Oh the joys of a Wednesday

Minus the fun-went-wrong trip to a park in town this morning, I would say Stephen had a mighty fine day.

We set out to a park that had walking trails that the website said were paved. But my definition of paved and their definition of paved did not agree. Pushing a double stroller that isn't meant for off-roading just didn't go very well. Stephen was pretty disappointed when I said we just needed to go back to the car and find another place to go. Maybe if I'd brought my carrier for Abby we could have just hiked for awhile, but I hadn't.

We stopped quickly in Hobby Lobby where Stephen bought some Thomas stickers all by himself, then we headed to the grocery store. He had won an "instant winner" sticker in the HEBuddy machine and I hoped this store would have the prizes (unlike the one by our house) so he could redeem it. Indeed they did! The CS guy showed him his options, and he picked out a beach ball. I blew it up for him and he's been quite pleased with his prize.

After a quick lunch at home, we headed up to music class. He gets so excited, and I hear from his teacher that he's very cooperative. (Well, good for her. Perhaps she can potty train him then ...)

While the kids were both resting, I read in my friend's blog that I had won a contest that she hosted last week. Thanks! I hope the kids enjoy the DVD we won.

Ryan will be playing at Oak Hills this weekend with a brass band. It'll be his first local gig--playing saxophone and not tuba, that is.

How Time Feels

As of yesterday, Ryan had been done with basic training for as long as he had been in it. And let me tell you -- the past 2 months have gone by SO MUCH FASTER! Not that they were without their inconveniences. Living at TLF was BORING at times, and the packing/unpacking was far from being a breeze.

I like having my husband home for dinner every night. I don't mind all the extra laundry and dirty dishes. The kids love climbing on him and being plain old silly. Though Stephen still tells me every couple of days that he misses daddy.

Abby Eats an Oreo

Abby tried an oreo for the first time last night, and Emily thought a certain brother-in-law would want to see the footage. I'm sharing it with the rest of the world, too ...

Bragging on my husband

I think we can officially call him "Mr. Fix-It."

Now when we first moved in, he did some standard projects: changing the locks, hooking up the washer and dryer, and even fixing some faulty electrical outlets.

But now he's tackled some pretty intense projects.

First there was the drip in the shower. It was through that dilemma that we discovered that in San Antonio you can't turn your water off inside the house. There's a shut-off by the street that requires a special wrench. Once the water was off, he went to work disassembling the shower. That was enough to impress me, but he got to a part that wouldn't come off the way that it should. The Home Depot expert's advice? Figure out a way to get it off. Which Ryan then did--with sheer strength (thanks to basic training? ha ha). And then it was just a part or two later and our shower was in working order again.

Then there was the mailbox. Should be simple enough. Except the nuts and bolts were so rusted through that no traditional tool was going to get them off. Out came the steel chisel, and he stabbed at the rusted box for hours one evening. When he came in that night, I didn't even want to ask, but I did: Did you get the new mailbox on? "Yes," he replied. Phew.

And then the garage door. It was a manual one, which required quite a bit of manpower to open, and got stuck frequently. After looking around and reading, Ryan decided this was a project he could handle. After getting the garage door guys out last night to balance it (not a project for the do-it-yourselfer), he was ready. Today he and our friend Adam spent the day sweating in the garage and now we have a working garage door: It operates with a button! Many of you take this for granted!

See for yourself:

Music Class!

Stephen had his first music class today. He was SO EXCITED that he didn't even want to eat lunch ... which made me nervous since the class was from 12:15 - 1:15. But he did fine. The teacher said he did great, and he seemed very excited on the ride home as well. Abby wasn't too happy that she couldn't stay. The keyboards and other instruments beckoned her to play. But we had a fun time exploring a new grocery store together. (Think lots of samples!!)

Bye-Bye Bigger Blue Drink

It's the closest thing Stephen has to a pacifier or a blankie.

But it was nasty and beyond washable, even with a dishwasher. And the straw was chewed almost to oblivion.

It was time. We had prepped him all weekend and he knew it was happening. So after our free chicken sandwiches from Chick-Fil-A, we drove to the mall and threw it in a trash can outside. He had no problem doing it at all, and then proceeded as if I'd just asked him to throw away a carrot peel for me.

Then we went to the Disney Store and let him pick out a new cup with a straw. This one should be easier to clean!

Toy Storage

This entry is mostly for my friends in Urbana to whom I posed the question: How do you store your kids' toys?

But I thought a few others would be interested in seeing part of our kitchen.


My parents found this Trofast component at Ikea the other day and picked it up for us. (For our anniversary they wanted to get us something for our house, and this was at the top of my list -- well, it was until our dryer broke, but that's a story for another day.)

Since we have a kitchen eating area as well as a dining room, I decided to make the eating area a play area so the kids could be right there while I'm working in the kitchen. It's about the only hard floor in the house, and Stephen needs it to be able to drive his trucks efficiently.

But lest you think these are the only toys we have, that's not the case. Stephen has quite a few in his room, which he has been enjoying immensely.