Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A Little Chaos & A Little Contest!

Wow! We had a really busy week/weekend! My mom came into town from AZ, and got to stay with us for half of her visit. She was able to schedule her annual visit to coincide with Riley's baptism, which was on Saturday.

I picked her up from the airport on Wednesday afternoon.
That's my mom on the left. (The lovely redhead on the right is my sister, Katie, who met us on her lunch hour).

We spent the rest of the day getting mom settled in, running errands and relaxing.

Thursday we slept in a little and went to lunch with Krissy (my other sister) and Mary (her partner). After lunch, Krissy gave mom & Tyson henna tattoos. It's a skill she refined while studying abroad in India a few years ago, and she's really good at it.

Here is my mom's (before the henna paste was removed):
And here is Tyson's:
We hung out for a while afterward, and then ate an early dinner. We discussed plans for Riley's baptism and the party afterward. (Remember, this was Thursday, and the baptism was Saturday). Tyson asked for a scoop of ice cream after dinner, and since he ate all of his healthy foods, I said okay. I went to the freezer and quickly realized that everything in the freezer was in a goopy state of half-frozen-ness. We thought perhaps the freezer door had been left ajar, but just to be on the safe side, we moved most of the contents to our chest freezer in the basement. Then we closed the door tight and put a thermometer in the refrigerator, which felt suspiciously tropical inside.

An hour later, the verdict was in: our seven year old refrigerator had kicked the bucket. Two days before the party. I think it's safe to say that I started to um... ahem... well, I may have stated to panic a bit.

Matt & I quickly ran up to Lowe's and picked out a replacement just ten minutes before they closed. After that we had to pack everything from the fridge into a cooler and take it to my dad's house. We got home from this chore just after midnight.

The new fridge was delivered on Friday, and by Friday night we had all the food put back inside, but on Saturday morning, just hours before 20 people were coming over for the party, our kitchen & dining room still looked awful. It was chaos.

This was just a portion of the disaster. I had no idea how much crap I had stored on top of and around the fridge!!! And we discovered that I own more magnets than anyone else on the planet!

Here's our new fridge (this picture was obviously taken before I had a chance to plaster it with my many magnets!).
Overall, it was a completely insane couple of days. And not at all how I wanted to spend the bulk of my mom's visit. Of all the crap-ass times for our fridge to up and die... I should mention that my mom was amazing during this whole ordeal. She helped me move all the food around, clean the new fridge and restock it. She also helped out by cleaning my house for the party on Saturday morning. Isn't she great?

So, now that you've stuck through to the end of this very long (and possibly very boring) post, you're rewarded with a contest!

Leave a comment and tell me your best household crisis story (your oven went out on Thanksgiving Day? Your garage door froze shut during a snow storm?). Be sure you leave your email address in the comment (spell out "at" and "dot") and I'll randomly pick the winner. That winner will receive a set of handmade Knitting Buddha greeting cards and something else (that is yet to be determined). ETA: I'll leave this open until this Friday, July 25!


Oh, and I do have pictures from Riley's baptism and the party afterward, but Matt loaded them onto the Mac instead of our server. Now those photos are stuck in the Mac & I don't know how to get them out. (I'm still learning my way around the Mac.) So, check back in a couple of days for those photos!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Ch-CH-Changin'...

I was so inspired by Obama's mantra of "Change" that I decided to make a change for myself.

Okay, you caught me being a bit sarcastic... we all know that I'm not all that impressed with Obama... but I really did need a change. I wasn't so much stuck in a rut as I was stuck in a bottomless soul-sucking pit of boringness (is that a word?).

I don't know what happens to my sanity... every time I have a baby I decide that I need to go all natural and earthy with my appearance, and that I need to erase the last of the freak from my soul and start looking like a mom. I stop coloring my hair and start growing it out. I always think that it will look really good, but it always ends up looking something like this:

BLAH! BLECH! BORING!
So last night I went to see my wonderful Aunt-Turned-Hair-Stylist. My Aunt Tina (of the Salon Mystique in Crestwood, MO) made me look exciting, spunky, and (if I do say so myself) kinda pretty:


We took these photos inside after dark, so the color isn't exactly like the pictures. It's a bit brighter, a bit more bold.

My head feels about two pounds lighter, and I love this hair style. In fact, I think it might be my most favorite hairstyle ever! THANK YOU AUNT TINA!!! You Rock!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do a little knitting. I'm feeling super inspired after finishing Sweet Pea's Blanket earlier this week.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

It Took Me Long Enough...

At least, it seems like it did. I finished Sweet Pea's Blanket! It turns out that it took me as long to finish making the blanket as it took for me to finish making the baby... 9 months.

I'm very, very happy with it.
So, what did you do for Independence Day?

Ty & I made this:
It's a "Coke Cake." We made it using a cake mix (two, actually) and a can of diet Coke (two, actually)... and boy was it yummy! We made the cake for a big family BBQ. I was bummed that my sisters couldn't make it, but most of Matt's family came, my dad & step mom came, and our friend Steph & her parents came.
There was a little baseball watching, a little knitting, a few fireworks and a lot of eating. Tyson overcame a fear and did something he's ever done before. He actually held some sparklers... and enjoyed it!

And Riley? Well, of course, he didn't get to hold a sparkler, but he did dress up for the occasion. He started the day by paying homage to our armed forces: And later he changed into a red, white & blue outfit. (I apparently missed getting a photo of the second outfit..).

On Saturday we took advantage of the unseasonable cool weather and took the boys for a picnic at the park.

After we ate, Matt & Ty played a little Frisbee. Ty's a natural. He can catch & throw the Frisbee better than I can!
And while the big boys played Frisbee, Riley & I relaxed on the blanket.
We had a wonderful three day weekend. It was slow paced, quiet and relaxing.


Monday, July 7, 2008

A Bit of Fun on a Monday....

I borrowed this from another blog... I guess I'm really not too surprised by the results. I'm actually quite traditional at heart.

95

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!



And I make no apologies for that.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Independence Day


Happy Fourth of July Everyone!!!!!

I would like to give a special thank you to the soldiers who are currently serving here:
This is COB Speicher, an airbase that is located in Northern Iraq. Our family has "adopted" a soldier (whom I am not allowed to name in my blog... privacy & all that) who is stationed there now. I hope you guys get a little time to celebrate the holiday today.

Let's all remember that we wouldn't have this wonderful holiday to celebrate were it not for the bravery of the men & women in our armed forces.


I would also like to say Happy Fourth! to all our family & friends who are spread all over this great nation. We love you and we miss you guys!!!