Memorial Weekend Begins

Today was an unusually productive Saturday for us; we wound up doing a lot of shopping for the house and Chris was able to get several projects done, too. But the most exciting highlights were:Balloon animals! Another hidden talent of my husband's, which he is re-learning thanks to Parker's love of his first balloon puppy.

Yard sale find of the day: the Little Mermaid playset I've wanted to get for Kenzie. I was ready to snatch it up as-is, but was pleasantly surprised to discover it came with all its pieces, even the little tiny shoes and teacups. I got a huge hug when I showed this to Kenzers!

New pajamas! Parker complained two nights ago that his 18-month jammies were hurting his feet, so I ran into Carter's to see if I could find something. I'm not a big shopper, but everything in that store is so cute! (But I did hold myself to only 3 pairs of pajamas and one nightgown for Kenzie, oh and one shirt... but it was a good sale! And did I mention everything there is super cute?)

The hammock - Chris has been trying to build his own hammock for awhile now. He finally has one that works, but that's not to say he'll get to use it!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Best Buds

They definitely have their share of sibling rivalry, but today the kids played so well together that I couldn't help but post some pictures.

Enjoying some watermelon on the deck.

I called this a tea party, but Kenzie corrected me: "No, Mom, it's just lunch." Welcome to the basement, by the way! That's the start of the food storage room behind the kids.

My goal was to re-organize a bit, but instead I sat down and posted pictures on the blog. I'll pretend that's productive, too!

Happiness Defined

Happy Birthday Parker!

My little guy is 2 today! Here he is this morning with his pancakes, his blanket, his panda, and his balloon-animal from yesterday's carnival.

Kenzie showing off her balloon-animal and bracelet. Her elementary school had a carnival last night and she had a blast. Despite it being chilly and overcast, Kenzie marched straight to the snow cone booth and proceeded to polish off two (Parker started to shiver after licking his twice, so he let Kenzie have it!).

"Look! Presents!"

My little messy-haired guy in his favorite shirt. "Shirt! Shirt!" he yells each time he sees it hanging in his closet.

Kenzie is very spoiled and had a few little presents to open, too.

Parker didn't do too bad opening presents...

...but eventually he sat with Dad and just directed, "Open! Open!"

I wanted a picture of Parker with all his opened presents, but he couldn't be bothered. He wanted to read his barnyard book that made animal sounds for the fifth time in a row.

Later, after his Happy Meal lunch (the kid loves "fruh-fries") we sang "Happy Birthday" (which puzzled him) and then let him have his cake!

There's the end of a blue dinosaur. Happy Birthday, little man!

My Guys

Parker is mesmerized by this little game Chris likes to play on his iPhone.

I just thought it was so sweet with him cuddled up to Daddy, just hanging out.

The Tour Continues: My Kitchen

It occurred to me yesterday that I hadn't posted on the blog in awhile. I've been busy with such random projects - yesterday I felt the need to wash the outside of every single window. Funny how much more enjoyable housework is when it's your own house. Anyways, here's a cute picture of Parker eating one of his many daily snacks. I was just amazed he was smiling in a picture - it's so hard to get that cute smile on camera!

"Look, Mom, I'm winking!"

Not the most exciting photography, that's for sure. But to me, this is one exciting sight. I love the oven - it actually bakes items correctly! And that long counter is terrific, too. (I chuckled when I realized Darth Vader is still atop the fridge - the kids love that Chris's old piggy bank lights up and talks, so it has served as a distraction while I make lunch for them. But I really will find it a more permanent home in the basement here soon!)

Best Picture Ever

This is my new favorite picture of Parker. He reminds me of Toad from Super Mario Bros. with that huge helmet of Kenzie's. A great one to show to his girlfriend someday.

Our Bedrooms are Done!

The bedrooms at least are now done. (You'd think we'd be done unpacking by now, but we all went straight from sinus infections into colds, so progress has been extremely slow). Here's Kenzie showing off her new bed.

Her smile got progressively goofier as I took pictures. She has loved having her bookcase up. We had boxes upon boxes of books packed away, and I must say, reading books with her is much better when there's variety!

She loves hanging out under her bed and has drawn many cute pictures from her little desk.

Here's one view of Parker's room. He had a hard time at first with the move and would wake up very disoriented, yelling for Mommy. Once I finally got his room straightened out, he woke up and played instead - quite the improvement for both of us!

Kenzie insisted on taking a picture of Parker in his new room.

The rest of his fun little room.

Couldn't resist posting this - I love how he sleeps on his entire pillow!

Here's a view of our bedroom. Not as fun-looking as the kids' rooms, I guess. There you have it. We still need curtains and a few things for the walls, but we're getting there.