Washington

We just got back from a week-long visit to Kennewick, Washington to see Dan's family. All of the siblings and families were there and it was so great to see everyone! Last time we were all together was Christmas 2004. We had a great time catching up and seeing how the cousins have grown up since last time we saw them.

We jumped on the trampoline.

(Sam was done after that jump.)

Cousins played video games.

We lit fireworks and those little bottle things where you pull the string and confetti comes out. What are those called?

 Handsome Luke.

Cousins played together.

We woke Sam up for a few of the fireworks. It got a little chilly so he snuggled with Daddy.

One day we took family pictures. I LOVE this picture of Sam. I'd love it even more if he hadn't unbuttoned his shirt like he was on Miami Vice.

 Above is Afton with her cousin Lucy.

One morning all the men (plus Noah) went shooting.

And the next morning, all the ladies (minus Amy) got manicures and pedicures.

One day we walked around the Columbia River Temple grounds. So pretty.

Matt let us borrow his truck while we were there. Dan loved it.

Dan's dad runs the observatory at Columbia Basin College so he met us and gave us a little tour. We saw a star, Jupiter, and the sun (through a solar telescope). It was really neat. He let Sam open the top.

I got to meet up with my old roommate, Betsy, one day. It was so great to see her and her two cute kids!

(And may I just say how great it was to be in dry weather and to be able to straighten my hair and have it stay that way?????)

A shot of the tracks on the way to Matt and Amy's.

Having dinner and Mom and Dad D's.

One night all the adults got to go out to dinner. Then we came home and played a few games and had an "Ugly Picture" contest. Dan had taken ugly pictures of everyone and we had to vote on who had the ugliest face. I'm so glad that Dan took 90% of the pictures so that we'll have them on our computer for blackmail purposes for years to come. Noah won.

 Dan came in second.

I didn't place at all, but my sister-in-law did inform me that I look like Ryan Reynolds when he wore a fat suit for a movie. I looked it up and I'm guessing she thinks I look like this.

I have no idea what she's talking about.  :)

And just so I don't have to end this post with that picture, here's a cute picture of Sam and Luke eating donuts. Look close at Luke's face and what do you see?

Zorro would be proud.

And here's one last cute picture of Sam watching from the deck as his uncle and cousins light a big fire down below.

It was a great trip and we had so much fun. Hopefully it won't take us seven years to plan the next one.

Latest Creations

Seersucker was on sale at Jo-ann's, so I bought some and attempted some shorts for Sam.

And on our recent trip to Washington, we had family pictures taken. The colors were blue and white, so I made Afton this dress.

Getting her in and out was a difficult process (no buttons or snaps), so I think I'm going to put some buttons on it. More on our trip soon!

The New Dress

Here it is! Without a top on underneath, it's a little too loose.

 Give me that camera!

Sam came and wanted in on the picture-taking action. Here he is trying to teach Afton his funny face.

She picked up on it pretty quickly.

Since she can't stand on her own yet, we had to wait for Daddy to take some pictures standing up.

 And this girl must finally be teething. Her tongue it out of control!

It was a fun project. Quick, pretty basic (although I did learn how to make my own bias tape, which was a little tricky for a beginner like me), and cheap. I bought this fabric at Walmart for $1/yd! Next time, I'll make the straps shorter and closer together in front. I'll also probably shorten the length some and maybe learn how to do buttons instead of snaps.

This past winter, Dan planted a crepe myrtle tree. Last week it got its first blossoms so I excitedly took some pictures.

And now, five days later, it looks like this:

Yay!

Dan caught Afton in a cute sleeping pose.

Sam and Afton playing on our bed.

A new shirt I made for Afton. It's a little big.

I didn't make the pants. They're from a different outfit and just happen to match really well. And I'm almost done with a new dress for her. Can't wait to have her model it!

Sam the Conqueror

We started potty training Sam last Monday. He did really great. The first day was definitely the hardest. Something about being confined to the kitchen area for 5 hours or so and constantly asking, "Are your pants dry?" over and over... I thought I was going to go insane. Add that to the fact that Dan was gone 4 nights last week until 10 (getting SCUBA certified), and it made for a LLOOONNNGGG week. But I think we did it. Sam hasn't had an accident in quite a few days. He goes to the bathroom without being reminded. He'll stop in the middle of playing and run to the bathroom if he needs to go. He's graduated from the potty chair to standing up and using the toilet. Now we just need him how to figure out BMs on the toilet. That's hard to do when he now only goes like once a week. TMI. Sorry.

The best part of potty training, other than not changing diapers, is the super cute underwear. Sam doesn't like having his picture taken sometimes. This was the best I could get.

That's Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba. He also has sports underwear and Thomas and Friends underwear that he earned by going to the bathroom at church.

I think it helped that we waited until he was three. Before that, he showed zero interest and now he's just old enough that he gets it. Also, for those who might be potty training soon, we used the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day," recommended by Gretchen, in case you're interested.

Date Night

Saturday, Dan and I had a great date. We dropped off the kids with K&G and headed down to Miller Outdoor Theater, in downtown Houston. (Swinging by Jack in the Box first to grab shakes, of course. They're pretty good!) The theater holds free events all summer long. That night was a show put on by Classic Albums Live, a group that recreates classic rock albums on stage from start to finish. The band that night played Led Zepplin's albums IV and II.

We started out on the hill,

but then the lady behind me started smoking before the show even started, so we packed up our blanket and moved up to the covered seating.

There were all kinds of different people there - hippie ladies with maxi dresses, homeless men with no shirts, business-y looking men, teenagers, kids, it was a good mix.

 It was a great show and the musicians did an awesome job. I'm sure LZ has some dirty lyrics, but for the most part, I couldn't tell what he was saying. So that was probably good. Dan loved every second of it. He said it was the best concert he's ever been to (even though it wasn't actually LZ). He even said it was 1,000 times better than any concert he's ever been to. I think he might have been exaggerating a bit. But I don't know. Look at his face.

He looks pretty happy to me.

 Sorry all of our pictures are of us holding the camera out. That's what happens when it's just the two of you. And everyone else is inebriated.

Macaroni and beef

 They're off 'cause I was trying to hold the camera away from my face trying to get her to smile at me.

My latest carseat cover. I like it. The inside is the same fabric as the brown on the straps.

When I put mousse in my hair in the mornings (ugh. My hair routine is very boring, thanks to Houston humidity.), Sam likes to put mousse in his hair, too. I hope I do a better job with my hair than he does with his.

Dan and I have been feeling like we need to get food storage. We've never really had a good store set aside before. So I've been trying to collect just a few extra cans when I go to the store, but I wasn't very organized about it and it would have taken me forever. So we bit the bullet and ordered a year's supply of food storage for a family of 4 from Costco.

They were supposed to deliver between noon and two yesterday, but he called at 5 saying that he didn't know how to get to our house. So I asked where he was, and he told me the name of a street that sounds fairly similar to ours. I knew where he was, so I tried talking him through how to get from there to our place. And he just kept saying, "It's not telling me that. That's not how it says to get there." I don't know what "it" is. I'm guessing his GPS. Anyway, he was very confused and finally asked me to get in my car, drive over to where he was, and lead him to our house. Which I did. No biggie. Then when he got here and got the giant pallet of boxes off the truck, he couldn't get it over the curb up the driveway. So I told him to just leave it in the street. Thankfully, a nice neighbor came out and offered to help me carry the boxes inside (all 56 of them!). We were super sweaty afterwards. I'm making her cupcakes today. It was worth it to get her help!

So now we've got 300 some odd cans of food to put in our house. Under beds, in closets, etc. Should be fun.

It's been a while

We haven't been doing much, but I feel so busy during the week.

Last Saturday, Dan and I went on a date. We went out to dinner and ate on the patio. It was windy and things kept flying off our table. When the guy came to put parmesan on my pasta dish, the cheese kept flying all over me and didn't land on the food. It was fun.

After dinner we took out our camp chairs and walked over to a little outdoor concert. The band sang everything from Lady Gaga to Michael Jackson to the B-52s. It was fun.

 We sat a little ways away from the main action. That way we could still talk and do some good people watching.

Some girls came by giving away free patriotic shades. You know we jumped on that! Don't I look so awesome?

 

Afterwards, they had fireworks. It was a great date!

Here are some pictures that are a little bit older.

Sam on his b-day.

 Blowing out candles. He asked for Daddy's help.

 A happy moment. He'll ask to hold her and then 5 seconds later say, "I'm all done, please!" And if you don't grab her fast, he'll try to squirm out from under her and she'll topple over.