Birthday Season Draws to a Close

I am QUITE ready for January and birthday season in our house to come to a close. Welcome, February!

I had a nice birthday, and am glad that it fell on a Sunday rather than a weekday.

We went to church, picked up donuts, and spent the rest of the day doing the things we normally do on a Sunday. I did some laundry and prepared my tutoring lesson. I talked to my dad and my mom on the phone. Chet cooked dinner (pork chops), and also honored my wishes by starting to paint our dresser instead of buying me a present:

After dinner/before baths we sort of reenacted the picture from last year:

Right now Chet is tickling the children in the other room and there is a LOT of screaming. I better go help bodyslam them into bed on time so that we can watch an episode of NCIS.

Happy Sunday! Goodbye, January!

Toothless Ford

As of last night, Ford is officially sporting my favorite look in children: no top front teeth.

(Please don't ask my why he looks 16-years old in that picture.)

His top front right tooth had been very loose for quite a while. When I picked him up from afternoon childcare at our homeschool group on Tuesday, the caregiver reminded him not to forget his tooth. I figured he had finally lost it, but the top front LEFT tooth was the one missing! It turns out his friend accidentally knocked it out with his elbow. (Oops. Good thing it was also loose. Just less loose than the right tooth.)

The elbow must have loosened the right tooth even more though, because it looked like it was about about to fall out too. However, it held on until last night (Friday), when he finally pulled it out himself with hardly any effort.

After it was out, Ford said, "Now I don't have to put my tooth back in place after I eat!" 

Gross.

Happy Saturday!

Mississippi Aquarium

The new Mississippi Aquarium opened in Gulfport (approximately five miles from our house) last year, and we had yet to visit until yesterday!

The kids really enjoyed themselves, and I liked that it wasn't a gigantic facility and that it was close to home.

TGIF!!!

Happy 11th birthday, Sydney!

Our Sydney is 11!

It feels like yesterday that she was born, and it also feels like we've known her our whole lives.

She remains THE most fun and adventurous person I've ever met, and is the best "guinea pig" firstborn for our family.

We celebrated Sydney's day with plenty of sugar, Popeye's fried chicken for dinner (her choice), presents, and a lot of outside play.

Happy, HAPPY 11th birthday, Sydney! We love you!

Finished Bedside Drawer Sets

I keep wanting to call them bedside tables, but since they're not tables, I'll go with drawer sets.

I realize at first glance this appears to be a picture of only our white bed, but it was difficult to get a good angle that included both bedside drawer sets (this spot is the furthest I can back up in the room without being in the closet). 

I'm really happy with how they turned out, and the spray-painted gold hardware makes a big difference all on its own!

We already spray-painted the hardware for the dresser, but I don't imagine us actually painting the dresser until well into February. Which is fine. 

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Sunday!

How was your weekend?

Ours was enjoyable. We all went to Lowe's Saturday morning, then I went to the grocery store afterward. This morning we went to church, after which we picked up donuts (this has become our Sunday morning post-church tradition).

In addition to those things we did laundry, fixed meals, washed dishes, recovered from last week, and prepared for the next week.

Speaking of last week, LAST Friday (as in, over a week ago) I mopped the floors (a chore I had neglected entirely too long, and neglected again this week because we've had rain and it feels pointless to mop the floors when the ground outside is wet and muddy). Anyway, every time I mop the floors I move the kitchen chairs into the living room, and the kids play "train." It's a fantastic game, because one of them hands out books and magazines, and they all just sit there reading for a long time and the house is really quiet while I mop. Monster played the role of conductor:

This picture was from church last week (I didn't take a picture this week):

Let me remind you that Monster is a very tolerant cat. Ruthie wrapped her church cardigan around him like a scarf, and he was totally fine with it:

Have a GREAT start to your work week!

Back to School

The kids and I go back to school tomorrow, by which I mean that our homeschool group starts its Tuesday meetings again tomorrow. 

Usually I am beyond ready to go back, but this year I've thoroughly enjoyed the break, and may have a bit of trouble getting back into our normal routine.

(I always tell Lorelei she has angel hair.)

Also, we FINALLY finished Chet's and my bedside tables. Here is one of them (Chet's):

They were NOT finished by the Monday after the New Year (January 4th) like I had hoped/planned. The weekend had ended, and Chet and I agreed we could work on them throughout the week. But then Monday (January 4th) our washing machine broke, so Chet had to take it apart to determine the problem Monday night. (He thankfully DID determined the problem and ordered the parts; my neighbor was out of town and gave us permission to use her washing machine at our convenience for the week.)

Tuesday was Ford's birthday, so there was no painting to be done that day. By the time Wednesday rolled around, we had lost painting steam. 

The washing machine parts arrived Friday, and Chet fixed it Friday night. (Hallelujah!)

Saturday and Sunday (January 9th and 10th) we finished the dressers. I keep calling them dressers, but they are more like mini-dressers/bedside tables. The actual (large) dresser still needs to be painted. We accept and appreciate all prayers that it will get done before we move this summer.

Happy Monday!