Room complete

No, not the bathroom:) I have finally finished that project that I started back in March (see post on March 11th for more). Memorial day was all about painting for me. I got out the card table and painted as much as possible while still caring for my families basic needs. By the end of the night I even brought a picture into the bathroom with me to finish while Frances took her bath. The pictures are done and hung on the wall. Huray!

Here is a reminder of what the blanket that inspired this project looks like.

The bathroom is still coming along though. We have replaced the piece of wallpaper that was damaged in the demolition and it has been painted to match. We need to put a coat of laquer on the entire walls and then hang the trim. The final step will be to put in the shelves in the closet. It has been painted and is ready for them!

Mixing of seasons

Well, most people know that my husband has two main hobbies that fall during two opposing seasons...Boating and Hunting...Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. Well, thanks to my brother (I really do thank you Shawn!) Mitch has now found a way to combine the seasons. My brother sent me a package last week that contained his old PS2 and many games including "Big Game Hunter". Frances and Mitch have enjoyed doing the "hunting game" together more than I have even gotten to play. The ironic thing is I am the one who has always wanted a game system, not Mitch, yet he is the one who is playing it the most. Go figure. Here are my two "deers" having some fun bonding time.

We enjoyed the hobby of the season this past weekend with some friends on the boat. They have a teen daughter that was crazy enough to brave the cold water. Frances enjoyed her first tube ride of the season. The crazy teen wouldn't even try wearing Mitchs' wetsuit so when his turn came to go surfing he couldn't be shown up and went without as well. He admits he was crazy and won't do that again! The water is still quite cold!

Two points for momma!

Well, yesterday we had an errand to run and Frances fell asleep in the car. She was so sound asleep that we couldn't wake her for 45 minutes! It was 5:30 pm, not a good time for a nap! Needless to say she was not really tired at bedtime. We put her down a little late and by the time we went to bed at 10:30 she was still awake in her room. Mitch and I went to bed, she came in and said she had to go to the bathroom so I took her (we have been having bed wetting issues so I fell for it). She didn't go. Anyhow, I fell asleep faster and harder than normal and didn't hear her get up again. The next thing I know is Mitch is sternly telling her (from our bed) to turn off the light and get back in bed. She had turned on the bathroom light. Well, she did that but there was still a light on. Mitch took care of it, it was the living room light! She laid in bed and cried for some time. I know she was up until at least 11:30! When Mitch got up for work this morning I happened to wake up as well. I decided that it would be a good idea to wake our little darling up as well. It was only 6:20am! I then created a plan to spend the morning with her and then hit the grocery store so that we were driving home around noon. My plan worked as she fell asleep on the way home, I carried her to her bed and she has been napping for almost three hours! And at a time that will still allow her to go to bed on time! I had forgotten what it was like to have her nap at home! How wonderful!

Get ready for baby!

Well, the nesting urge has definitely kicked in! I got down to business this week and we are all set for the baby! I am not a big decorator but I did move the animal pictures from Frances' room into the baby's room. I have also gotten all the cloth diapers out and ready and have the neutral baby clothes ready as well! My girlfriends had a baby shower for me on the last night of our Bible study. It was great! I got a pedicure while we enjoyed charades, gifts, and DQ ice cream cake! The girls gave me the Creative Memories wall frame that is so awesome! I found the perfect place to hang it in the baby's room. Even better still is that my friend Dionne made me a scrapbook page to put in it until our bundle arrives!

Thanks Ladies!

Vacation across the Nation

Frances and I were lucky enough to get to meet my niece and her new baby during our layover on the way to Grandma JoJo's house! Frances was excited to hold baby Cullen all by herself! He is sweet and it was great to visit with Becca!
About an hour after we got to grandma JoJo's we had our first accident. Frances fell and landed directly on the cow flashlight she was holding. Between the early morning and flight and then the accident she was ready for a rare nap.
Cousins Sam and Ben also came to grandma JoJo's house. We were going to go to the zoo but it was very rainy and cold outside. Instead we got to go to "Ton of Fun" and let me tell you...it was! The kids had a blast playing together all weekend. It is the most time they have ever got to spend together and they are at such a great age to really enjoy one another! I sure do wish we could do it more often! Sam is almost six and Ben is 4.
One of the reasons we went on our vacation was to see my great aunt Fran at her 80th birthday party. It was a lot of fun to see that side of the family as I had not seen many of them since our wedding. Which, by the way, I celebrated my seventh anniversary on the Monday that I was away from home. Mitch felt like he got off the hook by not having to give me a card. Turns out he is a romantic anyhow as I found a homemade card waiting for me when I returned. It has been a great seven years and I look forward to many more! Timing couldn't have worked out more perfectly on this vacation. While I was there I had the priviledge of visiting with my dear friend Ann-Renee from Canada. She happened to be taking a road trip to visit some friends from college days and it worked out perfectly to spend an afternoon together as she passed through my hometown. Even more perfect is that she was there seven years ago to the day to sing in our wedding! How special! I am so amazed that we only spend one semester together in college and our friendship is still so strong! Frances was really excited to have someone strong enough to climb on and do flips with (mommy is not good for this at this time and she was missing her daddy). Frances and Ann-Renee met once when she was only four months old. That was when Ann-Renee came to Indiana for my baptism!
While AR was visiting we got to go to grandma JoJo's zoo (which was a highly anticipated event by Frances from the moment the trip home was planned)! It was extrememly windy (go figure) but warmer. Frances goes to the zoo with grandma JoJo every time she visits us so it was special to get to go to grandma's zoo (the only time we are usually home is winter and the zoo in SD is not very appealing then)!

Mommy is a dear!

Or a monkey. Notice that our new special friend "Alexander" got to come to the zoo as well. He didn't miss much on the entire trip!

Here I am with Ann-Renee. I am so glad we got to see each other and catch up!