kelly lynn creations

hours of fun...

I've been collecting board games over the past week to explore with the kiddo. A few years ago, we started out with the standard Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. I figured we were ready to move on to Sorry, Operation, Checkers and Junior Monopoly. I even threw in one of my favorite childhood movies, The Rescuers.

I was really amazed at how quickly my son picked up the new games. It has been awhile since I have played any of these board games, so I was referring to the rules often (There are a lot of rules in Sorry!). From time to time the kiddo would actually tell me what the rule was - and he was usually right!

a big hurdle

Over a year ago, we embarked on what we thought was a 3 month remodel project. Just as everyone warned us, it took much longer then we expected and cost much more then we would have liked. Today, we had our final inspection from the county and are relieved to have passed.

I would list all the things we accomplished and all the hurdles we had to overcome, but it's a fairly exhaustive list. Dear hubby was our general contractor and even though I know he will not be signing up for another project like this - he did an amazing job and I'm looking forward to enjoying all his hard work and everyone else who helped out (You know who you are - and we couldn't have done it without you!). I managed to pitch in when I could, but mainly I entertained the kiddo while everyone worked.

My next job is to outfit the place with furniture so we aren't sitting on the floor staring at each other. IKEA here I come!

back to back

It was a big weekend for us, taking the kiddo to two concerts on both Friday and Saturday night - I know, we are crazy! It sounded like such a great idea when we bought the tickets...

We saw Coldplay Friday night at the Clark County Amphitheater. We knew we would be pushing our luck so we bought the cheapest seats on the lawn in case of meltdown. Unfortunately, this was part of our problem. The acoustics were terrible where we were and we couldn't see the band at all. This was a big bummer for the kiddo. We also didn't factor in an opening act, so instead of Coldplay starting at 7:30 they started after 9:00. Way to late for the kiddo.

On Saturday we saw Tears for Fears at the zoo. The venue was so much better. We could actually see the band from the lawn and they sounded fantastic. A few times we went up close to the stage with the kiddo. (We were very happy we brought headphones to block out some of the noise and the kid loved wearing them.) We all enjoyed ourselves, although it was challenging with the 5 year old for a number of reasons (crowds, long lines, restless, tired, etc.) - next time we will get a babysitter...

the farm

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at our friend's farm and it was a real treat for all of us. We toured the new hay barn, checked out their compost process, watched the horse trainer work with one of the horses, fed some horses, and finished the outing with a picnic dinner under a shady tree.

Here are a few pics of from our day. 

  
He is really concentrating... 
He even got a short riding lesson!
 
Taking time to brush the horse,  Jack, after his ride.
  
I can't wait to go back! Check out how our friend came to own the farm - it's a great story about how destiny does indeed line up for people.

hgtv here we come...

For the past month, we have been preparing to put our house on the market. We started the process by interviewing four agents. Everyone recommended a variety of things to do to get the house ready to list. We immediately started implementing some of their ideas to get a head start.

The agent we selected, works with a home stager who helps get the house 'ready'to show. She described the process as "undecorating" your house. This wasn't too hard, as we have not done a lot of decorating. She walked through our house and gave us a long list of things to do in every room of the house. It took me the better part of a day running around town buying door mats, bath towels, dish towels, candles, etc. Who knew how much a $13.99 orchid from Trader Joe's could liven up our dining room!

We spent even more time getting the outside of our house ready. We removed the kiddo's sandbox and various toys. Once the sandbox was gone, it was clear we would need to re-grass a major section of the backyard. Hubby ended up doing that in an afternoon and it looks great!

The next big chore was bark-dusting the front and back of the house. This took me over five hours and just my luck, it rained for four! I also spent a chunk of time weeding the parking spot where we had been storing our trailer. After it was cleaned out we added river rock instead of the old gravel. The yard looks great!

Our biggest expense was in hiring a painter to paint the exterior of our house. Hubby has had a lot of experience painting houses, but in the end we decided it was better to have someone else on tall ladders. When our painter came with a crew of 4 guys we knew we had made the right decision. They did a great job both with their prep work and with their final paint job. The house looks great, inside and out!

Now we just need a buyer. Know anyone?

turning off the tube

To celebrate, Turn off TV week my son's preschool had a potluck dinner tonight. The kids came in their pj's and ate pancakes and breakfast food. They loved it! Hubby even commented on the yummy berries and whip cream toppings. Somehow I don't see him replacing his all time favorite, Log Cabin syrup as his topping of choice...

After dinner, the kids all sat together to watch some of the Mom's do a skit about what tv turnoff week means. It was hilarious. The Moms were dressed up as kids and they got really upset that they couldn't watch their show and then the 'Mom' came out and explained what turnoff tv week means. The preschool kids raised their hands to give ideas of other things they could do like: play outside, take the dog for a walk, go to the park, do a puzzle, play a game, etc.

This past weekend, hubby was out of town and at one point the kiddo told me that he was really sad. I told him I was sad that Daddy was out of town too (since I assumed that was why he was sad). The kiddo quickly replied "I'm sad next week is turnoff your tv week!"

Poor guy, somehow I think he'll make it. In all honestly he rarely watches tv. Hubby has been wanting to get rid of it all together and we may very well do that.

it's like having a baby again

The kiddo has been getting up in the middle of the night for the past several weeks and no one is getting any sleep around here. When he gets he does it several times every few hours which makes it nearly impossible to get any continuous sleep. Last night was one of the worst yet.

I'm not sure what the answer is to get him (and the rest of the family) to sleep through the night. I'm hopeful it is just a phase, because I'm waking up in the same daze I had when I was up during the night when he was a newborn.

It's no wonder hubby was looking forward to his business trip and the solitude of a hotel room. I sure hope he comes home rested...

Last night both the kiddo and I went to bed at 8:15. He then got up at 10:20, 2:15, 2:30, 2:45, 4:30 and then again at 6:30. I am dragging and the kiddo is full of energy. How does that work!

family portrait

Last week I asked the kiddo to draw a picture of the family. Here is what he came up with. (It didn't scan that well, but you get the idea.)

 

(the kiddo, Dad and Mom)

local wildlife refuge

We had a family outing to a local wildlife refuge yesterday. We were on the look out for salamanders. We saw bald eagles, cranes, lots of birds and geese, but no salamanders. He was so excited to go on this outing. He filled his backpack with his kid binoculars, water bottle and magnifying glass and announced that he was ready to go. Here he is looking for salamanders!

 

     

 

still, no salamanders! Next time, I'll have to bring my camera to take a picture of the kiddo and Daddy taking pictures with the big camera. The kiddo loved taking pictures with his Dad. It was pretty adorable...

pics from the big apple

    

(1) Drawing in his book before take-off. That didn't last as long as I thought!
(2) Eating fondue with Dad (w/o the chocolate!)
(3) Family photo at the ice rink.
(4) Dad teaching the kid to skate.