Busy, Busy

Between Christmas, Connor's vocabulary, and household projects we have had an exhausting last few weeks.

We had a wonderful Christmas! Connor was treated well by many people, too well for a one year old! It was so fun watching him on Christmas morning!!

In no particular order, I would say that his top three gifts are:

1. choo-choo

2. kitchen

3. a broom (yes you read that right!)

He spins in circles, not knowing what he should be playing with. The train is constantly going. He starts to cook, or sweep, or saw and we turn the train off. He turns it back on. What a lovely background sounds it provides

Can you believe that Sharpay from HSM was at our family Christmas? We couldn't!!

Connor's vocabulary has changed so much in a week that it is amazing. He still talks a lot, but the way he says things is different. It is no longer ma ma and da da, but mommy and daddy. The most amazing and wonderful thing is that he has started saying "yeah". To us that is huge, all he would ever answer was no, when he clearly meant yes. We can't wait for Cathy to hear!!

And lastly, what would two weeks off be without a project at our house? Here is the latest project...a kitchen update. I refuse to post a before picture because I am actually ashamed of it! I will say, it was just shelving and no seating. Hats off to daddy's vision, it is awesome!!

Ken has been working on his gift from Santa...

he must have been a good boy this year!

Waiting...

Connor is all snuggled in his bed waiting for Santa...although he doesn't really get it this year! He knows who Santa is, what he says, and gets excited when he sees him (from a distance!). When people have asked him if Santa is coming to his house, he's not so sure what he thinks about that. I know tomorrow will be an exciting and exhausting day for all as we venture out for 2 Christmases!

Merry Christmas to all!!

Ice Day

School was cancelled today : ( It isn't very often that you will hear a teacher complain about a day off, but today is different. Today was the last day before break. We spend the day with mass, making gingerbread houses, eating, watching a holiday movie (always Prancer in my room), and singing Christmas carols with 600 kids ; ). It is a great way to get in the spirit. This year we will have to do without and for me it isn't the same. I am however thankful that we still have power! I must admit it looks pretty too!
To help boost our spirit, Connor and I have been cleaning and listening to Christmas music. Tonight I think we will brave a visit to Santa and attempt to finish our shopping. I am ready to tie up loose ends!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Anniversary!

Today Ken and I celebrate our 6th anniversary, where does the time go?! We decided to go away for a night for some much needed QT (after all the traveling Ken has been doing). It was my first trip away from the little guy but everyone seemed to get along just fine!

Thank you Ken, for six great years. I can't wait to see what our future has to hold!

Got teeth?

It appears that Connor is getting his 2 year molars. Only one has poked through with all this drool. Hopefully the other three will come quickly!Poor guy!

Moooo

We ventured out for a little trick-or-treating this year, stopping at only a few select houses. Connor didn't quite get the concept, but was quite tickled when he was handed a piece of candy. We went to Main St. to see some friends where things were quite busy, I wanted him to see all the kids and he loved watching them! They had bought about 1,000 pieces of candy and went through almost all of it! He was the cutest cow we have ever seen!

As I seem to have my startled Halloween face on while Connor is saying "moooo", this is the third attempt the photographer needed to take the picture. This was the best one!! We will blame the photographer :)

Carving fun

The other night we thought we'd jump into carving one of our home grown pumpkins! When I imagined this event, the end product was much cuter than what it turned out to be. As I often remind myself, Connor is only one and he was impressed with the job that we did. The best part was watching him dig the guts out!!

Daddy and Connor get set to cut,

Connor digs in,

Connor and I draw the face,

and finally the finished product!

Happy Halloween!

Nothing

We have been up to nothing lately.

I read other blogs and the fun things that people are doing and I realize that we really have no life. But, I am ok with that.

Here is some of the nothing that we have been doing.

We finally got the deck stained,

the boys spend lots of floor time together,

and capturing the fall photos!

I hope you have an exciting week!

Not Proud...

This is something I'm not totally proud of, but do find somewhat amusing. Ken has wanted to go to WWE Smackdown for the longest time. Thank goodness they were never really 'in the area', until recently. He was so excited when he heard that Smackdown was going to be at my college Alma mater, of all places. It was all he wanted for his birthday (some how he ended up with way more). He bought the tickets and counted the days. I kept hoping he'd decide to take someone else, but he really wanted me to have the great experience too.

At least I got cheese stuffed breadsticks out of it!






I'm sure you are all jealous of me. I'm sure that you have all done things with your men, for them. All I have to say is I can't wait for my birthday!

OUCH!

Connor fought with a metal chair at Cathy's yesterday.

Any guesses on who won??

I think it hurts me more than him!

The kid is going to need a helmet!

Fall

I LOVE fall. It is by far my most favorite season. The fall decor, the changing leaves, hayrides, McDonald's pumpkin pie, and of course the football games. What's not to love? This weekend we took Connor to a local garden stores 'Pumpkin Fest'. The pony ride was not a hit. He wanted nothing to do with them. The firetruck that was there on the other hand, was a huge hit. This was no surprise to me. He does love anything with a motor.

Pumpkin Patch

My thumb is not very green. We attempted a garden again this summer with just cucumbers and tomatoes. The cucumbers were a huge failure. The tomatoes weren't too bad, but not enough at once to make some yummy salsa.

The pumpkins that we didn't really plant however are doing great. We have 5 good sized pumpkins and 1 that is just beginning to grow. I love seeing Connor go over to them, point, and babble something very serious about them!

I can't wait until they are ready to decorate the front porch!

Sew Fun!

After years of "borrowing" my moms sewing machine, I decided it was time to get my own! After much research and advise from many friends, I finally made my decision about 3 weeks ago. I have already had so much fun with it, as it is slightly more updated than my moms (she got it when I was 2!). Here is my first real creation, a gift for a co-worker of Ken's. I hope she likes it!I was actually shocked that I completed it in about 3 hours one late night! I guess all of the cutting patterns and sewing when I was 10 has paid off!! I'm sure I will be making more gifts to come!

This is the inside, it is actually reversible!

Have a great week!

This is how I feel...

Tomorrow is the big day! I am sure all will go well, but it is so hard to go back to work after 10 weeks off!

Momma's Boy

Does this look like a boy who wants his mom to go back to work on Tuesday?

I didn't think so either!

For Sale

We have decided to sell Ken's prized toy. We just don't use it enough. Maybe if we lived closer to water, maybe if Ken didn't travel, maybe if we didn't have a toddler.

So let all your friends know...info below!

· 1999 18 ft. Starcraft skiboat 1800 GT-looks new!
· All fiberglass – no wood (won’t rot out)
· 125 HP Outboard Mercury Motor with power trim. Very low hours.
· Seats 8 – 6 comfortably.
· Open bow. 2 buckets with bench in the rear.
· Am/Fm radio with cassette.
· Includes life jackets, skis, tube, ropes.

If you are interested drop me a message or e-mail merood@hotmail.com

Where have you been?

Ahhh, vacation!

Ken had a business trip to Orlando, so Connor and I decided to tag along. We hung out while he worked and then stayed a few extra days for some well deserved family time.

No, we did not go to Disney, we have a one year old. To me, that just didn't sound like a whole lot of hot fun! After being there, we don't regret our decision at all. Connor was awesome on the plane and slept better in the hotel than he does at home! We ate, went to the pool, shopped, relaxed, and ate some more. It was great family time, but it is always so nice to be home!

Here are a few pictures of the boys having fun!

He spotted about a hundred helicopters!

Splashing Daddy!The world's largest tire: Believe it or Not!I think this was the most fun Connor had. We came across a fountain in the center of an outdoor mall. Ken and I let him go for it and he was having the best time! This is a fairly dry picture, I wish I would have taken one after he was done!

Connor was all about looking out the window on the plane. Better him than me!

I was there, someone had to take the pictures!!

I guess it is now time to face the reality of school starting in 14 (YIKES!) days! Where has the summer gone?

Sand

I don't really like sand. At all. I just hate how it sticks to you like glue. I never remember, even as a child, wanting to play in sand. We didn't have a sandbox and we rarely went places where sand was.

I must admit that I do love going to beach. I am just very careful about sand. I wish that 1 year olds knew how to be "careful" with sand.

Welcome the newest addition to our family...

Oh yeah! a sandbox. AKA Curtis the Crab!

The things we will do for our kids!!

Working Weekend

While many people picnicked and relaxed over the 4th, we were hard at work! For those of you that don't know, we seem to always be busy working on our house. Had HGTV's Property Virgins been around 5 years ago, I doubt that we would be living here! We really had no idea what we were getting into...oh well! Our project list is very long, but it feels great to get some of those little things done! One step closer to the hopes of moving to town!

Here is the fun that we had:

A new patio door.

A finished playroom! This is exciting because it takes our house from a 2 bedroom to a 3 bedroom.

This is the exterior picture of the 'before' from last summer.

Here is the interior finished product! I know I still need curtains, I am hoping to make them this weekend, I am still looking for the perfect fabric. I also should hang things on the wall, but I hate to mess with the beautiful drywall!

Lots of aluminum soffit hung! It isn't quite finished and of course I didn't get a picture taken.

Somehow I convinced Ken to take a few more days off to do more work before his traveling kicks up again. I did promise him a day or two of fun though!! We did take some time off to celebrate my birthday both with family and alone with Ken. I can't believe I am another year closer to 30, where does the time go??!

Once we get to the finished product, we feel so good (and tired). As you can imagine getting there is rough. Between a 1 year old, his naps, and normal project issues...we are so lucky to have each other. I know I don't tell Ken enough how grateful I am for all that he does for us! I love having a handy husband, I hope he loves it too!