socializing

i did this thing last week

where i tried to kill myself

being way too social.

plans all week long?

oh lord.

it started saturday with a party.

did you know that there comes a time

in your life where you should not make plans on saturday's?

it's true.

my new rule is: friday night or nothing.

at least if you go out on friday you have 48 hours to recover.

saturday nights out leave you wondering

how you are ever going to function in a mere 24 hours.

monday is sitting there looming over your head all day

while you try not to die and maybe also try to be a parent.

it sucks... or so i've heard.

 

sunday night i managed to get myself dressed and

met my family for dinner at jack stack for some delicious bbq

in celebration of my dad and Ronnie's birthday.

brette was being grouchy and wouldn't get off my lap,

but the huge brownie we ordered helped everything.

 

 

monday and tuesday were actually pretty normal.

i worked. we had a big family dinner.

i stayed home with the girls.

 

 

wednesday i met up with some girls i used to

work with and had dinner and drinks.

(i had one glass of wine because, for real,

it was too soon after saturday night.)

and i was home in time to help put the girls to bed.

 

thursday i had tickets to see beauty and the beast

at starlight theatre with a couple girls from the bank.

beauty and the beast is seriously in my top three favorite

disney movies of all time and it was hard for me to

sit there and not belt out all the songs.

ps- gaston was freaking hilarious.

i recommend it.

but i didn't get home until almost 11:30 and

didn't get to bed till after midnight.

when reid woke up at 6:30 i wanted to die.

 

 

friday i worked and then met ronnie, cale and the girls for dinner.

after the girls were asleep i hit the road for warrensburg

because my favorite two people were waiting for me.

shannon and marge... my college roomies.

we only get to see each other 3-4 times a year

so i have to take advantage when i can.

i didn't get down there until 9:00 and didn't

leave until after midnight.

i was freaking tired the next morning,

but i miss my friends so its  completely worth it.

 

 

since margie was in town, i invited my best friends

over for a little playdate.

by little, i mean huge.

and by playdate, i mean madhouse.

there were seven moms, two dads and cale.

seven kids one year old or younger.

eight kids between seven years old and three.

it. was. crazy.

but totally manageable and the kids freaking loved it.

we had a little pizza, blew up a pool, offered cookies and

chips when things got rough and even managed to put

the babies down for rotating naps in reid's crib.

i call that success.

 

 

THAT was my week.

this week, its back to normal.

groceries, laundry, cleaning.

nothing cool at all.

(until friday and then it's reid's FIRST BIRTHDAY! ahhhh!)

schooled

last week ronnie took brette to the pediatrician

for her three year check-up.

i totally forgot about getting her in to the doctor until

we received paperwork from her preschool needing

a doctor's signature and her shot records.

i got her in on a friday, but i had to work so ronald took her.

she is in the 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight.

say whaaaaa?

i would have never guess B is tall.

i guess i don't ever really see her around that many other 3 year olds.

ronnie also said the doctor asked brette about her colors and

had her draw a circle for her.

i asked how she did and he said "fine."

oh gee, thanks. that tells me so much.

he didn't really tell me a whole lot about the appointment because

ronnie sucks at remembering things i would find important.

she did have a slight ear infection but brette said it didn't hurt

so she's not on antibiotics for now.

i was excited to get her in to the doctor so fast because

that's the last thing we needed in order to officially enroll her in school.

brette will start at Our Lady of the Presentation Early Childhood Center

on august 17th, going only on wednesdays and fridays.

we have an open house/meet the teacher night the monday before

and i'm anxious to see how brette reacts.

i can't decide if i think brette will be totally cool with it or

cry when i try to leave her.

i'm hoping she loves every minute of it.

i can't believe my baby will be in school in a month.

i'm kind of freaking out about it.

i'm super excited for her and not ready at all.

 

thank god i still have a couple years

to prepare for kindergarten.

i'm so not ready.

here's brette in all her glory.

 

camper independence

so i never got to tell all about our first time out in the camper.

let's rewind a week...

there was a lot of packing.

we brought more crap than i thought possible and

somehow i had to run to walmart saturday morning

for a list of more crap we forgot.

hopefully, the camper is all set up and next go around

we'll just have to bring the basics.

the weekend went smoother than i thought it would

and the girls slept better than i ever would have dreamed.

brette had some late nights but both girls took

THREE HOUR naps in the afternoon.

sa-weet.

at night we could put them both down and then

go back out to hang with the adults with our

trusty video monitor.

then, when we're ready to go back inside

we can sneak in the second entrance to our master bedroom

without waking anyone up.

the other thing i really loved is the u-shaped kitchen table it has.

we can all sit and eat, even reid, without a highchair.

and the two chairs in the "living room" work really

well for nursing/rocking at night.

basically, the layout of the camper suits us really nicely.

it's a good thing i liked the camper because

it rained all day saturday.

wah wah.

that made everything a

little soggy but the group we went with had pop-up's

so we basically had a big covered room outside.

i did some light reading, some light drinking,

played a few games and basically just sat around bullshitting.

the kids watched a few movies and colored.

sunday the sun finally came out so we took

the kids down to the beach to play in the water and

after nap we were able to take the boat out.

brette really loves the lake.

 

i have practically no pictures from the whole weekend because

i don't get service down there so i never had my phone on me.

but here is reid climbing from the couch to the

kitchen table like a little monkey.

and then a few from one afternoon outside.

 

monday, we got up early and hit the road.

my bff, kassie, had her baby over the weekend i was

bound and determined to meet that kiddo asap.

we were back home, unpacked and showered by 3:00

so i got back on the road to see little elle.

she is precious and perfect and i don't

think i've seen kassie as happy as she is now.

i'm pretty sure she was made for motherhood.

 

 

 

a diamond in the rough

remember way back when we started

working on the outside of our house?

no?

well, read this.

it was definitely looking a little rough.

it started with adding a new railing around the basement stairs.

then replacing the siding that had rotted out.

they replaced some fascia board and used

bondo to fill in places that needed it.

it actually took ronnie and cale almost three months to get done.

i know.

waaaay too long.

once i found some painters that would actually show up,

 they were ready to start painting within three days

of hiring them.

ronnie spent two nights

outside until 10pm finishing up.

honestly, i didn't even feel bad because,

COME ON,

let's get this done already.

it also only gave me three days to pick a final color.

oh my god, the pressure.

in the end, i found a picture of a house from

sherwin williams that i liked and used those colors.

i changed out their gold color for a gel stain.

 

needlepoint navy, classic light buff and a wood gel stain.

i really like the combo but i was worried what it

would look like up against the brick so i started to do some research.

here's what i found:

 

i thought they both looked good and

honestly, i was never planning on keeping my brick untouched.

a limewash is in my future.

ronnie is trying to talk me out of it,

but he might just come home one day and i'll

have a least part of it done.

i'm sorry, but this brick is SO MUCH cooler.

 

 

we also contemplated changing the wood shake back to

a nature color and gel staining it as well.

i was worried that between the brick, the shake shingles,

the trim and the base color we would have too

much going on and it would look a little crazy.

although, if we didn't have brick,

how good does this look?

 

but like it said,

 we are doing a limewash brick,

a needlepoint navy base,

classic light buff trim

and a gel stain on the front door and shutters.

here's the whole transition:

 

 first, we had to take down the rotten siding and

replace the garage header.

 

 

i thought it looked pretty good when they got

it all put back together.

i thought: holy cow, maybe this won't take too long.

 

 but the rest of the house was slow going.

 

 

but finally - just last week - it was time to PAINT!

first, they primed all the new siding.

 

next, base.

then trim.

 

finally, the gel stain.

and we're done!

it only took them four days.

i can only imagine what it would have

taken ronnie to do it.

 

 

 

done, but not TOTALLY done.

we need to go buy new outside lights this week and

we need to stain the deck and the new railing.

i also want to add the hardware to the garage to make it look a little nicer.

one day, i want to replace the garage doors completely.

i'm IN LOVE with this:

 

i know it seems silly,

but for real,

i think new garage doors are important.

it just gives it a more polished look.

and windows.

windows on a garage door are my jam.

 

and if i REALLY get my way,

ronnie will be adding a little pergola above them too.

um, yes please!

this looks so good.

 

but for now, i'm going to live with a cheap update like this:

 

i looks so sad in comparison,

but i'll live with it for awhile.

 

i think next year ronnie

wants to work on landscaping and tree removal.

for real, this place it never-ending.

but i like it and it seems

pretty simple in comparison to what we've been doing.

 

 

pretty soon the house will actually LOOK like the diamond it is.

 

 

campering

things were going so well.

we actually looked like a fairly normal family.

me, with the yukon.

ronnie, with his truck.

the harley was tucked away in the garage.

the 4Runner and jeep were sold.

the only huge monster left in our driveway

was ronnie's shed-on-wheels that he has for work.

(and there's not much i can do about that.)

 

and then he went and bought a camper.

 

 

technically, I bought the camper,

but lets be honest.

i would never actually buy a camper without

it being ronnie's stupid idea. 

let's back up.

we had a lovely time over memorial day weekend.

ronnie wanted a camper.

i said next year.

ronnie found a camper online that he liked.

i said it was too expensive.

ronnie called the guy and he had just dropped his price by $5000.

i said i guess.

ronnie sent me to look at the camper and make sure it was in good shape perfect.

i said what the hell am i looking for?

ronnie listed off a bunch of stuff that i have no clue about.

i put him on speaker phone the whole time i was there and

shot a video for him to look at.

he approved.

i jewed down the price.

they accepted.

ronnie's life just got better.

i just added more work to mine.

 

ronnie:

 

me:

 

but we both agree:

 

we're taking off on our maiden voyage this weekend.

my list is a mile long.

its has a queen-size bed and a full-size bed,

both sizes of sheets and comforters have been stored away

in the basement for the last several years.

looks like i'll be doing laundry.

and buying groceries, figuring out meals,

packing (for me, 2 girls and 2 dogs), making sure we have all the random shit

that you might need over a three day period

and hopefully having a whole lot of fun once we get there.

what's ronnie doing?

packing for himself and the coolers.

 

i'm anxious to see how this goes.

hello, you know me. i'm a planner.

i like to know how things are going to be before i get there.

my biggest fear?

my girls don't sleep.

they turn into a hot mess and i'm stuck with whiney, crying kids.

i wish i was more go-with-the-flow about stuff like this,

but i like my schedule and i get a little nervous when we try to veer off.

especially for several days at a time.

i'm sure i'll get better at this campering thing the more i do it,

but for now, i'm making huge lists so i don't forget something mandatory.

wish me luck!

 

 

 

mermaid vibes

 

 

brette and madeline had a sweet little birthday

party over the weekend - - mermaid style.

they actually decided this together, which i

thought was sweet of them.

i made ocean themed food,

blew up green & purple balloons,
hung "seaweed" streamers,
laid out some seashells and called it a day.

i really wanted them to be dressed as actual mermaids

but the cute dress i found only came in

brette and eden's size and nothing for madeline.

that was not an option.
but oh well,

i think the girls had a really good time and

its always nice to have a family day.

 

seashells = pasta salad
seaweed = spinach/artichoke dip
fish food = cheetos
tuna salad sliders
fish sticks
shrimp cocktail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

now i'm off planning reid and eden's party...

love all our summer girls.