miscellany monday

{it's been a long time since I've joined carissa at lowercase letters...and I've missed being a part of her mundane mondays!  be sure to pay her and her sweet little lovlies a visit and join in too!}

1. {the shortest longest week eva'!}

last week was one of the busiest we've had in awhile...I felt jammed-packed with events and couldn't wait for the week to end...but it went way too fast...which makes me ever so thankful that this little miss is just the bestest baby eva'!

we had lots of activities and going's-on every day...and Elizabeth just goes with the flow!  There were field trips, after-school activities, teacher conferences & partays...and I felt terrible that she spent a lot of time in the car...but this is how she handled it...

she can sleep anywhere!  love that...and at this point, I think I could too!

2. {nice tats!}

one of the outings last week was to get this little lady to her extremely much anticipated birthday sleepover with a friend!

one of her goodies was a sheet of bright, sparkly tattoos...and she had to wear all of them...on one arm!

so glad her mom told us they are from Justice...because now Emily knows where we must get more!  ha!

3. {94}

we are so blessed to have great-grandma Martha in the family and be able to celebrate her 94th birthday on Sunday!

{kendall, great-grandma Martha, elizabeth, emily and emma}

doesn't she look amazing?! 

definitely an awesome reason to get the whole fam together!

  

and for elizabeth to meet the rest of the family!

{this picture cracks me up...love aunt betty's expression...love the ruffled bottom!}

Happy 94th Birthday Grandma Martha!

4. {smarty pants}

teacher/parent conferences last week left me feeling so proud of alex and emily!

alex has the highest math facts score of his class...and he and emily's classes both received their class traveling math trophy! 

emily is also a wonderful reader...she will pick up a book anytime of day and just sit and read forever.  her favorite books to read right now are Junie B Jones! 

they both have all A's ...and are a joy to have in class {do all teachers say that?...ha!}  I don't mean to brag...but I guess I just did!

{emily loves to try on my glasses...and I love her messy bedhead!}

5. {double-chin grin}

love love it on her...

...not so much on me...sigh...

happy monday!

miscellany monday

{it's monday!  time to join carissa at lowercase letters for more miscellaneous happenings and random thoughts!  join in and share your mundane moments too!}

1.{my old twin...sort of}

did anyone else live to watch 90210 back in the day...or was that just me?  I still remember when I was in high school that people used to tell me I looked like Tori Spelling back then...and I was so flattered, ha! 

fast forward...ahem...about 15 years...

we started a new year of MOPS last week, and during one of our getting to know you games...a new mom I had not met before sits down and says to me first thing..."Has anyone ever told you, you look like Tori Spelling?"  I started laughing!  I'm not sure I look quite like her...but I guess there's some similarity...maybe the shape of our faces and our haircuts...I don't know, what do you see?  ha! 

2.{stack 'em up!}

on friday, Alex and Emily were part of the cup stacking tournament at school.  I had no idea what it was going to be like or how many kids participated...but let's just say...I was a little overwhelmed at the noise and activity level once I was there!  they were both really excited about it!  

Emily getting her score sheet...

...the practice area...

...the testing area...

they had three chances to improve their times...and poor Emily got disqualified all three times!  I guess when she unstacked the cups each time, she was going in the wrong order.  she was so devastated and all tears...I felt so bad.

then it was time for the doubles competition...which we thought when they signed up that Alex and Emily would be competing against each other...turns out they were actually a team!  Emily didn't want to do it anymore because she felt so defeated by the singles round, but I told her she had to...  I thought it was so funny watching them practice...Alex didn't want to get so close to Emily!

I loved watching them work together...and they did great!

the idea was that they each had to take turns and only use one hand to complete the stacking and unstacking...

...and guess what...

they won third place and received a medal!  I was so happy...and Emily was thrilled!  I was so proud of them!

what a great team!

{Emily wore her medal all weekend!}

3.{t minus seven}

Alex finally lost his seventh tooth!  he refused to pull it even though it was flapping when he breathed!  I was afraid he was going to swallow it, so I finally convinced him to get it out!

nice grin!  it's picture day next week...his smile keeps changing every year!

4.{little picasso's}

I finally put the quote up over the kids' artwork in the basement that was inspired by Kelli at RTSM.  I love seeing their artwork and I think they're pretty proud of it too!  There's plenty of wall space to expand...so I hope the gallery keeps growing!

I'm not sure why some of the letters are so much bigger than others...I used the same size for all of them!  I used the Cricut to cut them out on vinyl adhesive paper...and used a laser level to try and hang them all straight...maybe it's just my eye...but it still looks a little crooked!  oh well...I kinda like that it's a little imperfect! 

{Thanks Kelli for the cute idea!}

I also hung the little shelf that used to be near our back door next to their little kitchen, added a couple of pictures...and created cafe picasso...ha!  all artists need a snack break!

Happy Monday!

miscellany monday

{Where did the weekend go?  But...Monday means time to join carissa at lowercase letters for more random ramblings about your week!}

1.  {hot and cold}
I'm so glad the weather is starting to cool off and feel like Fall is finally in the air!  And even though we still had a few hot days last week...Emily was still dressed like this...

...for her ice-skating lesson! 

I love cozy fleece and a reason to wear hats...but I'm not ready for the cold weather...so for now...we'll just enjoy the cold indoors and watching Emily glide on ice!

2.  {clean up your act!}

I know I've been saying this every. single. week.  but I'm still continuing to clean and organize, and starting to feel like we have some breathing room again!  Alex and I cleaned out his closet this weekend, and I'm still amazed out how much can hide in such small spaces!  Just about everything in his closet was either trash, old toys to donate like his stuffed animals, and all clothes that didn't even fit!  We were thrilled to find his floor again and be able to actually open both his closet doors without something spilling out!  I was happy that Alex wanted to help...and it gave us more appreciation to start taking better care of things and start donating things to others instead of stuffing it away.  He's such a good helper!  Next...Emily's closet...yikes!

3.  {save it for a rainy day}

We finally saw some rain this weekend!  It was great!  Alex and I stayed in our pj's all day {the same day we cleaned out his closet} played Super Mario Bros. on the wii {we are at the final castle of world 8!} and just relaxed.  Emily has finally made it six weeks with her earrings...she was just a few days away of changing them...so a rainy day was the perfect day to get out her new earrings and try them on...and I think she seriously changed them at least 5 times!

 

She is so excited to finally match her earrings to her outfits...but I'm not sure this is a good thing, ha!  She has already planned what earrings she is wearing for the rest of the week...she just needs to find an outfit to go with them!  She has done such a great job taking care of her ears and has been so responsible when cleaning them without being told...and she has not been back into our bed at night one time since she got them pierced!  {bittersweet...}  Such a little lady now...sigh...

Later...the rain stopped and it turned out to be a sunny late afternoon...and I couldn't help but take a picture of Emily in the sun room with the sun shining in while she worked on her puzzles...

It was a good day to catch up on some down time...but still get some things accomplished.

4.  {gettin' my craft on...}

...at least...I plan on it!  My goal for this week is to finally paint the baby's room {and still no name...we need to get on that!}  I've picked out several green paint chips...but I'm scared I'm going to pick the wrong one!  I'm going for a light green and accent the sheets and accessories with pink and green.  Wish me luck!

I also want to get my Cricut out {I've missed it so much!} and steal borrow Kelli's idea and hang this quote in our basement over Alex and Emily's artwork.  She is so good with craft and design ideas...I love what she's done...and I hope I can accomplish this!  {be sure to visit her blog for so many other fun ideas!}

Happy Monday! 

Hope you have a great week...and make the most of those miscellanous moments!

miscellany monday

{Wow...these Mondays are rolling around so fast...I can't believe it!  But that means another week to share your miscellaneous happenings with carissa at lowercase letters!  Be sure to stop by and visit her too!}

1.  {now playing...}
We can finally get a night to go to the movies...without leaving home!  Sort of...

We've got popcorn...we've got sodas...and we've got the best {the only} seats in the theater!  Ha! 

{disregard our tattered and torn old recliners...but they'll do for now!}

We are so proud of Dan for doing this all on his own!  It has come so far!  If only you could've seen the before before!  It was a concrete dungeon full of clutter and we could barely get the door open...{I was too embarrassed to take pics of that!}...and I think the mice may miss all their little hiding places...ew!

We had lots of fun watching our first feature Toy Story...and the kids loved sleeping in there this weekend...I see many slumber parties in our future!

The playroom is also a great improvement!  Dan built the bookcase from scratch too...just by looking at what I wanted from the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue...

{he still needs to put the doors on the bottom...but I love how it turned out...and I think Whiskers was pretty impressed too!  we'd eventually like to hang a tv in the middle too...someday...but Alex's IU scoreboard clock fills the space great!}

I think the kids will really enjoy being down here again and having most of their toys finally within reach...

Alex's karaoke korner...

{I'd also like to frame the kids' artwork to hang on the walls too!}

It was lots of work and we're so happy with how it all turned out...now on to the next room!

2.  {let's eat!}
Even though Emily keeps pulling all her teeth out...{Dan would love for Alex and Emily to follow in his footsteps...and we laughed and decided that she may have a future as an oral surgeon...ha!}...she still loves to eat, and a few missing teeth hasn't slowed her down!

She invited me to eat lunch with her at school one day...and it made me feel so good when I got there and her teacher told me how excited she was that I was coming!  It's so cute to see her at school and watch her enjoying it all!  Alex even came over to say hi during his lunch...but he didn't want to sit with us...he couldn't have us cramping his style!

 

I can't believe she's in full swing of first grade already...it won't be long before she won't be caught anywhere near her mother!  Ha!  So I am loving this special attention that she wants to be with me and I will totally eat it up!

3.  {celebrate!}
Another year...another birthday!  This time we celebrated Dan's day...

...seems as though the older we get...the less excited we get for our birthdays...but having cupcakes and blowing out birthday candles is always fun when you have two cute little helpers...

...it's just too bad that Whiskers thinks it's fine to help herself to some too!  I caught her on the counter with the lid pushed off...licking her whiskers...grrr!  So I tossed most of them...but that gives me a great excuse to make more!

How about you...what mundane happenings will you make memorable?  

Happy Monday!