Lions and Tigers and Bears- Oh My!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears don't have anything on Bees and Spiders and... Frogs- OH MY!!


The new house has been an adventure already!! We were unloading a truck load of furniture when we heard a loud hum coming from the roof...

Bees!!! Wow! Seriously??! I discovered a few years ago that I am actually allergic to bees. I don't think its a severe allergy, but I stepped on one and my foot swelled up like Fred Flinstone's and the lower part of my leg started to get puffy. No fun. So, my cute husband made us stay in the house and called a Bee Guy (What else do you call them? They aren't all Bee Keepers...).


So, this guy came out and did his magic.

He got honey half way up his drill and said the bee hive has likely been there a few years!! It sounds like we will have a bee problem every year until we take apart the chimney stack and remove the hive and make the smell go away so it doesn't attracted other bees who will "raid" or claim the hive as their own. Fun, fun, but as it gets hot outside, my living room has a very sweet smell coming through the vents of the fireplace...



So, we dealt with the bee problem, decided to take a break from all of our moving and spend the day on the lake with our friends. When we came home, we found this new "friend" on our front door!

OH MY!! It looks like it could eat me!! YIKES! So, Jason caught it, but only after we sprayed it with some serious bug spray! THEN, we are closing up for the night and I see the little guy hoping down the hall. Yes, same day. I don't know why but the whole "lions and tigers and bears" thing came to my mind and I just couldn't get it out. Maybe it was because I kept saying and thinking "Oh My!".

The frogs, I don't mind. It reminds me of when I was a kid and used to catch baby frogs. The kids think its funny when I jump or let out a little surprise gasp if one jumps across my foot! "Will someone come get the frog out of the house?" is quickly becoming part of my regular vocabulary.

They are actually kinda cute and have provided hours of entertainment for Ashlyn ...

So, the frogs were helpful and allowed me to spend the better part of a few weeks with a paint brush in hand!

This room was turned into our guest room/officebeforeafterThis room was painted purple to look like Ashlyn's room in our old house.My mom came over and helped us preserve the castle. I thought it was too cute to paint over.Now it looks like thisI painted the bathroom neutral.Austin didn't think he could sleep in a purple room so this room went from this

To this

The girls still want their rooms painted and I have a few other rooms that I would like to paint but, because they don't look terrible with what I put in there, they are going to have to wait until we get all the way moved in and settled.

I'll post house pics when we are settled. I am still trying to figure out where to put things and keep getting distracted by the pool in the backyard!

Oh, on that note... guess what the kids found in the pool a few days ago? A MOUSE!!!! Ewwww!!! It must have been kicked in by the yard buy when he mowed the lawn earlier in the day. "Seriously?!" I don't think anything will surprise me anymore.

June 23

Okay, so I posted some house pics in our picasa album under New House. I only have pictures of the rooms that we are mostly moved in to. I'll post more as we get settled.

We Are Moving!

We are moving! I won't have Internet for about a week, but here a sneak peak! Details and more pictures will come soon! Wish me luck and happy painting!

I can't wait to hang out in this pool all summer!!!

March Birthday's

Yes, I realize it's May. So, I'm a little behind...

March was a busy month for birthday's. Austin's came first. He is in 6th grade and just turned 12. That means a couple of things:

1. Trucks, action figures, and most toys are no longer cool.
2. Birthday party decorations are just for the mom
3. It's really not cool for mom to take pictures at the party

He had 13 boys over for an Xbox playing all nighter. The boys had a blast and I really don't think they had more than an hour or two of sleep! We turned the garage over to them with a whole bunch of XL pizzas, soda, chips, and candy. I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but there really isn't a way to capture on film the way a room smells after having that many boys in one place. :-) Next, was my dad's birthday. My mom was out of town, so Jen and I took him to a movie and lunch while the kids were at school. That evening, he came over to our house for cake and ice cream and a few gifts. The kids were really excited to celebrate Grandpa's birthday with him. Isn't he cute?My dad is seriously the best grandpa any kid could ask for! They all adore him. He loves to pick up the kids from school and they get so excited when they see his van out waiting for him. He says it's a nice break in his day and a chance to see the kids, even if its just for a few minutes. There isn't anywhere my girls would rather be than hanging out with their grandpa.

My dad is a runner. He always has been. He has gone through phases of not running, but once you are a runner (not to be confused with a jogger), you are always a runner. It's just in you. It's in your heart and part of who you are, even when you aren't lacing up the running shoes. Anyway, it's track season and Jessica is running track. Lately, my dad has stepped back into his running shoes and has been stopping by to pick up Jessica to run with him.

She loves to run with her Grandpa and talk about her day. She soaks in all the information he gives her about how to run and tries all of his tricks and tips. She comes home loving running and looking forward to her next run with Grandpa. It always makes me smile to hear about. I was about her age when I started running with my dad. They are still some of my favorite memories with him.

All of these examples of why my dad is such a wonderful grandpa and dad are flooding my mind. I think I could take up PAGES talking about why he is so great, but since I'm short on time and behind in blogging, I will just say that I am so happy for my kids that they have him in their lives. I just had to throw this picture in here. My dad had come by one afternoon. I happened to have my camera in the kitchen and snapped this picture of him helping Lauren with her homework. It was one of those moments that my heart took a picture and I felt so lucky to have this wonderful man as my dad. I am so grateful that my kids have so many people in their lives that love and support them.

Next was Lauren's birthdayTravis threw her a party at John's Incredible Pizza.She had a blast goofing off with her friendsOur host made balloon hearts, flowers and even balloon braceletsLauren made a wish and blew out her candlesShe opened presents from her friendsand her familyThey played Laser TagAnd then we rode on the rides and played some games

Sleeping Bunny

Ashlyn is slowly growing out of her nick name "Bunny", but it will always make me smile when I remember it. She has a million nick names- shoop-er-doop, bunny bear, bun bun, linus, sissy... but when she is in her jammies she is "snuggle bug" to me. I just want to squeeze her 'cause she is so cute! I love her crazy bed head hair... I love it that she drags her blankie and bunny around with her when she is tired.

Pajamas are her outfit of choice. Anything else I put on her will only last an hour or two before she strips it off and puts on her pajamas again. So, on most days, if you drop by our house in the middle of the day Ashlyn will most likely be wearing pajamas. If you catch her in clothes, it is probably because we just got back from the store, park, etc and she hasn't had a chance to sneak away and change her clothes.

She doesn't like going to sleep alone and can usually convince daddy to sleep with her on Sunday afternoons

Sometimes, daddy falls asleep first...Notice the "lanky" in all the pictures? :-)

Sometimes at night she will convince Jessica or Lauren to sleep in her bed with her. A few weeks ago we came upstairs to go to bed and found Ashlyn in bed with Austin. Poor guy was hugging the wall! He will do almost anything to make his baby sister happy.

She is growing up way too fast and I hope I don't ever forget these moments.

I've been letting my goal of once a week blogging slide... I've been so busy! So, because I have minute and these pictures have already been uploaded off my camera...

Here are a few pictures from an evening at the park- last month!

Jason was working late, so we picked up some Subway and a blanket and spent the evening at the park.

My mom was out of town, so my dad came over and hung out with us. He is the best!! Ashlyn wasn't too sure about the bridge...