about a quick stop I made at Pier 1 today. I was in Cedar Rapids and stopped at the store by Westdale Mall. It is closing so everything is 50% off. I know that none of these things are on my needs list, but I have been looking for some pillows to use in my livingroom and bedroom. I could have went really nuts (Brad remember that when you are reading this!), but stayed reserved and only spent $25 on all these pillows.
The 2 striped ones on the right were $2.50 each and I plan to use them on our bed (when I finish all the other projects). I would like to cover them with some brown fabric that I would like to use for curtains. We'll see how far I get! Need to stop blogging and get to work!

Talking about getting to work - my Grandpa made a locker for Tate (pictures to follow later) and this armoire for Teagan. He made it so that she can hang up her dress clothes - note the rod in the second picture. I plan on finding a basket to put in the bottom for dress shoes and putting up some hooks for jewelry and purses.

I have always been very lucky to have all my grandparents around my almost daily and have always had things they have made for me. I feel even more blessed that my kids get to experience the same thing.
By the way - Teagan wants me to cover up my Grandpa's wonderful stain job with what else - PINK paint. Weekend project here I come!

The Problem with Blogging

It's official - I am addicted to blogging! I find myself going through my day thinking about what I can write about that night. I want to do projects that I can share with anyone who might read the blog. It honestly makes me feel better, like I have something that is my own. Now - here is my problem: You have to sit down to blog. I know this is obvious, but if any of you are like me once you sit down to blog you find yourself looking through your favorites, writing your own thoughts down, and all of a sudden you have been completely non-productive for a good hour! What is a blogger to do!!! I know that I could wait until tonight to go through everyone else's amazing blogs, but there might be something I want to try during the day. Anyone have a solution to my problem?

In other news - I finished up a Valentine's project this week (once I was finally at work for more than 2 hours!) I painted this frame and used scrapbooking paper for the backgrounds. My goal is to change it out for the new seasons. We'll see how that goes!

What - you might ask- are my kids doing while I sit at the kitchen table and rant about blogging and my latest attempt at craftiness? Well, here they are:

Tate is enjoying a mid-morning snack while watching Imagination Movers.

And Teagan is getting ready to watch POMS night at the highschool. She was dancing around by 8:15!! Not sure daddy's dreams of a basketball player are going to pan out!

Brad came home with some shirts for the kids from our good friend Jared last night. The kids loved them!

If anyone ever needs screenprinted apparel look Jared up - ELITE SPORTS in Williamsburg. He does a great job!

Fight Like A Girl!

As I write this my teammates are securing another win for our volleyball team - do you like my optimism? I sat out tonight for one more night of rest and to hang out with Teagan in case she wasn't feeling well. I love my volleyball girls! Not only do I get to play my favoriate sport, but I get to do it with women who are true to themselves and can enjoy a night out. We talk about whatever we need to, we all listen, and can go home ready to face the rest of the week. I look forward to next week. Thanks ladies!
Brad & I are almost back to 100%, so why would we settle for that? Teagan went to the Dr. this morning and we were told she has strep - yep, the girl with no adenoids or tonsils got strep the first time it showed up in school. I know that you can get it even without those 2, but we thought our odds were better of not getting it. So Brad and I split the day at home so she could rest up and get started on her medicine. She was dancing around during supper and playing Wii tennis before bed - I'm thinking she is going back to school tomorrow!

Tate is doing well so far - no signs of slowing down. Although he might be hiding from the germs! This is how Teagan found him this afternoon - Silly boy!

So wish us luck as we head into the end of the week. Who knows what we have ahead of us! Tate goes in for the follow-up for his tubes tomorrow. Should be all clear, but given our track record in the last 6 days anything could happen! Have a great Thursday!

LAST MINUTE TOP CHEF UPDATE: Jaime got kicked off tonight. It was all about fish and after this weekend it was about the last thing I wanted to see people cooking, but had to watch. Jaime was pretty full of herself and I wasn't so sad to see her leave. All I know is those judges amaze me. Can you imagine having a job where you do nothing, but eat food? And eat so much of it that all you do is pick it apart to find anything that could possible be wrong? Anyone who knows me knows that I will eat anything. Not the job for me!!

I've Created a mini-me!

I don't know if anyone else is a fan of HGTV (I mean really, who isn't?), but I can be found watching any number of shows on that channel and thinking to myself "I could so do that to my house." Whenever I have a chance to watch a channel of my choice that is what I pick, but that is usually after the kids are in bed and my husband is watching ESPN in the basement. This week much to my amazement Teagan (my 5 year-old daughter) has asked "What channel is the house show on?" I tell her and she changes the channel from "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody" to "Designed to Sell".

This is Teagan watching Clive!

I mean really, this is happening? My own child is picking and watching with interest some of my favorite shows? Is there something off balance in the universe or is it a short lived moment of mommy bliss? I have chalked it up to wanting to be a grown-up like mom, but hey, I will take it for as long as I can!

In other news I am also raising superstars! Not only is Teagan going to be a HGTV star, but as you can tell she will look great in front of the cameras!

Tate had to get in on the action. I will make both Brad and every other dad out there happy by saying he is practicing for all the cameras he will face after he wins the Super Bowl!
But they will always have each other.

I have other pictures to share, but will send them out to email addresses later. Brad and I were sick over the weekend - it was horrible. We think a touch of food poisoning since only a couple of people in our group got sick and we just happened to eat the same thing! We are recovering and on the mend.