Father's Day Weekend

Our weekend was pretty busy. On Saturday, I had a meeting with Chlystek and White followed by our annual picnic at the West Michigan Whitecap's Game.

Wayne, D.'s dad, also works for the same company. So, it was a real treat for A. to spend some time with Poppa Hoppa!

My friend, Mandi works for CWS too. It was fun to have some close friends to hang around with! A. loved spending time with their daughter!

This was C.'s first baseball game! He was good most of the time considering the game didn't even begin until his bedtime.

He loved all the junk food- especially the chocolate chip cookies! I went to give him a piece of my cookie, and he left me the piece and took the rest of the cookie!

Just D. and I....for about two seconds!

Then on Sunday we went to my parent's house to spend some time with Papa Ken and Grandma Connie.

It was the perfect day to spend on their porch! We couldn't have asked for better weather!

On the porch with a pretty view!

C. LOVES to eat!!!

Papa Ken found an "old school" big wheel for A. to ride in the driveway. I don't know who was more excited about it, A. or D.!

Awards and Blog roll

Thanks, friends!!!

My personal favorites:

The Pioneer Woman
MckMama
The Hassenrik Family
Jenna's Jargon
Back to the Quarry
Parenting in Blue Jeans
Rach's Blog
Five Crooked Halos



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Bloopers

I do not take myself seriously,

There's more crap on my SD Card than good.

When things go wrong, I don't get upset.

I grab my camera.

Um, yeah...heidi's?  Holes are a little too small.

Just a little.

Boys + baking = Flour covered Molly

What can brown do for you?

It decorates my world.

Feeling blue...

Pre-surgery, A. decided that he didn't want to do it anymore.

This was his safe place.

Kermit was the trader here, not me.

Blame the guy in green.

It's not easy being green.

One of my most flattering self-portraits, don't you think?

I never use the stroller to pen up my boundless toddler.

Doesn't he look like a Muppet here?

My brother and I are affectionate in the most Stepford way possible. 

Appearances are everything.

*snort*

No blooper reel is complete without a little potty humor.

We frequently bask (i.e. lay around as if we have nothing better to do) in the sun. 

D. removes his bikini top because he's really concerned about tan lines.

Yeah, my kids always listen to me.

Even if I just ask them to "LOOK AT ME PLEASE!"

He's not throwing a fit...

No, he's not!

Mommy's Shower time + kool aid in the fridge + "independent" toddler=

mess.

No "contributing to the delinquincy of a minor" was committed in the taking of this picture.

Legal Mumbo Jumbo

All post content and pictures copywrite of

Pardon My Dust 2007-2010

Any duplication without permission from the author will result in my nagging you and reporting you and doing whatever I can do to make your life as rough as it can be.

In other words, if you are stealing my little blog information, and your life is too boring to come up with fun posts of your own, don't blog.

Thank you.

The Love Shack

We moved into our "Love Shack" in April, 2005.

All 780 Square Feet of it.

People thought I was cuh-ray-zee.

But it was less than 2 miles from Meijer, but nestled on a small dirt road.

City conveniences, country feel.

I loved that, I hated the house.

A. was only 15 months old. 

D. promised me we would start work on the addition within 2 years.

And while I was skeptical (I'm a realist) about the time line, I knew this husband of mine NEVER leaves anything unfinished.  I love this about him...even though I'm not like that at all.

scoff...laugh...*snort*

We had paid off our old house, and sold it for full asking price.

With that money, we were able to pay cash for our new "home"

Do basic renovations to make it "livable".

(like all the quotations?...yes, I use those words sarcastically)

Completely overhauled the septic system (yes, cha-ching)

We had enough left over to start construction on our pole barn.

Then the well ran dry.

We needed to save more money in order to make the house work.

Insert a new baby (C.) and the new hospital bills into the mix...

delay...delay..delay.

Then, we had almost enough...

So we pulled the trigger and started digging.

As we had cash, we built.

We're so close to moving into the addition, I can almost taste it.

But close only counts in horse shoes and hand granades...

So, for the meantime, we live in the Love Shack.

Why do I call it the Love Shack?

"Cause it will take a whole love of Lovin' to keep me sane in that Shack."

To read all posts that mention the saga, click here.

A.

A. was 4 1/2 years old as of yesterday. He is turning into my little man. He's a great big brother, but he still needs to work on sharing toys that were exclusively his for three and a half years. He loves spending time with D. doing what he calls "boy things." This morning, D. was working on the house, and A. realized that his plastic Bob the Builder tool belt wasn't the real deal. So, D. made a hole in one of his old belts and gave A. an old tool pouch. A. was very proud of it. He came to get me so I could watch him swing his hammer and pull the nail out with the claw. I was impressed!

A. was in a speech and language development preschool last year, and he loved it. He'll be continuing with the same teacher next year, only in the afternoons. It was incredible to watch him come out of his shell last year. He went from a timid and anxious toddler to a confident little boy. I'm so proud of him! Shortly before school got out, his class went on a field trip to the local Zoo.







More pics of A. over the past few months:


In Uncle Ryan's and Aunt Nicole's wedding.

Our Jamician snowman

Running in the sprinkler fountain ata local sprinkler park. Yes, that's my son running in socks and sandals.




A. made this crab hat in school. He is very proud of it.

C.

Tomorrow C. will be 10 months old! I can't believe how quickly time has flown. In the past month, he's really become quite independent. He's learned how to crawl and pull himself up on everything. He's also eating all table food, holding his own bottle and he LOVES his sippy cup.

C. is a very social baby. He's always crawling after his big brother A. to play with him. He'll play Thomas with daddy and A., and his idea of making sure he's in the loop is to crawl into the track bin.

He's also getting into everything...including Molly's dishes. Then he gets scared because of the noise and the wetness created by her bowls.

More pictures of C. over the past few months:

The Love Shack

Here's the latest on the house. Basically, the exterior remains unchanged since April. We're currently on the hunt for a very specific front door, but we don't want to have to sell one of the kids to get it. :) D. has been hard at work in the interior working on mechanicals. He's very close to calling the township offices for inspections on HVAC. He's also working on plumbing and electrical along the way...really, is there anything this man can't do?!?!?!?

The pictures are of our kitchen (with totally cool kitchen table), the living room and D. is working on mechanicals in the boys' room.

The question of the year seems to be: What is your timeline for getting into the house? I, myself, would like to know the answer to that question. Basically, we plug along on it as time and money allow. I've told D. that I won't put up another Christmas tree in the Love Shack. I think he's pretty agreeable to that goal. Keep your fingers crossed!