Potty trained!!!!

YAY we finally have Ashely potty trained! Whooohoo! We started this past weekend and she is doing great. Today was the first outing in big girl pants and we went to the library for storyhour then to the BX. We had to visit the bathroom 3 times but only once made a deposit. I was just super happy that she didn't have an accident. Yay, we have a big girl on our hands.

Mike's Radio

So here is Mike's latest project a Philco radio from 1938. He bought it off ebay (we picked it up in Fargo) and stripped it down, sanded, refinished, replaced all the tubes and compacitors, order a new part for the dial and so here it is. The only thing left to do was to order the original fabric for the bottom as this has been changed. Oh and the darn thing really works. It picks up stations from all over, the other night we were listening to a Thailand station. It's pretty neat.

The only problem is now he is addicted to the old radios. Two days later we were at a garage sale out in the prairies of GF and came across one from 1935ish so he had to have that one too. Oh well, I got my crop-a-dile so I'll be happy for a little while :)

32 degrees

Holy cow it is only 32 degrees outside. Brrr, I had to turn the heat on this morning when we woke up because apparently I stole all the blankets and Mike was left with a sheet for most of the night. Oops! Brr. I better get back into my ND layering mode.

Gotta bundle up all those kiddos cause were heading out for story hour. I love story hour, especially cause they do art projects which means no clean-up for me! Last week the theme was monsters and so they made paper bag puppet monsters. Ben if so scared of Ashley's, everytime he sees it he starts screaming.

3 Firsts in 1 day!

So we put Ben in the pool today for the first time. He is usually quite finicky with cold water but today he seemed to love it. He sat in there for close to 20 minutes.

He's already picking on his big sister. tisk tisk

His second first was saying "mama". He did it probably 10 times yesterday!

Aren't they cute from behind? Anyway his 3rd first was clapping. Which is what Ashely was showing him to do in this photo. He is doing it on demand now, as soon as we clap he starts too!

We went on a date....

So Mike and I got a babysitter for the day and went downtown for a movie. We had planned on seeing Chuck and Larry but when we got there we realized that Borne Ultimatum was still playing. Yippee! So I saw my first....let me repeat that....first movie in a theater since we moved to Grand forks in 03. Crazy huh? I am really not a fan of movie theaters (and it drives Mike nuts). I don't know why but here are a few of the reasons I have come up with....

1. I'm short and tall people with big heads always sit in front of me.
2. The chairs are always uncomfortable.
3. I always get cold!!!!!!
4. I end up biting my nails to where they almost (or do) bleed.

I know I am weird but for the most part I would much rather lay at home on the couch with a big blanket cuddling with my hubby or kiddos. The ability to pause the movie for a bathroom or snack break is always a plus...

So anyways I actually did pretty good in the theater besides being uncomfortable and COLD. The movie was great and we both enjoyed the time out. Plus the kids did well with the sitter even though Ben refused his bottle. At least he is eating some solids now so she could feed him that instead! When we got home she had both kids passed out for naps at the same time (trust me that's a challenge). If ya need a sitter, I know a good one!

Our kitchen table, just for you Ellen

Okay Ellen, here is the picture of the kitchen table. Whatcha think? The camera makes the table tops look much lighter on both of them than they are in person.

Our coffeetable

So here is our *new* coffee table. This is the one that I saw on the curb while on a walk and sent Mike to go pick up. Mike stripped it down and refinished it so that it matches our kitchen table. We really like the way it turned out!


Now, Mike has a wild itching to reupholster our couches...the next big project. We bought them used from a family on base and we really like the shape of them, but the fabric pills and it itchy on bare skin. So Mike did some research, ordered some new micro fiber fabric and now we are just waiting for it to come in.

So I'll post more pictures when the next project is done....

the kiddos

So here are a few pictures I took of the kids the other day. I was folding laundry and thought hmm this blanket could be a backdrop.


On another note, I made Mike go curb shopping the other day because while on a walk I notice that someone was throwing out a decent coffee table. We used to have one but it was a piece of crap. We bought it new and within a few months it was chipping and wobbly. A total waste of money. This new one was a little beat up but was solid wood so Mike went to work and has stripped the stain, and is now in the process of staining and painting so that it will match our newer kitchen table that we bought. I love it already! So far he has the bottom (legs and ledge) stripped and painted black and all he has left is the table top. I can't wait to take a picture. Silly me forgot to snap one before he went to work on it....

Football!

We brought out the football that Mike's dad brought when he visited last time and boy Ben loved it. He chewed on it, rolled it, and then threw a fit when he couldn't get it back.

Looks like we may have a football junkie on our hands, well just have to wait and see.

I fell down!

Ashley has gained a new sense of invincibility and with that has come some daring trials and of course that have ended with booboos.

She had been running around in cirlces on the back patio and tripped, fell and scraped her knee. Although it was traumatizing she was back doing stunts in about 3 minutes. Today she fell down the back stairs onto the cement while I was mowing the lawn.

Wagon fun!

So now that Ben can sit up I broke out the wagon for today's walk. They both had a blast! Ashley had a tough time staying seated on her bum because she wanted to see Ben and then wanted to watch where we were going.

Thankfully daddy installed a seatbelt last year. It worked great to keep Ben upright and happy (and in one place) for our adventure.

more catching up

Just like Mommy! Ben loves typing on the keyboard so much that I can no longer hold him while getting anything done. So low and behold I dug out the old keyboard to our MAC and gave it to him. He loves it.

Buddies, well Ben loves Boca and Boca loves any form of attention, even if it is ear pulling. They make a great pair. It's so funny because Boca will come by and force her head under his hand so that he "pets" her even though it's more like hitting.

Here's a few pictures of Bath time lately. Ben has outgrown his baby bath and is now ready for the bath seat. He loves splashing and between the two of them my bathroom is drenched afterwards.


Ashley loves blowing the bubbles off her hands. Bubble baths are so much fun!

Catching UP!!!

So here are a few pictures of Ashley when we went to the CanadInns Waterpark for Kadence's birthday. We got there early so we had to wait for a little while. Ashley was so excited to get in the water.

Here she is chillin on the beach chair before having cake. It was a great birthday!


W's boss made instant buddies with Ben and held him almost the whole time. It was great cause I was able to take Ashley out in the water without worrying about him. As you can see Ben enjoyed himself also.

Fudgecicle

Here's another pic from when Ashley stayed with J. I gave her another fudgecicle yesterday and oh my what a mess.

here's a couple pic of Ben smiling up a storm. He is quite the smiley kiddo!

the big 100

So this is my 100th post....and a boring one at that. :)

I finished my finals, turned in both my research papers and only have 2 assignments left to finish before tomorrow night and this term is done!!! Thank goodness. This has been a pretty crazy week so I am glad that I have managed to pull through!

Tonight we are heading to KK's 3rd birthday party at Pizza hut and then over to the Canad Inns new water park. Should be fun!!! Ashley is really looking forward to it.

Happy Birthday KK!

Ashley on the trampoline

Mike and I had our first date in FOREVER last night. We went to the Nickleback concert. What a blast! My head is still ringing! My friend J was sweet enough to watch the kids for us and Ashley got to experience her first trampoline!

Thanks J!

Uhh Oh, I need help

So I was in doing homework in the office and little miss someone got into trouble. All I heard was "uh oh, I need help" and this is what I found.

The new paint I got for her the other day is gone, as well my address book which she decided to pour it on.

Poor girl was so upset!

Our New Toy

We bought a fun new toy from our friend Jen. The kids both really love it.

Ashley is getting really good at pushing Ben and he loves every minute of it.

Painting

I went to pick up of some office supplies today because they are super cheap for back to school. I was in the Crayola aisle and saw some paint and thought it could be fun. So I picked it and some paintbrushes up and put Ashley to work creating my first paintings to hang on the fridge .
She had a fun time of it and honestly didn't make too much of a mess. So I thought I would share them with everyone! I also bought a bunch of Crayola markers too cause they were only 88 cents a pack. So that will be another fun project for a different day.

6 month check up

I took Ben for his 6 month check up and he is 20lbs and 28 inches long. She said he is doing well and is very strong. He is meeting all the milestones so far except not much in the field of babbling. He does lots of squeals and shrieks but not babbling.

Mike left for WA state at 5 am this morning to go and visit his mom and grandma before he deploys in Sept.

My finals are on the 24th so my posting will be scarce until then! But I will try!