How Jolene Nailed Herself to a Wall in our House

Yep, cringe, it was pretty bad.  Above is the offending nail, you can see, fortunately, that the nail was not all that big.  It did stick out above my finger a fair bit.  Behind is the crowbar that I used to pry my finger off the nail.  I think it took three tries but I have to admit, I was a little distracted.  I was nailing blocking for the sheetrock (no windows can have gaps larger than 1/2") and when I got my scrap in place, I held it while I put a nail right through the boards and my finger.

I will never like that window.

This is me the next morning.  My finger hurt terribly all weekend, despite the meds.  Fortunately, since I was on meds, I really didn't care so much.

Jack thought my bandage was HYSTERICAL.

Here's my little get well crew.  They're pretty awesome.  It seems like a whole lot of craziness over a finger. 

 BUT, just for kicks, try to do a few things with just one hand.  

Put a two-year old in a car seat.  

Take a shower (good luck getting the right amount of shampoo).  

Use a towel to dry yourself off.  

Make a pb&j AND open and close a few ziploc bags.  

Put a straw in a juice box.  

Put on a bra and then jeans that button.  

Change a diaper.  

Now, change a poopy diaper.  

Put a 30 pound kid in his crib.  

Close a car door while holding a sippy cup.  

Eat something with a kid in your lap.

Type a blog post.

If you use your left hand while completing these tasks, take a hammer and let it drop on your middle finger.  

Welcome to my world...

But, like dad says, 

1.  Think how much better it will feel when it stops hurting.

 AND

2.  Look on the bright side, you'll never do that again.

My bright side?  (aside from pills that help me sleep like the dead and a very sweet five year old that lets me nap) It was a small nail and not my right hand.

I was pretty bummed about fall

Until this happened.  The sun came out.

Then this happened!  I told Mike, we're hardly like real Alaskans.  We have a paved driveway, AND the outside of our house will be finished before the inside.
A friend was asking how big our fenced yard will be.  It will be about this big.

Just follow the topsoil.  Thank goodness you don't need sprinkler systems up here.

Happy Birthday Me!

Emma was very disappointed that there would be no cake.  I figured there was NO way they could put 32 candles on a cookie.  I was right.

We had to light the candle at least 4 times, my little helpers were a little over zealous.

Then, catastrophe.  The dishwasher broke.
Fortunately there was still one little over-zealous person around.

Thanks for the Photos

Mike's step-brother Jon is serving in Iraq right now.  He's a Major in the Army and is stationed at the Al Faw Palace in Baghdad.

Both pics were taken of the Palace during a dust storm they had a few days ago.  He said it rained sand for two or three days.  Amazing.

We're proud of you Jon!  It sounds like things there are really moving in a positive direction!  Thanks for the updates!

I'd Bet

I bet you didn't realize that NOBODY is supposed to wear matching socks today...

Seriously, the things she comes up with.

I'm Shopping Daddy!

The other day we were realizing that winter is swiftly approaching and while I bought Jack's winter gear last spring, Emma was without a winter coat.  So, we went on to LLBean since we loved her down coat last year.  Gramma thought it would be nice to let Emma pick what color she wanted most.  So, Emma is browsing through coat colors, matching gloves and hats for her new winter ensemble when Mike walks up the stairs.

He says, "Emma, what are you doing on Granddad's computer??"

"I'm shopping Daddy!!!"

"Oh.  Great."

Update on House

Go to flickr

www.flickr.com/photos/kidsideup

More later.

PAVEMENT TODAY!  But I haven't uploaded those yet :(

Can You Bake Without Chocolate Chips?

So, I thought  I would make Mike some muffins for in the morning since he seems so dead set against breakfast.  When Emma and I make chocolate chip cookies, we have this little thing when the dough is all mixed up one of us says,  "hmmm, what's missing??" and the other replies "Chocolate Chips!"

We happily put in the last ingredient together while exercising our right of quality control of the product.

This particular day was no different.  When the muffin batter was mixed, Emma said, "Mom!  What's missing??"

I say, "Nothing"

Emma runs over and grabs a bag of chocolate chips.

So, we had chocolate chip, bran muffins. 

A big hit all around.
This is the last picture of Jack before his accidental haircut.  More on that later.

Oh, and that picture of me?  The middle one?  Sucks.  I just had to show you the group of us.

The accidental haircut

So, I was going to wait a couple of days and leave you in suspense but I'd totally forget.

I went to trim up Jack's hair the other day but as soon as I come near his head with clippers or scissors he shakes his head back and forth as quickly as he can.  This is the end result.  I'm sad that his cute shaggy hair is gone.  I hope it comes back.  Soon.  But he's pretty cute anyways, no?

When Jack Woke In The Morning

This is how he was dressed.  He pitched a real fit when I put him to bed the night before.  He must have realized right away that the shirt I put him in was NOT a pj shirt.  I think the poor guy slept like this all night.  

Ahhh, the bullheadedness that is a two-year old.

The Alaska State Fair and the Glorious Animal Pavilion

After walking to the animal pavilion (we promised it would be first) the kids spent our first half hour playing with the chicks.  They LOVED it.  Jack was old enough this year to really enjoy everything.  We were finally able to pry them away, Jack kicking and screaming like I was a  kidnapper, to go to the petting zoo.  Another big hit.

You can see that Emma understands animals and their need to be spoken to nicely.

Jack thinks that his message would better reach the animals through a very loud, high pitched shriek.  Which he did over and over.  To every animal.

The Rides

Well, it's official, we now have two kids that like the rides at the fair.  The picture above is taken in the Indiana Jones obstacle course.  It was old when I was a kid but they both loved it.  I think we used at least half of our tickets doing it over and over.

This was another big hit.  They even let Emma pick which one she wanted to ride in.  Mike braved it with both kids, amazing.

And yes, the pony rides.  I've always felt bad for these guys.  The same people have been doing it for years and they take pretty good care of those poor little creatures but those ponies can not be having fun.  Emma could have ridden all day.  Maybe one day...

Last Bits

Tuckered out after rides.  One sits because after much protesting, he's strapped in.  The other sits, because, it was explained that the only place ice cream cones may be eaten is IN the stroller.

Bye, Bye until next year when we once again run through money like water and have nothing but messy faces, upset tummies and pictures to show for it.  Ahh, fun.