It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

Although, there is still one present floating around somewhere in the postal system...  crossing our fingers it gets here in time. 

 

Jimmy M. and Tom fixed my car Thursday night... so, so nice of them.  It was a late night for them too, not sure we can thank them enough.   

 

Anika and Kenna came to play Friday morning... Cecily was still sleeping when they got here; when she woke up she came running out-  *stumble, stumble* "Hi!!" *stumble, stumble.*  I believe they were making supper in this picture.  Cecily is still in her fishy jammies (the only pair she will wear even though they are getting small) and her hair isn't combed yet... 



 

We went to our first Christmas Sunday evening with the Beutels.  Good food, good times, and Cecily had a great time running around with Anika and Tirzah.     

 

Someone is very interested in all of the presents under the tree.  But not in pants.  And I had her hair in a cute little French braid this morning that lasted about 10 minutes before she wanted it "out."  *sigh*



Blessings.

Gray and White and Winter All Around



Last Friday Little Miss and I and my mom stopped in to see the Happy Man's widow, Shirley.  He used to bring us his special Polish nut bread every Christmas, and when he died, I got the recipe from her and make it for our family.  It's yummy, though it uses 10 egg yolks... and we end up eating excessive amounts of French toast to use up the whites.  Anyway, she lost everything in the tornado, including the Kolatch recipe, so we brought her a loaf.  It was good to see her, and Cecily was relatively well behaved while we were there.   Cecily and I went Christmas shopping afterwards...  she picked out a few of her presents...  good thing she has no idea what's going on.  *grin*

 

On Saturday we played in the snow!  We had a great time once she got over the fact that she couldn't wear her brown boots outside.  (I bought you snow boots, you are going to wear them! hehe.) 

I helpin Daddy.



 King Queen of the Hill.

 It was a little too deep for her to wander in easily...

 We made a snowman, but apparently I didn't take a picture of him.  She likes to make sure that he is still outside the window every morning. 

We decided to have my siblings over for pizza that evening.  Pretty spur of the moment.  It was fun.  Little miss was wild.  I think they all still like her/ us.

One morning somebody found the window crayons that I bought to decorate Nathan and Shelly's car.  So we drew pictures on the front door. 

Tuesday was my 29th birthday.  Usually I love my birthday....  but for whatever reason I felt like I got up on the wrong side of the bed all day... I'll blame the hormones (ah, how I love a scapegoat).  We went grocery shopping and I got Jimmy John's for lunch ( Cecily got "Pepperfries"...and a shake from McD's...).  Then we spent the afternoon at the farm.  Little miss got a sled ride from Tate and she got to see the three cows that escaped a trip to the locker.  Bob joined us for supper and cake and presents after work.

So I thought my car has been sounding different off and on lately, but not in a describable way, and not when Bob drove it.... sooo... yeah.  We were on the way home and it was doing it again, only this time the car wasn't heating up and at one point the lights dimmed all the way down and it sounded like the engine was slowing down.  And then the temperature gauge went all the way up.  (Why yes, my Dad did teach me to watch my gauges.)  I pulled in at Tom and Carol's to wait for Bob since he was following me home.  They are so great... not only were they unfazed by Cecily and I knocking on the door at 9 at night, Tom went out in the cold with Bob to help figure out what the problem was, and Carol entertained a tired little girl in the house.  And, he lined someone up to come replace my water pump tomorrow.  Makes me think of Proverbs 17:17.

Anyway, not the best birthday I've ever had.  However, we are very glad we did not take my car to Athens.  And that Bob just happened to be following me.  And that it happened where it did.  And that I really don't need to go anywhere the rest of the week.  I just feel like a 50's housewife- have to ask Bob for the car... haha.  Or something.  Little miss and I didn't go to church tonight though, because Bob was working late and I didn't think about getting a ride until it would have been too late.  Ah well, thankfully we can listen online.      

Blessings.

Here we come A-caroling

Here is a picture of our lovely and altogether too large Christmas tree. Cecily thinks it's pretty awesome.

On Friday we were on the Christmas Caroling committee... we got to spend the evening making sandwiches and stirring large amounts of cocoa.  Little miss had fun running around with Grace and Eden and 'Bro-dee.'

Saturday morning I went to Esther's funeral.  Dear Esther.  I will miss her very much.  I've been wishing I would have at least gone to see her one last time... she was a wonderful woman and a dear friend.  It was awfully nice having her in T-town on Wednesdays... it made the transition easier when I got married.  She gave us our kitchen table... she brought us cinnamon bread because 'she was trying to think of something she could do for us'... she brought supper when Cecily was born... 

I took a lot of cold medicine that day so by Sunday I wasn't feeling that great; it's a trade off- breathe, but deal with the wooziness the next day.  We ended up coming home at noon because Cecily was acting like she wasn't feeling well again either. 

Wednesday Little miss and I headed to W-ton to help make lunch for the volunteers.  It took her a while to warm up, but then Grandma came and they went and played in the Sunday School rooms and ate chips... I walked in and she gave me the guiltiest look I've ever seen.  hehe.  Then she got to eat lunch with a whole bunch of men... 

Gingerbread is a powerful motivator for eating supper... or maybe just frosting...  

 
This morning she was playing with the phone and wanted to 'talka Grandma'... so I let her since I needed to call her anyway...  hehe.  She paces around the house and jabbers away.  It makes me laugh. 

Anyway, that's what we've been up to.
Blessings. 

We Gather Together

Well, we recovered from our trip down south.  Bob took the whole week off, which was really nice. 

 

Little miss ornery was glad to be home...

 

 

We spent Thanksgiving with the Koch's.  I got to make pies, which I love.  (I confess, I'd much rather have leftover pie...) 

 

I did not go out Black Friday shopping.  I did some online shopping... for me... not presents.  *grin*  Don't judge, I have no warm clothing that fits and I'm freezing already! And apparently whoever manufactures maternity clothes got a good deal on dark blue, black, and dark purple fabric because those are the only options right now...  I wouldn't mind a little bit more variety... anyway.    

 

We spent Saturday evening with Bob's family because Susan followed us home from Athens. 

 

And Cecily came down with a bad cold.  So she's not sleeping well, not eating well, and is just plain cranky in general.  Woot woot.  I caught it too...  all of the aforementioned are also true, except the eating part.  No problems there.

 

So yeah, we split watching her at home on Sunday because she was in no shape for church (It takes a few hours for her sinuses to clear out from the night since she doesn't do great with blowing her nose.. and she's very grumpy until they do.)  And other than venturing out for groceries and a Christmas tree we haven't done much this week.

 

We met my Mom for lunch before we went Christmas tree shopping.  And then I picked out a tree that is lovely, even though it's way too tall and too wide.  *grin*  We had lots of fun getting it into the house and into the stand.  Somebody remind me next year that the narrow trees aren't as narrow inside... and I need narrow. 

 

I sweepin', mommy, mommy.  On a box of Christmas decorations.  With a princess.    

Blessings. 

The rest of the week and a short trip to Athens

Well, I think I probably spent too much time online last week following tornado coverage.  And not enough time helping.  Although, I feel kind of helpless since I don't have that much energy right now, someone would have to watch little miss, I don't have an up to date tetanus shot, and I'm not really supposed to be doing a lot of heavy lifting.  *sigh*  Excuses.

I did go over to Crossroads UMC on Wednesday and helped serve meals to people from 10-3.  Cecily got to go play with Lynelle and Addilynn while I was gone... I'm sure she had lots of fun- she woke up the next morning and wanted to go play with the kids.  Kathy said it was like having triplet girls.  hehe.  I mostly just ladled out chili and jambalaya with some Eureka sisters...  we served volunteers, insurance agents, health department (yes, we had to wear hair nets), and W-ton residents.  One lady came through with her kids...  her son told us he ate two doughnuts for breakfast; she said she told him, "buddy, you don't have a house, you can have another doughnut."  So sad.    

One morning I found little miss "reading" books to bear-bear.  Sans pants, of course.  

On Friday, I finally took Cecily to get her two year pictures taken.  She was not in the best mood and there were tons of people there getting Christmas pictures.  She just wanted to play with all the stuffed animals they use to get kids to smile and she did not want to smile.  Soooo....  it wasn't worth it, so we stopped and I got the one pose that she looked happy in.  woot woot.  We stopped by the church on the way home to see Grandpa and Grandma and most of the rest of the family.  It was crazy how full the parking lot was with trucks and trailers and equipment.  And the church was full of volunteers eating supper.  So we said hi to people, checked out the bottled water mountain, passed out pictures, and headed home.  
Saturday morning we packed up to go visit Susan in Athens.  Cecily was lots of help.

Or something.  I've got my blankies, my camel, and my shoes, can we go now?

She was pretty whiny on the way down.  Didn't like the sun in her eyes.  Didn't want her picture taken.  Didn't want a drink.  *sigh*  

It took us about 9 hours to get there and she pretty much bounced off the walls once she was out of the car seat.  We stayed at the guest house- right next to the church and right next to Sprout and Kalla's house.  It was nice to not be in a hotel and have a kitchen and two bedrooms.  Athough, we only used one because Bob insisted that Cecily needed to share the king  size bed with us.  *eye roll*  Somehow she spends more time "snuggling" up to me in the middle of the night than him... so I don't sleep well...  oh well.  She probably slept better that way, and every one is happier when she is not grumpy.  When it was time to go to bed she didn't want to lay down and went out into the hallway and asked for her coat and "home."  

Sunday we got to experience Athens Church for the first time.  Cecily loved it.  She made friends with the kids right away.  Sprout and Kalla took the little ones up front for a special number and she got to go too.  She didn't sing, but she smiled and looked really excited when they started singing Jesus Loves Me and Twinkle Stars.  Then Susan dragged me up to sing and Cecily came and stood with us and started dancing and tried to take her tights off....  *sigh*  Thank goodness they are very laid back.  And there were only 20ish people there... she got to go to Sunday school with Susan, which she loved.  We were both very ready for lunch by the end of second service;  we were treated to southern bbq at 306.  It was super yummy, although little miss ate one bite of beans and then wandered off to 'help' the waitresses.  She is something else.  She finally took a nap and I got to lose Settlers to Sprout and Kalla and two of the Edelman girls.

We didn't do much else while we were there since it was cold and rainy.  Susan made grilled cheese and tomato soup for supper, which Cecily loved.  Monday morning we visited the preschool with Susan.  Cecily joined right in...  sat down with them for lunch (not that she ate anything), danced along with their "exercise" video, but she drew the line at taking a nap.  We went out for a late lunch with Susan and then stopped in at a pet store.  Little miss fell asleep in the car on the way back and woke up crazier than ever.  
These are the only pictures I took the whole time... 

Playing with the tablet...

Sprout made us spaghetti for supper and we hung out for the rest of the evening.  We got up Tuesday morning and packed up to go home.  We stuck our heads in at the preschool and said good bye to Miss Susan, Miss Kalla, and the kids...  and then we spent another 9 hours in the car.  She was actually pretty good on the way home.  Thank goodness for the tablet!  We have a drawing app that she curled up and used for a long time when it got dark.  

She was so excited when we got home- "Tootsie's house!  Tootsie's house!" and she proceeded to make sure all her toys were still there....
And after 18 hours in Bob's two door car (our most reliable vehicle and best gas milage) it might be time for a van.  If only there was one cheap as free.... or just cheap...  
Anyway, it was a good weekend.
Blessings.

ooo... and Uncle Fred was quoted in the Chicago Tribune!

The Gales of November

Why yes, I have been neglecting my blog.  I doubt that anyone has missed it though.  *grin*  Except maybe Grandpa Beutel. 

Anyway, boring stuff (by comparison) first.  

We've been semi-busy.  We went to World Relief family night.  Supper at the farm last Sunday.  Little miss woke up grumpy, but cheered up and was absolutely wild by the end of the night. 

The latest in dish towel fashions:

This just makes me smile...

We hosted potluck here on Thursday, so on Wednesday instead of cleaning the house I cleaned out Cecily's closet.  I was putting away her summer clothes and she insisted on wearing her swimsuit... and then she put on her boots.  Quite the little fashionista.  Or something.

I did get the house cleaned and potluck was a success. 

Cecily came with me to my Dr. appointment Friday... it's a good thing people think she's cute, because really, she's a terror sometimes.  She did make friends with an older lady who was waiting for the a doctor in the practice next to mine.

Saturday we raked leaves.  Cecily had a great time "helping."  Bob tossed her into the town leaf pile and she sank... and disappeared.  She was a little unsure about that, but laughed because Bob and I did.  After one of our loads she had a great time playing in the pile with a little boy there with his dad.  We finished just before it started raining.  I headed to Washington for my cousin Kirk's testimony that evening.

We went to Washington church on Sunday for baptisms...  yeah...  we started hearing the weather alerts at the end of the service and then the sirens during the last prayer.  And they just kept praying and still did the announcements and I kept getting more and more nervous. I hate storms, especially tornadoes.  My mom had taken Cecily out and they were in the lunch room, I ended going directly from the sanctuary to the Sunday school rooms so we ended up in different rooms when they said there was a tornado on the ground.

It was pretty scary, plus my lack of emotional control (stupid hormones) made it even worse.  The power went off and we were all huddled on the ground, and some brother started praying.  I was pretty weepy, holding the hand of some poor visitor girl who didn't have any family in the room and was also crying, and it got really still and then we heard the wind and debris hitting the side of the church.  The tornado passed about 1/4- 1/2 mile from the church, which is waaay to close for my comfort.

They let us get up then and somebody took me to the room where Mom and Cecily were.  They said she did really well for being in the dark and being contained, but she was getting a little whiny for mommy.  There were still storm cells in the area so they had us all go over to the basement of the church condos until everything was past.  The parking lot was a mess of sticks and tin and pieces of siding and wet insulation.  We found Bob over there and waited in the dark, hot basement for a while before they gave the all clear.  Cecily was getting hot and was tired of the dark. 

Sooo.... we finally ate lunch in the dark and then headed over to Eureka Church for the baptisms. They didn't have power either; however, their church was built before the dark loving 70's so they have lots of windows and they had plenty of water. 

Crazy day.   Anyway, I'm thankful we're all safe and the church wasn't damaged (minus some siding damage and a wrenched open door).  Two church family's homes were destroyed and some others were damaged.  The pictures are incredible.  It's so weird when it's streets you've been on and people you know and not some far away place. 

I will not be sad if I am never that close to a tornado again.
Blessings.

Those High Soprano Notes

How is it November already?  I still have things I want to do outside...  *sigh*  Oh well.  Bring on grey and dreary. 

This past weekend most of the family was in town for Grandpa and Grandma Wyss's Christmas present.  We all recorded a CD for them with old family favorites...  (see Dad's blog for some of the specifics, which Shelly and I think should be included in the liner notes- powers that be, take note)

Friday evening I left little miss with Grace and Eden and headed out into the wilds of Carlock.  Seriously, I love google maps and I much prefer a map to GPS, but it's kind of difficult to navigate the middle of nowhere when the road signs don't match what the map says and it's dark and rainy.  I did eventually find it and was only slightly late.  It was much easier to find on Saturday morning.  Bob stayed home with Cecily and helped his Dad work on his new shed. 

I thought it was a lot of fun.  Lots of singing.  Shelly and I and Joy even got to do three descants.  Hopefully they didn't sound too bad- I'm really only a marginal soprano at best and I was pretty stuffed up plus my rapidly diminishing lung capacity makes holding out notes difficult.  I'm not sure how the final product is going to sound- the Virklers can do amazing things in the mixing process so hopefully they will make us sound better than we are...  Grandpa and Grandma were there listening and they liked it, so that's all that really matters. 

We all ate pizza at Grandma and Grandpa's that night and introduced Aaron to the craziness that is the Wyss family, and Kacie.  Who said she had her 'filter' on for the evening.  *grin*  Good times.

Little miss and I went to W-ton for church on Sunday.  Between all of the babysitting and going places and the time change she did not have the best day, and consequently I didn't either.  Plus I didn't feel good.  Oh well. 

Then Monday morning Cecily got to play with Grandma Koch while I went to sing at the funeral.  I would much rather sing than make food...  although the family did pick a lot of high and unfamiliar songs.  *grin*  Everyone said the singing was lovely though.  (Do they ever say anything different??)  I think I would prefer men's quartet to the full choir... Bob, Cecily, take note. Anyway, funerals are always a blessing and I'm always glad for the chance to sing. 

Little miss is quite the kid.  We're creatures of habit over here and we have our "spots" on the couch and at the table... she thinks it's so funny to sit in some one else's spot and say "My spot" with an impish grin on her face.  We also sing a lot of "Twinkle Stars."  And she still refuses to wear anything but a diaper on her bottom half.  Occasionally she'll ask me to turn a blanket into a skirt for a few minutes.  Or want to wear her 'bundies' (underwear) over top of her diaper. 

Blessings.

Halloween

My little Masha...  

 

 

 

So Bob found this Russian cartoon on Youtube a while ago.  It's pretty great.  Little miss loves it and it makes me laugh a lot.  It's a play on a Russian folk tale called Masha and the Bear.  Masha reminds me a lot of Cecily...  especially when Cecily is playing with Gus.

 

These are my two favorite episodes.

Cecily and I tagged along with Sharon and girls to trick or treat at Grandpa and Grandma Koch's and Grandpa and Grandma Beutel's house.  She totally didn't get it.  *grin*  Which is good because I have no desire to take her trick or treating around town ever. 

Blessings.

Firehot!

So this is mostly lots of pictures from the last few weeks...  I'm still sick, plus a cold, plus I'm lazy.  It's a great combination.  Every time I think I'm getting better I find myself getting up close and personal with the toilet...  speaking of which, anybody have any good tips for getting rid of blueish green mineral deposits in the toilet bowl?  Regular bowl cleaner does nothing.

 

 Snuggled up in the laundry basket with a book and my tiger costume.

 Grandma came over one afternoon and we went to Jeanne's sale... and read books with our glasses on.  We were not, however, brave enough to eat lunch on the pipe line lunch buses.  I think I regret that.

 
We made chocolate milkshakes one night; little miss was a fan.  She drank all of her "cocoa milk" and tried to steal Bob's too.

 One morning she woke up grumpy so I gave her pig tails.

 She was very pleased with herself and with her reflection. 

And one morning she insisted on wearing her birthday dress from Eden.  Over her pink and brown polka dot pajamas.  Quite the combo.  *grin*

Bob reinforced this little doll cradle because she does this...

 
We got this off craigslist for Cecily's new room.  It's still in the hallway because that bedroom is full of stuff that needs to go to the basement once the Legos are cleaned up a little more...  Anyway, after a good scrubbing and liberal dose of Orange Glo, I think it looks fabulous.   

 Speaking of Legos- little miss loves to help Daddy sort his toys.  Haha.  Or something. We actually have made some progress; all of the loose pieces are sorted by color and shape (into hardware and tackle organizers).  Now, he wants to build all the sets. 

 

 

Sunday evening our potluck had a wiener roast.  It was pretty cold and little miss kept spilling liquid on herself.  But I saw a shooting star!

 

Monday was a nice, relatively still day so I burned the massive pile of sticks that we have been accumulating.  July and August were too dry to burn, and we haven't really had a chance to since then.  So the pile was probably 4.5 feet tall and 5 foot in diameter. And Junior High P.E. was going on next door.  We had just gotten it lit when a football came over the fence, so I tossed it back.  The boys yelled, "Hey thanks lady, you're smoking hot!" *eye roll*  Middle school boys think they're sooo funny.  And then the whole pile erupted in flames and it was hot!  Cecily kept saying "Firehot" and backing farther and farther away, which is good.  And then the leaves on one of the lower branches of the closest tree caught fire.  And the football came over the fence again.  "Hey lady, your tree is on fire!"  Um... no really?  So yeah, I was afraid I was going to have to call the fire department for a few minutes there... that would have been embarrassing.   

 

It did calm down once the small dry stuff was gone.  So we watched it for a while and stamped out where it was burning into the grass...  fun times.  

Yesterday we took my chair over to Ron and Janet's for reupholstering.  Mom let me use the van since it doesn't fit in my car so we spent some time at the farm too.  Little miss got to see the cows, and play in the leaves with Gussy and Tate, and she got a wheel barrow ride...  she was not very happy to come home.

Blessings. 

The Cop

So today marks seven weeks of nausea.  I am so tired of being sick.  And I do not enjoy this.  Plus, I came down with a cold this weekend and can't breath (or sleep) very well.  Woot. 

Anyway, so you remember a couple of weeks ago I had a small run in with a cop?  Yeah, now I can tell you that whole story. 

I had left Nathan and Michelle's after singing practice...  to get back home, I turn west on a pretty nice, wide, quiet, street in Eureka.  The speed limit is still 25 there, though people go way faster because it goes out of town to the east.  Plus it's right by the college and you know what college kids are like.  *grin*  Anyway, it was dark, and there was what looked like a routine traffic stop on the other side of the road, so I slowed down a little bit, but there wasn't any other traffic and they had plenty of room.  As soon as I drove past, I saw somebody sprint across the road and get in another car.  And turn on the lovely flashing lights....

You have to remember that I have zero control of my emotions right now- the hormones rule (which I hate, but there's nothing I can do about it). I started shaking, and didn't stop.  So I pulled over, and the cop comes up and started yelling at me- "do you know how fast you were going? didn't you see us? we're trying to help a stranded motorist and you came flying by and didn't even slow down!"  Eesh.  Ok, so I probably was going more than 25, but not "flying"- my car doesn't have that much get up and go, especially since I had just turned a corner.   And he didn't have a radar gun, and there was no indication from them that it was anything other than a traffic stop (no extra lights, no reflective vests, cones, etc).  Anyway, I started crying.  I am not a crier.  And certainly not for a traffic stop with dubious cause. 

So the poor cop continues his lecture about how they just want to get home safe, why would you go so fast with a little one in the back, (seriously, I was going maybe 30) how he should have ticketed the guy who drove past right before me (*cough* Jake) and I'm sitting there crying like an idiot.  And not just a few tears, it was a full on, hormonally induced, shoulders shaking, ugly cry.  He finally stopped and asked if I was ok, and if I had any conditions that I was going to black out on him.  Haha.  O man.  And all I could say was "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" (both for speeding and for not being able to stop crying).  So he ended up writing me a warning.  Which is all he really could do, I didn't do anything wrong and he didn't have a radar gun... 

And then I cried most of the way home.  Seriously.  My ISTJ, usually very rational, non-emotional self hates what pregnancy hormones do to me.  I had calmed down by the time I got home enough to laugh at myself when I recounted my tale of woe to Bob.  hehe.  And I'm rather embarrassed and hope I never meet that cop again.  I mean, who ugly cries because they got pulled over for going 5 over? 

Anyway, that's the story.  We've had a pretty quiet week here. 
Blessings.

10 years

So we skipped the pork chop fry (*gasp*) last Saturday to go to my 10 year class reunion.  Little miss got to spend the evening on the farm terrorizing Gus.  She had a great time.  Honestly, I wasn't all that excited about it...  I mean, I haven't really missed most of my classmates.  *grin*  But it was actually more fun than I was expecting.  We got to sit by Julie, who I haven't seen since her wedding, and Holly, one of my best friends in HS.  It was also good to see Dorothy, and my fellow trumpet gods...  what can I say, we were weird in HS and created a trumpet cult in band while we were bored...  good times.  And of course it was good to see all the church kids.  Although, slightly awkward since we never have a reason to visit Eureka, Congerville, or Goodfield anymore so I'm not sure who's still ACCA....  Over all though, it was a good time.  Poor Bob knew one person and he is a spouse, not a classmate.  It's good for him, right?

Nothing like going to your 10 year reunion looking more pudgy than pregnant, and smelling faintly of lice shampoo.  *sigh*

We got home late so somebody went to bed pretty late.  Cecily did not have a good day at church the next day.  Karen and Randy were there; it was fun to see them. Oooooo, and my cousin Kendra's getting married.  Great rejoicing!  So people keep asking me if I know him; while I remember him being at nursing home singings, I didn't talk to boys, especially Morton boys, so I've never actually had a conversation with him.  Hehe.    

Yesterday Cecily and I enjoyed the beautiful weather while I painted door and window frames... 17 down, 6 to go.  Not my favorite thing to paint. I do not have a steady hand and it's hard to get paint off of siding!  But, I would rather have a little paint on the siding and not have to replace rotting windows in a few years.  The process is also made more frustrating by the fact that we have 4 different types of windows and half of the screens are on the outside of the windows.  *Gah*  Who built this place anyway?   

I had an appointment today and they stole much of my blood (she was good though- no bruising so far!).  Little miss got to hang out with Eden.  She was thrilled.  They both were squealing when they saw each other.  And then Daddy brought home his Legos...  she's pretty sure they are for her.

 

Blessings.

To a Louse

So I had grand plans to blog earlier this week; about Dave and June's wiener roast, how we (and I use that very loosely) have been working on painting the window frames outside, and about our latest awesome craigslist find (an antique dresser for little miss).  And then I saw a louse crawling in Cecily's hair.  And Bob found them in my hair.  And the house fell down around us.  Ok, so maybe it just felt that way.

It didn't help that it was already almost 9pm and Cecily had refused to take a nap.  Bob got the lovely task of going to Wal-Mart for shampoo while I tore the house apart and started washing things.  *sigh*  Poor Cecily.  She just didn't understand why all of her stuffed animals and all the piles of pillows and sheets were off limits.  And then when Bob got home we *gasp*  washed her hair.  She hates it normally, but since we had to keep it out of her eyes it was even worse. 

Then it was my turn...  ugh....  yeah, I was already tired, had a splitting headache, and it was late.  Sooo I must confess I found Sgt. Bilko online and watched it during the hour I spent combing out my hair.  I had about had it at that point; it (and the associated memories) cheered me up immensely.  Yeah, it was 1am before I finally got to bed. 

The next day consisted of loads and loads of laundry and cleaning the house really well.  My mom was kind enough to come get Cecily for the afternoon, so it was actually a really quiet around here.  And then Lena brought her home and brought us supper.  So amazing and much appreciated! 

If you're wondering, even if stuffed animals say hand wash only, they do survive hot water and the hot dryer.  I had no mercy....  and everything made it through fine.   

Anyway, hopefully that's over with.  I shall leave you with this wonderful poem and some silly pictures of little miss:

To A Louse

Robert Burns

On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church

Ha! whare ye gaun' ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely
Owre gauze and lace,
Tho faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.

Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn'd by saunt an sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her---
Sae fine a lady!
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.

Swith! in some beggar's hauffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle;
Wi' ither kindred, jumping cattle;
In shoals and nations;
Whare horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.

Now haud you there! ye're out o' sight,
Below the fatt'rils, snug an tight,
Na, faith ye yet! ye'll no be right,
Till ye've got on it---
The vera tapmost, tow'rin height
O' Miss's bonnet.

My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an grey as onie grozet:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I'd gie you sic a hearty dose o't,
Wad dress your droddum!

I wad na been surpris'd to spy
You on an auld wife's flainen toy
Or aiblins some bit duddie boy,
On's wyliecoat;
But Miss's fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do't?

O Jeany, dinna toss your head,
An set your beauties a' abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie's makin!
Thae winks an finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin!

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notion:
What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us,
An ev'n devotion!

 {and according to one un-named individual, others see him as a stud.  hehe}

She wouldn't wear them at the wiener roast....  but wouldn't take them off at home...

 "I sweepin'... ducky"....  silly girl. 

Blessings.

Birthday at the Zoo

Lets see, what have we been up to?  Little miss and I went garage saleing last Friday and came home with books and nothing else. 

 

We ate lunch outside on a blanket; when we brought it in she turned it into a nest with all of her stuffed animals and blankies.  "I sweeping."  Except, she never did take a nap that day... 

We went to the farm for combine rides on Monday.  My camera battery died so I didn't get any pictures of little miss in the combine.  She wasn't overly impressed, and she did not want to sit on Grandpa's lap.  She wanted to go back to the van to Grandma and Tate.  She did like watching Trent drive the tractor and wagon. 

Lindy died this week.  I loved working at Lindy's. I loved working with the Lindsley family. Lindy was in his 80's then and he came in every morning after Mass and went over the cash and receipts from the night before... if we made a mistake he caught it!  So yeah, sad news, but it brought back lots of good memories.

Cecily turned two on Thursday.  Craziness!  We met Mom, Shelly, Lena, and Brielle (the little girl Lena babysits) at the zoo.  Picnic...  somebody didn't really eat much of her sandwich...  o well.   

 Then she got to open her present from Aunty Shelly- "It'sa Keesha!  Bear!"  hehe.  And her present from my parents.  Once she saw her new church shoes she didn't want anything else.  Such a girl.

 
We could hear and sort of see the tigers the whole time we were eating, so they were our first stop.   

 Cecily liked them, I think Brielle was just happy to be held... 

 Apparently Peoria Zoo doesn't have a camel anymore, so little miss had to settle for this statue.  "Itsa cam-ul!  Soft!  Hi cam-ul!"

 Silly kid.

 Sitting watching the giraffes- my favorite, Cecily was a little scared of them.

 Then we saw the "Runnins."  Lions, to the rest of us.  *grin*  She roars really quietly...   

 
We got a milkshake for Daddy on our way home, which she claimed most of.  While wearing her new shoes. 

 I made tomato soup and grilled cheese for supper because "soop" is one of her favorite foods.  If two year olds have favorites.  It's at least something she always wants more of. 

 

 Then it was time for cake!  It's supposed to look like a tutu.  Marginally successful, it looks cute even if the tutu part isn't super obvious.  Please ignore my abysmal piping skills. 

 

So apparently she's terrified of fire.  She saw the candles, said "fire, hot!" and tried to get as far away as possible.  I was cracking up.  

 

This is her face while Bob was helping her blow out the candles.  *grin*  

 Then with that trauma over, it was time for presents.

 I think the princess shoes made up for the scary fire.  Yeah, the pants came off when we got home from the zoo.

 She opens things so slowly, one little piece of paper at a time.

 Oooo, a baking set for my kitchen!  I think she likes the rolling pin the best. 

 This morning we went to the doctor for her two year checkup.  She is still tall and skinny, and she was not happy with the doctor for shining a light in her eyes... and her ears... and her nose... and her mouth... and you would think the stethoscope was an instrument of torture.... *sigh* 

Anyway, she's two already!  How is that possible?  If I was sappy and emotional I would be tearing up right now... but... I'm not....  so...  Happy Birthday Cecily!

Blessings.