Tucker

It's been a long while since I've given you anything on just Tucker. The little man is not so little anymore! He's off the charts for his height, according to the doctor. So, maybe we've got another Grampy on our hands? Anyway, here's some photos and video that show how he's changed from January to today. Enjoy! (AND COMMENT, PLEASE!)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Coolest Party Evah!

FOR REALS! (I think I read too much Perez Hilton)

We started the day tying t-shirts and soaking them in vinegar water to dye later. Then, we ate lunch (burgers, dogs, veggies, chips, strawberry salad).


After the kids ate and ran for a bit, we did our first experiment: Exploding Coke! The kids weren't sure what would happen when the Mentos dropped into the coke, so they were pretty surprised to see it come shooting out of the bottle. It even hit the trees above us on our first try. Tries #2 and 3 weren't as good, but they still worked.


Then, we talked about using nature items for dyes. I had boiled red cabbage to make dye and also dandelion (yellow) and lily of the valley (green) but they didn't work too well. The vinegar mordant we used reacted with the cabbage to make a lovely purple color (the cabbage water is actually blue when you boil it). I had some RIT dye here that we used for those that wanted dark green shirts. The kids really seemed to enjoy that.


Then, we had SLIME TIME! We made our own slime with water, glue and "magic potion" (borax water) to make some really cool slime stuff.


Then Tim instigated a water fight and the kids took turns spraying everyone with the hose and dumping cups of water on each other.


There was also a station where they could guess if something was going to sink or swim.
Riley, Juliana, TJ and Eric seemed to enjoy that the most.


Then we planted RED HOT POKERS for the kids to plant outside at home when they grow.

Then we had cake and ice cream. Honestly, I think this was the coolest birthday cake I have EVER made. The grossest, too! It turned out so awesome. Well worth the time I invested in that this morning!!

After that they played for a bit before we opened presents (where there was a small balloon fight!) and more outdoor play.

All in all, it was a fun day.....now Tim asked how I'm going to top this for next time.....I just don't know the answer to that one, yet.

(Link to last year's party)

Blog? What blog?

I have a blog? For real?

Sorry about that....been busy planning a splendiferous party for my darling Rugby. He asked for a science theme this year and my friend Kelly teaches science, so she's been helping me plan out the event. Lots of cool pictures will be had, I'm sure.

I did have a little mishap with that today. I got the kids white t-shirts that I made iron on name badges that said "Professor _______" and had a cool picture of a beaker with oozing potion. Washed them to get the ickys out and the transfers washed off. It was terrible. I called the company that makes the labels and they are sending replacements, but I won't have them for the party soooooooooooo, we're going to tie dye them instead. I'm sure it'll be fine, but I was so disappointed. Here's what they looked like before the washer was naughty:


Here's the sign for the mailbox:


Here's their science journals to record their experiment results:


Here were the invites:



(Happy, Kel?)

Wedding pix

Enjoy!

Lazy

Hi all.

We're back. I have OODLES of pictures. We had so much fun! (Uncle makes the BEST wine!!) I'm too lazy to post pictures now, I haven't been sleeping well lately because Tucker is sick, so when he's better I hope to have more pictures and posting to do!

While you wait, read this book: WITH by Donald Harington. Great book, even if parts are scary for a parent to read. Enjoy and see you soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!

My Sister-in-law Sue is turning the big 3-0 today!From the time I met her, she's* welcomed me warmly to the family and made me feel like I belonged. I can't begin to describe how wonderful that has been!


You can see her personality bubble up out of her smile and make everyone around her smile.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!

Sorry I don't have any fun stories to share, I'm sure the other sisters will have some.........





*Not just Sue, but the whole family....it's just that this post is all about Sue!
**Forgive me, I only have pix from her graduation last spring. Check out her sisters blogs for more pictures!! Lisa, Steph, and Christine

Hasta

See you when we're back from my Uncle's wedding!! (I'll bring pictures when I come back!)

New Posts

There's a new one up at Jess Bosman Photography and there's one scheduled for 7pm tonight for Cafe Jessica.

Enjoy!

Hubby Love

Now THAT'S how you say "I'm sorry!"

The Great Outdoors

The weekend was predicted to be crap, but we were pleasantly surprised! It was almost 60 on Saturday and almost 70 on Sunday. It was a beautiful weekend.

Saturday morning, we went to a couple rummages. I got the boys a beanbag chair with a footstool for $1, we need to add some packing peanuts or something to the chair, but it's in great condition. TJ loves it! R&R do, too, but I think JoJo has laid the official claim to it.

Saturday afternoon, TJ was digging in the dirt where I had planted some veggies. Needless to say Momma wasn't happy. So, I knew that there was a bag of blue sand I got for Tim's class in the back of the car (he ended up using something else, so it wasn't opened.) So I made a make-shift sandbox for TJ: A Redneck Sand Sled!


While I was doing that, R&R were demonstrating that they don't need a rope to have fun and give their mother a heart attack:

Then, they found out about the sand sled. I think they enjoyed it more than TJ!

Maybe not....

Lock the doors!

There's a sleepwalker in the house!

Last night, Tim was up late doing stuff for school when Rugby walked into the living room. I could hear Tim talking to him. But, apparently he didn't answer. Tim watched him and noticed that his eyes were still closed. So, he watched him a bit more before Rugby decided to sit on a chair. I don't know if he thought he was gonna sleep there for the night or what. Luckily, the camera was near that Tim could snap a pic....

Danger! Danger!

Seems Mr. Rugby wants to give his mother gray hair. Sunday, the boys were playing in their fort. They set up a zip line after seeing Kelly's field trip pictures, and I've watched them climb down it easily enough so we left it there. This weekend, however, they decided to take that down and Rugby (aka Mr. Graceful) managed to get himself tangled up in it. I was folding laundry and when I peeked out the door, Riley was trying to help him down, but couldn't get it and we heard Rugby tell him to go get Tim.....so I went for the camera knowing I had a second or two.

I don't know how he did this. I know that he didn't get hurt, however he did it because he did it again at least twice more after Tim let him down the first time. Once that he got out of himself and once that Tim needed to go let him out again. These boys love that fort. I told Tim that I expect our first broken bone by the end of summer.

My money's on Rugby.

reign over me

Yes, Adam, another review. At least this isn't a book, right?

For the rest of you, this is an Adam Sandler movie like no other. I was pretty amazed that he could be serious for such a length of time! He plays a man that lost his wife and 3 girls in the 9/11 tragedy. Don Cheadle plays his college room-mate who bumps into him after the fact and it goes into living your life to the fullest, regrets, etc. All in all, it was a good movie. I enjoyed it. I cried near the end, so be warned if you watch this and you are a crier like me. Jada Pinkett-Smith plays Don Cheadle's wife (not too impressed with her performance) and Liv Tyler plays a therapist. I'm not sure I like her...maybe it's just that I'm watching her gigantic lips the whole time. I don't know. Anyway, it was good and I'd watch it again.

Ketchup!

Ok, so maybe it's CATCH UP, but you get the idea.....

There's not a whole lot going on around here. Tucker got all 4 of his front teeth in last week and is starting to CRAWL. He does the inchworm crawl. It's so cute and funny! Here's JoJo checking him out...
JoJo and Riley having a little relaxation time with Daddy...
I went into the kitchen the other day after getting Rugby out the door for school to find TJ helping himself to some peanut butter. He was eating it off the knife, but I gave him a spoon....
The weather has been nice the last couple days, so we've been outside enjoying that and haven't done a whole lot. Maybe I'll have more for you later this week. (It's supposed to get cold again tomorrow)

Mommy's GLORIOUS Day

When I was pregnant with Tucker, I had some back issues. My doc sent me to see a physical therapist that I was religious about making the appointments for. It really did make a difference for me. He was all about stretching and keeping things in place by correct movement than about putting me in more pain with a bunch of exercises. After I had Tucker, at my last PT appointment I was given a gift certificate for a massage. It expired 6 months after that day and I thought, "Oh, I'll use it for sure WAAAYYYY before then." Well, 6 months from then was Wednesday, April 16th and guess who didn't use it. I called to make the appointment and they weren't able to get me in until yesterday, so it was 6 months and a day. But, the massage was WONDERFUL! I just love them. I have a ligament in my back that was super tight and she worked that out a little, not a lot, but we only had 1/2 an hour. Then, I ran to Walmart feeling that groggy feeling you get when you leave a massage, did some grocery and shopping for Tim, ran out to Tim's school to deliver those things and back home. And I did this all SANS CHILDREN. That's right ladies and gents, NO KIDS! It was 4 hours of quiet and wonderful. My angel, Kathy, watched the kids for me. It was Mommy heaven. Of course, I spent the rest of the day with a mild headache from having the toxins released and needing to be flushed out, but it was still a marvelous day. (Plus, Walmart had some nice v-neck t-shirts on clearance in my size! WOOHOO!)

Tug of War

Rugby's first grade class presentation of "Tug Of War" was wonderful! They sent home invitations last week (Rugby even invited the mail man!), made the monkey's for the set, and practiced their parts to perfection. Rugby and I worked on his part some here at home and he had it nailed! I didn't read all the lines in between his cue and his lines, so the play was still a partial surprise to me and it was so cute! They did a really good job. They even sang an African folk song before their performance. My camera will only take 10 seconds of video, so that's what I have. Enjoy!

Warm pic for a cold day...

I've got a trial version of Photoshop Elements that I downloaded last night. This isn't too bad for not having used any version of PS in almost 2 years! Too bad we weren't really there!!

New Recipe!

There's a new recipe up at Cafe Jessica! Check it out HERE!!

Taco?

TJ loves black olives...and tacos! (Plus, he's starting to talk more!!)

There's been an accident...

Everyone is fine.

We painted the living room Saturday, as I told you earlier. So, today I was emptying the hutch to move that for painting the other half of the living room and re-hanging the things that we took down to paint. I hung everything using the same screws in the same holes I took them out of. About an hour or two later, Tucker was sleeping and Rugby, Riley and TJ were downstairs playing with me when we heard a big crash. Here's what I found:



The shelf that Tim built for me for our first Christmas was what fell. The mirror on the back of it broke, otherwise it was still fine. The pretties I had on it, though were another story altogether. Here are the survivors:
See the pretty pink ballerina? TJ took care of that one, so I'm down to 4 Dreamsicles. It was terrible. There were some Dreamsicles that meant a lot to me that got broken, but on the other hand, I'd rather everyone of them got broken if it meant that the boys were safe, and they were. It could have been much worse and I'm grateful that it was just the stuff that got broken and my boys were fine. It's still sad, though!