Before and After: The Appliances

Our new refrigerator and dishwasher have been in place for just over a week now. And I couldn't be more thrilled. For starters, I'm no longer pulling grit-coated Fiesta out of the dishwasher!

The refrigerator was a fluke purchase. We originally weren't going to buy one because there was nothing wrong with our old one, except that it was old, it was too small for the space, and it froze the mayonnaise. But I convinced Q that it was a good time to buy a new one because Sears was offering 10% off if you bought two or more appliances. Besides, at 14 years old, the old one could go at any time.

And that's exactly what happened! The day after we ordered the appliances, I was out with my sister when my cell phone rang. It was Q calling to tell me that "It's a good thing we just ordered a new refrigerator." Yep, the old one was on its way out. It was leaking, and even quit running. But Q gave it a good, swift kick and got it working long enough to get us through until the new one was delivered.

The new refrigerator will be able to carry over to our new kitchen when we remodel in a year or so. It includes:

--Filtered water and ice in the door. Yes, we've finally stepped into the 90's! I haven't felt this grown up since Q and I both got cars with power windows. The boys love this thing. As a result, they are now drinking more water. Also, the dispenser has a cool blue night-light that lights up the whole kitchen.

--The shelves pull out like drawers. No reaching way in the back for the V8 Splash...although sometimes I still do.

--It's a counter-depth model. That means the box doesn't stick out beyond the cabinetry. With the old fridge in place, I was unable to open my towel drawer (the one to the left of the fridge) without first opening the refrigerator.

--The temperature control is a push-button digital thermometer that shows the actual temperature. So there's no more guessing whether it's cold enough or not.

--The freezer has a light in it! Two of them, in fact. I had never seen a freezer with a light in it before. The fridge portion also has two lights in it. One on top and one on the bottom.



I am still getting used to this dishwasher. Aside from being a useless piece of crap, the old dishwasher had only one possible way for loading all dishes. Mugs could only fit in one row of the top rack. And the flatware basket had only one possible location.

The new dishwasher is so full of features and fancy gadgetry that I'm still discovering new and efficient ways to load the thing. It too will be incorported in the new kitchen. A few of the perks include:

--The adjustable top rack. It can be lowered for my tall water goblets, or raised to accommodate cookie sheets or a Fiesta chop plate. The top rack can be removed altogether, if needed.

--Entire rows of tines can be lowered to fit jumbo mugs or Quinton's large stock pot.

--The silverware basket can be located anywhere for better dish placement. The basket can also be separated into three smaller baskets if not all are needed. It also has this nifty slotted lid for each piece. This means our spoons don't end up spooning.

--It's so quiet! Seriously, the first time I turned the thing on, I had to put my ear against the door to make sure it was actually running!

The Guilty Pleasures List

1. Nighttime soap operas! I like Dallas, Dynasty, and Melrose Place, but my all time favorite is Knots Landing. I want to be Karen Fairgate…with Laura Avery’s looks.

2. One-hit wonders.

3. Grease 2. That movie is so bad it’s good.

4. Driving through a crowded parking garage, I come face to face with a blonde in a Hummer. Both of us want the same parking space. But the Hummer doesn’t have the turning radius needed to squeeze in there, so the Barbie Girl has to pass it up. My 4-cylinder Dodge and I emerge victorious. THAT was cool.

5. The E! True Hollywood Story

6. Whipped cream, straight up. I do put it in a bowl instead of eating it right out of the can.

7. Singing along with the Captain and Tennille on the car radio. Loudly. With the top down. And I don’t care who watches!

8. Waking up to a fist full of peanut M&Ms. Some people get their morning jolt from coffee. I get mine from chocolate.

9. Pink anything. No…pink everything!

10. Actually getting to see a carpool lane violator get pulled over by the police. Quinton witnessed this last week, and I was so jealous that I wasn’t with him at the time.

11. Flintstone’s vitamins. Yes, I still eat them.

12. Peter Piper Pizza. I could eat four slices of that stuff! I usually have to arm wrestle Kyle for the last piece.

13. Researching former C-list TV and movie stars on IMDb.

14. Wasting entire afternoons watching Beavis and Butthead marathons.

15. Easy listening music from the 70’s and 80’s. The sappier the better: Christopher Cross, Lobo, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, Boz Scaggs, Kenny Loggins, Air Supply, Roberta Flack, Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Manchester, Rick Springfield, Jefferson Starship, Pablo Cruise, Barry Manilow, and many, MANY, MANY others…

Ms. Val's Bargain of the Week

Pretty much anything from IKEA. But my biggest bargain was a 3-pack of scissors for $1.99. I bought two packs. Other goodies I picked up: a pair of pot holders ($.99), a twin-size fitted sheet ($4.99), a 2' x 4' woven striped rug ($3.99), and a large glass measuring cup ($4.99). But my favorite purchase was this adorable pedestal table ($19.99).

My mom and I made the 50 mile trek to IKEA last weekend. Going there is always an experience. Here are a few highlights:

--Upon driving into the parking lot, we noticed a Suburban with a trailer hooked to the back. Somebody's buying dorm furniture for the triplets!

--We also saw a Miata parked nerby. Somebody came to IKEA and they brought the Miata? I suppose it's possible they only stopped in for a set of placemats and some flatware. Yeah, right. That's what I said when Q and I once went there in the Mustang. We came for shelves for Kyle's room and ended up driving home with the top down and a 6'+ patio umbrella woven between the seats and across my lap.

--Beware of the lighting. Lucas had spotted a small firefly wall lamp that would go perfectly in his bug-themed room. The lamp itself was $6.99, but it required special light bulbs that cost $8.99 for a 2 pack. That's a lot of money for light bulbs, especially light bulbs from IKEA. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the bulbs cost more than the light itself! No thanks. I helped Lucas pick out another lamp.

--I found a lamp that I would love for the family room. I passed because it cost $35. While that's not a lot of money, it is a lot of money for a lamp from IKEA!

--I was disappointed that they didn't have the silk striped cushion covers that I had been coveting. This is a surprise considering that these particular covers were featured prominately in their 2007 catalog.

Runner-up: Today, I bought a gallon of milk at Fry's for $1.67. Regular price is $3.59.

Before, During, and After: The Playroom Wall Unit

As you can see by the date, we redid this wall unit over 4 years ago. It was a hand-me-down piece from my mom. She bought it in the early 80's when medium oak furniture with rounded mouldings was the choice of every budget decorator. When she gave it me some 10 years ago, the finish was dried out from years of neglect. We took it home and I promptly slapped on the black paint. What the %#*& was I thinking?

I had a great time removing the nasty, paint-stuck front mouldings with my hammer and pry-bar. I got to be Psycho Mom for real that day! But the fun quickly ended and the real work began.

I think the boys would have loved to keep this thing flat so they could use it as a fort. Lucas thinks this picture makes his butt look big. Yes, he's definately his mama's boy!

I originally wanted to move the wall unit downstairs to the garage to paint it. But the thing weighs like 500 gazillion pounds! When first moved in, Q and the two movers had a very difficult time getting it upstairs to the playroom. At that time, Q informed me that if this thing ever leaves the house, "it will be out the window in pieces!"

Primer, primer, and MORE PRIMER!!!!!!

One week, six coats of primer, two coats of white paint, and three trips to The Depot later...

Now it's Quinton's turn. He gets to play with his new miter box and power tools!

Success! The Finished Product. And it was all done without spilling any paint on the carpet.

The close up detail.

Fast forward four years. The wall unit now has paint nicks and chips (the moulding we used was MDF), and is covered in crayon. I think it might have melted Popsicle juice stuck to one of the shelves, too. I'll spiff it up someday--when the boys quit taking snacks and writing implements to the playroom.

The Family According to Lucas

Every since I introduced the boys to the South Park character generator, it's become one of their favorite online activities. Here, Lucas made a SP portrait of our family. Now, I've always known that Q and Kyle look exactly alike. But I never knew I was such a screamer...or had such wild hair.

I also didn't know Lucas was a TV sports announcer. That must be what he does late at night when he's done sneaking Oreos. Yes, Luke...I know all about that. The crumbs at the bottom of your milk cup don't lie.

Thursday 13

1. I love watching my boys sleep.

2. I buy the highest thread count sheets I can afford. After 3+ months in the hospital, Q now sees this as less of a frivolity and more of a necessity.

3. I am a Pepsi addict and I’m picky about how it’s served. Pepsi tastes best in a Styrofoam cup with crushed ice…as served at the Arrowhead Hospital cafeteria. Plastic cups are ok too, but to me, soda tastes less fizzy when served in a glass glass.

4. I must sleep on the right side of the bed. It’s my thing, and I can’t sleep any other way.

5. I can spend an entire afternoon playing Dr. Mario with the boys.

6. I love watching those Time-Life Music infomercials that feature has-been celebrity spokespeople hawking compilation CDs.

7. I spent too much time on nosing around Realtor.com, checking out how the neighbors are pricing their for-sale houses. And if I'm lucky, there are pictures. ("They're asking $450K for THAT?")

8. Q and I bought our first house when I was 19. It had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and less than 1300 square feet. I could have lived in that house forever, but once Lucas was born, we got a computer, and Kyle's toys mulitplied like rabbits, it was time for a place with more room and rooms.

9. No matter how many times I see the reruns, King of the Hill never stops being funny.

10. I always use pink toothbrush. Not only because it's my favorite color, but so the boys know not use it. Yes, it’s actually happened.

11. I can’t stand the taste of coffee.

12. I do my best writing in the middle of the night.

13. Years ago, Baskin Robbins had a deal where you could buy 2 pre-packed quarts for $5…limit 4. When I was pregnant, we would go down there and I would buy 2 quarts each of Chocolate and Peanut Butter and Mint Chocolate Chip. Q would wait in the car. When I came out, he would go in and buy his limit in Gold Medal Ribbon. We would go home, load up the freezer, then—if space permitted—we would repeat the process at another B&R.

The Pissed List

1. I’m pissed that Lifetime took Designing Women out of their lineup and replaced it with The Nanny.

2. I’m pissed at the tool in the black Scion we saw driving alone in the southbound I-17 carpool lane at the height of morning rush hour. You know who you are!!!!

3. I’m pissed that I can’t buy my favorite chap stick—Natural Ice mentholated lip protectant—at Target, Walgreen’s, or Fry’s. The only place around here that sells it is Wal-Mart. And I HATE Wal-Mart!

4. I’m pissed that the state trust land north of my house was recently sold at auction to a real estate developer. That means within a few years, our mountain view will be replaced by houses!

5. I’m pissed that I’m 33 years old and I still get acne!

6. I’m pissed that the kitchen floor can’t just stay clean forever.

7. I’m pissed that the nearest Banana Republic store is almost 30 miles from my house.

8. I’m pissed that Quinton’s recovery seems to be taking longer than it should.

9. I’m pissed that it seems to rain everywhere but Phoenix.

10. I’m pissed that my boys fight over Pop Tarts: “What part of ‘I will buy more’ don’t you understand?”

11. I’m pissed that Quinton puts the Fox News Channel on at a high volume so he can hear it three rooms away.

Quinton Update

All things considered, Quinton is doing well. He's just tired most of the time. And if he's not tired yet, he will be soon. On the bright side, he's been having very little pain, some weakness, no nausea, no vomiting, and no return trips to the hospital!!!

Quinton has been working full-time hours at the office. And just like the good wife I am, I've been giving him a rough time about it. While I understand the importance of Q's being at work, I also see how the 8-hour days are really beating him down. He's started doing some of his work at home as time and circumstances allow.

Also, Q has become somewhat accident-prone. He'll be in the other room and I'll hear *KLUNK*..."Aw, $#!T". He bumps into stuff. He burns himself. He drops things. He burns himself while dropping things. He just needs to slow down, be careful, and ask for help!

I got Quinton a medical bracelet that identifies him as cortisone dependant. THAT was an adventure! I went to the Walgreen's pharmacy to order the bracelet. There were no fewer than 5 people working there: 2 pharmacists and 3 clerks. Only one of the clerks seemed to know how to fill out the bracelet order form, and she was busy answering questions and making printouts for some guy in the drive-thru.

It took some doing, but I got the bracelet ordered. Two weeks later, it arrived safe and sound in the mail. And it took another few weeks to get Q to remember to wear it.

Q had an appointment with his opthamologist Monday morning. It was a routine, post-glaucoma check-up, but they discovered he has of ocular herpes. This appears to be a flare-up stemming from a case of shingles he had almost 2 years ago. Eye drops were prescribed and Q has a follow up appointment in 3 weeks.

Q also has an appointment with his endocrinologist later this week. I'll post any new developments as they arise.

They're GONE!!!!!

And I'm pi$$ed! I hate losing things. And it happens more often than I care to admit. Currently, my house keys are missing, and it's bothering me to the point of insanity.

The last time I had them was Saturday when Luke and I were out shopping. On the way home, we stopped to get the mail. He fished the keys out of my purse, checked the box (it was empty), got back in the car, and put them back in my purse. I haven't seen them since.

I have thoroughly searched every room in the house. I have rifled through every junk drawer, pen and pencil cup, paper pile, countertop, desktop, tabletop, sofa cushion, and dirty clothes hamper we've got. I even looked inside every disk pitcher, carafe, vase, and gravy boat I have on display. I didn't find the keys, but I found every pair of scissors I've ever owned!

This evening, I looked through both cars--twice. I even opened up the collapsable windshield sunscreens thinking the keys fell into the folds. No dice.

So I hit the phones. Kyle and Quinton went to a baseball game on Saturday, so I took Luke out for pizza. I called the pizza place to see if anyone had turned in any keys. They hadn't. Same story with Old Navy and Wal-Mart.

Luckily, they're only my house keys. We keep the car keys on separate rings because Q and I swap cars so often. And I don't have any spares because I loaned them all out when Q was in the hospital and my sister and mom were helping me out with the boys. I simply haven't asked for them back.

It seems to me that lost items only turn up when a) I am busy looking for another lost item--as was the case with the scissors, or b) I replace said item.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Tomorrow, I'm going to borrow Kyle's house keys and Q's mailbox key, and I will down to Ace Hardware to have new copies made. Then, when I go to pay for the new keys, my old ones will fall out of a previously undiscovered rip in the lining of my purse!

Ms. Val's Bargain of the Week

It's back-to-school shopping time again! And this week's bargain is college rule, clean-edge spiral notebooks--$1 per 10 pack at Target.

I bought 4 packs. And with 3 of us attending school, these will go FAST! In fact, I'm thinking about going back and buying more while they're still available at this price. Last year, we ran out of notebooks by December. When I went to replenish our supply, the multipacks were gone, and individual notebooks were priced at $.79 each.

Runner up: I picked up a rose Fiesta handled cake tray for $6 on eBay.

Before and....Not After: The Master Bedroom

This is my favorite room in the whole entire house. It's the second room we decorated when we moved here 7 years ago (kitchen was first). These pictures were taken 5 years ago, and--except for having added and subtracted a few knick-knacks--the room remains virtually unchanged.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...just not when they're being drawn on the wall. I got the inspiration for this room off an idea card from the Home Depot paint department. The instructions made it look so easy. But even with a level taped to the yard stick, I gave up really quick. Quinton--my uber-patient math genious husband--drew the lines on the wall and I sponge painted them in.

Three days, 1 faux sponge and 12 rolls of masking tape later, I had a whole room full of harlequin diamonds!


This is the sitting area that makes up part of the turret in front of the house. It's hard to tell by this shot, but these windows afford us awesome views of the mountains north of our neighborhood.

I love this room so much. But the day will come when we will have to paint over the diamond pattern, and that's just going to kill me! Now, I am ready for a new duvet, a quieter ceiling fan, and some different lamps.

Thursday 13

1. I carry a tape measure in my purse at all times. It comes in quite handy at the most unlikely times.

2. I love using mint infused hair conditioner that makes my scalp tingle.

3. I still have both of my Cabbage Patch Dolls from when I was a child. I took that adoption oath seriously.

4. I watch Sex and the City reruns mostly to admire Cynthia Nixon’s hair.

5. I do not have enough pink clothes.

6. I am the first member of my immediate family to visit Europe.

7. I have a fondness for anything from the 1970s. Music, architecture, TV, clothes, cars, decor. You name it, I love it.

8. I always leave my coin change in the tip jar.

9. I once ate an entire pizza when I was pregnant with Luke.

10. I love loud thunderstorms with lots of lightning and downpours.

11. I am the only member of the household who doesn’t have blue eyes.

12. The floor of my childhood bedroom was covered with bright red carpet. My parents’ room had royal blue, and the rest of the house had pukey green.

13. I’m enjoying learning how to download new fonts for MS Word. (Thank you, Quinton for your infinite patience and for not getting upset when I ask you to repeat the instructions).

Analogies and Metaphors

I love receiving jokes and funny e-mail lists. I got this one yesterday from my good friend, Tess and thought it was worth posting.

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers throughout the land. Here are last year's winners.....

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hail stones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

20. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

21. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

22. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

23. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

24. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Mood Fiesta

Friday was the first time I used my tangerine square baker to make a batch of brownies. When I pulled them out of the oven, I noticed the color didn't look right. It looked a lot like persimmon. So I pulled out my room-temperature tangerine Betty Bowl to compare.


Sure enough, the heat does effect the color of Fiesta. I had heard of this happening with other colors. Scarlet comes out looking cinnabar. Cobalt and plum look almost black. I have another baker in shamrock, whose color doesn't seem to be affected by extreme temperatures.

Incidentally, the tangerine baker returned to its normal color once it cooled off. And the brownies were delicious.

The Dishwasher List

Signs you need a new dishwasher:

1. The top rack collapses while being loaded. Your husband fixes it temporarily, but you still quit using the sapphire plates until the dishwasher is replaced.

2. You suddenly lose your appetite when you notice grit marinating in the side of your half-drunk glass of water.

3. Your husband asks you to wait until after his movie is over to turn on the dishwasher.

4. You’ve seen shinier silverware at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

5. That smell! I don’t know what it is, but if I can smell it, it can’t be good.

6. You make a special trip to Costco to buy paper plates. (Please don’t lynch me, Ces!)

7. The cabinet under your sink is filled with every dishwashing tablet, powder, liquid, sanitizer, performance booster, and rinse agent you could find at the store. None of them work properly because your cheap @$$ dishwasher SUCKS!

8. You get mad at your husband if he changes the channel during an appliance commercial.

9. The plates come out dirtier than they went in.

10. You WISH your glasses would come out spotty. It would be an improvement!

It's a good thing we bought a new one because...

our dishwasher is SHOT!

The new one should arrive early this week...and not a moment too soon.

Ms.Val's Unbargain of the Week

I didn't bring home any giveaway deals this week. In fact, the opposite is true.

Earlier this week, the boys and I took a trip to Target—because that’s what we do when we run out of things at home. We bought stuff like dryer sheets, paper towels, and some of those trash bags that can stop a bus from going over a cliff. I also had to buy a staple gun to repair the underlining of an ottoman I had to rip open after Jango got herself trapped in there.

This evening, I was looking at my Target receipt. I couldn’t believe it when I noticed what the most expensive item on my list was.

Razor blades. Yep—a 3-pack of Schick Intuition razor blades cost me $8.14.

Those razor blades cost me more money than the trash bags and a bottle of Excedrin Migraine. They even cost more than the heavy-duty Durabuilt staple gun with built-in tensioner!

Why are razor blades so expensive? Did a natural disaster hit the factory? Could it be that these particular cartridges are surrounded by a “Skin Conditioning Solid” that negates the need for a separate shaving cream, thereby jacking up the price to make up for the income loss incurred because the user doesn’t buy said shaving cream? I think I just answered my own question.

Anyway, I don’t see myself changing razors anytime soon. The Intuition is the only one I can find that doesn’t slice chunks of skin out of my bony ankles.


In related news, Jango has decided that it’s better to rest on top of the ottoman instead of inside it.

Mug Shots

I'm not a huge fan of decaled Fiesta, but I really love the pattern on these mugs. The bright colors and and the many carafes made these a must-have for my kitchen.

Quinton refers to them as my earthquake mugs because the carafes, teacups, and vases look like they are being bounced around the counter. That, or the dancing lady cha-cha'd her way into the table and bumped the cups, vases, and coffee servers.



I'd had my eye on these mugs for awhile. I hemmed and hawed and waited for a deal. So when Betty Crocker put them on sale for $7.99 for all 4, I decided it was time to pounce. Besides, this is probably the closest I will come to having a lilac carafe.

Before and After: The Back Doors

We recently replaced our sliding glass doors with beautiful, double French doors. We were going to wait until we remodeled the kitchen, but the sliders had just gotten too hard to open. It had gotten to the point where the boys were knocking whenever they wanted to be let in the house. THAT, I felt, was unacceptable.

Before:



After:

A piece of advice: Don't ever paint outdoors in the summer if you don't have to. I did this last week when it was 115+ outside--WITH humidity! I rewarded myself by ordering pizza for dinner.

I should add that I'm not entirely happy with the unpainted window frames in the second picture. I'll likely be painting over those soon.

Thursday 13

1. I fold t-shirts as neatly as any Gap employee.

2. I rarely ever turn down free furniture. A lot of our furniture comes from the Goodwill: the goodwill of my mom, my sister, my grandma, a neighbor, and my second cousin’s ex-wife.

3. It is my dream to live in a high-rise condo. It WILL happen. Oh yes. Someday…

4. I love it when little kids refer to me as “Mrs. Lucas’ Mom”.

5. I have spent all week doing research and shopping for a new dishwasher. Our old one is such a piece of crap that the dishes are coming out dirtier than they go in.

6. I once met Frank and Doug from Trading Spaces while shopping at The Great Indoors. The $1,000 budget won’t go far there!

7. I have a very diminished sense of smell. My sister, on the other hand, can tell when I accidentally leave wet clothes in the washer overnight.

8. I love Jango, but I think about Skitz on a daily basis. He will always be my first baby.

9. I learned to drive a stick shift before I even attempted to drive an automatic.

10. I have my belly button pierced.

11. I once visited the cul-de-sac where Knots Landing was filmed.

12. I lose my temper easily. Just ask the kid I once caught peeing in my yard.

13. I logged only 30 minutes of cell phone usage last month. Most of that was Lucas calling his dad to tell him that we’re just 2 minutes from his office. I really need to get out more.

Fun With MS Paint (Kyle)

Kyle has spent much of the summer reading, playing outside, and eagerly anticipating his next meal (this boy LOVES to eat). He is also discovering the possibilities that his computer holds. I have even taught him and Luke how to e-mail their MS Paint pictures to me.

Lightsaber Handle

Geometric Cube

Super Mario Brothers