what to say...

... after months of neglecting this blog? I could write a book - a very long, boring book. But I won't. I'll just say that life has been crazy! The end of November we went up to Red Lake and spent some time with my family and friends. It was a swell trip, aside from the hours on the road. Then pretty soon it was Chrsitmas already. How did that happen. We were able to spend a good chunk of time with Dave's family in Iowa on Christmas day and through New Years. If we can make it through January, February is shaping up to be a really fun month - get togethers with friends, more family, etc. But first we need to survive the next few weeks. Through a long chain of events, it has happened that we are (once again) moving the beginning of Feb. I've discussed at length our never ending issues with mice and bad water at this place. Well, ad to that a scare that there might be bacteria in the water (turns out there almost for sure isn't) and our landlord said he'd change our lease to a 6 month and we could leave the beginning of Feb. Despite my utter loathing of packing, loading, moving, and unpacking, the joy of departing our little rat den slightly overshadows that at this point. Of course I haven't really started packing yet. ha. Thankfully a lot of out stuff is still in boxes from our last move. We found a place we really like and are working on moving forward with that. Hopefully it all works out and we'll be there soon. I have lots of pics I could post, but for now I'll leave you with this one - some day we'll teach her to sit like a lady.

my fall project...

I wanted to do these letters for our new neice and it ended up taking way longer than I thought it would. Some aspects of it were really fun, others not so much. = ) But it was fun be creative again. I got some help with the finishing touches from my sis and friend up in Red Lake. So here you go - if I was smart I'd have step by step photos, but I don't. = ( But it's pretty simple - start with wooden letters, cut out scrapbook paper of your choice for each letter. Modge podge it on there, and then the really unfun part - sanding it down to the get edges to look nice. I was very perfectionistic, but the paint kept coming off and all that. Then my sis convinced me that it's supposed to look like that - a distressed look. So I tried to stop stressing about it. Oh, I forgot that step - paint the sides of the letters. With paint. I used yellow. Oh, and you modge podge the top of the paper too once it's stuck on there, to give it a nice shiny, finished look - likely my favorite part. Then put on any cutsey embelishments your heart desires and spend hours on each letter deciding what looks best with what. Then yer done!

oops - little ribbon placement problem at the bottom of the R. didn't notice that till I looked at the pictures.

(I'm secrectly in love with the "A.")
the end.

Don't know where to start

wow, I've written a katrillion blog posts in my head the last few weeks, too bad none of them actually made it to the computer. It's been a busy few weeks. I mentioned my wonderful friend Sue coming to paint for us. I realize I still haven't posted a single picture of this place. Trust me, you aren't missing much, although you are missing just a smidgen more since she painted. I keep meaning to take pictures once all the rooms are clean at the same time. That actually happened Wednesday of this week because we hosted our small group so um, it was do or die (ok, I suppose I wouldn't have actually died... ). Then I think... wait, I need to put stuff on the walls before I take pictures. Then in the meantime, everything gets messy again ... round and round we go. Anyway, I do have a pile of pictures I want to post sometime.

I'm working on a fun little craft project. Can't post pictures or say much about it right now because it's a gift, but soon. Anyway, I haven't been in touch with my crafty side for so long, it's a lot of fun. I've been thinking, hey, maybe I should try to sell these puppies, then I look closely and wonder how that might work.

The weekend after Sue came to paint, was my friend and former roommate's wedding. It so happened that Dave had Thurs. and Fri. off that week for fall break. Thursday we went to a (very small) zoo close to here. Aleah was impressed with the bears and anything that was big and moved a lot. She also really liked the birds. The rest was sort of boring (in her opinion). Anyway, Friday we made our way to Kokomo where wedding preparations were underway. I've never been in a wedding since having a hubs and small child. I have to say it um... complicates things. I wanted to help, but it was also hard to be much help. Anyway, at one point Bethany gave me some plastic table skirts that were all wrinkly and wondered if I could take them to the groom's parent's house and stick them in the dryer to fluff them up a little. Hey, I'm here to serve. So off I go to stick plastic in the dryer. The idea was low heat, just a couple minutes. That should do it. So I started drying while chatting with the groom. Then we checked said table skirts. Absolutely nothing was happening, & they were still cold and wrinkly. So I changed the heat to medium, and changed the timer so it was more in the middle instead of just at the end of the cycle (not sure if that makes sense at all, or if it changed anything but...), and started chatting again... a bit later we checked the lovely skirts and ohhhhhhhhhhhhh dear - they were shall we say, very, very, very, very, indeedly MELTED. As in, "wow, someone sprayed shaving cream in the dryer, but it's hard to get off shaving cream" melted. oh deeeeeeeeear! So as the groom removed the pieces of table skirts from the dyer with a knife, I thought about other ways I might be able to lend my indispensable services. Dave and I then drove to the bed and breakfast where everyone was staying (well, all the important people), and g0t settled in, and I then drove around town looking for the party store to buy more table skirts. I finally found the place and bought 2 more, drove back to the church ages after I left on the 10 minute errand to dry the table skirts, and delivered them. WOW! I'm not sure what they would have done without me! Anyway, the wedding was beautiful, all candle light. It was great to see friends I had hadn't seen in awhile. Aleah was a basket case by the end of the wedding day, but we all survived. We drove back after all the festivities Saturday night.

The weekend after that, another wonderful friend Bethany came to visit. I don't have a single picture to document that she was here, but she was and it was so good to hang out with her. Dave was at a conference all day Saturday, where he gave a spiffy math talk that was quite impressive I hear! = ) So it was nice to have company. We ate good food and sat around and watched "Sabrina" - both the old and much older versions.

The following weekend was last weekend and we had nothing planned for the first time in awhile. I really don't remember what we did. I could if I thought about it long enough, but I don't want to waste time doing that instead of telling you about... well, I mentioned we ate good food in the above paragraph. I don't usually post about food on here because really, there's not usually much exciting to share from around here. But let me just say 2 things. I came across this recipe from a fellow blogger awhile back (thanks Sabrina) and have made it several times since then. I would suggest you do the same. Its very very tasty and quick and cheap too, other than the chicken. Ok, that's one. And now for 2, I had asked Bethany if there was anything she wanted to eat while she was here. She remembered some type of chicken sandwich she ate up in Red Lake that she thought Heather G. made. So anyway, after a little research and some tweaking, can I just tell you what I made? I feel I have to because it's one of my favorite things ever that I've made, even though it was nothing fancy (this is probably sooooooooo very boring - sorry). So I stuck some chicken breasts in the crock put with some tasty BBQ sauce and let that cook away. Then fried up onions and a pepper. Also fried up some bacon (in this case, turkey bacon). Then took sour dough bread, put some cheese on it (in this case, muenster), then a nice little pile of BBQ chicken from the crock pot, then a pile of onions/peppers, then bacon, then a bit more cheese, then the bread. Then fry it up like an amazingly glorified grilled cheese. The first one spilled all over the frying pan, then I remembered I have a George Foreman grill, so I did the rest in there. They were tasting soooooooo tasty (for Rhonda, ha) indeed. oh so very tasty. Ok, that's the end of my story. done talking about food. Except to say that Dave and I and small human are going to Chick Fil A tonight, which I'm more than a little excited about. I've been going through withdrawal these last few months. There's a new one in a neighboring town that we wanted to go to anyway to kick of some Christmas shopping, so when they wake up, that's what we'll do. = )

I guess since I'm writing about all our exciting weekends, that brings me up to this one. We had wanted to make it to Iowa to meet our new niece (Dave's brother and wife's baby) and be there for her baptism. But sadly, Dave has way too much work to do to go anywhere for the weekend, so we're sticking around here and hopefully having a productive couple days. We're looking forward to heading up north in a couple weeks to see my family, most of whom I haven't seen since last Christmas - way too long! I can't wait. Also get to meet my new great-niece. So many new little girls in our family right now. Fun stuff. And no, I'm not even close to old enough to have "great" anythings but I do because I have siblings who are way way WAY older than me... anyway, I digress.

Aleah seems to be growing like crazy. When I look at her she doesn't seem that tall to me, but according to how things are fitting, she's grown at least a couple inches in the last couple months. Also brings up an interesting dilemma. Ok, so you know how they used to say that babies have to face backwards in their car seats until they're both 20 lbs and one year? Well, when Aleah went for her one year check up, her doc told us that they've changed the recommendation and you're not supposed to turn the car seat around until they're at least 2! What?? Well anyway, at that time she was fine facing backwards and other than not being able to see out very well and having the sun blinding her eyes a lot of the time, no biggie. So we've never switched her. The "law" is still one year so we could switch whenever, and I know probably none of my readers are militant about such things, but man oh man, you should read some of the babycenter boards about such things. Those who turn around their child's car seat before they're 3 are hideous child abusers - maybe your child's cramped leg will snap in an accident, but at least they'll LIVE. eesh. Which is my next point - with all the growth lately, she really doesn't look very comfortable that way anymore - her legs are quite cramped. So it seems only nice to do the big switcheroo before the big long trip coming up. But the angry voices of the babycenter moms I hear in my head. And I think about the icy scary Canadian roads and freak out a bit. Anyway, which is the worse - traveling with your toddler unable to see out the windows, gnawing on her knees, sun shining in her eyes, or sacrificing all comfort for the most possible safety?

Ok, I'm pretty sure I've blathered on long enough. have a great weekend!!

Long ago in a far away land...

And now, before this next batch of pics, that possibly filled my heart with joy and made me wish for a better camera and mad skills to use it, a little anecdote. Long, long (long long long long long long) ago when I was a teenager, full of winsome vigor and zest for life, I was out shopping with my mom and aunt in Michigan. I don't remember what store we were in, but I came across this line of kid's clothes called "Rachel's Kids." It was even spelled right, with no "a" added. So I thought, in all my youthful, winsome, vigor, how sweet would it be to buy something and save it for the day that I might have my own small fry that could wear it? Then her tag would say "Rachel's Kids" and it would be true, except there would only be one and not 2. But I digress. So, reaching back into the farthest recesses of my memory, I recall picking out something I thought was cute, bought it, bagged it, and stashed it away in my hope chest. I'm sure you can tell where this is going, so without further ado - today's photo shoot.

We went back to the aforementioned park. Wait, latter mentioned park. It's be gorgeous here for over a week - very warm and sunny every day with beautiful fall leaves. Natural light is SO wonderful! Way better than trying to take pics inside where they're either too dark, or glowing white from the flash. And you don't have to use red eye reduction and all that. And being outside with more distractions was nice because she didn't just pound on her chest the whole time meaning she wants the camera.

Her hat stood up in funny ways and looked like misplaced rabbit ears or something. but hey, you'd be a little bent out of shape too if you spent the last 20 years in storage

I was surprised she left her hat on a lot of the time.

The larger, not resized pics look better, but oh well. I was pretty happy to get some good outdoor shots. And after not seeing fall leaves for years, wow, this place is just gorgeous right now! I'm just loving it.

Middle post

I always get annoyed with blogger because of the wierd order in which they post posts. I know, I should just switch to Wordpress. I'm thinkin about it. Feeling guilty about thinking about it, etc. So here's some random recent pics. nothing too exciting. My friend Sue came this past weekend and did a pile of painting for us. Bless her soul!!! It really improved the look of the bedrooms and hallway. Still have the stairway walls to paint. All the painting makes me really want my own house! Would be so nice to fix things up like you want them. But anyway, if we could just get rid of the rodents once and for all and stop ruining laundry with the nasty water here, it'd be a fine, temporary place to live. Sigh. I have had days of wanting to scream my head off not knowing what to do about those 2 things. Cleaning all the mouse terds off the counter shouldn't be a part of anyone's daily moring routine. shudder. Anyway, on to cheery things - We've had lots of weekend busyness - weddings, company, etc. This weekend my former roomie when I lived in IN (prior to this time of living in IN) is getting married. The weekend after that another friend comes to visit! Fun times! = ) So anyway, pics -

One of the very pretty park/gardens in town - we went on a wet/sloppy day and Aleah had fun running around.
There's even a little fish pond.
Love this pic.
great place to run!
And now for a little fashion show cuz Jenni wanted one. = ) This is why it's so hard to take her pic these days - this is her saying "Please" because she wants to play with the camera and push the buttons. ARG!

This pic cracks me up - she's not really posing as you might think - she was just playing with toys and stood up and that's what happened. She's now officially way more stylin than me - check out her boots. They were from a free craigslist gig.


look ma - no hand! eesh.
She's soooo helpful, like when I'm trying to clean out the fridge, for instance. like a lil puppy, always underfoot. = )
On Friday I went with a couple friends to an apple orchard close to here. I forgot my camera. = ( But anyway, it's a really fun little place with a petting zoo, farm toys for the kiddies to play with, and amazing food. They are known for their pumpkin and apple cinn. donuts (2 different kinds, lest there be any confusion). I now know why - SO good. Anyway, I tend to not give Aleah much sugar. Friday I plunked her in her high chair, and gave her an entire donut to demolish. She probably doesn't know what hit her.
Boy, we really are slipping around here - more sugar. Aleah's first beater. = ) Actually, it was whipping cream so not the worst thing in the world. Ok, this concludes the middle post. Stay tuned for the 3rd post. Or the 1st, depending on how it works out. Also, I have a ton of painting pictures but I think those will have to wait for another day.

New York Trip

I've started several blogs many times in my head, but they've never made it to the screen. So now I have a ton of posts to post. So I'll just get started. Probably won't get them all done today. A few weekends ago Dave and I took a trip to New York (the state, not the city) for his cousin's wedding. His parents and one brother were there as well. So, here's some pics from that -

reading stories with Grandpa
Downtown Sherman, New York, where Dave's mom grew up and where Dave has many memories of spending time with Grandparents (side note - the place makes me feel like I grew up in a pretty big city - we did have ONE stoplight, after all.)
nah, I'm sure they're not related

4 generations outside the town diner
Sitting around waiting to leave for the wedding. Great uncle Dan providing toddler entertainment

Wow uncle Alex, you have a very fancy tie!
Fist bumping with the bride. = )
cousins, the bride and groom, and grandpa
4 generations again
so precious
Aleah in the apple tree in Dave's grandpa's yard - the grandsons climbed this tree many many times, so I hear.

We left for New York after Dave got off work, and of course it took longer to get on the road and get there than we planned. So we arrived at 2 our time, 3 in the morning their time. yikes. Aleah who had been zonkered in the car for hours, woke up and thought that would be a good time to start the day. She was awake till 6, when she finally slept on and off for awhile longer. Fun times. We enjoyed spending time with family and introducing Aleah to her Great Grandpa and his wife and her two great uncles on Dave's mom's side of the family (that sounded like a very clunky sentence - hopefully you can figure it out). We drove home Sunday in the day light and made a little bit better time.

Things bumping around in my head...

... but I can't remember most of them. shoot. So a little story from one day last week. A rather traumatic day for some (why am I updating my blog at 12:30 am? I have no idea!). Anyway, last Thursday Aleah and I went to MOPS. I had never gone before and it was good to get out and do something like that and hang out with actual um, humans, humans who are tall - taller than my kneecaps. Anyway, this was the start of short human's no good very bad day. She loves going new places and hanging out with new people, but also isn't a fan of loudness. She's always loved going to the nursery at church. So anyway, she was happy to go and play with the kids and all, but toward the end, several kids had had enough and wanted their mommies, which resulted in somewhat of a chain reaction - when I went to get her, there were probably 5 kids bawling their little hearts out and she was one of them. Well, we got calmed down and headed out for a fun walmart shopping trip (snort). It was chilly and rainy. Got our stuff, got out to the car, and as I was putting getting her in her seat, I let her play with the keys. Usually I unlock the doors and then toss the keys on my seat while I get her in. So anyway, I got her in, tossed the keys on my seat, shut her door, went to open mine and... wait... nooooooooo.... she had played with the buttons and I guess pushing the lock button doesn't make any sound, but once you shut the doors after that, they'll all lock. So she was in and I was out. In the rain. Thank God we weren't in Baton Rouge in the 98 degree weather. Then I really would have freaked out. I tried to call Dave. We were really close to school and I knew it was a time when he would have been able to come over. No answer (his cell phone was missing - still is). Well, I've locked myself out of my car a bagillion times, enough to know that some cops will come to help you and some won't, but they always will when there's a child locked inside. So, standing in the rain, feeling like a total idiot, I called 911. "What is the location of your emergency?" "Well, it's not really an emergency, I'm just a moron..." Anyway, the lady was nice and said she'd send someone over. She asked if my baby was ok. Well, she was more upset over having dropped her precious blankie and was crying about that and staring at me like what is your problem, just get it for me already! Peekaboo helped for awhile. A nice lady pulled up and asked if she could help me. Me? Oh, I don't need help, I'm just standing by my car in the rain for fun. ha. She said I could wait in her vehicle. Well, I sorta need to stand here and watch my kid cry cuz she doesn't have her blanket, but thanks. Then the cop arrived, had me sign something, got me unlocked pretty quick which set off the car alarm. Which I couldn't turn off no matter what I pushed. which finally shut up when I started the car. Ah, that was fun. From there, we went to Menards because dumb walmart didn't have the mouse traps we needed. If we were true pioneers like my brother in law, and probably my brother too, we would have just rigged something up with a bucket and peanut butter. But I can't stand seeing dead mice. Or live for that matter (did I mention we had mice?). So we get the nice ones where you don't even have to see the dead thing in there. So, after recovering from baby scream camp and baby being locked in car, we get into the store and I'm looking at mouse traps and she's running around right beside me, when I see what looks like her putting something in her mouth. I walk over and there's bags of ant poison and one of them is open with lots of little powdery goodness for chubby little paws to get their hands on. Are you kidding me? I'm calling poison control 15 minutes after calling 911? And she's not even a boy! Well anyway, as it turned out, I just watched her and she seemed fine, so I'm guessing if she did get any, it was a very small amount. The same thing I choose to believe about the poop she may or may not have eaten this evening.

(the next day we didn't leave the house, if memory serves me correctly)

In other, happier news, Aleah also has a cold. oh, that's not the happy part. This is just sort of random and funny. You know how garlic is a natural antibiotic and good for colds and whatever might ail you? Well, I had given her some before but it was a few months ago and I wasn't sure if she'd still eat the stuff - like pure garlic oil in capsule form. So a couple days ago, I gave her some and she snarfed them down faster than nobody's business, and wanted more. Until I wouldn't give her more and then she bawled. What in the world? Garlic? She eats it with greater joy and enthusiasm than ice cream. She says YUM and smiles really big and bangs on her chest for more please. So some kids get chocolate for potty training treats? I'm thinking we might just stick with garlic pills.

In other unrelated news, I'm looking forward to seeing some Indiana friends this weekend at a shower and just hanging out. Then next weekend Dave and I go to New York for his cousin's wedding, and then in October the weekends are almost all full - so much going on and that's fun - company, another wedding to go to, things of that nature. allrighty, so that's it for now.

Creative and original Title

I have pictures of the last few weeks that I'd like to post, but I also wanted to post some from last night. Cuz she was actually wearing clothes and stuff (that was for you Jenni). So here they are.

Come back here! - rather hard to get good pics these days, but I guess this way you can see the totally tubular hood on this rad sweater. ha.

Dance Dance!

peekaboo of course
Running up and down the hallway. Okay, I'm trying to write under the last picture but blogger won't let me. Almost it exasperateth me enough to switch to wordpress. ARG! Anyway, I tried to get some videos but it didn't pan out because the memory card needs to be dealt with. Hopefully soon...