Fashion Sense

Mommy's helper might need her own apron soon. Though she does like the bunny apron, she really needs a full body hazmat suit to bake in.

More zucchini bread! Yum, we grew some good zucchini. Mom said that freezes well but it turns out we don't have a problem eating it quickly (or sharing it with our friends).

I'm afraid that Layla may have inherited my fashion sense. This is the outfit she wanted to wear to school one day. Don't worry Mom, I've got socks on, I won't be cold.

By the way, you may have noted, she isn't actually potty trained yet. Wearing her cool Thomas the Train underwear just isn't a feasible option right now. Maybe she'll find some motivation in that. Well.....a loud temper tantrum anyway.

Yes, God made that too

At our church, the Director of Family Life ministry is the Pastor's Wife, Ann. Around school she is called, "Ms. Ann", as all the other teaches are Ms. or Mr.

Ann has decided to start a Sunday school class for little learners, under 3, to engage them in activities, read a bible story, etc. This falls under the Parent and Tot learning, so Jason or I would also be attending.

Yesterday, Layla and I were the sole participants. Ms. Ann was teaching Layla a song about what God made (complete with hand gestures).

God made the world, God made the world
It says in my Bible book that God made the world

God made my nose, God made my nose
It says in my Bible book that God made my nose

Ms. Ann says, "Layla, what else did God make?"
Layla: "My tummy!" (pointing to her tummy)

God made my tummy, God made my tummy
It says in my Bible book that God made my tummy

Ms. Ann says again, "Layla, what else did God make?"
Layla: "My privates!" (pointing......)

Items around the house

I was saying to Jason a couple of weeks back that we should get Layla a stool to use in the bathroom. She is two now and really into washing her own hands, brushing her teeth, etc.

I have done a marvelous job of developing the bad habit of letting her sit on the counter all the time. Have a stool would be a great thing so that she could stand next to me as my helper and not sit on the counter. Plus then, I don't feel like I am squeezing her innards while I hold her to wash her hands. This is awkward and I imagine, painful.

As I am, being over exposed to the well-decorated homes and Land of Nod catalogs, I was thinking one of those sweet painted stools with her name on it. I was willing to go so far as a more utilitarian, but still cute, option from Ikea. You know, cheap. The latter is what I mentioned to Jason during our conversation.

Now, my husband is a very hands-on Dad, there is no doubt about it. But, he has pretty much left the 'buying' part of parenting to me. He was doing his best and helping out by coming home with this stool:



It is obvious that he is overexposed to the Home Depot (which is where this was purchased on a recent lumber run). Layla is wild about her new stool and lucky for her she will be able to use it for construction projects when she is tall enough to reach the counter. She could stand on this stool holding 9 toddlers on her head; it can hold 10x her weight! We are all about the multipurpose tools.

On the plus side, at least for now, it's too cumbersome for her to carry herself. This keeps her out of the sink which she will happily play in for days if we let her.



By the way, there's two. One for each house!

Signs of progress

Last weekend we made some real progress on the framing. It took us a bit of time to get into our groove, but once we did we made quick work of a few closets. Of course, framing on an angled ceiling has its challenges.

We are spending weekends at our new house and it feels a lot like a country cottage. No amenities, bring a cooler, etc. It reminds me of the treks back and forth to the cabin as a kid. Much shorter drive, though. Jason refers to it as the Lake House, as it is on Lake Ave. No actual lake nearby, of course. It's only in Minnesota that you stumble into a lake every half mile.

We do have the farm close by. I don't think I have posted pictures yet? I will soon. The sheep and pigs have been on vacation the last month, so it's mostly been cows who stay out in the field. I digress. Layla loves it, especially the chickens.

We have been making good progress and now I can share it with you. This weekend we were able to complete more, but I forgot to take pictures before we left so that will wait another day or two. Layla had a play date with her buddy Adelynn yesterday (her parents were kind enough to take Layla for several hours so we could work). It was really nice to focus our efforts and now our framing is nearly done!

New foyer closet. Jason took up the flooring (nice hardwood completely ruined because of laminate floor installed on top). It's hard to photograph the space, but it's a new 6' wide wardrobe closet for coats. This picture is taken by the front door.

New doorway into the play room (coat closet is to the left).

South Bedroom with new door way into play room and into bathroom (far right). The bathroom and closet were completed this weekend. We decided to make a compartmentalized bath. The old bathroom space will be a double vanity and linen area. The west end of the bedroom will be divided in half. Part will be the toilet/shower compartment and the other part (near the windows) will be a walk-in closet.

New closet in the North Bedroom. The area to the left will be used for a desk (or changing table in the more immediate future). With the changes the bedrooms become about the same size. The play room is also the same size, but could be made into a smaller bedroom if we ever wanted.

Our last little framing bit is to take out the old plumbing pipes in the bathroom and repair the walls, as well as re-frame the ceiling. We are also contemplating taking out the finishes in the play room. The bedrooms had pocket doors, which we removed since they didn't work and are generally a pita to deal with. This left the wall finish (t&g + plaster + drywall) for us to tie into. I told Jason to start recruiting help. That room will be an all day project and huge mess. I think it's probably the right thing to do. The ceiling it artificially lowered to 8' and it would be so much nicer to have a taller ceiling in that room to tie in with the bedrooms. From the bathroom you can actually see the plastered ceiling at 10' and then the lowered ceiling at 8'. I am sure we will learn some hideous reason they did this, but basic investigation reveals no logic whatsoever.

Layla's Labor Day surprise: This playhouse was a hand-me-down/inheritance/gift from one of my clients. I asked my client, whose name is also Beth, where we should move the play house (we are painting the exterior of her house) so that it was out of the way. She said, "your house". So I did!

Lots of doors and windows to open and close, even a little faux fireplace inside.

Out of the Mouths

It's story time and Layla has picked one of our favorites.

Me: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Me: Where is the red fish?
Layla: Right here!
(turn page, in case you don't have it memorized)
Me: Black Fish, Blue Fish, Old Fish, New Fish
Me: Which one is the new fish?
Layla: Baby Fish, right here!
Layla: Jesus Fish (the old fish), right here!

------

At breakfast Thursday morning as I am preparing lunches and I hear this sweet little voice behind me say, "All done, Ms. Beth!"

-----

Jason took Layla to the Home Depot yesterday (he really can't stay away) and reports back that Layla was singing to him: "E S O T A, Sota! Sota! yaaaaaaay Gophers, Rah!

I must confess to not being able to recall the Illinois fight song, but I can recite the U of M, Osseo High School, and my own RHS rouser. Jason insists that I should at the least be teaching her "I-L-L" and the response (naturally) "I-N-I". Which I have rehearsed, but it just isn't very sing-song.

-----

Glorious GB

Last month was busy, even by our typically hectic standards. So, I am gonna get you a little caught up on what we did.

First off, Congratulations to Clif and Kendra on their wedding. Yesterday, they celebrated one month of being married!

Clif and Kendra, soon to be Mr. and Mrs.

Kendra is Jason's first cousin on his father's side of the family. She is a lovely young woman, recently graduated college and is on to her first teaching job. She married her longtime boyfriend, Clif, on Saturday, August 6. This also happened to be Allie's 30th Birthday! Hard to believe my baby sis is 30! She doesn't look a day over 8 to me.

I told you, she's lovely!

The wedding was planned for Saturday afternoon with the reception beginning early in the evening. We decided, for sake of naps (sanity) and safe driving, that we would stay in a hotel in Green Bay instead of out at the winery.

Her first wedding! Eying the bread basket....

It was fun to get out and see some of Green Bay. Friday afternoon we got to town early enough to check out the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. It was just the right amount of hands on activities (feeding the ducks, petting animal furs), adventure (boardwalk, nature walk) and real animals for our little one. It really is a beautiful area to spend an afternoon.

Checking out a beehive. Learning what 'busy bee' means.

Feeding the ducks. $1 for a bag of corn.

Layla and I out on the boardwalk.

We hit up Titletown Brewery for dinner. We had a little sticker shock at the end of the meal. Dinner (including delicious brew for Mom and Dad) for only $36. Seriously, we should go out in GB more often. The restaurant is located in the old train depot and the tracks still run right by. This was Layla's favorite part, for certain.

The hotel was an interesting adventure, having not stayed in one with Layla before. It took us awhile to get settled and eventually we wheeled Layla's pack-and-play into the bathroom. Sounds terrible? We had a huge bathroom. It made more sense than us hanging out in the bathroom and giving her the whole room until we went to sleep (I am aware of people doing this). The hotel had a kid pool including an awesome frog slide.

Frog slide

The wedding was beautiful, we enjoyed the ceremony and Layla cheered (repeatedly) for the woman singing during the service. Layla and I napped during the afternoon while Jason spent time with his family in the break between the ceremony and reception. We had a great time dancing and celebrating late into the night.