Happy Little Things

Today was such a good day.  Nothing spectacular happened, it was just one of those days where a lot of cool little things happened and it makes the day great.  To start, I got some cleaning done, which isn't really part of the "great day" but anytime I get something done around here these days, it feels like an accomplishment. :P  Then I got some of the Halloween decorations out and Lauryn was thrilled when I let her put some in her room too.  Her costume was delivered today and she was so excited to see it and try it on.  It's a little long but I can take care of that pretty easily.  I love seeing her get so excited!  Kathy came over for a visit this afternoon and it's always a good time when we're together!  I did her make-up and hair and then Lauryn wanted make-up on too.  I've never really done anyone else's make-up before and I think it turned out nice.  While we were visiting, I was surprised when Kathy mentioned seeing the FedEx truck in the driveway, which meant my new vacuum, the one I've been wanting for quite some time now, was here.  It wasn't supposed to be here until at least tomorrow so that made me happy.  After Kathy left and we had dinner, I couldn't wait to try it out and I am very pleased with how well it works.  I vacuumed the whole house! :)  The rest of the evening has been spent getting the kids to bed and relaxing and talking with Lloyd.  Like I said, nothing spectacular, but still a really good day! :)

The House Is Falling Apart!

Ok, it's not really falling apart but it doesn't take long for every room to be messy!  Just a couple of days ago, the house was spotless, now it looks like a tornado came through.  Two tornados actually!  One named Lauryn and one named Lucas :)  Cutest tornados ever, but boy do they leave a path of destruction in their wake!  When Lucas goes down for his nap this morning, Lauryn and I are going to start getting the house back into shape.  She's such a good helper.  :)

My friend, Kathy, is coming over for a visit today and she's doing me a big favor by sitting with Lucas for a bit.  I have to run to the bank and open an account for him and it would be pretty much impossible to do any paper work with him in my arms.  Most of time I love taking the kids with me wherever I go, but for some things, like this, it's just so much easier and quicker if I can go by myself or with Lauryn.  Lucas is a curious, squirmy little guy and sitting still so Mama can fill out papers just wouldn't happen.

Tomorrow we're having a play date with some new friends.  :)  I met Cyndi a while back but we've never really hung out before and she has a little guy who's a couple of months younger than Lucas and another son who's 10.  I think the kids will have fun and I'm really looking forward to getting to know her better. :)

Busy Halloween

What a busy Halloween!  We started the morning out by getting Lauryn ready for her second Pumpkin Party at school.  Some kids go every other day so they do special parties two days in a row.  Since Lauryn goes four days a week, she gets twice the fun.  :)  I did her hair in an updo and it turned out so cute!  I was really proud of it because I've never been that good or creative with hair.



After Lucas and I picked Lauryn up from school, we came home, ate lunch and got ready in our costumes for the rest of the evening.  Our "theme" this year was The Princess and The Frog.  I figured there probably won't be many years where I'll be able to coordinate their costumes so I wanted to take advantage of it.  :)



Then it was time to start the fun!  First we went to my grandparents and, of course, the kids got spoiled.  :)  Then we went to my Mom's house and got some yummy homemade treats.  Then it was of to my brother's but that was just a quick trip because we're still coughing and my brother and niece weren't feeling good either so I just ran to the door to drop off some treats and they sent some for Lauryn.  After that, we headed to our old neighbor's house for a quick visit.  We've trick-or-treated at their house since Lauryn was a baby so it wouldn't be right if we didn't stop by.  :)



We headed back home because our friends, Ed and Michelle, were coming over with their kids to trick-or-treat with us.  Ed wasn't feeling well so he stayed home but Michelle and the kids came and after we got them all bundled up, we headed out.



Lloyd stayed home with Lucas and handed out candy.  I don't know how many trick-or-treaters we had but we went through about 500 pieces of candy.  After Michelle and the kids left, and the streets were clear of kids, Lauryn, Lucas and I went to my aunt's house for our last visit of the night.  It's become a tradition to go there after and visit for a bit.  Unfortunately, we were all getting pretty tired, as you can see by the picture below, and since Lauryn had school today we couldn't stay too long.  We had a nice visit though and got some more yummy treats.



Once we got back home, Lloyd got Lauryn down for the night and I did the same with Lucas.  After such a long day, we were whooped.  Lloyd went to bed and after cleaning up a little, I followed suit.

Busy Day!

What a busy day this has been!  Luckily, I've had a little more energy today than I did yesterday.  My inlaws are coming to bring us our camper and staying for dinner so I pattied some burgers, made potato salad and caramel apple salad.  We'll be having beans and veggies with it too.  After I made the salads, Lauryn took a nap and I was able to sweep, mop, vacuum, do the dishes, wash the windows and clean the bathroom.  My house is looking pretty darn good right now :)

After not being able to sleep so good for a few nights and then waking up pretty early this morning, I'm afraid I'm going to have permanent dark circles!  Correction, I actually already have permanent dark circles (I inherited them from my dad's side), so I should say darker permanent circles!  One of the night's I WILL be able to catch up on my sleep! :)

Nice Evening

We had a really nice time with Lloyd's parents and his brother tonight.  Dinner turned out great!  They all seemed to really enjoy it :)  Even Lauryn ate pretty well!  Afterward, Carol and I cleaned up and the guys went out to play horseshoes.  They were too full for cake so I sent them home with some :)

Kathye came and visited for a few shortly after they left and she brought me a bunch of yummy scented lotions and body washes that she got great deals on :)  I love those kinds of things!

I came across an online ad earlier for compression stockings.  I really wish I would have known about those while I was pregnant!  I had such horrible swelling in my legs and ankles and those could have helped a lot!  Note to self:  remember those for the next time around :)

Yesterday

Yesterday was nice :)  Lauryn and I spent a couple of hours visiting with my mother-in-law, she gave me some strawberry plants, Lloyd brought home Subway since I couldn't figure out what to make for dinner, I got a ton of groceries and we got the strawberries planted :)

So this Saturday is when the no smoking ban happens.  Personally, it doesn't affect me either way.  I know some people who are excited about it and I know some people who are super mad!  I saw an ad for those electronic cigarettes, which I personally don't quite understand, and I wondered if those are banned too?  I don't know much about them other than I've read a lot of comments that they have helped people quit real cigarettes but it also seems like just a different habit to pick up. Oh well...

Sleepy

It's another one of those days where I just don't feel quite awake.  At least I don't have a lot to do today.  I do have some laundry to get to and I have to figure out what to make for dinner but I did scrub the heck out of the tub and it looks so much better!  When we moved in, it had all these yucky hard water stains all over and we've tried just about every type of cleaner trying to get rid of them.  I googled it today and found a suggestion for a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar in a spray bottle and using a pumice stone to scrub it.  I gave it a try and it worked great!  Our tub finally looks clean!  As long as you keep it wet while you do it, the pumice stone won't scratch the tub.

Lauryn had another tooth break through this morning.  Right next to her top right tooth.  Seems like they're coming pretty fast now!  And it explains why she's been a little extra fussy these past few days.

Last night, mom and Kathye visited and had dinner with us.  Nothing special, just sloppy joes, fries and corn.  Kathye brought some honey wine over a few days ago and we had some with dinner.  I LOVE IT!  When Lloyd got home, he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card for Sweetest Day.  He had a card for Lauryn too :)  He's such a sweetie and I'm such a lucky girl!  Now I have two bouquets of flowers on my table.  Mom got me one last week, just because :)

Not A Good Start

I am so not happy right now.  Apparently someone decided they needed to go through our vehicles last night.  Luckily, we don't really keep anything in them that anyone would want but still the thought of someone just rifling through our stuff really bothers me.

Lauryn and I are going to visit my mom this afternoon.  I'm going to trim her hair and she has a few outfits and a doll for Lauryn so we're going over there after she gets out of work.

I have to catch up on laundry...again.  There are only a couple of loads but I'm just not a big fan of doing it.  The next house needs to have the washer and dryer on the main floor like our old house did.

Rainy Night

I love the rain!  It looked like it was going to storm a little while ago and there were thunder claps and lightning but sadly, it's stopped.  I love when it's raining hard when I'm going to bed!

Lauryn is getting the hang of waving.  She mostly waves at herself, which is adorable, but she's getting it.  I need to set an appointment for her 9 month check up soon.  I still can't believe she's 9 months already!  Seriously, where did the time go?

No big plans this week.  I'm going to my moms to pick up a couple of outfits she got for Lauryn and to trim her hair and then not too much going on until the weekend.  We're planning on having Lloyd's parents over for dinner to celebrate is dad's birthday.  Since it's going to be such an uneventful week I should be able to get a lot of things around this house done...we'll see though :)

Lazy Day

Today has been very unproductive....and I don't mind it one bit!  I love it when Lloyd, Lauryn and I get to just hang out and do whatever we want or nothing at all.  They are both taking a nap right now and I'm deciding whether to take one or not.....decisions, decisions!

It was nice hanging out with my mom last night.  I know she loves getting to spend time with her grand baby and it made me happy because I still had someone to cook for.  Lloyd was finishing up a few things at the other house so he didn't get home until around 10 pm and when he's not here, I really have no desire to cook a meal just for myself.

Busy Thursday

This week has seemed pretty busy but today Lauryn and I did a lot of running.  We left just before 11 am.  We went to the bank, the gas station, then off to GR, picked up some burgers for lunch, went to Lloyd's office to eat and visit, then went to my old office and visited Aunt Dereka and some of my former coworkers.  We came back to the house and I cleaned out the fridge, then went to mom's and Shane's before we came home and I started dinner.  Lauryn is now sleeping peacefully in bed and I finally have a chance to sit down and do my daily blog....and watch my Y&R :)

Mom is coming over tomorrow after work and I think I'm going to make burgers on the grill for dinner.  I might make my loaded baked potato salad to go with it too.  Just depends on how ambitious I feel tomorrow morning :)

Another Great Day

I was a little sad to see the weekend come to an end.  That was the first time in quite a while that Lloyd and I got to spend so much time together and that he got to spend some real quality time with Lauryn.  It was so nice!

Today was unproductive as far as my house goes.  I vacuumed and did two loads of laundry but that's pretty much it.  I went to my aunts house and helped her put together a necklace and then we visited for a couple of hours.  We really need to spend more time together.  Lauryn was a bit of a fusser butt while we were there.  Then we came home, Lauryn had dinner and we went to Shane and Trisha's to have dinner with them.  It was so nice to visit with them and dinner was really yummy too!

A Day of Catching Up

So far today, I have cleaned out the fridge, done the dishes, swept, dusted, vacuumed, changed the kitty litter, gathered up any garbage (it goes out tonight) and finished the laundry.  I still have to give the bathroom a good once over and then my house will be looking good.  It's amazing how much harder it's gotten to keep the house up with a seven month old in the picture.  When she was younger I could just plop her in her bouncy seat and get things taken care of.  Now, she's crashing into my ankles when I'm doing the dishes, cruising through my little dirt pile when I'm sweeping and fussing when I'm trying to fold the laundry.  She's not happy to sit in her walker in the door way of the kitchen because she can't see me the whole time...and she can't cruise through the dirt! :)  She's a rambunctious one, for sure!

Tonight my Aunt is coming over to visit.  I'm so looking forward to having her over!  I know she's missing spending time with Lauryn so we really need to start getting together more often!

Last night, Kathye and I actually made more progress on "workout Wednesday" than ever!  We took a 45-ish minute walk and it felt so good!  The hill that goes back up to my house totally kicked my butt though.  Pushing the stroller up it was harder than I thought!  It was good though, to get out, get moving and get Lauryn and Cloz'r some fresh air.  Lauryn had no trouble falling asleep last night!