What a blockhead!

This is the culprit. And this guy -
What's the damage you ask? It is hard to see in the pictures, but trust me you can see it plain and clear.

You guessed it. Tate was in one of his throwing moods and Teagan was unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire.

I don't think it was mean spirited, but he definitely got major time-out time for this one. At least we can cover it with her hair. The first of MANY battle scars I'm sure!
By the morning they were back to normal and Teagan had

forgotten that she should be mad at him!


Onto my next mommy adventure for the day- You might be wondering why I took a picture of a random sippy cup. Let me tell you, this is no average sippy cup. This cup was handed to me by Teagan just minutes ago. Not unusual, but when I asked her where I got it she told me she found it here (Tate is verifying this is where it was!)

You new moms (or future moms) might think,"so what?" Well let me tell you. I have no idea what is in this cup or how long it has been in this cupboard. Now comes the question - do I throw it away (along with the $4 it cost) or risk the gag reflex and wash it? Oh, the monumental decisions moms face everyday!!

So I decided to chance it and discovered that it was chocolate milk - from Sunday!! Disgusting!! Rating on the gag-o-meter: About a 7

Hope the rest of my day is less smelly!!

Pool Anyone?

The kids and I spent the afternoon at the pool yesterday. Aunt Beth was nice enough to come with and hang out with Teagan while Tate and I hang out in the shallow end.

Brad & I got in on the action. Brad is a little more daring than I am. Great picture Beth!

So I had to put my picture in - I was trying not to go under - hence the face.

Brad v. the Slide - who won? Who do you think?

Griff and Amy joined us and the boys "swam" for awhile. They enjoyed some cheetos during a break.
Tate loved the fountains.
So did Griff.

Teagan can touch almost the entire way across, but decided to "float" with the little kids.
Tate was cracking me up with the fountain. He was trying to fight it. Such a boy!

I am in the process of cleaning the house to get ready for this gem - 42" of greatness! It may not sound huge, but is going to dwarf the 29" that we have now.

You might wonder why I have to clean to get a new tv, well let me tell you. Here it goes:

*the new tv is going upstairs where the old one is

*the old tv and armoire are going downstairs in the toy room

*there is no room in the toy room for the armoire, so...

*I have to find a place for the loveseat that is in there (not to mention the real home for the kitchenette)

*there is no other place in the basement because there are clothes and everything else all over, so... that is why I pretty much have to clean my whole house just to get a new tv. My life is never simple!! I wouldn't know what to do if it was!

What a day!

Today was absolutely crazy, great, but crazy. It started out with the traditional pancake breakfast at the firestation. We were lucky enough to get to eat some of Brad's - delicious! After that we headed to Conroy for Part I of our family reunion. It was great to see everyone, but the rain did put a little damper on the kids being able to play. They braved the "mist" and did some bubbles.

This is serious work! Grandpa was all about helping the kids. I am so amazed at how much more hands-on he is with the grandkids. He is pretty great! After bubbles (and a major concrete faceplant by Tate) it was off to home for a nap.
This is what happens when a toddler isn't ready to get up and is not in the mood for a parade. Not even the mention of firetrucks or tractors could get hime out of the funk.
He was obviously fine once we got there. Hung out with Luke, Madox, and Gavin. Teagan raked in the loot while Tate just sat quietly and took it all in. Next year might be a different story!
He refused to look at me to take a picture. He is totally in control - as much as I like to think he's not!
Chillin'
Enjoying a sucker. You can see the aftermath of the concrete episode. Ouch!
Sparklers at Danny & Sonya's. Thanks for hosting - we had a great time!! This is the last picture of Teagan because she spent the rest of the night running around with Jayden singing about cowboys and Hannah Montana! It is a good feeling to know that your kids will always have good friends no matter how often we get to see them!Brad thought Tate was ready for his first sparkler. I was not so sure, but he did well. One was enough though.
Tate, Griff, and Bailey enjoying the chairs.
All Tate wanted was a hug. He was ready and Demi was not! Smart girl!
It is great that the neighbors let us use the swingset. Tate and Griff climbed the slide many times.
Bailey is getting in on the action
Glowsticks - a toddler version of sparklers. Hey, whatever keeps 'em happy!
Tate and Carson "sharing" rocks from the landscaping.

Tate really liked the fireworks. He never got scared and thought they were "cuhl". We had a busy, but great day together. We got to see a lot of family we haven't seen in awhile and got to spend time with some of our closest friends. Nothing better! It was great to see everyone - have a good (a relaxing) Sunday!

Teagan's room

I spent a couple (seriously at least 3) hours in Teagan's room the other day. It seems like twice a year I have to do a complete overhaul and take all toys back to the basement and sort through her clothes. For one beautiful day it was clean. I decided to add the pictures to the blog so I could remember that it was once clean. Good thing because by yesterday there were clothes all over and toys on the floor!! Arg!

Her desk. The magazine holders were from the $1 bin at Target. They are super cute. The lamp was one thing I bought at full price about a year and a half ago when I did her "big girl" room. It matches the bedspread and it is on all night every night. Getting my monies worth on that one!
Usually this is covered in hair ties and barrettes. The jewelry box was clearance at Target. And you have to throw in Hannah, of course. That picture is Teagan at about 2 weeks old. It will always be in her room no matter how old she gets. The white box is her "treasure" box she made at school. They took it on a field trip to Iowa Lake and it has a deer bone inside. Gross!! But she is so proud of it so we keep it (lid on of course!)
We have a lot of books and Teagan is starting to pick out some of her own that she is learning to read. Those stay in her room (away from the page tearing little brother!) The rest are knick-knacks.

I bought this rug and used it as the inspiriation for her room. It has all the great girl colors and isn't really age specific.

I wanted pictures for her wall, but couldn't find ones that matched, so I made some. I used oil pastels and then had the guy at the art store cover them. I think the total for all 6 was like $12 (using school art supplies for free of course!)

I used the yellow paint from my kitchenette project on this nightstand. It has been sitting in our basement for years. You can never have too many drawers to hide stuff in!

Teagan decided she wanted flower handles like on her bedspread. They aren't amazing, but she likes them and that is all that matters. Gotta love puffy paint - haven't used that stuff in awhile.

The mismatch of blankets and pillows kind of drives me crazy, but they are all speciall in some way and that is what its all about. At least it is still my little girls room. Soon enough I am sure it will be covered in posters and the princesses and flowers will be gone.

Kickin It Old School!

Both my mom and I added stuff to my Grandma's garage sale last weekend, but there were some things I just couldn't part with. You might have seen my blog about my old kitchenette the other day, but these are some items that are just fine on their own.

How could she get rid of this? Not to mention she had like $ .10 on it!! I remember carrying this with me everywhere. There is no price on those memories. Geez mom!!

So I'm not sure that I even have a tape player anywhere in my house, but I also couldn't part with these gems. You may be laughing, but these were classics and I know some of you even owned these!! And yep - those 3 in the middle are singles. You owned those too!!

And how many of you had this? I love it and I know my kids will too! Lost the salt and pepper shaker somewhere along the way - too bad. I did leave some pieces of my childhood to be sold to the highest bidder - my My Little Pony roller skates, just about every Happy Meal toy I ever got, and my Barbie pool. There are only so many things I can keep for my kids without overloading my own house. I am more than willing to share my memories with some lucky little kid - at least thats what I keep telling myself!!

Progress

I actually got most things on my list done today. I started with the one thing I really wanted to do. That was to refurbish this beauty!

My Grandpa made this for me about 25 years ago and as you can tell it has seen its better days. For the past 15 years(ish) it has been in my parent's "junk room" and it had horrible contact paper on the backsplash, but when my mom offered it to me I couldn't let it go. So, I set off this morning and got to work.
As you can tell the green was pretty bright and I decided I needed a primer. I used some I already had (free), but it took forever!! It is made of particle board and I used a brush to get the paint to "stick".
I found a quart of $2.50 paint at the Lumber store (and used less than half). I only had to roll 2 coats and it went way faster.

I added handles from Tate's room (again, free) and a couple extra hooks from the bathroom and ...viola!! I love it and I think the kids will have a great time plaing with it. It is missing the oven door, but I don't know if I am going to replace it. Not bad for less than $3, huh? Let the summer projects begin!

While Brad and I played in a golf tournament on Sunday the kids hung out with Gene, Carla, and the rest of the Schaefer/Van Zee clan.

Gene bought this ginormous slide and it is awesome!! I am actually a little jealous. Teagan went down about 150 times (according to Grandpa).
Tate and the girls.

Eating sundaes. I heard that Aunt Lindsay brought every possible topping along. These girls are spoiled rotten!

Tate had a blast and loves eating popsicles!! What a ham!

Teagan and Grandma.