Smorgasbord of This and That

Not much to tell around our parts. It's all the same old thing - go to school, teach school, do the laundry, fold the laundry, put away the laundry, start the whole laundry process over again, change diapers and chase Rhett and his ever growing personality around...

He decided to take his clothes off while playing outside the other day.

Then he began to race through the puddles.

What could possibly make playing outside in the puddles whilst being 99% naked any more fun?

Why not wear a policeman's hat as well?

I can't decide if he's cute or if he looks like a stripper in the making.

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Another pallet on the floor. Really, I HATE pallets. SUCH a mess.

A close-up of Rhett's new haircut. Somehow when I said the word "trim", the hairdresser heard "buzz". I about flipped when I saw her take the sheerers to his head. (Can one use the word "sheerers" when talking about a human, or is that phrase only reserved for sheep?) Thank goodness hair grows back because I really do miss his soft, wild-as-can-be baby hair.

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How My Husband is Like an Eight-Year-Old

He loves to decorate the yard for Halloween possibly more than he loves decorating for Christmas. He and the boys purchased this pretty little number last year, and it continues to be the favorite of all the boys in the neighborhood. It continues to creep me out.

Next stop = the graveyard of bones!

And what would Halloween be without a blow-up haunted house with spinning ghosts and bats inside?

Until next time...

What I do to keep my sanity...

Before you view any of my most recent projects, let me preface them by saying that I THINK MY CAMERA IS SICK. My AMAZING camera no longer takes good quality pictures. Maybe I should take it into a shop. I hate to buy a new one since this one was a very expensive gift from Kerry that I have cherished for years! Anyways, at least you get the idea of my most recent sewing projects...

Halloween onesies for 3 month old Baby Ashley

(I ended up monogramming an "A" on the skull - not pictured)

Shirt for Baby Mason (ETA = 1.5 months) Not done with this one yet.

(His dad works for John Deere Co.) - the smoke coming out of the smokestack says "MASON"

I figure Baby Drew needs one since his daddy owns a cotton gin north of Lubbock.

Grant's 2009 Halloween shirt

I plan on making a matching skull shirt for Rhett, but until that happens he will have to wear his Halloween shirt from last year since it still fits him... somehow.

Baby Ellyse's 1st birthday gift = a monogrammed sippy cup and an "e" shirt

with ribbon and tulle

What, Logan? Did you have some news to share with us???

My "business" has really picked up lately. Sooo fun! I've already got some Christmas orders in! Can't wait to post what those projects end up looking like.

One for George Lucas

Below is a conversation I had with Grant not too long ago...

Me = So, what do you and your new friends do at recess?
Grant = Me and Nick and Owen play Star Wars!
This is news to me! We are not a Star Wars family. Well, Kerry is into it. I just never cared for it.
Me = You do? How do you play Star Wars if you don't know what it is?
Grant = They tell me what to do, and I do it.
That sounds scary.
Me = Well, that sure is nice of them to help you play.
Grant = And guess what,Momma! I am the bestest and the strongest character, too!
Me = You are? Which character are you?
And here's the best part where he proudly boasted... Wait for it....... Wait for it........ Wait for it........ It's worth it.........
Grant = I'm Maurice!!!!

And this is where I laughed my buns off! Although I do not know much about Star Wars, I feel pretty confident when I say there is NOT a character named Maurice. But I think it's safe to assume that if there WAS a "Maurice", he would be the "bestest" and the "strongest"!

Let Sleeping Babies Lie ~ especially two-year-old babies

It has finally happened. Rhett has turned into a two-year-old. I was beginning to think that we had somehow outsmarted the tantrum gods because those famous Terrible Two's had yet to set up shop in the Kilgore house....... until a week ago when Rhett threw a fit beyond what I thought he was capable of and I immediately knew I was not as lucky as I had hoped.

Rhett was sent to his room last night during dinner because he refused to stop grunting angrily at us. I know - he's so vicious! After five minutes, we were surprised to hear complete silence coming from his corner of the house where an even bigger I'm-in-trouble-and-mad-about-it fit should've been taking place. I peeped in to check on him and found this =
Maybe the angry growling wasn't necessarily because he's two. Maybe he was just tired (this time)... Kerry scooped him up and put him in bed. We didn't hear from him again until seven o'clock the next morning.

And did you notice that sweet baby tooshie in the air? HOW do they sleep like that? I think it would hurt my back.

Little Boys Only

I have to share what I stumbled upon last night when I was going to put the boys in bed. Now, stumbling upon anything when dealing boys (especially Grant) can be like walking into a dark room full of creepy crawly things that you can't get away from. But, this time, this stumble landed me in laughter instead of sending me screaming the other direction in frustration whilst shaking my fists in the air.

The boys had been playing in Grant's room for quite a while just as happy as could be. There was no screaming, no crying, no yelling, and I'm pretty sure nothing was being thrown (b/c I would have heard it hit the walls/door). I was so proud of them, and I just hated to break up the party, but that's a mom's job, right?

I turned the corner to go into Grant's room and..... Hmmmmmm. What is this?????


Take a closer look...
Yip. It's a sign telling Kerry and me to stay out. I guess it was just a playtime for little boys only.

That's my Grant. And this is just another example of the millions of reasons to love him.

Ying and Yang

I'm so proud of Grant. He came home from school today, had a little snack and went straight to doing his homework.

And while he was doing his homework like a sweet angel, someone got caught coloring on the walls with a dry-erase marker. (NOT a good picture of Rhett. Sorry.)

Just another day at the Kilgore house.

He loved it!!!

This picture was taken AFTER school. Wouldn't you know my camera's battery died this morning, so all school pictures had to occur AFTER the fact. Oh well - not much difference, I suppose.

Rhett really wanted to be a part of the action...

A little bit of a smile... (or is that an evil grin?)

Grant woke up with a smile on his face this morning = the morning of the first day of KINDERGARTEN. His first words were, "I am so excited!" Thank goodness! The morning went off without a hitch, for Grant. For myself, however, the morning was a bit harder than I expected. I did well when driving him to school, I did well when walking him into the school, but the tears started to form when we turned left to go down his hall - the Kindergarten hall. I just couldn't swallow that The Day had finally come. The Moment had finally come. We were there. I was there. No turning back. I was able to gain control of myself because Grant was still with me, and I didn't want him to see my cry. I was afraid it would throw off his whole morning, his whole happy-with-the-day morning. I put the sadness out of my mind and followed, yes, followed Grant into his room. (He led me in. I was afraid I'd have to drag the child in. It was as if he couldn't get there fast enough.) He entered the room on his own, walked directly to Mrs. Williams and touched her hand and said, "Hi, Mrs. Williams." It was his way of celebrating that he had arrived at school - his FIRST day of school. She patted his hand and bent down and said that she was so happy to see him. So sweet! I gave him a kiss and hug, took him to his seat and walked away with one child instead of the two that I came into the school with. He waved goodbye from his little chair, and that was that. I rounded the corner to enter the hallway, and I felt the tears coming again, but Rhett came through. He threw a fit because he didn't want to leave Bubba!! I am not usually excited about two-year-old fits, but this one quickly took my mind off the sadness of leaving my baby, so I welcomed it with relief. I was able to make it out of the building without crying. Matter of fact, I haven't cried at all. I've started to a couple times. You know the feeling of your throat tightening up? Ya - that's come a lot today, but I've been able to push it aside because deep down I know he'll be fine. He'll have fun. I also gain peace because I know the school district and its policies, as well as the school's layout, like the back of my hand since I used to teach in this district. The school I taught in is almost a carbon copy of Grant's school, so the fact that I know where every closet and hallway and door is gives me reassurance. But probably what makes me feel the most comfortable is that my father-in-law, aka Dude Dad, is an administrator in the school district. It's not that I ever plan on using that leverage, but it is nice to have it in case it is ever needed...

I will admit the day was lonely and s-l-o-w without him. I began to think that 3 o'clock would never roll around. But, it eventually did, and I picked up a very happy kindergartner who said he had a great day and was sad that it had to end. Thank you, Mrs. Williams! He did report that the playground was not as cool as he had hoped, but he seemed to have decided that all was not lost and the year would still be okay. He also mentioned that he made a lot of friends and that he had had the BEST day EVER.

We celebrated the day with ice cream. Unfortunately, so did half of Sugar Land. Grant had two scoops - vanilla and cotton candy. He ate every bit of it.

Here's to a great SECOND day!