Isn't this the sweetest face?

My Raigen!

15 months old.

Ice Cream for dinner...

The other night after dinner I fixed Josh and I each a bowl of  ice cream.

Rilyn's eyes lit up! " I want some!" She yelled. 

However she hadn't yet touched her dinner.

"When you eat your dinner then you can have some ice cream." I told her. 

You would of thought I had given her some kind of horrible punishment. 

She sat at the kitchen table with her arms crossed.  "I am not hungry." She hissed.

"OK." I said. "When you get hungry you can eat your dinner then you can have some ice cream."

"But I'm not hungry for this ... I want ice cream for dinner." She wined.

I then explained to her, again, that she can have ice cream AFTER dinner. 

Amazingly she gave in and took at bite. With her mouth still full she came into the living room...."Mom, is this good?...Can I have some ice cream now?.." She mumbled.

"No. Go eat ." I told her.

2 minutes later she came back into the living room... with her mouth again full she asked again if she could have some ice cream now.  I sent her right back to the kitchen and told her that 2 bites was not enough.

This continued and continued.

 On her 5th trip to the living room to check and see if she had ate enough Josh said.."You better not be asking your mom if you can have some ice cream!" 

"I'm not. " She told him. 

"Hey mom, um....about what time can I have some ice cream?"

LOL

This kid is too darn smart.

My baby is a genius! :)

3 years old and already writing her own name all by herself!

Im one proud mama!

Another one!

Last night was my night to host bunkos.

This month is also a good friends of mines birthday, so for her birthday present I made her a name collage.

I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into until I started trying to find all the letters for Valderez or a big enough frame!

Anyway, after 2 trips to walmart I think it turned out pretty cute.

I think everyone else liked it too, I got some orders for more! :)



The Satellite Tv Guy

This weekend we switched satellite TV companies.

The installer showed up at 9 am and we were all still in bed.

Rilyn got up and wanted to go check out what was going on so I told her to get dressed.

I expected her to pull out something hideous that didn't match.

When she came into my room and asked me to please put in her hair bow I noticed that she matched perfectly. That's  because she put on the same exact clothes she wore the night before at the circus!

Anyway, she was dressed so I let her on her way. She was determined to check out what the satellite guy was doing.

She walked out onto the porch and said.."that sure is a cool truck he gots, but why is he black?"..

I explained to her that he was black because that is how God made him and that she shouldn't talk about peoples color. She then told me she wished God had made her black or pink because those are her favorite colors.

When he began to install the dish there she was leaning over the rail of the porch giving him an ear full.

When I stepped out to check on her I heard her telling him that she went to the circus but she was too scared to get her face painted and that she is waiting till she gets older, like 5 or something. She also told him that she couldn't wait till he was done so she could watch TV outside.

I don't think she realized he was putting the dish outside so we could watch TV inside.

I bribed her inside with some breakfast and next he brought the boxes inside to be installed.  They were like children magnets!

Thankfully they didn't break anything.

They were like little shadows following him around into every room.

Therefore it probably took him double the time to do everything since he had to chase down all of his equipment that kept walking off!

We felt bad, so we bought him lunch.

The Circus.

Josh's dad is so generous that he bought us 4 tickets to the circus.

Four children's tickets, that is.

When I actually took the tickets out of the envelope the day of the circus I realized this error.

When Josh asked his dad why he bought us 4 children's tickets he told him because that is what the lady was selling. He also reminded Josh that he just bought him tickets to the circus and that Josh should be thinking him.

So on father's day we are buying him a nice child size shirt. :)

Our little picker!

BTW-

I didnt take many pictures during the circus but it was AWESOME!



Collage wall

I found this free printable online and fell in love!

I printed it distressed it with ink and framed it. When I realized I didn't have anywhere where this piece would fit in my house I was devastated. So it inspired my new collage wall and I LOVE it! The best part was I already had everything so this cost no $. I just painted some exsisting pieces and used some scrapbook paper to decorate some. I am loving this blue and red so much that now I want incorporate blue in my living room too, which is currently just tan and red. :)

 

I printed the framed 'L' off of the internet onto scrapbook paper and framed it and I pained an old frame blue and distressed it.

I made this blue frame from a piece of wood and scrapbook paper. Then I ofcourse, distressed it too! lol

I do realize that most of my frame have no pictures... Im working on that today. :)

BOY Letters!

Wow! With only girls and all nieces I never get to do cool boy stuff! This was fun!

I think I maybe ready for a little Josh!

NOT!

 Hehe...

A friend of mine bought solid green and yellow paper and the letters at hobby lobby and I offered to make the letters for her.

I painted the letters black and glued the green and yellow paper on them.

It was just way too plain for me though. :)

She wanted them John Deere theme, but she couldn't find any John Deere scrapbook paper.

SO, I cut out like a million John Deere logos from the Internet and glued them randomly on the letters then I took my ink pad and distressed the edges of the letters, I think they turned out CUTE!!!

I hope she likes them!

Rilyn's 'Father Theory'

The other day while driving Rilyn cups her mouth and whispers to me..."Mom..... did you know my Dad has hair in his nose?.."

"REALLY?..." I gasped in complete shock.

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Yes!!!" She shrieked.

"Does that mean when I get growned up and get hair in my noes I am going to be a father too?" She asked.

Where she comes up with her theories... I have no idea.

I told her not to worry that she'd never turn into a father.

Surprisingly she was disappointed.

"Aw, man. I wanted to be like my Dad!"

Kitchen Updates...

Lastnight we tackled a large remodel.

We installed knobs and handles on all of our kitchen cabinets.

It took  almost 3 hours and 3 trips to Lowe's because someone in the Long family, I wont mention her name,  apparently cant count.

I have been looking at these particular pulls for quite sometime. Everywhere I looked they were nearly $5 each and I just wasn't paying that.

Luckily I found the gold colored ones for $1.35 each and I just spray painted them black.

I also found the knobs for .97 ea.

I  installed black shutters on the window above my kitchen sink.

We plan to do alot more to our kitchen... like installing molding above all the cabinets.. sort of like this...

And we also plan to do a bead board back splash and butcher block counter tops.

Chalkboard fun!

I bought a can of chalkboard spray paint and went crazy. The first item I tackled was a large framed poster that I bought at the dollar store on clearance for $1! I didn't care for the picture in it but I figured it was a good deal since I couldn't of bought just the frame for that price. I pained right over the picture with chalkboard paint. I then took some zebra letter stickers and put Rilyn's name at the top and hung it right below her chair rail in her room. She LOVES it, as you can probably tell. :)

The next thing I made was a chalkboard menu sign for my kitchen. I took an old yellow frame and painted it black and distressed it, next I painted a piece of glass with the chalk board frame and attached it to the frame with hot glue. :) 

I like it, however I think I might like it more with a distressed white frame, so I may repaint the frame. :)

New Name Sign

Last week I spotted this frame at the DOLLAR STORE and  knew it would work perfect for our name!

Look how pretty! And it only cost $10!

BTW-  my co-worker told me her husband bought one with their name at the rodeo for $80! Yikes.

Bitter sweet news

Lizzy is gone.

We believe she was stolen. 

Which means that she will probably be brought back any day. Ya know, once she destroys their yard and everything in it.

Last week after we noticed Lizzy was gone we knew it was safe to do some much needed yard work.

It seemed like forever since our yard has looked this good! I really think we could win the yard of the month contest, if we had one. Heck, I was so thrilled about it I thought about just making my own sign and staking it right out front! :)

Rilyn is sad.

 She is such an animal person.

So, anyway, you can probably guess what I am about to say..... yes we have already gotten Rilyn a new dog.

Yes we are crazy.

BUT this time I had some strict guidelines upon picking out this one.

#1 No labs!
#2 A small inside dog only.
#3 She must be house broken.

And we have found the PERFECT dog.

She is a miniature pinscher. She is housebroken AND great with kids!

Now, we have one dilemma.... her name.

Rilyn insists on calling her Cinderella. I really do not want a dog named Cinderella, but she has insisted on it for 2 days now so I guess its Cinderella!

Super kids week #2

This week was super kids week at Rilyn's gym. That meant that a parent was invited to participate with  their child.  The last super kids week I was the parent out there busting my behind and breaking a sweat with Rilyn.

It was Josh's turn. :)

Honestly I didn't think he'd go out there with her, so I used what always works with Rilyn.

Reverse psychology.

"I need you to watch Raigen so I can go out there with Rilyn today, its super kids week." I said.

"I wanna go out there with her this time." He announced.

"Okay..." I said in defeat....darn it.

Super kids week is the only week we are allowed to take pictures during class. And who forgot their camera.

ME!

However, the images of Josh out there with Rilyn will stay with me forever. They were priceless.

To see Josh out there down on one knee singing "Ride a horsey, ride a horsey go to town... "  with his hands grasped to his pretend reigns was freakin' hilarious.

I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

When it was over I asked Rilyn.."Did you and Daddy have fun out there today?"...

"Yea, but my Dad kept doing this..." she said and she began panting like a puppy dog.

I laughed and Josh denied it.

"Oh yes you were  Dad!" She argued.

Poor Josh. :)

Its harder than it looks out there.

To avoid my turn next super kids week I think I will pretend its  'grandparents day' and con my mom or Lubby into going :)

Hopefully I wont forget my camera, it should be REALLY good!

Our bathroom scale

4 weeks ago I started a diet.  For a week I unwaveringly stuck to it.  I brought my scale to work and kept it up here because all the other girls wanted to use it too. After 3 long days on my diet I wanted to weigh my self because I just knew I had lost some weight.

I weighed myself and I had lost 6 lbs! WOW! That was great, I was ecstatic.

Upon sharing my great news with my coworkers I was quickly informed that my scale was broke.

In denial, I weighed myself again.

Surprisingly in the 2 minutes it had been since I last weighed myself I had lost another 4 lbs.

Oddly, my coworkers were no longer using my scale so I took it home.

Today at lunch Josh informed  me that he weighed and he has lost 8lbs in 3 days AND he even ate Burger King this weekend.

WOW!

Raigen has her 'molders'!

Anytime someone asks how many teeth Raigen has, Rilyn will answer for me.

"She has a lot but she don't got her molders yet like me." :)

WELL Raigen now has 2 'molders' on each side!

Aww... my BABY is getting so big!

I cant believe she is already 15 months old!



Recital Practice

Rilyn has a recital coming up in June. The past few weeks she has been learning her routine and even though she has practice every week we still have to practice it at home too.

  In one part of her routine she has to jump and pull her self up on to a bar.

Like this...

She has had trouble with this part.

She can do it, it just takes a few jumps.

When we practice her routine at home we have no way to practice this part.

Which is the hardest part for her.

While practicing her routine the other night I  noticed that the playpen is just the right height for her to practice this part. She can jump and pull herself up on the side.

 So we pretended like the side of the playpen was her bar and we practiced it over and over again.

Later that evening she ran up to me and said excitedly, "Mom, I figured how to jump up there so super easy!"

"How?" I asked.

"My stool!"

Rilyn's 2nd mini meet

I don't know why but all the pictures I took were blurry. Ugh!

It sure would be nice to get a new camera since my birthday is this month!

(Hint, hint Josh)

This little piggy...

A couple of weekends ago I took the girls to a birthday party.

We  knew no one except the birthday girl and her family.

It was cake time and Daddy was in charge of Raigen (ha!) and I was in charge of Rilyn.

There was another little girl the same age as Raigen there and her mommy was already feeding her cake.

I was getting Rilyn set up with juice and cake and working on getting Josh a piece to feed Raigen.

Just as soon as I grab Raigens cake to take it to Josh to feed her I look over and see Josh cracking up.

Raigen had wondered over to the mommy with the cake and  had a firm grip on the lady's knee and her mouth wide open!

I laughed.

The woman didn't.

Which I believe was our cue to get our kid.

The amazing never-ending concert...

I love that my girls have a daddy as goofy and fun as they are. I think his AND their favorite part of the day is when he gets on the floor to wrestle with them or to give HUNDREDS of rides. :) It is usually while Im cooking dinner, so Im safe. :)

Poor Josh, he is a hard working man....

Afterwards Rilyn put on an amazing concert that seriously, lasted at least an hour.

 Everything she sang was original and was about Raigen.

We ALL had to sit in there and watch her and we wernt even allowed potty breaks!

 Dinner nearly burned so I ran to the kitchen to check it and I got in trouble.

 Raigen, however, didn't seemed impressed with her sister's star quality as she quickly dashed to the entertainment center to turn on the stereo. 

"No Raigie! I am singing!" Rilyn cried.

 At the end of the concert she jerked over holding her stomach.

"Whats wrong?" Josh asked.

"I'm bowing DAD!" She hissed.

Raigen found it hilarious that daddy was sticking his head in the car. :)

So cute! :)



TV entertainment center kitchen: Its done!

We finally finished the stove lastnight and it looks adorable!