while I was absent

I've been gone awhile. Not because nothing is happening in my life, just because I haven't felt the motivation to write about it.




So here is a little re-cap of the last month's events:

-I've been missing my family something fierce.

-I have painted. A lot. I wish I was done, but I have 3 rooms and a hallway left.

-I passed up a donut today. I had it squished in my fingers and I decided it didn't even look appetizing. Yeah, I don't know what's going on with me either.

-Yesterday, I saw a pack of teenagers running across the street with bows and arrows.

-In preparation for MEXICO I have been tanning a bit. My armhair is officially lighter than my skin. Break out the bubbly.

-Concerning the above: I tried a standing tanning bed. No thank you. It is not even a little relaxing to stand with my arms over my head while naked and wearing goggles.

-I was a fabulous wife and did all of husband's laundry. All 12 loads of it. He owns about 400 pairs of socks, my friends.

-I made an ice cream cake for husband's birthday. It was rediculous and wonderful.

-It is summer and I like it

-Summer brings some of these beauties:

I may have forced husband to turn around and drive down a different road just so I could look at them.

Are you interested in seeing some of the house projects I've been working on?

Coming soon, I promise.

well, hello there!

Hey you. I've been absent from the blogosphere lately... I just couldn't force myself to sit and write happy things when really, my heart has been hurting. Today, I am making a conscious decision to dwell on good things though, and I do have plenty to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my beautiful family and my full-of-life child. I needed to take William to have new portraits taken but when my parents forgot their [incredibly nice] camera at our house the last time they visited, I decided who needs a professional photographer? I can do it myself, thank you very much. And in true Shannon-fashion (which I'm pretty sure I inherited from BOTH of my parents!) I did do it myself.

I think I did a pretty decent job (maybe?) and I love that they capture William's sweet and spunky personality.

And P.S. Not all projects I take on turn out so well... I very frequently take on projects bigger than I can handle. Which is why my kitchen cabinets (um, yes... after 5 months) are still not quite finished.

playing catch up

This seems to be a trend with me lately... sorry (again!)

A few pictures from my charming baby boy's 2nd birthday party:

It went a little something like this: balloons, jelly beans, pizza, cake, ice cream, drool, cousins, toys, tissue paper, books, sugar overload, exhausted mama, the end.

Phew. How's that for a speedy wrap-up?

And if you think that was a cute overload, wait until the next catch-up post with Natalie + Me + Twilight Release Party.

a few of his favorite things.

This is my rediculously cute child, William.

New favorite toy: Dominoes or "noes"

Good for hours of entertainment. (I love the dominoes too.)

Favorite Place to Hide: The Dog Crate

And yes, it is furry and stinky in there.

And no, we did not put him in there. I promise.

New Favorite Place to Sleep

I walked into Will's room one morning last week to get him ready for school and I nearly had a panic attack because I couldn't find him! He wasn't on his bed (which is not uncommon) but he also was no where to be seen on the floor. (He is frequently found sprawled on the floor in the middle of his room). I finally found him asleep on his changing table. It was a surprise to me that he could even get up there. We can't figure out why he wants to sleep there or how to stop him (other than just taking the changing table out of there, which I suppose is an option). Speaking of changing tables, we are in the beginning stages of potty training and it is not the most fun. He's got the idea down, but he tells us about thirty seconds after he's already gone. Or he tells us every five minutes that he needs to go. We finally got smart and put his potty in the downstairs bathroom so that we weren't running up and down the stairs and tripping over the gate every time he wanted to pee.

After a 13 hour workday yesterday, I came home to have a little chat with the kid about his behavior at daycare. We had a heart to heart and discussed why pulling hair is unacceptable and then we ate breadsticks. Because that seemed like the logical thing to do.

And then! Last night, it snowed. Surprise! And then our power turned on and off all morning while I was getting ready. I was just thankful that I didn't need to blow dry my hair today.

And tonight! It's Thursday, which means it's good-tv-night. So you know where I will be, friends. With my bum on the couch eating something other than ice cream because I gave it up for Lent. And yes, I'm two days in and I already regret it. So maybe some green beans? That sounds so depressing.

it's tuesday

Hey you.

I'm sorry that I keep forgetting to say "Happy Monday!" to you. So, Happy belated Monday! (Also known as Happy Tuesday!)

Did you have a good weekend? I did. My parents visited us and we had a lovely time cooking, eating, talking, swimming, playing games and eating some more. Will hadn't been swimming in a while, so it took him a little while to warm up to the idea. Once he did, he had the best time. He would ride on my back and say " I svim! I svim!" Just the cutest.

Aren't they adorable? All of them. And Will is still asking "Where papa?"

And then, we watched the Oscars on Sunday night. Seriously? Best.Show.Ever. When Jennifer Aniston was presenting an Oscar and the camera panned to Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, Ryan and I just gasped. We didn't know the Oscars could be so snarky. And then when one of the winners (for best animated short film maybe?) was giving his acceptance speech (note - he barely spoke English) he ended by saying "Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto". The best speech I've ever heard. I may have laughed about that one for a good five minutes. Ok, and the muscial number in the middle of the show? Also spectacular. Hugh Jackman! Mamma Mia lovers! ABBA! Zac Efron! Could it get any better? I think, no.

But maybe the best part was that it was over by 9, so I was able to get to bed on time. (Let's consider that next year, shall we, Grammy's?)

In an effort to just throw all sorts of random, unrelated stories together:

When I was pregnant, I rarely left the house. Mostly because I was tired all the time. I did, however, leave the house once a week to go to the grocery store. I even put on makeup and did my hair, because don't you know? The grocery store is the place to be seen.

The grocery store is still my big excitement for the week now. And last night was no exception. Will and I went to the store after I got off work and he was his usual charming self. One of the WSU Basketball players talked to William and he could not have been more excited. (Ok, maybe I was a little excited too. But not as excited as when I see Tony Bennett. I have been known to mildly freak out and call people to tell them that I can see Tony Bennett. right now. in the bread aisle.) I was also approached by a man who wanted to know what color my tights were. And I said they were grey. (because they were.) And he said that he liked them and that he would feel good wearing those. I'm still not sure if it was a hypothetical statement or not.

All right, that's all I've got for today.

Ok, one more thing.

You're welcome.

baby it's cold outside

Snow. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

Except maybe photo-ops of the Kid (who played in the snow for the first time!) and the pup (who also played in the snow for the first time!) and having a good excuse for watching Mamma Mia four times this weekend. (because seriously - best movie ever. If you haven't seen it yet... we can still be friends, I just might have to force you to watch it with me. And you will like it. Sidenote: I was excited that the DVD has a sing-a-long version until I realized that I already know every single word to every ABBA song, so the sing-a-long was useless.)

Ok, and the snow means that I must make cookies. Lots of them. After frosting like 1437 cookies, this is my favorite:

If you are reading this, then I love you and hope you have a lovely Christmas!

I'll probably be taking a little break from the blogging while I visit the fam for Christmas (yayyyy!). I'm excited to have some much needed time with my family and read Christmas books together on Christmas Eve and see my dear friends again and give my mom a hug (most importantly!).

Make sure you drive safely and give your mom a hug, ok?

take #435

I think I literally took 50 pictures of The Kid to get a single decent one for the Christmas card. Yes, he moves a lot.

The final result:

tony bennett

Oh dear. I have so much catching up to do...

So, we completed another goal from The List! The Kid went to his first Cougar Basketball game!

We recieved free tickets, (Yay!!) so we Couged up the Kid and watched the game. He made it the entire game with just a brief meltdown during the last 5 minutes.

Highlight of the game: Tony Bennett. Obviously.

a belated halloween recap

First things first. I did not dress up this year. I know, lame, right? After last year's costume fiasco, I have officially sworn off costumes. At least until I have the energy to do it right, you know? I wanted to dress up as Michael Jackson (hello, sparkly gloves? yes please.) and then I thought about Tinkerbell (sparkly wings? sign me up.). But alas, nothing worked out in the end.

In an effort to have some Halloween spirit, I did "carve" a pumpkin with the Kid. And by carve, I mean we drilled that sucker full of holes and called it good. Hey, it was Martha's idea. It looked a lot easier than spending hours slaving with a dangerous weapon just for a pumpkin that will rot within three days. Or less. So I gave the kid a power tool, and we took out our pent up aggression on the helpless pumpkin. He loved the drill, but did not love anything else related to the pumpkin. For a 1.5 year old boy, Will has some funny idiosyncrasies. He loves cleaning (that's my boy!), he loves blowing his nose, and he hates being dirty. He pooed in the tub last week (quite possibly #1 on the list of grossest things ever.) and he panicked like I have never seen a child panic. He literally leaped out of the tub shrieking and pointing. (Lesson here: STOP pooing in the tub, kid. Nobody else likes it either!) His fear of all things dirty extended to pumpkin carving. I thought he would love sticking his hands in the pumpkin and pulling out all the stringy mushy mess. Wrong. I said "Will, stick your hand in there and help me pull the stuff out." He gave me The Look. The Look that says "Woman, you have got to be out of your mind. How could you even consider asking me to do something as foul as touching that stuff?!" So yes, I was on my own with the pumpkin cleaning while he gagged watching me.

And then there was Halloween. One costume (cute, right?) + three tootsie rolls + one balloon later, we experienced our first of what is sure to be an annual post-sugar-crash-meltdown. Since he had clearly had enough excitement for one day, we took him home and put him to bed. And because I live such a glamorous life, I was in bed by 9. Best. Halloween. Ever.