just stuff

Delaware was teasing us with weather warm enough to play at the park, but this weekend we were reminded that it is winter. Since Ben is still gone, so it was up to Rhone and me to shovel out this morning. It was chilly (15 *F) but Rhone was a trooper and played outside so I could shovel. Even after a face plant and a lost mitten there were still no tears. It's probably because he stayed warm thanks to these sweet snow pants. He actually wore them over his pj's, but under his workout pants.

Don't they just seem like something from Napoleon Dynamite. (What did ya expect? I am from Idaho.)

See the remnants of the tumble still on his hat.

I snuck outside after Rhone was asleep to get this picture. I loved the stillness of the night.


After swimming lessons, we stayed in the rest of Saturday. We were making all sorts of messes to stay entertained. Rhone liked the "water" more than the "colors" but he also managed to get a little face painting in too.


If you wanna seem some more cute pictures of Rhone check out my aunts blog here. Speaking of, can you believe we still haven't met this little man? Happy blessing day, we can't wait to meet you Olin!

when the dad's away...

...the mom and the boy play.



With Ben gone, Rhone and I are spending tons of time together- all day everyday. Rhone is having fun getting lots of attention and I am exhausted from keeping up with him.

Making yummy homemade blueberry muffins. Not just 1 spoon, but 2!

Last minute I was asked to bring treats to a young women activity. I didn't know I was volunteering to make lemon lavender cookies and rose petal tea scones. It was a little stressful to make them last minute, but they turned out surprisingly good. It was kinda nice to embrace my hippie side again. When I get chance I will have to post recipes.

what to do with winter blues?

Embrace them and paint BLUE. I've been really itching to get organized so here are a few of our projects. I kept buying doubles and triples of things in storage. So I needed a way to keep track of what is actually on those basement shelves. Instead of buying a boring (and kinda expensive whiteboard) I just used self laminating sheets over clearance paper that matches my kitchen. I also down sized my chicken wire "clutter holder". It's painted BLUE the same color that is eventually going to be below the chair rail in my kitchen.

So much more fun than a white board! I'm thinking about making a small one for grocery shopping- no more wasted paper.

We found this delightful unit on super clearance at Ikea. I love how organized it makes all of my stuff. A special thanks goes to Ben all the way in Spain for putting this beast together! I don't know where my visitors are going to put their clothes, but every time I walk in the room I love how clean it is. Steph, you didn't really think I would get rid of that table, I just found a new use for it.

a year

It's amazing to see how much Rhone has changed in a year. Although 4 moves, 9 flights, 2 months in hotels, and a ridiculous amount of hours in a car- in one year- will age anybody. Rhone has been a delight we love him so much. We are so grateful for his ability to happily adjust to wherever we take him. He is an independent, attention loving, curious little boy. He has filled our lives with entertainment and stress. We wouldn't trade one minute of it.

the BIG day

Rhone turned one. It was a busy day. Here's how we celebrated with our little man.

First he helped me make breakfast. He loves bowls, spoons, spatulas and of course making messes.


After breakfast he opened a present and played build and knock down towers with dad. Then it was time to get ready for swimming lessons.



Rhone just started a session of swimming lessons at our local YMCA. He's the youngest kiddo in the class. He still loves water and sure did enjoy himself.




After we got home and rinsed all the chlorine water off. Rhone was hungry (swimming makes me hungry too). So he filled up and took a nice long nap. After the nap was over we opened presents with Nana, Papa, Brock, Morgan, and Olin via web-cam. Rhone also got to play in cake again- so everyone could see it. He played in his real birthday cake on Tuesday, because Ben was supposed to leave that night and we were celebrating before he left.

He requested the spoon after most of the mess was made.

I made him a remote control cake. Since that is one of his favorite things. Remember that you can enlarge this photo to see the mess better.

After such a mess Rhone got to get in the tub and play in water again. Then we opened some more presents.

Rhone rockin' on his new trike. It turns into a real trike too.

Celebrating a birthday is hard work. So Rhone had to take another nap before we had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. Rhone loves their rolls and he's partial to their ribs too. After that we finally finished opening up presents. Thanks to everyone who sent gifts and cards and to those of you who called. Rhone loved carrying the phone around all day. I know it's hard to believe, but he loves the attention. Thanks for helping us celebrate even though you are far away!

ringin' in the new year

A few days after Christmas we headed to Philly to drop a car off at the airport and meet up with some of my family. My aunt and my cousins and their families went to the Eagles vs Broncos football game. My cousin was roommates (he played football too) with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Kevin Curtis, so he got them tickets to the game. We meet up with my family and Kevin that night for dinner. It was so much fun getting to see them even if it was a short visit. I didn't even think to take one picture can you believe it?

It seems like most of our trips to Philly include a stop at Ikea. We finally got a bed frame (ours was broken in the move). We went with an upholstered bed since we couldn't find a wood finish (anywhere) that matched our current night stand and dressers. We felt a little bold when we bought it, but we really like it now (and that the fabric comes off and can be dry cleaned). We spent the day getting the wall painted and the bed put together. Then we made a frantic rush to get our snacks out and house presentable for company. We had our friends over for some food, games, and celebrating. I insisted that we have some of those champagne poppers (we always had them when I was little) and we picked up some noise makers to help ring in the new year. It was pretty mellow, but a fun night. A special thanks to our friends for hanging out with us! Our 2009 was a busy, unpredictable year, so it will be interesting to see what 2010 holds for us.

The bedroom is still not "done" but we are definately closer.

I love how little kids are so interested in what older kids can do.

No smiles, but at least they are all looking.

Rhone and his friend Tommy checking out the cell phone.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning (well the whole day) was so much fun. It is exciting to have Santa visit our house. When Rhone woke up we read the birth of Jesus from the scriptures, prayed, and played around upstairs until Rhone was wide awake and in a good mood. He made his grand entrance to see his Santa gifts. He went straight for his 4- wheeler. He is such a boy, we loved watching the delight on his face as he played. He just wanted to play with everything and not open anything new. Our gift opening was spread out throughout the whole day (and next day for Rhone) because of web-cam schedules. We ate lunch with a crowd from Ben's work. It was nice of them to have us over- but it just didn't feel too Christmas-y. That night I cooked our own little Christmas dinner too. Rhone fed himself cranberry salad. He was messy, but happy and full. After Rhone went to bed, Ben and I stayed up and played our wii. I felt like a little kid all over again and loved it. I am so thankful we were together as a family to celebrate the birth of our Savior. A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who not only got us gifts, but also paid shipping to get them to us. We loved sharing Christmas (via web-cam) with you!

G0tta love that smile.

Taking it for a ride with help from Dad. Now he can get on and off and make it go by himself (we're still working on the steering part).


Ben with his stocking. For some reason he was convinced (and disappointed) that I was getting him a dress watch for Christmas. He thought for sure that's what was in this fossil tin. He was totally wrong. It's a money clip to take on his missions and I didn't get him a watch. It was so much fun to see him trying to be excited about a gift he didn't want and he best part was that he was really surprised with his real gift.

This present was to Ben from Rhone (see the diaper box). It was a pair of Nerf guns. Even though it's fuzzy, I love the look on Ben's face.

Our family. Why is this the only picture of me? Because I was the one taking all the pictures.

Rhone hanging out in his new bass pro chair. We bought it in MO when he was 1 month old. I love that he is lounging with the remote.

Here is Rhone in his Christmas clothes (notice I did not use the word outfit- because I have been informed that only girls wear outfits- boys wear clothes). I think he looks pretty adorable with a tie.

Not so cute of Rhone, but you can see his handsome clothes.

Christmas Eve

The thought of posting all the holidays at once seems too daunting, so here's the first festive post. We had a nice little Christmas Eve. During the day we did a little "art project" with Rhone. That evening we invited a family over to help us celebrate. We had apple crisp and ice cream and played with the boys (they have 4 boys and we have Rhone). Ping-pong was wild, but it was fun to share the evening with friends.

After they left we did the traditional opening of a gift (it's always jammies- not much of a surprise). We have also started our own little family tradition since we have been away from family. We open a DVD that night too (this way we don't feel like we are just sitting around by ourselves). This year it was Charlie Brown, I Want a Dog for Christmas. It is not the usual Christmas Charlie Brown. It was pretty witty and we were delightfully surprised with it. Rhone must have felt the excitement because he sure had a hard time falling asleep that night. We missed out on the lively white elephant game, but still had a nice little night.

Ben informed me that Rhone "stole" that piece of toffee from him. He at the whole piece.

Ben and Rhone in their Christmas pajamas. We had a hard time getting Rhone's arms so you could read his shirt.