Category: Family

This is the town we came up with

Flo’s V8 cafe- note the V on top

Mini Sally at the Cozy Cone Motel

Luigi and Guido at the Casa De La Tires (and roundhouse)

Guido is fixing a train car under the careful supervision of Luigi

Mater’s shack and Chuki’s (the Japanese reporter’s) chic flat

Red (and wanna be Red) at the fire station complete with statue of Stanley

Sheriff’s police station

Doc came to visit and split into multiple personalities (regular Doc, McDonald’s Happy Meal & completely out of scale Doc, and pit crew Doc) Also pictured are a police car, policeman action figure, and a chimney sweep action figure- have I mentioned I finally got a chimney sweep to come- no more squirrels, yea!! (and a free chimney sweep toy straight off the last barge of lead paint filled toys from Hong Kong) We’re super excited.

The “El”

The zoo and zoo keeper- we feature habitats as close to those found in nature as possible for all our animals

Exhibit A of natural habitats- the monkey cage

The “Ice Area” of the zoo- home to the polar bear and Yettie Truck

And last, but not least, a home for the many faces of Lightning

(“Sparkly, Dirt Track, and Regular”)

In case you’re wondering, I have no make up on, Wilson’s still in his pajamas, it’s 2:30 and we haven’t eaten lunch, and I’ve responded to two screams of “it fell, it fell” twice during this post. Miller’s taking a nap now, but she was surprisingly entertained with our construction while she sat in her swing and gnawed on a snail teething ring.

Wup . . . Make that three screams . . .

someone needs to teach her that when hiding, it’s generally a good idea not to squeal and kick your feet- it’s a dead give away

Well, for those of you not keeping track, Jack’s YouTube hits are near 1000 and his popularity is only gaining. He is now the only known being that can get a REAL laugh out of Miller. She’ll give me or her Daddy a good “huh” with a smile every now and then, and she’ll laugh a little at Wilson if I chase him with her in my arms, but to get a good rolling laugh, the dog is required. He went in her room this afternoon when she woke up from her nap and she just sat on the floor and laughed at him for existing- he wasn’t even doing anything. So, since I’m assuming all reading this are of the non-canine variety, you probably have never heard a good laugh from her and will probably enjoy video proof that she can be entertained . . .

The Mario Cart tournament, lawn mower tug of war, and fellowship were a blast. Thanks for coming over, guys!!

Here is Miller, enjoying her new jumpy chair. I can’t seem to ever catch her on camera, but her favorite thing to do in it is to lean her back, like in the picture above, and gnaw on the strap behind her head. We have other toys for this express purpose, but apparently THIS is what strikes her fancy. She does have one tooth (I guess that’s what it is!) coming through on the side of her mouth sort of at the bottom of her gum- sort of a little spike. It also looks like the bottom two are about to make an appearance.

This post is much over due, we actually completed the work on this room in mid May. This was probably the least labor intensive makeover a room in this house will receive. The only things we did were remove the old carpet, stain the concrete underneath, and rearrange some furniture. And the latest updated room in the new house is . . . . MY STUDIO! I’m so excited to have a place to work on projects and be able to stop in the middle and not have to clean up so we can use our kitchen table for dinner or our dining room table for guests. It’s really great to have a dedicated space for all my junk, and all my junk to be within my reach (instead of on the top shelf of the laundry room like it was in the old house where painting/crafting involved me jumping on top of the washing machine to pull supplies down on my head!) Wilson has also enjoyed being able to work at the table while I work on the computer and we’ve both enjoyed having a spot that’s big enough for us sit side by side and do things together. (Jack is also enjoying his little corner where his bed and his basket with food/water bowls and toys are). Without further ado . . .

After:

Of special interest in the above pictures is my new easel. It was a gift from my sweet husband for our 6th anniversary this year. Thank you, thank you and happy 6 years, babe!!

As mentioned a few posts earlier, we have new neighbors. It has been so fun to have a family from our church and a whole family of friends so close by. There is always a playmate when we need one (or someone to wrangle dead squirrels should that need arise, but I don’t know why you’d need someone with those skills . . . oh wait). They have a little boy, Wilkes, that’s Wilson’s age and Wilkes has an older sister, Brook. Wilson is always asking to go over to Wilkes’s house. You be the judge of who he actually wants to see. . .

This was taken the first time Wilson found out Wilkes had a sister. We were at their house to swim in Wilkes’s new inflatable pool. All the other boys were shooting each other with water guns. “But where’s Wilson?” Ah, laying out with Brook.

And this was taken today at the pool. I had taken the camera to get some pictures of Miller in the pool because I had forgotten it when she went for the first time. Wilson asked if he could take some pictures and I said sure and handed him the camera. So, I pose with Miller and smile while also talking with Wilkes’s and Brook’s mamma. I notice after a few seconds Wilson has never said, “cheese”. I look over and realize that I’d have a better shot of being in a picture on the red carpet at the Oscars than I would to be in anything taken by my son.

The other day we were walking to their house to retrieve a forgotten toy and on the way Wilson asked if he could play at Wilkes’s house. I told him that we could not invite ourselves but that we could ask Wilkes to come play at our house. He responded with a shrug of the shoulders and, “or we could ask Brook, too . . . whatever.”

Don’t get me wrong. Wilkes is great for a sword fight or a car race. But if Brook’s around, well, it’s definitely a tough call for poor little Wilson.