Making "guys" for Truman

This was a quick and easy craft project. Cheap too. I used my go-to acrylic paints that cost $1 each at the craft store and I sealed them with Modge Podge so the paint won't chip. This crew of superheroes is for Truman, but I am thinking that it would be fun to make some others for birthday gifts for our littlest buddies. I borrowed the idea from various craft blogs (just google "wooden peg dolls" for all sorts of ideas).

I gave them to Truman after breakfast and he immediately put them all to bed in his dollhouse. :)

Trip to Dungeness Spit

For several years, the Dungeness Spit on the Olympic Peninsula has been calling my name. A few weeks ago, we made the trip with our friends Susan and Jeff, and their little guy Quinn. On the drive up, I imagined us packing the boys on our backs and walking the full 5.5 mile jetty of sand and rock.

Har har. I can be so overly ambitious. We literally made it 50 feet when the boys decided they would rather sit down in the sand, climb on logs, and eat our picnic lunch. But the view was incredible—snowy mountains to the left, a skewer of land piercing the ocean to the right.

One day, when I am an old lady I will walk the full length of the spit. For now, it was the perfect family outing with some of our favorite buddies.

Did your mom used to go on strike?

When I was a kid, my mom would occasionally go on strike.

It always sent my dad into a fury. He would start throwing orders around. I can still hear him yelling:

   Make the beds!

   Do the the dishes!

   Take my tighty-whiteys off the dog!

   Put the bunny and hamsters back in their cages!

   Climb out of the dumbwaiter . . . . NOW!

Pretty soon, he would have the BBQ fired up and he would throw some frozen meat on the grill. My siblings and I would be quiet, cautious. Guilty.
 
Looking back, I love her for this. I love that 99 percent of the time she gave her entire heart and soul to her family. And I love that 1 percent of the time she reminded us what ungrateful sh*ts we were.

Good job, Mom. I love borrowing pages from your playbook. xoxo

Picnic in the living room

Sometimes dinner is best served in the living room.

On a blanket.

With no sides and no veggies.

Just easy, easy, easy.

Are those suspenders you're wearing?

Why, yes. Yes they are.

Phew. Friday. Thank you for arriving at our doorstep. We plan to spend most of the weekend looking for a used car - which means Jason will look for a used car and I will complain about the massive amount of anxiety I feel when shopping for a used car. We also plan to get outside and walk the Dungeness Spit (which is one of my 12 goals for this year, potentially the only one I will cross off the list, har har.) Happy weekend!

Truman at Two

Just a quick shot of Truman on his actual birthday. Jason took the day off and they walked down to the Sound to throw rocks and look for fish. Cowboy boots and all.

Valentine, I've got my ~eye~ on you

Truman helped me make these little monster cards for his buddies at daycare. And he made a few extras for his favorite ladies (you know who you are, raise the roof - Rosie, Mags, and Z!). I found the idea on makeandtakes, which is a craft blog I just discovered.

The Great Toddler Round Up of 2012 - told in country song lyrics

Bubba shot the jukebox last night, said it played a sad song he didn't like

Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

I've got friends in low places

You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run

This girl's ready to paint the town

Love got me in here and love got me out

Rollin down the backwoods, Tennessee byway, one arm on the wheel

She's gone country, back to her roots

Song, song of the south, sweet potato pie and it hit my mouth

We got a little crazy but we never got caught

Roll on highway, roll on along, roll on daddy till you get back home

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

In John Deere Green, on a hot summer night

Country boys and girls gettin' down on the farm

I'm stuck in Folsom Prison, and time keeps draggin' on

Two of a kind

Give in to our demands, or these grapes get it!

Superbowl Sunday

During the 2nd quarter of the Super Bowl, I dragged Jason away from the tv (mean wife, I know) and we went for a quick trip to the beach. We needed to walk off the nachos we ate for dinner and I was tired of policing the commercial breaks. We were home by the 3rd quarter, and in the span of an hour, we watched a pod of orcas swim by and then two seals came right up close to the beach (probably hiding from the orcas). Truman has a new word in his vocabulary. Whale. (Not Madonna).

Some good linkages

It is slightly stressful at our house because our trusty old car is falling apart and the wonderful people at Les Schwab almost killed us after they fixed our brakes, and we probably need to buy a new car and . . .

 . . . I am spending more time than usual on the interwebs trying to avoid thinking about our family budget. Here are a few things I am reading/wasting time on:

I made this recipe for apple pancakes this morning. I don't have a cast iron pan (booo), but they did not stick at all in my glass pie pan. Easy and delicious.

I discovered this hilarious blog.

I was astounded to read in the Seattle Times that it is OKAY to watch porn on library computers. In front of other patrons. Including CHILDREN.

I am enjoying my friend Anna's new blog: http://dogandbird.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!

Sneak peak of the toddler round-up

More pictures of the buckaroos coming soon . . .

Two years old

The birthday boy in all of his glory! I wish I had time to write a nostalgic post about the last two years, but Truman will be up soon, making breakfast demands and asking me to play cars.

The picture where he is scratching his butt  . . . Could he look more like Jason? I think I have a picture like that of Jason somewhere . . . scratching his ass in only his ski boots. (Har har, love you honey!)

It is amazing to watch your own flesh and blood grow from a screaming, hungry infant into a screaming hungry toddler. Happy birthday to my favorite buckaroo!

Craigslist Update

I know the four readers of this blog are dying to know what happened with the guy who was unhappy with the knife I sold him on Craigslist.

He finally wrote me back. He suggested three charities I might give the money to. All interesting groups that do work in Africa. I hate to make a measly $15 donation . . . so now this damn knife is going to cost me something. All well, I still love CL and I am betting Africa needs the money more than me.

And if you don't know about The Best of Craigslist, you should check it out: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/