Special Computer Feature and Tickle Monster (7 Quick Takes)

Happy Friday everyone!!!  It's...

--- 1 ---

Four blog posts in one week?  You all are getting spoiled.  Don't get use to it because it is feast or famine over here...mostly famine.

--- 2 ---

If you missed our camping saga, here is Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

--- 3 ---

Quotables

The Hubs while making the bed:  "I wish I was two feet tall so that I could flop into a pile of covers."

...five minutes later...

"Why is flopping so satisfying? The age old question..."

--- 4 ---

Matthan went with me to get the oil in the car changed.  They have a kids play room.  It's approximately an 8x10 foot room painted entirely bright orange and has about five toys that I'm sure someone was going to take to Goodwill.  It gives me a headache.

On the plus side, I now know what it would be like to be trapped in a traffic cone.

--- 5 ---

I discovered an extra feature on our computer this week, courtesy of Matthan.  The ethernet port doubles as the cheerio port.  Saves snacks for later.

When you have a 2-yr-old

--- 6 ---

I made it to an Asian food market this week, and I had fun showing Matthan the live fish and lobster tanks as wells as crabs climbing all over each other.  There were so many things that I had never seen or heard of, or knew what to do with.  Matthan was fascinated by a lime.

--- 7 ---

Sometimes cooking dinner is an adventure.  Sometimes it's a challenge to keep Matthan entertained.  I'm not always thrilled with his choice of entertainment.





Mommy always wins in the end...

Taken down by tickling

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

This Boy is Growing Up Too Fast

{pretty}

This boy is growing up too fast.  Oh that smile.  Heart. melted.

He has started singing songs and putting words into sentences.

{happy}

He has become proficient in climbing up and down our stairs.

Although he enunciates words quite well, Daddy still loves that Little Man has started saying "nummy" instead of "yummy".

Quotables

 "1...2...3...8...9...10...puppy! shirt! shoes! outside!" ~Matthan

"Nummy asp-ah-GUS, nummy tummy" ~Matthan

Each day begins with a request to go outside followed by a request for cereal.  

He has also been asking for snuggles when he wakes up.

{funny}

 He's a little more serious but still belly laughs at Mommy.

{real}

This boy is growing up too fast.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real linkup hosted at Like Mother, Like Daughter

7 Quick Takes: Ashes and Shaving

--- 1 ---

I really wish I had a picture of the face Matthan gave me after the priest put ashes on my head on Ash Wednesday.  It was a deep frown that looked like "Momma, why you got ashes on yo' head?!"  But instead I leave you with internet sensation Grumpy Cat...

--- 2 ---

The Hubs decided that he was tired of the mountain man look and the beard just had to go.  Our friends had told us about how their child was scared out of his wits and would not go to his daddy after his daddy had shaved.  So their recommendation was to have Matthan present when Tim shaved.

Last moments as a mountain man

No turning back now

The first thing The Hubs said after shaving was "My face is cold!  I haven't felt wind on my face for a long time!".

The Hubs - clean cut version

Matthan didn't really care (although this could have been because we took our friends' advice and had Matthan there while Daddy shaved).

However, some of the teens that The Hubs works with at church were not so nonchalant.  Apparently we didn't realize that some of the young men had emotional attachment to said beard, and they voiced their disappointment to The Hubs the first chance they got.

--- 3 ---

Keeping up a house is hard work.  There are many ways to cope with this.  My choice on most days is turning a blind eye to things that don't "have to" get done... a subjective thing.  However there are days when I do get a move-on and prove myself a worthy housekeeper.  And my little guy is such a huge help.

While I sort mail and pay the bills, he sorts trash for me that I've already thrown away...

He organizes the clean laundry onto the floor biggest shelf in the house...

And on days where I'm really working hard and we have guests coming over, this is his contribution...

--- 4 ---

I chaperoned one of our youth group's retreats this weekend.  I'm sore from playing hard, exhausted from lack of sleep, queasy from eating candy and other food I don't normally consume, and I have a bruise on my head.  Oh, the bruise?  Yeah, I dinked myself in the head with a frisbee.  (dinked: to make contact with the tip of a frisbee causing it to bang into one's own face causing shame and laughter from others; the sound a frisbee makes when hitting one's face)

--- 5 ---

While waiting for cars to filter out of the parking lot on Ash Wednesday we went to go visit the youth group kids.  They were playing with a spiky, bouncy, light-up ball and Matthan finally got ahold of it right as we were leaving.  The Hubs told him to say "bye ball" and Matthan did in such a sad voice causing all the teens to say "aaawww".  The next day at Target I found the ball in the dollar section.
This picture was taken in mid-flail of excitement.

--- 6 ---

Current favorite toy (other than the bouncy ball)...

favorite playmate

--- 7 ---

I started "Conversations with Matthan" to try to keep up with things that Matthan is saying.  He tends to get shy when he's around other people so others don't believe me when I say he talks a lot.  I worked with him on saying "Happy Birthday Grandma Mary" for my mother-in-law's (or "Maga Mary", what M's cousins call her) birthday last Friday, but Matthan was being a real stinker that day so I couldn't get a good recording.  So, a little late, but this one is for you "Maga Mary" :)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Mostly From Last Week ~ PHFR

I know, the theme for my {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} post is creative, no?

{Pretty}

I'm pretty sure that all of you not living in the South are very tired of winter, so I only sort of apologetically say that the weather here the last few days has been beautiful, and I was sweating during my errands today in the 70-ish degree weather.  I didn't take a picture of said sunny weather so as not to rub it in.  

{Happy}

I was texting my sister-in-law about my pretty new bike (you know, the one that I purchased right before all the snow hit?) and she texted "so where's a picture?" and I realized that I had missed a few opportunities to get a picture of me on my new bike, so I ran out to the garage to snap a quick picture.  We went riding this past weekend and there was still piles of snow in the shady areas of the park.  Only in Georgia can you experience all four seasons in less than a week.

It was good to get out of the house and into the sunshine.  Little Man was pretty happy with his new ride... minus the helmet.  We've utilized the "throw-the-helmet-on-the-kid-and-ride-away-quickly-so-the-little-guy-doesn't-have-time-to-think-about-it" tactic.  Otherwise fighting and tears commence.

Bundled up and ready to ride!

{Funny}

The morning of Valentine's Day, I went into Matthan's room to get him and change his diaper and I found this...

Well played Hubby, well played :)

Valentine bear magnet from Grandma and Grandpa

{Real}

The other day I started talking to Matthan during dinner and I got the idea to see how many words he could say.  Some I knew he could say, and some I tried for fun.  I've reached the point where I can't keep up with his exploding vocabulary, and I wanted to capture as much as I could now.  Even after I took this video, I remembered a few more words that he knew, and since I took the video, he has added several more words.  Hope you enjoy!

Go check out more {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} posts at Like Mother, Like Daughter

7 Quick Takes (vol. 7) ~ Exploding Pressure Cookers and "Oh-wee-oh"

--- 1 ---

My husband is a DIY type of guy.  He has made his own camping stoves, freezer bag meals, pasta, and a bread bag for me to hold homemade bread...just to name a few.  He is currently working on making his own flies for fly fishing.

He is convinced that there are few things that he can't learn off of YouTube.  And almost all things have gone really well.  (The bread bag didn't work super great, but that wasn't to his lack of skill in making it).  As a wife to a DIY guy, when he tells me that he's going to make/build/fix something himself, I simply respond with a nonchalant "ok" having full trust that he knows what he's doing, will figure out how to do it, or bring in someone that knows how to do it if he finds he's in over his head.

So the other day* when he approached me and said "I think I want to build a pressure cooker", he was surprised when I responded with an emphatic "No!".  I think he questioned me about my answer with something like "It can't be that hard to make one" to which I replied "NO!  Good, factory-made pressure cookers can explode.  You're not messing with a homemade one!"  He wasn't totally convinced.  And in case you're not either, I support my claim with YouTube.

(the real action happens at second 27)




He never made the pressure cooker.

--- 2 ---

Speaking of DIY... our office/art studio (sounds cooler than craft room?) is currently taken over with dead animal furs and feathers.  The Hubs is tying his own flies which means I have to view dead rabbit head furs on his desk.  There is also bright-colored and sometimes glittery threads and beads that go along with this project..... and boys make fun of us for our craft stuff.  Sheesh.

Notice YouTube on the iPad

--- 3 ---

My dad treated us to a day at Rock Ranch this past weekend (thanks Dad!).  I was hoping to have a full post up this week about it, but a certain sister, eckhem, has yet to consolidate her photos with mine in Dropbox.  So here is a sneak preview.

Matthan, Grandpa Jim, Lailey, Aunt Sarah, Maddox

--- 4 ---

I've been searching for quick recipes that I can make on Sundays so that I can spend more time with my boys and less time in the kitchen.  This one was super yummy.  Combine bread, mozzarella cheese, pesto, and tomatoes for a very scrumptious sandwich.  If you want to put it over the top, broil the tomatoes (sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper first) for a few minutes on each side.  I highly recommend this step.

--- 5 ---

Matthan amazes me every day with a new trick or a new word.  His newest word is "bunny", although it comes out "nunny" most of the time.

"nunny"

Our fish, Guido, gets fed on a regular schedule now because Matthan reminds us by saying his name "oh-wee-oh-wee-oh", sometimes shortened to "oh-wee-oh" and signing "fish" and pointing to Guido's bowl.

--- 6 ---

Public Service Announcement:  If any of your material goods, especially your machines, make an odd noise, record the noise so that you can play it back for the repairman who thinks you're crazy when you try to describe the noise.

In a matter of a week, our immersion blender died, our toilet broke (quick $1, easy fix), and our washing machine broke (not quick, not $1, not easy fix).

Ever wanted to know what the inside of your washer looks like?

Last week the washer started making some slamming/sluggish/"kuh-CHUGG-ing" noises (that last one is a technical term in case you didn't know). Then, on Thursday night of last week it proceeded to make a screaming/screeching noise that made me question whether to call a washer repairman to fix it or our priest to come perform an exorcism on it.

the culprit

Of course it died with a load of diapers in it.  You learn the value of friendship when you have friends on call in case you need to use their washer for dirty diaper loads.  So almost a week and several greenbacks later, we're back in business.

Gutted and wash basin flipped upside-down

--- 7 ---

~ Quotables ~

Me:  "Matthan!  GoooooooOOOO DAWGS!  Sic 'em!  Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!   Woof!"
Matthan:  "Puppy!!"

Me:  "So, how long do you think you're going to grow your beard this time?"
Tim:  "'Til I can throw it over my shoulder like a continental soldier."

Happy Friday Everyone!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

*"the other day" in my blog world could have meant any amount of time ago within the last five years.