Kimball!

We get to go to IN and KY on Wednesday and I know my family can't wait to meet this little guy!

She's workin' hard for the money!

Henry gives me a run for my money.  Some days more than others.

Bead-a-balooza 2011

The next day: 1 dozen broken eggs while I was in the middle of some serious baking (and left to switch laundry).  I had to borrow some from my neighbor because of course he broke every egg in the house.

His dimple saves him more days than not :)

Sometimes it pays to be nice!

Dear Melissa,

Thank you for sharing your kind comments with us.  It is always wonderful to hear from our consumers when they have a positive experience to share with us!  I am so happy to learn that your daughter enjoyed using the Crayola(R) Glow Chalk Maker.  Our company receives hundreds of letters and e-mails each week.  Most are inquiries for product information.  Few people take the time to write and share their thoughts and experiences with us.

We appreciate your contact and are sending a complimentary coloring poster and Crayola cents off product coupon.  You can expect to receive it in approximately 12 business days.

If additional assistance is needed, you may reach us by telephone at (800) 272-9652 weekdays between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time or e-mail by visiting Crayola.com.

Best wishes for a colorful future, Melissa!

Colorfully yours,

Christine Simonetta
Consumer Affairs Representative
CRAYOLA

24th of July and Another Party

We spent the weekend in Orderville celebrating Pioneer Day.

Kimball is a good little packing buddy.

 We had a family swimming party at the town pool for Macey's 4th Birthday!  It only cost $35 to rent the pool for 2 hours... totally worth the money.  Everyone swam and then we had dinner.  I made pulled pork, potato salad, 7 layer salad, corn, melon, and cupcakes.  It was so very tasty.

 Henry warming up in the sun.

 We did a family float for the parade.  It was in honor of Thomas Chamberlain who had 6 wives and so created tons of posterity that live in Long Valley.  Don't worry, my Thomas comes from the 5th wive Chastie. I was a little shocked when I learned about Thomas' polygamous heritage when were dating to say the least!

 We went to the town park for games.  The favorite was the slip and slide of course!

 Macey got a sweet Radio Flyer wagon from grandma for the b-day and Thomas put it together tonight.  I can't wait to take it out tomorrow.

The weekend wasn't all rosy.  There were 3 things that were Debbie downers-

1. Henry almost drown at the party - the life guard plucked him out before I even knew what was going on.  Awesome mothering right?

2. I left Kimball at the store and didn't even realize it!  He was asleep in his car seat and I just forgot him!  Good thing his grandpa owns the store and was there!

Mother of the Year nomination just went down the drain...

3. Thomas went on a hike with his mom, Brother-in-law, and sister on Monday.  They ran into some glitches and it took them forever to even get somewhere were they could call.  I was worried SICK!  There were a million flash flood warnings on TV and that's all I could think about!  I literally had a mental plan of what I would do when they told me Thomas was dead.  Thomas' dad went to get them and everyone one rolled into bed at 3am after being gone for 20 hours.

So it was a good weekend but pretty emotional and tiring.  Now off to bed!

Care Bear Party

Macey tuns 4 on Saturday!  How did this happen?  Didn't I just have her?

Any how, we had a friends Care Bear party last weekend!  

We invited the girls from her primary class and another friend we play with.

I didn't want to buy lots of Care Bear things to I thought I'd use the bears Macey already has.  

Bad Idea.

 Check out the heart-shaped pepperonis!  So cute.

 Everyone got their Care Bear symbol.

 This little girl was SO funny.  She asked for a mustache.

 We colored and made bead necklaces.

 Then all of the ladies decorated their own cupcakes.

 May LOVED opening presents.

 Then everyone played on top of her bunk bed with her new ponies!

 Last but not least, Thomas and I surprised her with the gift from us.  We had her close her eyes and we video taped her reaction.  It's so cute.  Our cute neighbor makes these play houses and she's been asking him for weeks when he's going to make her one... little did she know the plans were already in the works.

 I made Care Bear aprons for the party favor and they turned out so cute!  Of course Macey needed one to keep too.

 Henry being upset the girls won't let him in the house.  It's a hard life being a little brother!

Now that we are starting to like were we are and make a few friends I think we are going to move... I'm 99% sure we got the yellow house in Monroe! We just have to wait for all of the paperwork and appraisal to go through!

Singing in the Rain!

The Robinson family stopped by on their way home to pay us a visit!  We went for a little walk and got caught in a crazy down poor!  After we all got inside lightening hit the road outside the house.  You'd never heard a crash of thunder SO LOUD.  The flash was amazing and the sound made half the house scream.

Come back again Robinson's !  

PS- No news on the house yet.  Boo.

Summer Lovin'

2 weekends ago we went to a hot air balloon launch in Salina.  Let me rephrase that: we went to the location of the balloon launch at 6am to find out it was canceled due to rain.

The drive was beautiful that early in the morning though.

Can you find the rainbow?

And we did have some nummy homemade muffins to munch on on the way home, so it wasn't a total bust.

In other news, Kimball has started smiling a lot more!  It's so rewarding to get a little grin out of him.  Here are the first that I caught on camera!

I'll let you all know about the yellow house tomorrow hopefully! 

What should we call it?  We can't call it "The Shanty"- the name is taken and it's not a shanty. 

Any thoughts???

The Shanty: Monroe Edition

Well, the other house didn't work out.It was in too bad of shape for the price.

We've moved our search 10 miles out of Richfield to a little town called Monroe.

Don't worry.  This land has animal rights!  I could get a chicken or two.

We put an offer on this house yesterday!

 Check out the HUGE concrete swans in the front near the drive way.  Totally a selling point for me :)

 Large living room

 Yucky kitchen that won't survive the remodel.

 Bonus room with a fire place and a sweet mural of Fish Lake - another big selling point!

 Random knife stuck in the beam of the garage.  There are some other really weird things I can't wait to blog about!

 Sweet barn with a loft!!   We plan on tearing off the extra part on the side and front of the barn to restore it to it's rectangular barn glory!

 Blurry BUT - THAT my friends, is a little waterfall!!!  Macey is walking up where the water flows...  it flows down into a man made perfectly circular pond of sorts.

 In my mind this is for your picnic table, but it's so short... very odd indeed.

 Strange raised lawn... maybe a garden at one time???

Well I super duper want this one!  I hope it works out, we'll keep you posted!  Thomas and I are going on a date to the Home Depot to price flooring and cabinets tonight!

Hmmm

Well- A super cheap house is cheap for a reason... the foundation is a mess.

So do we go for cheap and fix it up or spend the money on something a little nicer out of the gate without so much of a fix up. 

Oh the decisions that need to be made.  

Wish us luck!  We'll keep you posted on the home hunt!

The Shanty: Richfield Edition

So we put an offer on this house today.  Shocking?  Yes!  Exciting?  Yes!

There's how the week went:

Tuesday: contacted a agent about maybe looking at  some house

Thursday:  Look at 2 houses

Saturday:  Put an offer in on this little beauty

CRAZY!  

It's a screamin' deal, of course it is, Thomas and I are all about the cheap!

 It was built in 1880, it's almost 1400 square feet, 4 bed, 1 bath, and a cute little fenced in back yard.

 Don't worry, there's nothing Thomas can't fix.

 Mud/Laundry room

Isn't that floor something???  So it needs a little work, but most of it is just cosmetics.  I'll be excited if we get it, but not super excited to move again!  This will be our 4th place in 2 years if the magic happens!  Keep your fingers crossed.