Things of beauty...

Anyone who has ever lived with me, worked with me, or probably even ridden in my car will question the next statement: I LOVE organization. No, it's not a typo. It's not meant to say that I 'lack' organization. I truly do love it. It's just that often I spend too much time trying to figure out how to organize and then going about the organizing rather than the doing of whatever I was organizing. That is why I was going to save this post until I actually scrapbooked a page or two in my new area. However, it's still not happened and I'm not sure when it ever will. The story of how my lovely scrapbook corner came to be is (hopefully) an entertaining one.

Our house has 4 bedrooms - our room, the office, Seth's room and the bowling alley. I've always referred to it as the bowling alley because it is oddly shaped - long and narrow. So, the obvious decision was to make the bowling alley Luke's nursery. So, we picked out the bedding and painted the room. That is SUCH an oversimplification of the process, but it will suffice. His decor is puppies - browns, khakis, reds. The walls turned out mustard - not quite the match I was hoping for! Hence, they would need to be repainted. This is when David, and I know he will deny it, suggested we could swap the office for the nursery. I had a table in the corner of the old office and he had a desk in another corner of the old office. The bowling alley was much larger and would be better for the two of us to share. So, after much debating in my then pregnant and hormonal head, my family came over and we swapped it all out. The old office became Luke's room and the bowling alley became the new office. Then we painted Luke's (second) room.

All that to say, I got a bigger, better area to scrapbook and have been able to organize things better. There is still some paper and picture sorting to be done, but I am on my way! Check out the beautiful little labels and the shelves that coordinate with the desktop accessories. At least it's pretty to look in at when I'm walking by to take one of the boys to bathe them.

A Tissue Issue

Uugghh! We went for a nice, long walk last Thursday and no one has quite been the same since. Luke sneezed the rest of the afternoon and then by Thursday night Seth had started in as well. They were genetically blessed, on both sides of the family really, with a bit of a predisposition to allergies. Luke has come to hate the look and sound of the blue 'nose squeegee', as I like to call it. Seth, however, seems to think it's good fun to tell me about the boogers, either ask for a kleenex or ask me to wipe it, and then shred the kleenex when I turn my back for 2 seconds. I can deal with the kleenex shredding, but Luke's stuffy nose and coughing seem to be disrupting the beautiful pattern of sleeping at night which I had been enjoying immensely! Oh well, I suppose he can have allergy medicine in a few more years, right?

SandWater Table

Seth got a new toy from Grammy and Grampy for his birthday. For about 60 seconds the toy was a water / sand table - water on one side, sand on the other. Now it is just a sandwater (altogether) table. But that's the fun of it, right? It's a perfect toy as Seth loves! everything about the outdoors. Birdies! Doggies! Duckies! Bunnyrabbits! He cries when it's time to come inside. A nice change from last summer when he refused to leave the blanket in the yard and cried if his toes accidentally touched the grass.

Three months old...

Our little Lukey was 3 months old on Sunday! He loves to "chat." He has a great smile and some cute little cooing noises to go with it! Recently, he has been getting so excited about chatting with me that he doesn't even care about eating. Perhaps it's because this is one of the few times he feels he has my undivided attention. Whatever the reason, I am thoroughly enjoying it (and him)!

Random Pix...

The princess and her not-so-royal subjects.

Shouldn't they be fanning her or fetching her a cold drink?

Why is the paci over there and how do I get it into my mouth?

Lauryn and Seth finding the biggest puddle to be messy in (at Lauryn's new house)

Rusty is still the best bear in town.

Sometimes he is Baby Rusty and must be rocked in Seth's arms.

Do you know that feeling, when you suddenly realize your 2 year old has been quiet for too long??

One morning recently I was trying to dry my hair and put on some makeup while Seth entertained himself. We have a basket of toys and books in our room for just such occasions. Seth also loves the treadmill, which doesn't really work anymore, as it is the perfect incline to send toy cars and trucks zooming down. So, Luke was taking an impromptu morning nap in my bed and I was taking advantage of a liitle time to get me ready to face the day. When suddenly it occurred to me that Seth had been quiet for quite awhile. It was then that I noticed Seth's clothes hamper was empty. I asked where all the clothes were from the hamper. "Stairs." Aaahhh, yes. Seth had quietly unloaded his hamper and tossed every last article of clothing over the gate at the top of the stairs!

Have you ever tried to ride a carousel standing up?

We went to the Children's Museum last week with Auntie Gretchen, Laney, Carson, Nancy, Ava and Grammy. Perhaps I've mentioned that Seth adores all things horses?!? Well, all the other brave kiddos rode the carousel. Someone had to stay with Luke anyway so Seth and Mommy watched everyone ride the first ride. Seth usually needs a moment of observation before he chooses to participate. We talked about how nice and soft the horses' tales looked while the others rode. I asked him if he wanted to ride and he said "Touch the tales." Good enough for me and we got in line. Seth and I got on the carousel and he touched the tales. I asked him which horse he'd like to ride. Suddenly my neck was being squeezed uncontrollably by a not-so-brave Seth. I again asked, do you want to ride a horse? His response? "No, I don't." Very plain and very serious. So, he and I stood the entire ride, between a couple of horses. Gretchen took the picture and so, apparently because he could see she was not moving in circles, he yelled "Auntie Gretchen" during the ride. Of course, now he likes to tell the story of the carousel debacle - complete with fake crying and yelling for Auntie Gretchen! I'm not sure how soon we'll try this again. Although even as I type this, he is standing beside me pointing at the picture and yelling horsies, horsies, and signing the sign for "more!"

Busy, busy, dreadfully busy...

Anyone familiar with Veggie Tales (or Fussy Tales as Seth calls them - NO idea why) will appreciate my title! It's been good busy, but dreadfully busy nonetheless! I am very thankful to have all new floors in our downstairs, carpet and vinyl. The old stuff was icky when we moved in 3 years ago so it's been a long time coming. Silly me didn't realize this meant painting baseboards, moving furniture, removing and painting doors, tearing up old carpet, etc. Sure, the carpet people could have moved the furniture and tore up the old carpet, but for a fee and so we did it ourselves (okay, who am I kidding, Dave did it, but someone had to keep Seth and Luke out of the way and safe). There are a few finishing touches but those should be done this weekend and then we can relax, except that the shed needs painted and the deck needs stained and the weeds need pulled. Nevermind...

The old floor

The pretty new floor