My silly little boy and some Lake time

This morning I set Cutter down on the rug while I went to fill my coffee cup. When I came back I found him hanging out under the coffee table. Happy as can be.
He seemed pretty proud of himself. He is starting to be able to roll where he wants to go. LOL
Wednesday I went with some friends to Shelton and got to hang out by the lake. Cutter mostly chilled on a beach towel
while Jade spent a good deal of time sitting in the water digging up rocks.
Later she did convince Yumi (also her babysitter) to take her out on one of the rafts. She is the little red blob on the right, sitting on the blue floaty thing.
And Cutter continued to hang out under a big beach umbrella.
It was fun to have a change of pace and get to play by the water!

hello

I'm staring at Cutter while he's playing in his little excer-saucer. He is giving me goofy faces and gooey grins. I love his little slobbery, toothless smiles. They get me every time.

Being a Mom of two leaves me either crazy or bored. Crazy because it's hard juggling two crying, cranky kids at the same time and bored, because when they both are napping I have zero energy left to do anything really productive.

Though...I am inspired to learn how to paint on canvas. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this canvas on potterybarnkids.com and I've been looking at it on and off today and thinking "I could paint a knock off that isn't quite as good or as cute but you get the jest of it...for a heck of a lot less, right?" I haven't convinced myself quite yet, but I also want to paint these flash card inspired canvases for Cutter's room..I was hoping to make it to the craft store tonight to see how much blank canvas are anyway. I wanted to go alone but the hubs man won't be home till late. Waa. I'm thinking I'll just take the kids. I have nothing else planned and I'm tired of watching tv, folding laundry and trying to keep myself from eating every snack in the kitchen. hee, hee

So, that's all. Just sitting here with my lap top and figured I'd post an update.

UPDATE: I went out yesterday and bought three different canvases (50% off at Micheals) and this morning I'm watching "how to paint with acrylics" videos. LOL I've done it before, but it was awhile ago. Jonathan doesn't seem to have any faith that my paintings will turn out very good...but we'll see.

Uncut, unedited movie of Cutter and me in the morning

Just one reason I love my Macbook

My husband likes to throw around fancy words sometimes. Words he thinks should be used in every day conversation but I think should be reserved for fancy novels and deep historical fiction. Since I don't read fancy novels or historical fiction (much) it can be difficult for me to decipher the meaning of the words used...but then I realized...I have a fancy little "dictionary" app (or icon, I don't know what you call it when it's ON your computer and not a fancy iphone or something) on my Macbook and I can just type in the word and ta da! Definition, right at my finger tips. Don't have to go trudging upstairs and search my own dictionary for the meanings.

I enjoyed having it today after watching "Accidental husband" yesterday. There were a few words they threw around in the movie that the characters pretended not to understand. It is fun to look up words you don't tend to use on a regular basis in your vocabulary. I remember as a young child my Mom use to use fancy words and when I would repeat these words to other adults they would look at me as though I were a genius child. I miss that rush. Who thinks of me as a genius now? No one. Doesn't take much to look like a smarty pants when you are six, takes a heck of a lot more when you are 26.

Ah well. At least I have my fancy little dictionary at hand so I can verify the meaning of a word before using it in a sentence. LOL

Now if I only had a spelling master app...I'd be all set.

And now it's time for silly songs with Missi. The part of the blog when Missi comes out and sings a silly song:

I wake up every morning

feeling pretty great

I hear my baby screaming

cause he can't articulate

I run and feed the baby

Then quickly change his clothes

I also spend a lot of time

Just tickling his toes

Then next we get his sister

Who is hanging in her bed

She likes it when I wake her up

by singing near her head

After morning cereal

and coffee for this Mom

we play a little "let's clean up"

which never lasts that long

sometimes we go for real long walks

Some times we stay at home
but go or stay each new day,

I'll work myself to the bone

Mondays I do laundry

Tuesday I clean house

I will cook bread, until I'm dead

And feed it to a mouse

Nap time is my favorite

It's when my children rest

Then i pull out my laptop

Cause Hulu is the best

I catch up on my sitcoms

And watch my silly shows

I like suspense and guys who fence

And stylishly dressed Ho's

When evening time starts nearing

I begin my culinary skills

It's a good thing J won't complain

and always eats my meals

This poem now is boring,

I can't type any more

I'll only say, what a great day

Now go and shut the door

Riight

I have the passion to be creative, but not the skills. Not the skills and not the materials. Not the materials and only a tiny bit of patience. A little patience but only so much time.

Time, I have. I'm home. Waaa! Home with ideas. Ideas that I've stollen from Mother Lode, Who, strangely enough, gleaned these fabulous ideas from others...

Why don't I have a huge stash of glue and paper and paint and crayons and ribbons and fabric and thread and yarn, all wrapped up in a cozy little cupboard in a perfectly little craft room in my house? Why?

On gloomy, cloudy days

when my life is a haze,

A sorry little maze

Like a "Rat Race" phase....of boring repetition?

I need in my hands

twenty colorful paint cans

Perhaps some ceiling fans

And a few kitchen pans...and some decision.

okay, that poem sucks. On to the next thing. My children are sleeping. Cutter napping and Jade still asleep from her long evening nap. It's nearly 10am! You know a child is sick when all they want to do is sleep. I better go check on her.

Gosh, I wish I had something to keep me busy today. Why? Oh why did I do so much yesterday?

Being domestic

The one good thing that comes of having sick kids, is I'm forced to stay home all day. This is both a positive and a negitive, as I'm going stir crazy like no other. The positive though is I've gotten a TON of stuff done. I've scrubbed the house (literally) from top to bottom. Done many loads of laundry, cooked a delicious meal for a friend who just had a baby, spent time reading and playing with both my kids, and started "to do" lists for later this week.

I feel like I should be wearing a poodle skirt and pearls while I continue to dust and vacuum my house. I also have this huge urge to bake pies and cookies all day. I'm not, just cause I'd feel bad to make all the yummy goodness and then tell Jade she can't eat any of it till she is better.

I do wish I had some fabric to work on some projects though. I may leave Jonathan home tonight with the kids and run to JoAnn's so I have something to keep me busy later on this week.

Poor Jade sounds like a dying old seal, that and a chain smoker. hee, hee. Her throat is so thick and raspy that when she talks it's hard to hear her.

She finally seems to be getting some sort of an appetite back though, so that's a plus. Trying to get her to drink fluids isn't going to well. Yesterday I crushed up ice in the blender and poured orange juice over it to get her to drink something. Today I made popsicles. :-)

Any hoo...the kids are napping and I'm waiting for the dryer to finish so I can do yet another load of laundry. While I wait, I think I'll read a book!

Sick kids and another day spent at home

My little baby Cutter woke up with a fever on Wednesday morning. His sad little face was so hot and flushed I spent the entire day holding him, rocking him and trying to get him to eat and sleep and stay cool.

I had just signed Jade up for swim lessons that started on Monday, she LOVED the swim lessons on Monday and Tuesday but sadly had to miss Wednesdays' appointment due to her brothers fever. I hoped all would be better the next day. After a long, exhausting night Cutters fever broke and he woke up Thursday morning a bundle of smiles.

Sadly, while he was all smiles Jade was sporting her own little fever. So we canceled swim lessons and hoped for another 24hr recovery. To my relief Jade's fever broke by Thursday afternoon. I let out an exhausted sigh and looked forward to a nice weekend.

Before I continue let me add quickly that my week started with my car in the shop to get the A/C working, while babysitting for a dear friend, Jonathan's Audi was accidentally backed into, a rat was discovered living in our garage and the "fixing" of my cars A/C resulted in other "must be repaired charges totaling $1000.

So Friday morning Jade seemed fine and Cutter seemed fine. I hoped to take the kids to the zoo, but it just so happened to be closed on Friday. So I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese instead. Friday night I was delighted when Jonathan took us out to dinner, and even more delighted when Jonathan told me our rat trap worked and we were rid of our pesky pest. Jade seemed "off" but I hoped she was just tired.

However, Saturday morning Jade woke up with a horse voice and a slight cough, only to later be followed by yet another fever.

Jonathan I spent the morning (mostly Jonathan) cleaning and rearranging the garage. I had seen another rat disappear behind some shelves and freaked out. We were able to clean and rearrange the whole garage and put out food poisen in hopes of killing any additional rats that may try to take up residence in our garage.

Jade's sickness has turned into heavy, raspy breathing, a barking like cough and what seems to be a stuffy nose that doesn't really require tissues.

Cutter, thankfully is fine and dandy, I am fine and dandy. But I'm home again, missing church and wishing for good health in my family. It's summer after all. Isn't there a summer rule that says "no one shall have colds or illnesses in the summer time, due to the need to never miss a day enjoying the sunshine" ? Right? I'm sure I read that rule some where. Oh wait. I just made it up. But I'm sure we can all agree there SHOULD be a rule that reads something to that effect.

Needless to say with the car repairs, JB's car getting hit, the rat and the sick kids, not to mention swim day lessons being missed...I'm feeling like I need some extra prayer and extra lovin'. So please, pass on the prayers and pour on the lovin'!

In other news I'm reading my second "book club" book. I think I'm on page four. hahaha! It's called "Rooms: A Novel" my book club is planning on reading only novels during the summer months "to keep things light and fun" and we are also going to try to stick to Christian authors.

Cutter is in his bouncer yelling at me for neglecting him while I type this weeping saga of my past four days and Jade is zoned out on the couch watching "Clubhouse Disney". The online recommended remedies for croup was to keep your child "calm", let me tell you, nothing makes Jade more calm then putting on the television. Gosh, I'm SUCH a good nurse.

Excersaucer take two

When Jade was about five months old we got her this little exersaucer at a garage sale. See here. Cutter is not yet four months and he is already enjoying some play time
complete with happy boy smiles. I have to say, this saucer was a lifesaver to me today. With what seems to be a nasty sinus headache and husband away for the evening, I've needed to not be holding my precious little angel all day long.
I'm so glad he likes it!!

Swim lessons

Thanks to Rachelle I have pictures of Jade taking her first swimming lesson!
she and her friend, Kyri, got to be the only two little girls in a class together. Both of them seemed very excited and didn't mind waiting their turn to swim with their teacher, since they got to play with such fun pool toys by the stairs.
We have lessons three more days this week and four more days next week. Jade is VERY excited and it's all she has been talking about this morning.

Just a quick update

Here are the handsome men of our household. I just bought Cutter his first pair of sunglasses and had to take a quick picture of him with them. He was smiling right before this pic was taken.

Cutter started rolling over while visiting my grandparents (his great grandparents) in Michigan. He's quite the little talker now, gurgles away baby talk to himself and Jade while driving in the car. He also likes to make his presence known with loud screaming type outbursts. I'm not very excited about this, but it is fun to see his personality shining through:-)

He'll be four months old next week, where has the time gone?

Jade started swim lessons today! (pictures later) she and her friend signed up for class together and ended up being the only two kids in the class! They loved the first lesson and are eager to go back tomorrow.

Jade is my little social butterfly, when friends aren't already over playing she is asking me when friends are coming over to play.

At 3.5yrs Jade is quite my big helper. She will talk with Cutter to calm him down when he's fussy, plays toys with him, sings to him and is constantly giving him is pacifier. Jade found me in another room this evening and peaked her head in to say "I'm gonna go find Cutter and tell him a story, maybe he will smile at me!"

I love her eagerness to be a good big sister and I'm so very grateful for the help, especially on long hard days when nothing seems to go right.

This has been a fun summer so far. I got to travel to Michigan last week with my two kiddos to visit my family and my In-Laws. We are now enjoying some great Washington weather (finally) and have big plans to do some day trips and make this summer as special as we can.

I guess that's a good enough update for now. Enjoy your summer every one!

Playing around with my brothers