Monday, June 29, 2009

The Weekend

We did not do much this weekend. There was a lot of sitting around and goofing off. Pretty much a great weekend.

On Sunday we went to the town square, got some coffee and hung out at the fountain. In an effort to be one of "those families", we even rode our bikes. But when we got there, Shawn realized that he had a flat. So, after we were done having our Norman Rockwell moment, I rode my bike back to the house, got the truck and drove us all home.


On Friday, I had gotten Charlie some of those magnetic letters for the fridge. He really likes them. Next week, Magnetic Poetry!


I decided to try to cut Charlie's hair. It was driving me insane. This is him having lunch a few hours ago.


Speaking of insane, that is what he looks like now. No, I did not use a bowl, Shawn.


And just in case you thought this post was a bit heavy with Charlie pictures, here is another picture of AJ. He is the one under the blanket.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Father's Day Photo Shoot

For Father's Day this year I wanted to surprise Shawn with some decent pictures of the kids. I wanted pictures that would be timeless, yet capture their personalities.

Brittney Cunningham -Miller, of Jangrace Photography, took the pictures. I think they came out great. I didn't post them all here, but these are some of my favorites.

Father's Day Photo Shoot





Father's Day Photo Shoot





Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Saving the Planet- one point at a time

Last Friday, I took my LEED TM exam. LEED TM stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a voluntary certification program, based on points, that certifies buildings (and other things) as Green.

The program covers such things as water conservation, indoor air quality, landscape design, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), off-gassing, water contamination, salvaged materials, alternative energy sources, heat island effect, community density and, of course, good old recycling. What I listed above is just the tip of the iceberg.

It was fascinating to study, and I learned a ton by just preparing for the exam. It is such an important part of future building and neighborhood development. And it is, without question, the future of design.

As much as I love design and making things pretty, I need a higher purpose. And by passing this test, the door has been opened for me to do that.

Now, if I can just find a job.



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Attention to Detail


I guess Charlie has noticed that AJ is not around after all. He asked me to get all of AJ's pictures down. Then he spread them around him and laid down on his blanket.

And the blanket is another story. Charlie snuck into our closet today and found the Goodwill bag of clothes. On top, was an old shirt of Shawn's. It has the same waffle-weave as all of Charlie's blankets. I find it hilarious that the kid that notices when I am trying to type at the computer, get something from the fridge, or use the restroom still has not noticed his trusty blanket has grown arms.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Visiting AJ at Camp

We went up on Saturday to get AJ for the weekend. Since this is was his first year doing two weeks, we wanted to break it up a bit for him. So, we went and picked him up so we go do laundry, and visit.

I have to say, it was not the best weekend ever. First, we got there about 30 minutes late because of traffic. But, luckily when I called the camp to let them know we were running late, we found out that all the other parents had gotten stuck in the same traffic we had.

And then when we actually saw AJ we realized that the poor kid had had a cold all week. He wasn't deathly ill or anything, and was still able to do the activities. But, I felt so bad that he was under the weather during the one thing he had been looking forward to all year.

I had originally assumed that we would go to the local street fair, walk around, maybe go to a park and let the kids play. But what actually happened was that AJ fell asleep in the backseat while we drove around waiting to get into our hotel. We were finally able to get in our hotel at 3PM. We all just rested and waited for dinner.

We had gotten a certificate at check-in that gave us "Kids eat free" status. And the restaurant was for the hotel dinning room. We mistakenly thought that this meant the restaurant was kid friendly. It was not. Although there were kid menus, there were also white tablecloths- the whole nine yards. It wasn't a horrible experience, but Shawn and I had to take turns walking around with Charlie. He did love the Mango sorbet that they served to cleanse our palette, though. (Insert big eye roll here.)

I ended up taking the kids back to the room while Shawn stayed and paid. He did tell me that the two women next to us did comment on how well behaved our kids were. Although it was nice of them to say, I am guessing they meant AJ, because Charlie was not at the table very much. It was still nice to hear.

We got back to the room and just hung out for the rest of the night. Then the next morning, we stayed in the room until the last possible second. We ordered breakfast in, the boys wrestled around on the floor and we watched some t.v. We went and grabbed lunch and then did a repeat of the day before. We drove around while AJ napped in the back seat.

And then to put the cap on the weekend, AJ got to camp only to find out that his friend from school was not there after all. We are not sure what happened, but AJ was bummed.

In other news, we drove by this during one of our drives around town. Can you say, "Random"?


Yes, it is an entire field of rusted dinosaurs and other assorted animals.



Friday, June 12, 2009

Charlie Happenings


He is a very snappy dresser. Even if he is in a diaper, he needs to have shoes and a hat. In fact, he started out the day in his crib crying for his shoes. He was not happy until he had his shoes and socks on. I think he likes the "clop clop" sound they make on the floor.

Here he is brushing his teeth. This has been a battle for many a
moon. I finally got him a battery operated brush, which he loves. And after I brush his teeth, I let him have a go. Hey- it is better than nothing.

Here he is using the child proof magnetic locking mechanism to open a cupboard. Fantastic.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Dropping AJ off at Camp




These are the two pictures I could quickly snap while dropping AJ off at camp. He LOVES camp and has been talking about going back since we picked him up last summer. 

And of course after giving him a long talk about how he will most likely have different counselors and different kids in his cabin, who should show up but Ed? His counselor from last year. AJ thought Ed was the best counselor EVER.  And he is from England, so he has a totally cool accent to boot.

Not only does he have the same counselor, but he is in the same cabin, in the same bunk above Ed. Just like last year. AJ is nothing, if not consistent. 

Do you like the look of mortification on AJ's face? I tried to explain to him that my parents mortified me, I will mortify him, and he will mortify his kids. Forget the Lion King. THAT is the true Circle of Life. 

Best Laid Plans

On Saturday, we thought it would be fun to meet up with some friends at the pool, have a picnic dinner, and then let the kids do some swimming.  5  minutes after we got there someone (not any of our kids) got sick in the pool. So, obviously the swimming part of the evening was out. 

So we decided to eat and then head out to the park.  

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Some Mornings . . .


are just two blanket mornings.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Typical

My friend Bretta and I were lamenting over the fact that it is the 11th day of summer vacation and we have heard "I'm bored" 603 times already. Yeah, I counted. 

So, the subject of chores came up. She was telling me that she wrote down a bunch of chores on little wooden coins, threw them in a bowl and the kids had to pick some each day. And because she is not Momny Dearest, she even gave them a token for a "Free Day". 

AJ has a few chores he does every day. And he is expected to do any odd jobs I ask him to, as they come up. But, to mix it up a bit, I stole Bretta's idea and wrote down 6 jobs on pieces of craft wood I had laying around (and one free day). Yeah! Chore cards!

So I mix them up and fan them out. Shawn, after making fun of me for misspelling vacuum, lends his full support. We anxiously await AJ's pick. Think of all the responsibility he will learn! This will teach him what being in a family means! We are giddy with excitement and our kick-butt parenting. 

He picks a card and flips it over. "Free Day".