Orange You Glad...

Kayci's birthday was last week, so that means she FINALLY got her Dick & Jane quilt! A new quilt meant new sheets, new curtains, etc...and that has been more of a headache than I ever anticipated. There's the final product...that's sheet set #3 and curtains #2, by the way. The reason I'm posting about this here is that I let Kayci guide the way, and while we did detour into the pink polka dot sheets briefly before we got them home and she realized they didn't match, it worked out that her room is exactly as I'd hoped it would be. Orange is the "pop" color both in his crib bedding and her quilt, and I really wanted orange sheets. The orange curtains were totally a bonus find at Wal-Mart yesterday, and I love, love them against the blue and white! The point is, I could have bought orange stuff and just told her that's that. But she came to that conclusion on her own, and we both win. So, so much more satisfying, doncha think?

Little Moments

Today Noble said two new words: bubbles & splash.

On Wednesday, he learned to float (in the swimming pool).

Last Friday, he learned how to go up stairs alternating feet, holding on to the rail.

These little learning/teachable moments every day...I probably won't remember them. But these are the moments that make up a life, that build a love.

I'm grateful for this life--and this family, and these friends, and this work--that I love.

Party Prep!

Tomorrow is Kayci's 6th birthday party. I can't believe it! She'll technically be 6 next Thursday, but tomorrow she's having a few friends over for her first "real" slumber party. She's so excited! We've been planning the party for months, and I've really been proud of how we've worked it into the budget as we've gone along. Ahem. Until today--when we got everything out to go into the girls' goody bags, I realized exactly how MUCH stuff we've collected. Oopsie. So their goody bags are pretty awesome--Kayci can't wait to get into hers. And then there are the microphones and guitars they'll get at the party...it's going to be a lot of fun, and Kayci and her friends are going to enjoy all of the STUFF! I can't wait--we'll post pictures and video soon, I hope!

Here are a couple of pictures of the goody bags (drying) and the goody bag stuff waiting to go into the bags, and also a picture of the party girl putting together a centerpiece. Notice the Hannah Montana microphone she's wearing...today at Wal Mart she saw these and decided she wanted them badly enough to spend her own money on them for the party. That's a pretty strong argument right there!

Day Two...Still Smiling...

It's day two of "official" summer, and Noble's at daycare for a few hours.  Kayci and I went to the grocery store, and when we got home I sat down to write a report and gave her the option of working in her room or finishing her "job" from yesterday (going through cubbies and drawers to rediscover her stuff).  She went into her room to make her bed, and I heard her in there singing and thought, hmm, why not?  So I reminded her that she can play CDs.  A few minutes later I heard, "can I do karaoke?"...sure!  So here we are over an hour later, and she's just come up for air (and a granola bar--she's got to learn to eat a better breakfast!).  Lunch is in about an hour, then about an hour after that I'll go get Noble and then drop Kayci off at a friend's for a play date so I can head into Houston to work.  

Tomorrow is Wednesday, which means swimming lessons and then shots for Noble in the morning.  I imagine our afternoon will be fairly quiet, then we have tickets to the "Imagine That" premiere tomorrow night.  It's up in the air whether or not Noble and I will go, a lot depends on how he's feeling.  Hopefully he'll be tired and SLEEP through the movie...we'll see!  

Then it's Thursday, so back to daycare for Noble and hopefully a solid workday for me while Kayci plays here at home.  I think if the novelty of being here has worn off by then I'll get out the buckets of soapy water and flyswatters and turn her loose outside.   Or maybe some of that new great sidewalk chalk that comes in the cool colors--those would look great on our spa cover, which she uses as a chalkboard sometimes.  So many options...

My point is, I guess, that I'm talking this through in my head and realizing that I can DO this.   I can be a good mom and have fun with my kids AND get my work done this summer.  So the house isn't Kristi-clean...I'll get over it.  Heaven knows, everyone else has!  

So, we're doing it.  We're having a great summer already.  Woo Hoo!!!!

First day of summer!

I haven't quite decided what I'll blog about here this summer...I think I'll focus on the kiddos and what we're doing here at home. So here we go, on the first day of summer...

This weekend we heard some variation of "I'm bored" several times. Those words--or any variation--are guaranteed to send me right over the edge. So last night as Daddyboy and I sat on the deck talking over the weekend and summer plans in general, we talked this over and came to the conclusion that our life this year has been so OFF that Bitty needs to relearn how to play and keep herself entertained here at home. The child has every toy/game/art supply you name it in kid-dom. This morning she got out a stack of Dick and Jane books after breakfast and started reading. I thought, score! After a while, it started...the wandering, with puppy dog eyes and all.

So then I got a great idea: I told her to get a pad of paper and something to write with, and go through every drawer and every cubby in the office and make a list of what she's got. My thought was that she'd get reacquainted and get excited. My evil plan worked immediately...before she even got to the end of the first cubby, she asked if she could play with play-doh when she was done with her "work." I totally kept a straight face when I told her, magnanimously, to go ahead and play with play-doh now, she could work later.

Hee hee. Day one and counting...