Thanks Grandma

Here is Tori in the new dress that Grandma got her. Doesn't she look precious??

Poor kid. I put it on her today, because I was expecting it to be another nice and sunny day. It wasn't.

Today turned out to be cool and windy. She had to wear a sweatshirt over it...

I knew that there was a reason

I knew that there was a good reason why I bought Andy a shop vac last week.

It came in very handy this evening, when the glass refrigerator shelf decided to completely give out and shatter into a zillion little pieces. Did you know that could happen?

No one slammed anything down too hard. We were sitting in the living room when I heard a crashing noise. I went to investigate and didn't find anything. Later, when I went to get myself some tea, this is what I found. Glass swimming in my tea (my glass pitcher broke also).

I am assuming that there was just too much weight on there - a gallon of milk, a HUGE Sam's Club sized jar of pickles, a pitcher of iced tea, and a almost empty pitcher of juice.

I'm surpised, because we have had much more than that on that shelf before. Maybe it was all placed in just the wrong places and the pressure made the glass give. Who knows. Who cares, I guess. It's broken. It's an old fridge, so I don't know if I can get a replacement shelf or if I have to cram everything onto the other (flimsier) shelves. This could get interesting.

I really don't know what I would have done without the shop vac though. There was wet glass EVERYWHERE!!! I must have known deep down somewhere that I was going to need it soon....

Bribery

I have finally resorted to bribery to get Tori walking.

This evening, I stood her up on the floor and sat a few steps in front of her.

I opened up my shirt and sure enough, she took a step forward and then dove at me to nurse.

She's going to get it soon. And then she'll be into everything!!!

Monday Randomness

Again, near impossible to get a good pic of all of them looking at once. I think I'd have an easier time if I had another adult nearby to get them all set up and staying still. I must have taken 30 pictures and this was the best I got :)

Wii
We bought a Wii a couple of days ago and are loving it. I bought the Active workout program and have started on it. It is so much fun!! Even Ellie created a profile and did a workout this morning. Volleyball moves, squats, dancing - lots of fun exercises to do :) We also bought "Punch Out" and have been boxing like crazy. The kids like to watch me knock the guys out. They were so excited when I got King Hippo down :) I wish I would have taped Kate boxing this morning. Man she really got into it and was sweating up a storm. :)

DISGUSTING
I can't believe I'm even posting this, but I just felt the need to share. Nick came out of the bathroom yesterday and said that he had washed his hands, his bum, and his pee-pee. In the bathroom sink. Weird yes. The really gross part? He used Ellie's toothbrush. I really hope this is the first time that this has occured - for all of the kids' sake. I suppose I need to keep the toothbrushes under lock and key somewhere now. Oh the joys of having a boy.

HEAT WAVE
I think it was actually above 80 degrees here. We're all burning up! We don't have air conditioning in the house, so the upstairs feels like an oven. I set up the bouncy house outside and a little baby pool for Tori. I started thinking that it would be very cool to have a Slip n' Slide for the kids. We have a slope to the side of our yard that would probably work out perfectly. I remember loving that thing - of course I was always covered in bruises from rocks that hadn't been moved out of the way...

Happy Birthday Dad

I just found this on the table downstairs. Lexie wrote it for you Andy :)

Happy Birthday Andy!!!

Tori celebrated her first birthday a couple of days ago and today is Andy's birthday!

We all wish that he was here to spend it with us, instead of in Iraq. Next year Honey :)

Random Pics from Today

Happy Birthday Tori!!

Victoria Rose turned 1 today. I can hardly believe it!!

She's still not walking, but she can stand herself up on her own. She can walk holding a piece of furniture or my hand. It won't be long!

Ellie baked 2 cakes for the occasion.

One for us. She was very impatient though and didn't wait for it to cool. It fell to pieces. It tasted great though! Yum!

She also made a pound cake for Tori. We just ripped it open and let her at it. She thought it was pretty good and she happily munched away.

We spent the afternoon in the backyard. I put Tori on a blanket and let her hang out with one of her new toys. It was nice to be out in the warm fresh air.

Monday Randomness

NEW COMPUTER
Andy wanted to get a new laptop when he got back. His is pretty beat up and he's planning on giving it to Ellie. Rather than wait for his return, I ordered a new one this week. That way I can break it in for him. :) I've never had a laptop before. It will be nice to be mobile. I hate having to glue my butt to the computer chair downstairs any time I want to get on here.

GREAT WEATHER
The weather finally turned nice again. It was above 70 today. Warm enough for swimsuits, sprinklers, watermelon, hula hoops, and popsicles!!


NICK NEARLY GOT AWAY
The neighbor girl was over for a few hours playing with the kids. She brought her Barbie Jeep with her - you know the kind that really drives? That was chaos. Nick was glued to the passenger seat and everyone drove him around the yard. The problem? He kept putting his foot down on the gas pedal while they were trying to drive. I was waiting for a major crash, but luckily it didn't happen.

Later in the afternoon, I had the kids park the jeep outside of the fence while they went and did other things. I heard a noise downstairs that sounded like it was coming from the gate. Sure enough, I went out the front door and Nick had jumped the fence (forget the gate!) and was in the jeep with it floored. I eventually caught him. He was grinning from ear to ear.

I took him back inside and instructed Ellie to follow him around. (I was cooking dinner). He again headed out the back door and before she could catch him, he was over the fence and driving the jeep. Determined little guy.

I asked him if he wanted one of his own and he said "Yes, but blue". I'm at least glad that he noticed it was pink and foofoo.

What do I do with him? I can no longer keep him contained in the yard!!

WATERMELON
Did you know that I could probably eat watermelon until my stomach absolutely burst? Yum! Too bad that the kids eat as much of it as I do. We're going to have to start buying 2 at a time instead of one.

PHOTO EDITING
I finally broke down and bought the Photoshop Elements manual. I will be reading it over the next few days. Hopefully I can start actually using Photoshop and fixing up my pictures a bit.

A GIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART
Tori was trying desperately to break into my cabinet full of Polish pottery. She has good taste :)

POST WIDE YARD SALE
I love shopping at yard sales. You just never know what you're going to find. This past weekend was the first post-wide yard sale of the year. It's so nice having tons of them at the same time, in the same place.

I found Tori the cutest little pair of UGG boots. I bought the kids some movies. And the best find of the day? A sit n' spin. Remember those? You know, spin in circles until you puke? The kids love it :)

As much as I love shopping at yard sales, I would probably never have one. I love sifting through other people's junk, but the thought of people looking through mine is frightening to me. I don't know why. I always end up giving everything to Goodwill instead.

Lexie

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I took the kids to the park today. It wasn't especially warm weather, but it wasn't chilly either. We have big backyard, but we don't have big slides and monkey bars.

The nice thing about the park I take them to is that I think we must be the only ones that know about it. I have never seen anyone else there. That makes it nice for me, because I can sit back and relax a bit :) I was just taking some pictures and watching the kids play when I heard Kate say this to Ellie (I didn't hear the first part of the conversation, so I'm not sure what made her say it!)

"Oh yeah? Well, you're going to get wrinkles before me! You're going to be old and wrinkly with white curly hair and I'm still going be younger than you!"

This made me laugh SO HARD. The kids thought that something was wrong with me there for a second. It was hilarious. I had to remind Kate that while she is younger than Ellie, she still has 2 sisters that are younger than her. :)

Flashback Friday: One Year In Service

I had the great experience of going through basic training and language school with a great group of gals. We were studying different languages (Russian, Chinese, and Persian Farsi) but we still got to spend a year in Monterey together and made some really good memories.

When we hit our one year anniversary of joining the Air Force, we had to celebrate! We got all dressed up and hit one of the fancy downtown restaurants for the evening. Oh my goodness, we look so young!! These were taken 12 yrs ago. :) I think that only one of us is still in the service.

Ellie is growing up

Andy, I hate to tell you this, but Ellie is growing up so much while you are gone. I can hardly believe that she is going to be 10 in a few short weeks. Where has the time gone?

She is becoming quite the young lady. She cooks and she watches her brother. She talks on the phone for as long as I'll let her. :) She likes to have friends over. She can navigate her way around the computer, the ipod, and a cell phone! She's becoming quite the graceful dancer. I think that you are going to be surprised when you get back in September!!!

(These pictures were all taken today!)

Monday Randomness

It's been raining for 2 days and I'm in the middle of spring cleaning. The kids are getting antsy and bored - especially Nick. Ellie has been glued to PBS and the phone all day. I am sick of cleaning - especially since it doesn't look like I've actually done much of anything!

I think we're going to go for a drive just to get out of the house for a bit. First I wanted to post a couple of funny things Lexie said today.

I was cleaning out the cabinets and wiping down the insides when Lexie came in and asked what I was doing. I told her "Spring Cleaning" just as I pulled the sugar out. She replied "Sprinkling? Sugar in the cabinets? Why would you do that?"

Later, Tori was making some happy noises in her high chair and Lexie said "Do you know why she's saying that? Because I gave her a kick!" I of course was appalled that she had kicked her little sister and even more I wondered why she seemed happy instead of hurt. Then I realized that Lexie had a bag of Kix cereal in her hands. Apparently it is one "Kick" and multiple "Kix". You learn something new every day :)

Flashback Friday: Strangeness

Wow.

I found this photo of my siblings and I the other day and I had a hard time forming words. I was laughing that hysterically. I almost didn't post it. Yes, it's extremely embarrassing, but who cares, right?

What on earth were we thinking?

I, by the way, am the one with my pants and shirt stuffed full of blankets I assume. My sister is wearing some strange crocheted thing. And my brothers have no pants on. (I have to add that I think that Nick looks a lot like my brother Jeff!)

As if that weren't enough, we have make-up smeared on our faces. Yes, smeared. Very strange.

We must have been having quite a good time!

What I find even more interesting than our strange outfits is the decor on the walls. I love the picture of Jesus hung near the Budweiser sign. And the hanging owl lamp. Who could do without one of those? Not me.

For Andy

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I am in trouble. Not only did I take a really long time getting his last care package out, but I also haven't posted any new pictures this week. Sorry honey.

So, here are some pictures just for you. They aren't from this week, but they are ones that I hadn't posted yet. I promise to take some new pics tomorrow!!

Flashback Friday: Oh the overalls!!

This is me, my cousin Jeremy, and my Aunt Colleen.

First of all, I have to say that I love black and white photos. You probably know that already. I take lots of b&w and sepia pics. I just like the contrast of them.

The contrast in this photo cracks me up. First, there is the VERY floral couch in the background.

Then, there are 3 of us in this photo who are wearing striped overalls. My Papa LIVED in these things (that's him on the couch). I wonder if we were put in them so that we could look like mini-papas? Just a guess.

This is a sweet photo though and I think that my Aunt Colleen looks very beautiful in it :)

Here is another pic of me just for fun. I had this bowl hair cut for quite a while.