High Time for Pictures

This is a 'rocking fish' that Emmaline got for Christmas. Matt was showing off how skinny his butt was and tried sitting in it. Too bad he didn't get stuck! Emmaline and Daddy at the Art Museum. We had to go for one of his school assignments- actually two but we got both done in the same day. We are totally lucky because most of the museums and the zoo are free here. Most of the parking is too. Makes for a lot of good days.

Just like when I tried to take a picture of Emmaline and her cousins, it took about 5 tries to get her to look at me. I'd go to snap the picture and before the flash went off she'd have her head turned away. When I finally got it, it was so worth it.

This is funny. My mom had a mini Valentine's day party for the girls where they ate cookies and played a few games and such. I ended up taking these next two pictures but Emmaline hardly looks like she moved! So either Carolyn was super duper fast or this is just plain amusing.

This is Matt and I at the Missouri History museum. Again, free. It was great. We'll have to go back one day because I think we only saw half of it, if that.

Ahh! Robert and Emmaline. Emmaline is glued to him. She sees him and she immediately hugs him and lays on his shoulder. Its so cute to see them together. Robert, find a wife and have children! This is so precious.

Here is Emmaline with Grandma and Grandpa Beach. This was back in January while we were waiting to see her new baby cousin Ryder at the hospital. We were finally able to get her to sit on Grandma's lap but she still wasn't excited about smiling.

So there are some pictures. Lots of pictures. Some of nearly everybody. Don't get greedy and expect this very often. But enjoy them.

Today is a Memorable Day

Matt finally watched a Horror movie with me! He is such a sucker. He tells me constantly that he can't watch some movie or another because his stomach starts hurting and he gets sick blah blah blah. And I so think he needs to get over himself. Besides, a girl needs a horror movie buddy that she can cuddle with, right? So I told him we were going to watch a movie and made him pinky promise that he wouldn't get up off the couch until the movie was over. Then I started it and he got all whiny on me. But every 10 minutes or so I asked him how he was doing and he was fine the full hour and fourty minutes of it. Now, he did say it was a waste of time but he sat through it! Also, not to make him look even worse but this was a very light horror movie. It wasn't Ring or the Grudge, or any of those yucky movies with creepy looking people that makes me actually run and jump on my bed when the lights are out for fear of what lurks beneath. But it still had some jumpy moments and some scary music at times. It was definately classified as Horror. So, a day to remember. Knowing that he can get through this movie, I may be able to convince him to watch other ones with me. Before long, he may be hooked!

Matt's on Vacation!

Well, for today at least. Matt got let go from his job on Friday. His boss told him that they just couldn't afford to keep paying him. It makes sense since he worked for a real estate company and real estate is what is being hit the worst. But its still sad. We were both wishing they had at least given him a few weeks notice so we could start looking for something else. They paid him for his last day of vacation (today) as well as the full day on Friday although they sent him home early. Matt did start looking for something else right away but we aren't sure we want him to go get a job. Here's the thing (and nothing is set in stone). We really want him to get his pilot's licence. If we can get a pilots licence before he goes back to work, we can get it 10 times faster and he can go straight into a pilot type job instead of all these minimum wage, time consuming things. No worries though because we do have a good chunk of money in the bank so we won't starve for a few months. :)

Sadness

I hate when art projects don't go as expected. I signed up to write an article for a magazine at school that wanted an idea for something cheap and original. I remembered seeing a mural on Extreme Home Makeover that I really liked and thought I could duplicate it. After searching everywhere online I couldn't find any mention of it nor anything that looked remotely similar to it. So I had to go at it alone. The idea is to use old books to create a mural. Use books you have at home or buy some at the thrift store, whatever. Then make them into cool patterns, weave ribbons, flowers, construction paper, whatever, through the mural and wa-la! You have an awesome, personal piece of artwork that recycles old stuff and is relatively inexpensive. I tried it and I was so excited but it didn't turn out like I wanted it to. I don't know if I just didn't have enough books or if I didn't get the right colors or something but it did not look at all like I remembered on the show. And to add to the disappointment, I can't actually see putting it up on my wall. That was the big thing, I wanted to actually use it when I was done. So I wrote the article and I'm sending in pictures but I wasn't happy. Sad. Anyway, you can judge for yourself. I know that the idea is great and maybe I just need to try it again. Find some different (or normal) colored books and just start over. But I don't have justification to spend that time or money anymore so it may take a while longer to get back to it.

Lots of Children!

Hello everybody!

I've definately had a taste of what more kids will be like. This past week has been interesting. My sister left town for 10 days and I've had her littlest (Andrew) here the whole time. I've had the other two (Julia and Carolyn) over all day three days now while my mom is in school. Its been quite an adventure. Andrew fits our schedule quite well and takes naps when Emmaline does. And the two of them play fairly well together. Andrew is still young enough that he just looks at you weird when you take a toy from him then moves onto something else. Lucky for Emmaline becuase having to share everything has been really really hard on her.

Emmaline's behavior has become interesting. Because Andrew screams a lot she feels like she should be allowed to scream...She has been taking toys a lot more (mostly because she is getting to that age but also because she has competition for 'her' stuff) and starting to pinch and push and hit. Thats partly an age thing too but I think she is getting some influence from the older cousins. Thats okay, we are working on it.

Anyway, I think it'll be weird come Sunday when Andrew goes home and only Julia is coming over again on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It'll seem quiet or something!

I took about 7 pictures before Emmaline finally sat still. Then her daddy came home and decided to help!

I'm a Mean Aunt

I'm a mean Aunt. And I have proof. 1. I babysat Carolyn the other day. She was sent with a snack- fishy crakers, animal crackers, rasins and fruitsnacks in a trail mix style. Since Emmaline and Carolyn are so close in age, they get cranky over what eachother have that they don't. So I searched through my cupboard for fruitsnacks to give Emmaline. All I could find was a halloween candy of sorts that was no longer squishy but hard. I knew that Emmaline would have a hard time chewing those snacks so I took Carolyn's fruitsnacks, gave them to Emmaline and dumped the hard(er) candies in Carolyn's bag. I know I know, how mean! But Carolyn didn't know the difference, they both got what they wanted and I had no choking.

Carolyn- about 2 1/2 2. Sometimes I get headaches during the day and all I want to do is sleep. When Julia is over I can't really do that unless I know she is having her rest time too. So sometimes I have her start her rest time, work on the computer for another half hour (or putz around cleaning or something) then decide I want a nap too. Julia's nap time is only ever an hour but when I fall asleep, I make her stay on the couch for an hour and a half sometimes- and she still thinks its rest time! I know! Thats horrible of me! Making her have a longer rest time just because I'm tired is mean. What can I say? Julia- about 5 1/2

3. I popped popcorn yesterday in front of my nieces and didn't let them have any. I was snacky and wanted to eat popcorn. Their snack time was in 15 minutes and I could have waited that long but instead I popped the popcorn, sat down in front of them and proceeded to chow down on it. Now, I did give them a few pieces but only a few. And when I was done, I got them their snack. Can you imagine? Being 2 years old, smelling popcorn, watching someone else eat it and only getting 3 pieces for yourself? Thats got to be torture! 4. I made Julia go to the bathroom while Carolyn was in there. Talk about a lack of privacy! Carolyn needed to go so I sent her in. Just as Carolyn was flushing the toilet, Julia realizes that she desparately needed to go- so much so I was afraid she'd pee her pants. So I sent her into the bathroom while Carolyn was washing her hands. I didn't want to let Carolyn leave the bathroom without washing- so the two of them had a little sister bonding time.

My Purse

I got 'tagged' by my sister in law...

Here's the rules: 1) Post a picture or two of the purse you are carrying now. Do not cheat and go and grab that cute purse that is stashed away in your closet, post what you are using now. 2) Post how much you spent on your fabulous bag, and if there is a great story to go along with it then include that. 3) Tag some people to see what they're using as their bag and the stories that go behind them.

I got my purse for Christmas a few years back. It must have been a more expensive purse because it has made it this far with only a little wear and tear. It totally fits my personality. I don't really have a great story. I was carrying around a purse that I liked, it was sort of a grey bag. It slung over my shoulder, was way casual and I guess a bit teenagerish. My sister told me it was cute when I bought it but come to find out... she meant that it was cute for 'every once in a while' not all the time. She told me this as she was giving me my new purse! Gotta love sisters. But hey, I got a really great purse out of it!

In it: wallet, two full tic-tacs and one empty one, keys, chapstick, pen, walmart giftcard with 8$ on it, candy wrapper, two pennies, a wad of tissues (unused, thank goodness!), two barretts, another wad of tissues (we are going through a runny spell here obviously), my gym work out pass and earbuds.

Now I'm goin to put one barrett in, throw away the garbage and take a picture. Say Cheese!

Now I find it mildly amusing that I set my purse on a wipes container with playdough in the background...if my purse doesn't show it, something will!

Now I get to tag Christal and Laura! Show me your purses!