Hobbies

I was talking to Lyndsay about some of the jewelry I've made and told her I'd post a picture of my latest...a little red number to go with my new red high heels...you know...I thought I should add a little color to all the black and white I wear...

Ouch!!!

I can't believe I'm posting this but too many people wanted to see...and since his face is starting to heal (after only 4 days) and I don't think there will be any scarring or disfiguration I'm

calming down...

I don't really want to talk about it...but yes, after priding myself on 4 years of being a mom with no serious accidents, my son burned his face and his hand.

But this is how he's always looked - happy and smiley as usual. Thankfully he acts like he doesn't even know its there so there hasn't been any scratching or picking. What a good brave boy!!!

Hoppy Easter!

PJ's school always does such a great Easter for the kids. Every year they have their picture taken with the same Easter bunny....it didn't go so well this year...

Brynn eventually would at least get on the same bench as him (thanks to Summer)...

The kids loved all of the Easter egg hunts they got to have (school, church, home) and Tyler became obsessed with Easter eggs and the sugar that was in them. Sunday night I had to pack everything having to do with Easter up so that I didn't have to fight with him anymore.

Our Easter cake that Brynn and I came up with this year...a bunny cake that is of course a carrot cake since that's what bunnies eat.

Brynn's pretty dress from Grama Peper...

Easter Morning...

A Visit from Grampa Wilson!

We succeeded in convincing Grampa Wilson to come and visit us and boy did we have a good time. Brynn especially was very sad to have him go. He was lucky enough to sleep in her room with her on the top bunk and him on the bottom...she misses waking him up in the morning :)

The kids loved Grampa and his glasses...

One day we visited the Botanical Gardens. We spent most of the time keeping Tyler from dashing off into the desert whenever he spotted an opening in the trail or from falling head first into a cactus. And Brynn kept asking where all the animals (other than the lizards) were and wanted to get off the trail and go home. But it was enjoyable and there was a butterfly pavilion that they really liked.

Apparently we wore them all out...

We also went to the Rainforrest Cafe. Which, as expected, Brynn wasn't about to go near any of the animals but at least she enjoyed the restaurant. Tyler on the other hand loved it - especially the monkeys we were sitting by and this stuffed elephant. However, he was a little timid when PJ put him by the alligator.

We also dyed easter eggs...which Brynn didn't understand what that meant so we "colored" easter eggs.

Story...

...well I forgot to tell you a little story about our new couches. I used to let the kids eat out in the living room at their little table and chairs. However, once we knew we were getting nice new couches I made a new rule that all food and drinks had to stay in the kitchen.

One particularly long day I sat the kids down in the dining room with the lunch and went about doing some other little chores. Then when I was done I quietly grabbed my lunch and sat down in the living room hoping for just a minute of peace and quiet and aloneness.

But it didn't take Brynn any time to notice that I was missing. She walked right up to the couch and said, "Mom, I thought you said no food out here. You are teaching me that it is OK now. So I will just go get my plate and be right back." And as matter of factly as that she walked back to the table and grabbed her plate.

Seriously where does she learn to say that kind of stuff??!!!!???? But of course I had to be the bigger person, the parent, the teacher...and so I said, "You are right. Mom wasn't obeying. Let's go eat lunch at the table."

Oh well for a moment of just being...

Here's my big girl while "cooking" her playdough creation that for some reason involved a graham cracker...

New Living Room

Well we had an expensive week last week. After getting our tax return we sat down and talked about one thing we would really need that wouldn't last us until we finished with school next year. We both decided our couches have had it - we've had them for over six years - some of you may recall that the couch was even sawed in half & then put back together at one point and now the cushions are falling apart. So, we went out and bought our dream couch and planned on putting a majority of the tax return in savings.

Here is what our couches looked like before:
And here is what they looked like after:
We got a big cushy soft sectional that we love! We knew it was too big for our living room now but its what we are going to want when we move next year. So we just took the chase lounge part off and planned on putting it in our bedroom where our recliner is. However, as you can see here, it is still sitting in the middle of our living room because it is so comfortable I can't bear to move it just yet...
Well, pretty much the day the couch was delivered we had a little incident involving our TV and our dear son. Even though in 3 1/2 years Brynn has never even made the TV budge, one night, with mom and sister sitting 5 feet away, Tyler managed to yank the TV right off the shelf onto the floor. Now this is a really old and really heavy TV. Thankfully he was smart enough not to get caught under it. However, he did manage to rip the cable jack right out of the back so that the TV, in essence, didn't work anymore.

Its been PJ's big dream to have a great TV one day but we both knew it was a want and not a need so he has never been able to get one...until now. Tyler became his favorite child when he made a new TV a necessity. Yes, we find it very sad too that we couldn't even coupe 5 days without a television, but really, Kelly's sanity was on the line.

So here is what our TV/shelving looked like before:
(and this was actually taken years ago so the shelves were much fuller than they look)
And this is what they looked like after PJ did a little shopping and a little remodeling:
(looking at the picture I realize I should have taken those pictures on the wall off and straightened the kids books, sorry!)
Anyways, we LOVE our new living room. We can all cuddle up on the couch and watch a good show. PJ even couldn't sleep one night and the next morning I found him curled up on his new baby with ESPN playing softly in the background. Totally worth the investment!...and we even made it with some tax return to spare!

Attached

Just a few pictures to explain what it is like when PJ is home...



Oh...its like mom doesn't even exist. I know I should count my blessings that when he's around they want him to do everything. So I try not to let stuff like this hurt my feelings...

One morning of course Brynn wanted daddy to help her get ready for the day. But since we were going out in public I went in her room to approve of the outfit he and she had picked out. Well, Brynn turned to me and said "mom, you worry about yourself. Daddy, Tyler and Me are fine all by ourselves!" Really they need me...right?!...