Finger Update

Eliza's finger is doing much better. Every time I scroll down the page and see that picture I cringe, but thankfully, it looks mostly like a scab now. No more angry festering. Hooray!

Books...

I know I should be posting this on my booknook, but I figured I'd get better response here. I am looking for some new books for Bryant and me to read together. We've pretty much exhausted the books we own and will either need to buy new books or get some from the library. I know a lot of you have been readers your entire lives, so I really need your help. I only learned to love reading in the recent years, so children's books aren't really my expertise.

To give you an idea of what we've been reading, here are some books we've read the past year: Harry Potter 1-3 (I'm not sure he's ready for the darker stuff in the rest), Holes, Stuart Little, The Wizard of Oz, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Little House on the Prairie, Charlotte's Web, The Goose Girl, The Chronicles of Narnia.

We really love the time together. We have so much fun every night reading a chapter or two from our book. We just finished Beetles, Lightly Toasted tonight and I have no idea what book to pick up tomorrow, so I'm asking for your help. Please leave a comment with suggestions for books for us to read together. I should add that Bryant loves it when its a book that a movie has been made of, after we finish the book the following Friday we have a movie night and we haven't had one for quite awhile.

Think back to books you read as a kid. Think of books your kids (or friends' kids, nieces, nephews, strangers) are enjoying. Any recommendations will be very appreciated! Thanks!

School Days

Well, its 7:25 am and I just sent Bryant to school for his first day of first grade! He looks so cute and grown up. I cut his hair Saturday and he decided to go for the faux-hawk, I'm not sure we'll be keeping it, but its fun for now. We met his new teacher on Thursday and she seems really nice. She's been teaching first grade for 21 years, so I think he's in good hands. He already knows at least one kid in his class and he's looking forward to meeting everyone else and making new friends.

Last night Ethan gave him the annual Father's Blessing Before School Starts and Bryant asked him to bless him that he'll become a faster reader so he can read more books faster and so when he reads to Jonas and Levi he can read faster. I thought that was so cute, we didn't even ask him about things he thought he needed, as soon as a blessing was brought up he just knew immediately what he wanted. He's been reading a lot of books the last month. I actually started a goodreads.com account for him, so if you're on there, you can maybe try to be his friend.

We decided to not put Jonas in school yet. It was a tough call but I feel good about keeping him home for another year. He would have loved going to school, but he has the rest of his life to be in school, I think one more year of just being a kid is going to be great. And I know that he's looking forward to being the biggest kid at home. We have some fun times ahead of us this year. Hopefully I'll be able to actually do some pre school stuff with him and maybe some friends.

Levi has made some improvements with his speech in the last couple months. I can understand much of what he says, but there are still lots of things he needs help with. The school district asked me to wait until this or next week to bring him in for a new evaluation and then he should be able to start therapy there. I'm really looking forward to that time for him. I think he'll love being the absolute focus of attention from the therapist and me. He is such a sweet heart lately. I think three is one of my favorite ages.

Eliza is still not really walking. She walks from point A to point B throughout the day, but is never really consistent. She seems perfectly content for now to just do her thing though (meaning she isn't frustrated about it). She is finally getting her top middle front teeth, so we're losing our vampire look and going for the cute toddler big tooth gap look. Its pretty cute (but she refuses to let me take a picture of it, so you'll have to take my word for it).

Yesterday I found this weird abscess thing on her index finger. Its about the size of a pencil eraser, looks to be all filled with puss and is red around it. I'll be calling the doctor today. Anyone have any experience with what this may be?

We recently joined the YMCA and have had fun going a few times a week. I really like working out with Ethan, it makes my workout so much more enjoyable. We also recently acquired a trampoline from some friends who were moving, we've had lots of fun in the back yard with that. Ethan is doing well at work (for those of you who don't know he received the CGO of the quarter for the Wing which means out of the whole base!). We are all so proud of him.

No the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but you don't need to hear about the stress of life right now. I'm just enjoying the good, having Levi sit on my lap, sucking his thumb and holding my elbow. Its peaceful quiet and its nice to reflect on the good things. Being a mom is an incredible blessing, I just love this family so much!

Messy, messy hair

While we were in Utah my cute mother-in-love said she was surprised at how "particular" I was about Eliza's hair. She meant that it was surprising to her that I always had Eliza's hair pulled up. Well, Jane, here is the real reason for Eliza's hair always being pulled up into a cute ponytail or pig tails...

Ethan came home from work the other day and found his cute daughter sitting on the couch looking like this. I guess he wanted to remember it because he pulled out the camera to capture this sweet little girl.

Now you know.

Home Improvement Part II

Another big project we are thinking of taking on is the exterior of our house. Same sort of restrictions as with the interior: we want it to be appealing to the masses, we don't want to spend a fortune, we want a major improvement (its so blah! right now). So here are the pictures of what we have to work with... now, let me know your ideas.

We're getting new windows and have to replace some of the trim on the windows to the right in this picture (those are my kitchen windows). I HATE the color of our trim right now and the paint on the body of the house is just awful (trust me, I know you can't see it, but its bad)! It definitely needs to be redone.
This picture is a pretty good representation of our bricks, the coloring might be a teensy bit off, but pretty close.

So what colors do you think would make you want to buy it? We've thrown around a lot of different ideas, but am curious what you think... Thank you SO much for all your ideas! Keep them coming!

Home Improvement Part I

We really like our house. We've made some minor improvements to it in the year we've lived here. There is still so much we'd like to do. In considering what improvements to make, we have to remember that we will be selling the house in a year or two. The improvements that we are now focusing on are geared specifically to selling the house. We want people to drive up to it and say to themselves, "Wow! I could definitely see myself living here." However, we also don't want to put a ton of money into it, though we're OK with putting in a lot of sweat and muscle to make it fabulous.

So, why am I blogging about it? Well, you see, there are a lot of you who are exceptional at this sort of thing. I come to you with a dilemma... my kitchen. The kitchen just doesn't feel cohesive. The people who lived here previously redid the countertops. They are a granite tile (which wouldn't have been my top choice-grout is not my friend). They are nice looking, but they don't match the rest of the kitchen. So I'm trying to figure out what I can do to the cabinets that would make them "fit" the style of the countertop. I have a couple ideas, but remember I want it to be inexpensive, add to the appeal of the house, and not detract from the value of the house. I know the appliances don't match either, but I'm not sure we can afford to replace them and recoup that money. The wall color is another question, but the cabinetry needs to be addressed first to make the best decision there.

Here are a few shots of the kitchen cabinets and countertops to help you catch the vision I need your help with.

My first idea was to paint the cabinets a white color, with the walls a darker neutral. I've recently heard that, if you have nice wood cabinets, that can decrease the value of the home. So, my next idea was to sand off the honey color finish and seal them with a clear finish. Another idea is to finish them with a dark stain. I'm not sure what kind of wood they are (any ideas?) so I don't know if they would be considered "nice" wood cabinets or not. No matter which way we go, I think we'll add some nice hardware. So blogging world, what do you think?
A close up of the countertop.
Do I have other options that I'm not seeing? Any suggestions you could offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for helping me!

New Do.

The following is really a lot of rambling, but its a story that makes me laugh so I wanted to record it. The point of the story is found in the pictures, I got a new hair cut. I just really like to ramble. Sorry.

On the way home from Utah, I was taking a turn in the driver's seat. Do you know how you can't really have a ponytail in the car because you have big knot on the bak of your head preventing you from relaxing against your headrest? Well, I'm getting pretty good at avoiding the situation, but I neglected to get my elastic before getting behind the wheel. So with the air condition blowing almost full force my hair was tickling my face and driving me crazy. Of course, Ethan has no idea about all this. This is proof:

I said, "Hon, can you help me with my hair?"

To which he replied, "Ya. I think you should cut it. You've been thinking about cutting it, right?" I had, in fact, NOT been thinking of cutting it. I was enjoying long hair and wanting to grow it long. "I think it would be good for a change."

I said, "Where did that come from? Half the time when I ask you for an opinion you can't give me one. Now all the sudden you're giving it to me unasked?!"

Of course, then I went all crazy inside thinking that he must hate my long hair and how now I have to cut it even though I really don't want to. Blah, blah, blah. I'm pretty insecure and now you all know how troubling it can be to live with me (OK, its even worse than you know, but whatever).

Here are some shots of the long hair I was enjoying...

So, I decided I could cut my hair to get a "change" but still keep my length. That was my plan. Last week I went and got it cut. I came home and tried to style it and it was a disaster! First of all, more length was cut off than I wanted. Then, there was a layer cut shorter than I knew what to do with. I hated it! When I did my hair wavy it did look good, so I could have gone for that full-time until it grew out, but its just not me... anyway... I called my friend up to see if she could fix it and this is the end result. I love it!

I know what you're thinking, for someone insecure you really shouldn't be putting embarassing pictures of yourself on the blog... well Bryant was taking the picture and he had me saying something funny and if you know me, you know I'm animated to a fault and this is the best picture we got out of 5. Sad, but true. At least its good of the hair.

And to finish off the post I want to say that as I was looking for a good before picture and found these of Ethan and I, I couldn't help but think about how lucky I am to have him. My friend Kim commented that after our reunion she was thinking about how perfect he is for me and I can't agree more. He's even more perfect for me than any of you know. We have so much fun together and learn so much from each other and help each other be better and just love each other so much. I am so lucky, beyond words. You all know, of course. He's way better than I deserve, but man! I feel so blessed to have him! That's all. My rambling is done for now.

Enough already...

OK, I think I've finally finished posting on our Utah trip, but if you've been just checking the blog you may not have seen many of the posts, so scroll down to see posts on Eliza's birthday, the drive home, some backyard fun, and someone's 10 year reunion.

Its been driving me crazy not being caught up there are several things I've been meaning to tell you about...

• Levi is wearing underwear all day, everyday. He is doing great. I'm not really sure how to get him to just go on his own. He's figured it out with #2, but I think the only time he goes #1 in the potty is when I take him... any ideas?
• Bryant has been saying some great funnies lately... The other night he asked me if I could check the weather so he could know if it was going to be hot the next day. Because if it was, "to save up for my car when I'm a teenager, I want to have a lemonaide stand." I couldn't check it right then, so he asked if he could have a pencil and paper so he could write me a reminder.
• Another Bryant funny... Out of the blue he said to me, "Mom, if you ever decide to sell us, will you sell us to the Bryners?" After thinking for minute he and Jonas decided to add, "or the Coopers."
• And maybe just one more... Today he said to me, "Mom, if you and dad ever die I would call your parents and ask them to come here and then for 2 days I'd be the chef. For dinner we would have eggs, scrambled or fried. For lunch, peanut butter sandwiches and for breakfast cereal. Because that's what I know how to make." So parents, be wary of any calls coming from this little guy, but at least you know you'd be well taken care of. :)