I thought it was OUR bathroom!

Adelaide asks, "Why, oh why can't I come check it out?"
Sorry, Adelaide. We're just not done yet! The weekends just aren't long enough to let it all set...we're grouting asap!

 

And now for something completely different...

Diaper Diva strikes again!

 

 

I adore the floor

 Well, this is definitely progress, eh? Ben worked all afternoon on this, and although it isn't clean yet, I think you can see that it is going to be pretty great. Now work with me here -- take the vessel unit and imagine it on this floor...except clean...oh, you get it. We're so excited to FINALLY be making some progress :-) 

My find

No, not Ben's butt -- the vessel sink! Randomly was on clearance at the Lowes near Will's school -- the unit, the marble countertop and the vessel bowl...for $140! I am feeling soooooooo Lisa LaPorta about it! Anyway, it was on some strange clearance...we couldn't see anything at all wrong with it -- it was up on one of those "don't touch" displays -- and snatched it up. Now we do have to buy a really expensive vessel faucet, BUT we had paid about $140 for a crappy little vanity unit that we were going to have to buy a countertop for, and it wouldn't have looked NEARLY as nice. So we're feeling good right now...knock on wood...

Anyway, do you like the color we finally decided on? We do! We've also decided to do a crown moulding on the ceiling and a base moulding on the floor around the tile. We think it will dress it up a lot. Now we just have to actually get the TILE down! Which, I don't know if I mentioned, we also "stole." We got it at the Habitat of Humanity ReStore in BR. It is verrrrrrry hit and miss, but we managed a hit this time, with some cool rectangular and square bone-colored natural tiles. We also got some inexpensive slate tiles to mix in. Can't wait to get it laid down, now so we can get this bathroom functioning again -- we have to lock the door so poor Will doesn't mistakenly pee on the concrete floor during his middle of the night..eh, call of nature. Anyway, consider this a sneak peek at what we HOPE will be 99% finished this weekend! 

I voted!

It wasn't the most exciting vote ever -- I still remember standing in a line that went out the door at my HUGE church in Kentucky during the 2000 Presidential elections. I wore my "I voted" sticker proudly that day -- it was an exercise in patience and perseverance! Anyway, more or less just a bunch of constitutional measures on our local ballot this time, but I wanted to go vote to allow a local area to incorporate their own school district outside of EBR's failing district. Plus I fondly remember going to the polls with my mother every time there was an election. What's funny is that I realize now that she HAD to take us because school was out, but then I just loved going and watching her pull the levers. It really showed me that it was something you don't "think about" doing -- you just do it. So hopefully I can instill that in my munchkins, which started today when Will went into the booth with me, for the first time aware and understanding what was going on. In some ways, I'm even prouder I packed my kids up and voted today than I am of sticking it out in line in 2000. Then it was clear what was on the line, and everyone was getting to the polls. Today, turnout will be light and there will be constitutional measures passed that will make a difference but aren't glamorous enough to inspire passion and mass migration to polling places...and I voted anyway. That's the lesson to teach my kids.

Thanks to my #1 Crafty Girl Tanya Nichols for the super-cute voting illo at the top of the page!

For your viewing pleasure...

Okay, you can sort of see the Smurf Gunk behind the new colors. These are some of the others I tried. Try not to laugh too hard when you see the green I thought was great in the store. Anyway, I think we're going with this steel "Wedgwood" blue -- we are using both slate and an "ibiza bone" looking tile -- it will look cool...we hope... 

Paint Mortification

I am bad at picking paint.

I am GOOD at picking colors that go together, but somehow, the colors on those little cards never translate well to the walls of my home. *sigh* I have now tried THREE colors in the redone bathroom -- one because I was cheap and the previous owners left it here -- I thought it was a nice light blue but it came out looking like something a smurf sneezes out...okay, I don't really know what that would look like, but it was ugly. Then I tried a nice blue that I actually successfully picked out. It's a nice color, but there are NO windows in this hall bath, and with the tile we've chosen, it didn't look to good either.

So I went back to Lowe's today to find a new paint color. I thought I'd picked a nice warm, muted green color that, on the walls, appears more like a muddy grass stain mixed with newborn baby poop. Excuse my graphic color descriptions, but seriously -- I hate it.

BUT, on the upside, I did find an AWESOME vessel sink with a stand, a granite top, and the vessel for less than $150! It was the display model on uber-clearance, but this particular model happened to be way up high where every random passerby couldn't grope its bowl, and it is in good shape. I'm VERY happy because we thought we'd purchased an all-in-one on the cheap only to discover it had no top. But it all turned out better this way. NOW we just have to return the other...which should be fun...

Anyway, my paint pain continues. I still think a nice green, or maybe a true Wedgwood blue would look nice...but crap, who knows? Certainly not me.

Halloween photos...finally!

Trunk or Treat and Halloween

Yes, finally, some Halloween photos. Click on the image above to see the album.

The womanly art of spackling

Well, we are finally doing it. After thoroughly enjoying a year and a half of irritation the previous homeowners left us in the form of the front room bath, it is time for the healing to begin. Yes, we would walk in and behold the nasty berber carpet, the toilet that wobbled, the gray and white striped wallpaper, and the toilet paper holder that we had to reposition because apparently Mr. Crooked lived here before and enjoyed torturing others with his DIY mishaps. Ah, the memories.

So we actually really got down to business last night. After trying to take the wallpaper of with scrapers and physical prowess, we rented a steamer. So last night and today we steamed off the wallpaper, occasionally taking a little bit of the drywall with it. We took out the vanity unit and pulled up the carpet, pad, tackstrip and molding. The mirror is gone, as well. So after we finished all of that, it was time to start patching those wall gouges before we could prime.

And I have discovered something about myself -- there is something strangely calming to me about spackling. I love it. Glopping the goop, spreading, evening out...it's totally zen to me. I mean, next time I've had a bad day, I think I'll just go spackle somewhere to calm down.

Anyway, we're taking a break now while the spackle dries so we can sand and hopefully prime tonight, as well. I am taking photos of the process, and I'll post them later. But right now, since I am done spackling, I decided I'd reminisce on my happenstance discovery of this lovely aspect of DIY. Now back to work!

Help us, John Kerry!

What better illustration of the fundamental STUPIDITY of what Kerry said than the very people he insulted showing that his words were so incorrect and ridiculous that they only want to laugh in his face?











The fact that he says it was a "botched joke" does not excuse what he said -- the reality is that he would never have said it that way if he didn't think it were true.

The reality is that all educational levels are represented in our armed forces. But there are other choices for people than to join -- and that is just it -- it is a CHOICE. Maybe he doesn't agree with the choice, but that just further illustrates why he has no right leading this country in any capacity: An inability to realize that people are making a conscious choice based upon their personal goals and ethics is a fault that is mutually exclusive of someone who needs to be able to listen to the many sides of an issue before jumping to conclusions.

Yes, realistically, many in politics today are motivated by black and white, line-in-the-sand mentalities on both sides of the political fence. And it isn't okay either time. But as my five-year-old would say, "You shouldn't say someone is stupid." Say that what they did was stupid (like pull out in front of you in traffic and dart through a busy intersection -- that's usually when I get chastised by the Kindergarten Morality Police), but saying that someone is stupid...it is a word that should never be used as an adjective for a person. It demeans and dehumanizes.

So why would John Kerry do that to the troops? It certainly didn't work out in his best interest. I guess I would just have to say that it might have been his own "intellectual laziness" -- the laziness of not bothering to look beyond the political mores upon which you define yourself -- that made him do such a "stupid" thing.

Prayers for Jana

Hi, everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to tell you all about my friend Jana. I am a member of an online group for moms, and we are all very close. Jana is one of us. She has four children (and two dogs) and is in neurological intensive care right now. She had surgery to remove an angioma in her brain. She's had some setbacks with seizures since coming out of surgery, and she could really use your prayers.

Her husband, Brad, is doing an awesome job updating their CaringBridge site. You can see it here if you're interested. He's reading the guestbook to her when she's lucid, so just signing and telling them you're praying for them would mean a lot.

Thanks, everyone.

Here comes the bride

Bride looks pretty...Groom does all the work, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

And the groom, in the background, keeping her on schedule :-)

There goes the bride

There goes the bride, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Me and the little princess

Great view, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

The reception site was just beautiful, and the weather couldn't have been better. Here Laila and I smile for Daddy out back...

Lookin' sweet

Lookin' sweet, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Wow -- what a cake! Will is impressed...

The best school pictures EVER

No, seriously. I about fell out of my seat when I saw these. Why is it that whenever I got my school picture proofs, I always had a wayward hair, a half-closed eye, or icky-looking skin...not to mention the side ponytails and coral lip gloss. But somehow, my child comes home with these incredible photos...and I even forgot it was photo day and sent him to school in a brown t-shirt that says "rock on!" on the front of it. He's just so cute, though, he can't help it. :-) 

Funny Girl

Sunny Days sweeping the clouds away, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

She was making such adorable faces, I just had to take her outside in her pretty dress and have some fun...and fun was had. Oh, have I mentioned how HOT it still is here? Hello? October? Someone wake up fall. He overslept.

Locks of love!

Well, I had recently decided that two YEARS was long enough to go without a haircut, and I thought that while the long hair was really pretty for a while, it was starting to look a little stringy and dowdy. So I made an appointment at the Baton Rouge Aveda Institute, which rocks, because they use all Aveda products and really great student stylists, and you can seriously get a haircut for $11. Wow.

So I went in and I was like, "It's too long!" And that's when she pointed out to me that it was in fact so long that I could donate to Locks of Love and still be able to have some decent length. So we did it, and I am so pleased! Okay, this is a picture taken by a five-year-old who is supremely excited to be using mommy's expensive camera after mommy has has a LOOOOOOOONG day with the chillins -- Daddy in in Kansas City, and the kids had a photo shoot today for an ad for a local store...and they weren't their normal pliant selves. Seriously, it was like pulling teeth! Hopefully they got a couple of good ones...Anyway, here is my "new look," and I am so happy I was able to do something good with all that extra hair! 

Well, at least Will only bought a $7 video game...

Okay, in this article from Reuter's "Oddly Enough," this kid gets an entire story because he bought a pink convertible off ebay. Bah! He probably just saw it on the homepage. It didn't require him to, say, type in a search term, read the description, and THEN hit "buy it now."

But seriously, this is how Will bought a Spy Kids computer game off ebay when he was three years old! I had left myself signed into ebay and he used the "Buy it Now" option. Of course, his game was only $7 and I just paid it and decided I had a good story to tell. Probably because when he did it, I had recently tried to explain to the cable company that it was my three-year-old that had purchased the Spiderman 2 pay-per-view and they were NOT nice about it, and Verizon was also completely unforgiving when I tried to explain that, in fact, my preschooler was the one sending text messages, not us. So I figured, $7, you know, whatever.

At least it wasn't pink. ;-)

*sigh* Meet Will, via Calvin...

Wow...this is so us. I don't know how many times we've marveled at his absorption in his building toys, only to conclude "He'll probably grow up to be an architecht." And we KNOW he's got a wild imagination...Click image to view larger! 

Bye, guys! We'll miss you!

Ann and Joey are leaving for Montgomery this week. They've been our closest friends since we moved here, and it is a pretty sad thing to see them go. Tonight we went out, with several other friends from church, to Ichibans, a japanese steakhouse. Will pretty much loved it, except for when the fire "scared him out of the crap," as he would say. But he loved it when the griller started flipping egg bits into people's mouths! In the picture, Eddie and Karen White; George and Carolyn Myer; Greg and Sally Palmer; Tim, Rachel, and Maya Wylie; Joey and Ann; Hannah, Eddie and Karen's daughter is holding Will, and then us of course. *sigh* we're going to miss you, Ann and Joey! 

LEGO master

Yes, I have two children...and here is the little prince..., originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

He is really good, don't you think?

One-year-old portraits...*sigh*...one year...

One-year-old portraits...*sigh*...one year..., originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Well, after a bout of illness on little missy's part (she's fine now -- apparently just a viral bug that causes fever -- was better in about 48 hours), the weather was finally cool enough that I felt inspired to go outside and get some "real" one-year-old portraits. We went into the backyard and caught a few, and then we went to Independence Park's Botanical Gardens. She was pretty interested in most everything there, particularly the rocks. I had to fish several out of her mouth. They were those little pebble-type ones, which, I have to admit, do look somewhat like the might be in the general baby snack food genre. Nonetheless, I would have thought after the second or third time she tried to bite down on it, she would have learned.

Thankfully, however, she has learned that a stern look and an open palm in front of her face mean "Get whatever is in your mouth OUT and put it in my hand."

I was pretty pleased with these results. If you click on the photo, it will take you to the flickr photo page. From there, you can click on each individual square's notes (it will say "larger" when you mouse over it) to see a bigger image.

joy in motion

joy in motion, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Can anyone believe that my babies are this big now? I can't. They can play together so well when they want to, despite the age difference. Chase is one of their favorite games. Do you see how real the smiles on their faces are? Wonderfully, beautifully real.

fashion queen

fashion queen, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

have I mentioned SHE is the one who goes for frilly frou-frou? This was her cousin's tinkerbell outfit, lent to us for Adelaide. I had stored it away when we got it because it was just too big. But recently I was going through her closet to look for some hand-me-downs for a friend of mine, and I found it. I got it out and hung it up with her other outfits, not thinking too much about it.

Well, usually, after she wakes up, I will change her diaper, then walk her over to her closet and stand there trying to decide what to put on her. Lately, however, she's started exerting the force of her own personality and trying to pull and make choices herself. Of course, the first time Princess Poopy Pants spotted this deliciously diva outfit, she had to wear it. The hat? Gymboree. I know. But she wanted it, and who am I to trump child-like creativity?

Happy birthday, baby

chocolate-flavored paper plates ROCK!, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Some kids cry when they're sung to. They turn their nose up at the cake and just want to be done with the whole thing...not Adelaide! Once she'd finished off her cake, she went for the plate, too.

She had a great 1st birthday. :-)

I said I wouldn't succumb to the whole "princess" thing

I said I wouldn't succumb to the whole "princess" thing, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Aw, but mom got her the crown, and she has such this little "princess" thing...I have never encouraged frilly and feathers, and I've never intentionally "blinged" her...but she LIKES it. SHE wants to wear the frilly dresses and change her shoes three times during the day. And what can I do...it's about letting her be herself, after all. That's all I want.

Happy Birthday, Adelaide!

One year in a life, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

I can't believe she will be one year old on Saturday. What a year it has been!

Mommy Seuss

She won't sleep.

She won't sleep at night, or during the day -- it doesn't matter at all what I do or what I say.

She screams and she jumps, she tosses about. She throws her bottle and pacifier out.

Her anger is real -- her face is so red! I don't know what to do...but she must go to bed!

I feel like a mommy who is bad and uncaring, but I can't take much more of this tantrum that's blaring.

She needs to sleep, and she needs to sleep long. I know this, I do, but it still feels so wrong.

I have no more tricks up the proverbial sleeve, and gas costs way too much to just up and leave.

I have sang, I have held, I have snuggled, I have rocked, and now I just sit and stare at the clock.

When will it stop? When will she rest? When will she lay her head in her nest?

These answers I have not, though a headache I do. So I'll just take more Excedrin and change some more poo.

And now that that's done (and she continues to wail), I seek a happy ending to this sad tale.

But my only solution (I can't tell a lie) is to let her stay in her bed and cry.

*sigh*

His first day of Kindergarten

His first day of Kindergarten, originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

Here's a mosaic of his first day...he was so calm, I was so anxious...he was so happy, I was so sentimental...
1. All ready to go -- his brand new backpack he designed himself on LL Bean and his "WILL" lunchbox (in LSU colors, of course, *sigh*)
2. Come on, Mommy! Let's GO!
3. He's so relaxed. He was totally calm, picked up a book that was in the backseat, started looking at it on the drive, no worries for him.
4. Welcome to Runnels, Will! Here is your cubby for your lunch and your snack...
5. And here is your locker for your backpack and other items. Look! It has your name on it!
6. We love you Will! Have a great day...
7. Cool, coloring. I'm all set!
8. Okay...he's at school, coloring, and has already talked to a few of the kids...guess it's time for us to leave now...and I have a Kindergartener.

Wow.

me

making peace with myself
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

I took this today when I was laying around trying to get some good shots of Adelaide. Not entirely sure how I feel about it, except that it is me...

Having fun together

Daddy is on the computer. Will wants to be on the computer. Will sits on daddy's lap on the computer. Adelaide thinks she is as big as them. Adelaide likes to play with Will. Adelaide likes to play with Daddy. Adelaide decides to join them.

Fun ensues. 

shoes you can use

Will wouldn't leave his shoes on...guess who won't take hers off? She looooooves her footwear. Seriously. 

blahhhhh

  

They had so much fun together in the splash pool

let's talk business
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

It was a great purchase. I even had fun -- yep, I put on a swimsuit and a coverup and went out and played in the water with them. (It is HOT here, okay?) We all had such a fun time -- Adelaide is just a fish, and Will was able to splish splash away without worrying that he'd knock over the baby -- it's only a splash pool, so if she fell on her butt, she just fell on her butt, no big deal. Anyway, it was just awesomely fun. lots of photos of it on flickr, but here are a few to sample...

ahhhhhh!!!

ahhhhhh!!!
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

They don't call it a "Splash Pool" for nothing...

splish splash crawl

splish splash crawl
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

water water everywhere

water water everywhere
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

my big boy

my big boy
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

little droplets

little droplets
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

I like water a lot

I like water a lot
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

We bought a really cute splash pool on clearance at Target this week. (Summer clearance here is awesome because hello, you can use this thing like through November at least!) I thought it would be something that the kids could enjoy equally...and it was! They loved it. Here she is checking it out initially. More pics to come...

How big is the world

How big is the world
Originally uploaded by je ne sais quoi.

This photo has been getting a lot of attention on flickr, so I thought I'd post it here. I like it, but I'm really surprised by the reaction because I didn't post it thinking it was anything all that great. Ben says that it's the way the perspective works with the title, that she looks so tiny and the world looks so vast. Anyway, it seems to strike a chord with people, so tell me what YOU think!