YMCA

we just joined the YMCA!

Just Dye your Jeans!

Ok, so all my jeans were getting pretty worn and faded. I realized I didnt' have any nice, dark jeans to wear outside of work. So insted of spending money on a new pair, I got the fabulous idea to DYE my jeans! So I searched the internet for the best way to do it, what color to get, etc.

here is what my jeans looked like before my little experiment:

And here is how they turned out:

picture from the past

ok, not too long ago-this was Trent's first day of school and I am just now getting around to posting it...he's such a bog boy and I am so proud of him!!

Gwen's new PJ's

We cannot wait until Halloween! Correction: We cannot wait for October so we can decorate for Halloween!! :) But here is a new pair of PJ's i found for Gwen-she loves them...was hugging them the whole time in the store.

I like to Eat Eat Eat Apples and Bannanas!

Trent's Birthday Cake

I'm a slacker-but here are some pictures from Trent's birthday. We made a rainbow cake for the first time!

It didn't turn out so well, the recipe said to only add sprite and NOTHING else to the cake mix-it wasn't good...so next time I plan to follow the regular recipe.

What not to send to school with a 5 year old.

Trent took his spiderman laptop to school on Monday for Show and Tell. Well, he didn't bring it back. He let a classmate borrow it. Ok, fine, I guess we didn't think to tell him not to lend it out to friends. So we just told Trent to ask him to bring it back. The next day he said that his friend let his sister play with it and it was dropped and broken. OH NO! And Trent also said that his friends dad was going to try and fix it. Well, ok, but that was Tuesday and Thursday Trent comes home and still NO laptop. So I give up on Trent to get it back, and I email his Teacher Friday morning. She said she would send a note home with Trent's friend to bring back the laptop. I am just wondering why his parents haven't sent it back already? I sure hope we get it back in one piece. I am still not sure if I should expect his friend's parents to replace it (if it is broken) or not since this exchange was done on the school bus and any parents unaware. From now on Trent can only take meaningless, inexpensive toys to school. hahaha

Gwen

Well, what can i say about Gwen? Lately she has seemed a little better as far as the whinning. She seems to be much happier. Watching her play with Trent is so fun. She always has to be doing what he is doing. As you can imagine, sometimes this is frustrating as she is 3 1/2 years younger and can't do everything Trent does. She is always happy to see me when I get home from work. She is talking more, the words I do notice are, Ma, Da, wow, and bite. Not much but it's an improvement. One thing she loves is going for a walk in the stroller. That will always make her happy. And did i mention how Pretty she is? I will have to post some pics of her. She has soooo much hair and it is naturally curly. i love it. Well, that's about all i can think of for Gwen. :)

Trent

Trent started school on the 12th of Aug. He is loving it. Can you believe they are already doing math and reading? It's amazing. He rides the bus as well and he enjoys it. He has been really cranky lately and i figured it was because he was tired from school, but he continues this attitude into the weekend as well. We will get past it, I am sure it's just adjusting to everything. This week he is the Star Student and we made up a poster about him. Trent said that he wants to be an Astronaut when he gets older. Oh and he turned 5 on Sept 8th-the weekend before was labor day weekend and we went up to Michigan and he picked out some presents while there. He got Chutes and Ladders, some more sidewalk chalk, and some glowing planets to hang in his room. The best present of all was Mario Kart for the Wii. We do not have the Wii but Rob's parents do. that is a lot of fun. For his birthday i attmepted to make a Rainbow cake-and it turned out ok, but the recipe i used made the cake too dense and not even half of it got eaten. I have some nice pics that i will post of it later. Then, this past weekend we went to the zoo after i got home from work. They have a deal where it is only $5/person after 5 and when the zoo closes there is an ampitheater that plays a movie-Last weekend was Night at the Museum 2. We didn't really get to sit and watch much. But it was a good time and this weekend it is The Wizard of Oz, so we plan to go again. That's my ramblings on Trent. :)

Where did the summer go?

Tonight we take Trent to his new school for an open house. I can't believe Trent starts kindergarten in a week! I am not ready for this. He is so excited though, maybe this means he will have a desire to go to school, unlike I did. I was already ditching school in kindergarten! Trent's last T Ball games is this saturday. He did excellent and honestly I think he got bored with it. He's ready for the real stuff! I think football would be more his sport...since he likes being crazy and rough with other boys. Only one month until he turns 5-he wants to go to Holiday World for his birthday so that is the plan.
As for Gwen, well, she isn't my favorite right now-hahaha. She isn't talking but she whines often. It's hard to listen to. She is starting to throw fits too-throws herself on the floor and will cry and NOTHING will make her happy! She is a handful. On a good note, she loves swimming just as much as Trent. Also when we take her to the park she is fearless on the slide. It is so cute to watch her. She even has a trike that she walks around (since she can't reach the pedals). Her all time favorite song is "the Itsy Bitsy Spider". That always seems to make her happy. Oh and she has no canine teeth yet. It's kind of funny, how my two kids are so different!
Well, that is the update for now. Hope everyone enjoyed their summer and I am looking forward to the cooler weather in the fall. :)

Southern Illinois

On our way home after the 4th we took a detour through Southern Illinois to see our old home. It was so neat to see it all. We drove through Duquoin, into Carbondale and we took a break at Turley Park:

There was so much that had changed in Carbondale. It was neat to see it all. Then the most exciting part was driving by our old house...we drove by it about 3 times driving really slow, I even wanted to get out and go look in the windows, since it appeared nobody lived there. But we just got a picture from the truck:

After that we cut through Carterville then Marion and saw the effects from a recent storm. Then we headed up the interstate and went home. it was a long day but a good day!

4th of July weekend

We did quite a bit over the 4th of July weekend. Friday we headed to St Louis and stayed in O'Fallon and went to the St. Clair Square Mall, 17th street and then did some swimming in the hotel. Oh Rhonda met us there that day as well. after all that we drove and parked on the Illinois side of Eads bridge and watched the small fireworks display from there. We were expecting a long drive back but there was very little traffic. Saturday morning we got up and decided to go to the science center since it was raining outside. It was ok there...not as exciting as it used to be. Then we headed over to Rhonda's house in Sedalia. That was a long drive...we took back roads because Rhonda told us that the interstate had construction, which turned out not to be true. Oh well, that afternoon we got there and relaxed and had some yummy dinner and shot off quite a few fireworks. The next morning we got up and headed back home. Here are some pictures of us leaving St Louis:

playing in the pool

Craisins

These things are just too good to waste!

Have you seen Bedtime Stories?

It's a pretty funny movie. Trent really enjoyed it-so if you want to understand why what I am about to say is so funny, first rent the movie!

Last night I was talking to Trent and I told him that Tonight is his first T Ball practice and he got really happy and said "For Freeeeeeee?!"
It was too funny!

is 40 hours Part Time?

So I work at a construction site-when I was hired on I was working 58 hours a week! that was exhausting. Then after about 2 months it got cut down to 48. That was more tolerable. Now this morning I was informed that it will be going down to 40 hours! While that is nice, and I will have a 3 day weekend-how will we pay the bills? It will feel like I am never working. This will be through Labor Day but may change sooner. I know that after that we will be swamped with work-the department I am in is Start Up and we have to wait for Construction to finish, so there is a huge amount of construction going on-they are doing 58 hours a week right now and when that is finished up, it all gets turned over to us! But I couldn't ask for a better time to be on 40 hours-this summer will be fun! :)

Camping

After Trent's graduation we took out new tent and went camping! It was a lot of fun, with swimming, a water slide, and mini golf! Trent even got a Hole In One!! He was so proud. I didn't get any pics, as I was too busy enjoying the fun. The last night we were there Trent got to do a hayride and sat right next to Yogi Bear!! He was so happy to have finally met him, he was asking about him all weekend! Both kids did rather well, except Gwen gave us a HORRIBLE first night! She was up crying and uncomfortable all night, I finally put on a baby einstein on repeat play on the computer, and she fell asleep. Whew! Looking forward to camping again.

Graduation

Trent graduated preschool!!

Ok it keeps uploading wrong, but there you go, i got not so good pics! I am SOO getting a new camera for my birthday! :)

Trent stayed in bed all night

Yes, we have a 4 1/2 year old who still has trouble staying in his bed all night. Well, I leave for work long before anyone in the house wakes up, so Trent called me at lunch and told me that he slept in his bed all night. He is so proud when he does. I told him last night if he can go an entire week staying in his bed all night, then we will get him a new bike. So, he stayed in his bed again all night last night. I am not sure if he can last, but he may prove me wrong.

Oatmeal

Gwen apparently likes her oatmeal. I made a bowl to FEED HER, and I set the bowl on her tray and before I could start feeding her, she helped herself, grabbing handfuls of it. It was too funny!

By the way, does anyone remember that barbie we called Oatmeal?

Blocks

It is nearly impossible for Trent and I to build a tower of blocks without Gwen knocking them down. Here is one of our accomplishments seconds before Gwen took it down.

After bathtime

Here are Trent and Gwen in their Mickey and Minnie Towels.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Easter Dinner

We went to Rob's parents house for Easter Dinner and after eating we sat down to have some pie. I placed Trent next to his grandpa and Trent said "I don't want to sit next to grandpa, he's too old."

Awesome!

Easter morning, I found Trent sleeping on the couch, so I woke him up and told him the Easter Bunny had come-and to look on the table. He got up and saw the baskets and said "Awesome!". Then he got off the couch and walked toward the kitchen to get a better look at the baskets, and he said "the Easter Bunny is so awesome!"
lol

Gwen can Walk!

Wednesday when I got home from work, I decided to work with Gwen on walking again-she took one step and fell, so I got really excited-Stood her up again and she took 4 steps! YAY Gwen! But she hasn't walked since-She's taking this nice and slow apparently!

March

Gwen will be a year in a week! She grew up fast-but she is putting walking on the back burner. Trent was already braving steps alone by this time. Trent started his new preschool this week. There is another boy named Trent there so he likes that. That's the extent of the excitement here...i get bored since we live in the middle of nowhere! I need to go shopping this weekend!!!

Where are we going...

Well, for now we are going to Kentucky to TEMPORARILY stay with Rob's parents. Rob has an interview this coming week and I may have one as well. The cost of living is what convinced us to go there. I really REALLY wanted to go to Virginia because living by Sarah would have been awesome, but we didn't feel comfortable with the cost of living. That scared me. Thanks for everyone's concerns. We should be ok and I am scared but excited to see what this year brings (or takes from) us! Seriously, I don't think we have anything else to lose. We have our family and that is all that we need. Ok, so I better get back to packing! :)

Does he really have to tell me that?

Whenever Trent needs to use the bathroom he always tells me and specifically lets me know if it is just pee or poop. Where did he get the idea that he needs to let me know this?

5 Teeth

Ok, so Gwen's teeth are finally catrching up. Just noticed that she cut her 5th tooth today! :)

Trent put Gwen in timeout!

Ok, so Trent left his little notebook laying on the floor and Gwen got ahold of it and tore the cover off of it. Trent got upset so he went in the kitchen and set the timer on the microwave and then came back into the living room and picked her up and carried her over to the "Naughty Step" . Of course she wouldn't stay still so he started piling toys around her so she couldn't escape! SOOO Funny! Oh and I just went and looked and he set the timer for 63 monutes!! What a funnt kid!

For those who don't know...

Ok, so Rob's store closed Monday. We are still here in Michigan and plan to leave by the 2nd week in February. Not really sure where we are going but we have a few options. Rob and I both have been applying for jobs everywhere. It's weird not knowing where we are headed next.

Gwen is such a good sleeper.

The last three nights have been wonderful! I put Gwen down in her crib and she doesn't even fight me. She lays down and goes to sleep AND sleeps ALL NIGHT! It is awesome. Wish I could say the same for my 4 year old son!!!

Don't toss the orange peels!

So I was sitting here eating an orange and decided to look up some uses for orange peels, insteading of throwing them away. Well, i threw the orange peels in a pot of water along with some cinnamon and i brought it to a boil and now it is simmering...smells WONDERFUL!!

Teriyaki Noodles & Chicken

Don't make it-it sounds good but is really gross. I have this huge bowl and it's gonna probably end up in the trash! Oh well! If it weren't so snowy outside I'd think about going to Taco Bell!