New kitchen

I have always dreamed of white cabinets.  A counter depth fridge.  A large single bowl stainless sink.  Oh, the things that make a girl's heart go pitter-patter.

this is not my kitchen.  but I dig it.  

Well, I didn't get any of these things.  But Wren did.  Her daddy made her a play kitchen.  And it's pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself.  

don't mind the cheese and the bedhead

We used these plans.  It was a time-consuming project, but not a hard one.  There are still a few tweaks that need to be made like adding a faucet and some touch up paint.  But the girl loves it.  There was squealing and happy dancing feet as her daddy brought it up to the play room.  Wren was excited too.  

Found

I thought I'd share some of the random pics that are on my phone. Some are pretty old. Most are of Wren. And some were taken when my phone was hijacked by little boys.  It's kind of like a 2011 year in review, via crappy iPhone pictures.  So here they are, in no particular order....Enjoy.  

sorry mom

new floors!

the forever long trip home

the best garage sale-ing day ever

self portrait

desperate for firewood

under the carseat.   just keepin' it real.

neighborhood gang

Mexico bound!

The things she does to entertain herself in the carseat......

see what I mean

???

Wren's room

what I look like when I sleep in a German airport

My mother's day present.  Stolen flowers and a heart shaped rock.  :)

going home.  for the first time.

stair art

marshmallow/spaghetti art

junior plumbers

santa?

big gulp, huh?

halloween.  she still loves to wear those glasses.

from aunt B.  :)

Home

After 2 weeks of travels, from Mexico to Michigan, we are home.  Home is my favorite.  Mexico was great! Got to see my youngest sister,  Kenzie, get hitched on the beach.   What could be better?!

It was a nice vacay, but not necessarily a relaxing one.  Thanks to a certain 2 year old.  

She kept me on my toes.  Turns out that when in crowded areas she likes to spontaneously run away from me.  Can't tell you how many times I had to run after her and wound up in the kitchen of a restaurant, a men's restroom or the wrong side of airport security.  She thought it was hilarious.    

As soon as we got back from our fab all-inclusive, over indulging beach vacation , we headed to Michigan to spend Christmas with the Berrys.  We got to see some cousins that we don't get to spend enough time with, just relax and most importantly, I did not have to wear a swimsuit.  Which is a really good thing.  Because Grandma Berry's house is also "all-inclusive".  And back to back all-inclusive vacations have made stretchy pants my new best friend.  

      

It was a merry Christmas.  So happy to be home.  But even happier that we got to spend time with our awesome families.  

Skater boy

A few months back we went to one of the Street League skateboarding competitions.  It was kind of a big deal.  Well, to the boys it was.  After the contest there was an autograph session.  But we didn't get to stay for it, and the boys were pretty disappointed.  I told them they should write letters to their favorite skaters and ask for an autograph.  Ryder and Gavin wrote 3 letters: to Chris Cole, Ryan Sheckler and Dylan Reider (I realize those names don't mean much to most people, but they are pro skateboarders).  That was 4 months ago.  Today Ryder got a package in the mail.  A big package.

I'm not sure which boy was more excited  

Thanks Dylan Reider.  You made this kids day!

She

She has been home with us for 6 months now.  Which according to the calendar isn't really that long.  But she has nestled in to our family so amazingly well, that it's hard to imagine a time when she wasn't here.  Sometimes I look at her and I still can't believe that she is here, that she is ours.

She is the only extrovert in a family of introverts.  (Can't you hear God laughing?) She embarrasses me when we walk through Target. She says hi to every person we pass while simultaneously singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of her lungs.

She hates it when I am on the computer or the phone.  She gets a wee bit jealous.  But yet she doesn't need me at all once we get to Sunday school class or when her brothers get home from school.  She loves people.  Loves attention.

Oh, and the shoes.  She still loves them.  Her current favorites are a pair of flip-flops.  Used, dirty flip-flops.  Given to us a by a neighbor girl (who Wren worships).  She will choose them everyday over any other pair of shoes.  I can't wait till it's to cold for flip-flops.

aunt kenzie's shoes

She is sassy.  Opinionated.  Loud.  Determined.  Funny.  Smart.  Sooo smart.  Needy.  Messy.  Fast.  Cute.  Darn cute.  Loving.  Cuddly.  Independent. 

 She is my best girl.

No more milkshakes

Yep, this post is long overdue.  It's 59 degrees outside today.  I guess it's no longer milkshake weather.  Over the summer we visited 8 different ice cream places (well, we may have visited 1 place in particular multiple times)    in search of the best milkshake.  All in the name of science, of course.  See the following charts and graphs....
And, drumroll please, our winner is OBERWEIS.  Scoring a 26 out of 30.  It was the first place we visited, and no other could top it.  They've got lots of different flavors, you get a huge honkin' milkshake in a fancy stemmed glass, and their ice cream really is the best.    It's a tad pricey, about 5 bucks.  But ya get what ya pay fer.    Our least favorite place was Portillos, scoring 12/30.   They offer a chocolate cake shake.  While it sounds good, the boys were not fans.  It's basically a vanilla shake with a soggy piece of  cake in the bottom.  We will  continue our research next summer.  Ya know, for science.

scientific data usually involves crayons

           

We are back to our school year routine.  The boys are doing well in school, despite their complaining about homework and not having enough hours in the day to play.  Wren misses them.  But she also enjoys having me to herself.  More on her later...