rainy day ramblings

It's pouring outside.  Which is actually awesome considering it hasn't rained in approximately two weeks.  Not awesome, though, is that I had a mile long Target list to conquer this morning.  Shoot.

Reese and I braved the rain with good intentions.... but one giant clap of thunder and the car drove itself through Chick Fil A and Starbucks, then headed home.  Maybe tomorrow.

In my defense, I've spent the morning doing laundry and paying bills.  I also researched and bought Reese a new booster seat for Lofton's truck.  Little man isn't so little anymore and sharing a car seat {mine goes up to 65 pounds} just wasn't going to cut it.

booster seat

Reese is pretty stoked that it's orange.  I'm just glad it's safe.

I thought I'd continue my internet sleuthing and scope out some back to school/Fall clothes for Reese.  Keeping in mind that: A} boy clothes are no fun to shop for and B} Reese is giant for his size {he wears a 6 in shirts}.

We've rocked it all summer in Honey Bee Tees, but I don't let him wear those to school.  School shirts must cost less than ten dollars {preferably eight} because they are easily ruined by paint, markers, food, and mud.  Old Navy and Target are my usual go to stores for cheap shirts, but I'm a little scared by what I found--

karate rabbit

boxing gorilla

And, my personal favorite--

Old Navy's very freaky olympic tribute shirt.  

And this, my friends, is why Reese wears a lot of stripes. 

one year

Chaos.  That's what life was a year ago.

Packing boxes, finagling money between bank accounts, signing lots and lots of papers.  Selling one house on the same day you buy another is overwhelming.

We got a lot of help from our mamas and our friends that day!

One year in and we've made slow and steady progress on turning this house into a home.  It certainly lacks the charm of our historical house and we miss that greatly. But you cannot put a price on safety and peace of mind.

No amount of renovations were going to change the location of 1114.  With a liquor store and tattoo parlor being opened around the corner, we knew it was time to go.

{not that I don't love a good drink or arm tat, but not so much the riff-raff that trickled through my yard to get there}

Did I tell you that people hid their clothes in our bushes and used our porch as a bed one weekend when we were gone?  Or that one morning {when Lofton still worked in Columbus} a man met Reese and I at the end of our driveway wanting money and a light for his cigarette?

Peace of mind is worth more than anything for this family.  I love that Reese can play outside in a quiet neighborhood, full of kids not speeding cars.  He loves the little girls next door so much.

And though this house has its own set of issues, we are tackling them one at a time, just as we did to our old house.  This a marathon, not a sprint.

Happy one year, 1108!

closing out another week

Our week was full.  It was full of working in my classroom, visiting with friends, kickball, and just general summer stuff.

daddy came home to fix our train/race car track-- mama didn't do it correctly

It was full of a visit to Reese's school to register him for Pre-K4.  Sigh. He really wasn't too keen on visiting, but when we walked out on the playground his sweet friends all ran over to give him hugs. I think maybe that softened his heart to the idea of coming back.  We have meet the teacher next Thursday night {although we know and love her}, and then August 9th he'll be back full time.

found him during nap with his friends & his devotional

Reese has been entertaining Lofton and I with stories of his work. When we sit down for lunch or dinner he always wants to tell us about his boss, Mike, his other boss, Ronnie, and his friend Joan {who he thinks is a boy}.  Not only are his stories hysterically funny, but Mike is Lofton's boss, Ronnie is Lofton's old boss, and Joan was the credit manager at the Columbus store.

The best thing about the stories is that his work day is always "not so good." Mike seems to make him do these outlandish things like repaint whole buildings with orange paint.  In real life, Mike is the nicest guy.

Lofton took Reese to kickball with him Wednesday night so I could go to dinner with some girlfriends. The Wrecking Balls won and Reese was super excited to tell me that Lofton beamed a girl with the ball.  In Lofton's defense, it is a legal move as long as you peg them below the head.  We've gotten desperate the last few games and pegging people has become more and more of a winning maneuver.

Raise your hand if you think Reese will soon be hitting people with balls on the playground?

pinterest recipes

I have a love/hate relationship with recipes on Pinterest.  As in I made one tonight that was not fab. They are usually hit or miss on a pretty epic level.

I do love the ease of pinning a recipe knowing I'll be able to easily find it later, though.  I've really streamlined my grocery list making by being able to pull up all the recipes I want to make for a week and quickly jotting down the ingredients.  Who loves being organized?  This girl.

I thought I'd share two of the more successful recipes I recently pinned/cooked because they were enjoyed by Lofton and I both.  {The sassy tot still lives primarily off peanut butter on whole wheat bread, grapes, strawberries, easy mac, yogurt, and bananas. He's a simple guy, what can I say?}

First up is a really delicious sweet potato recipe.  I wasn't sure that Lofton would be amenable to these because he usually only eats sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving.  He recently had enjoyed some sweet potato fries, though, so I thought I'd take my chances.

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

I didn't actually pipe them contents back into the potato.  In fact, after I mashed I just put the potatoes back into a small Pyrex to re-bake.  Either way, they were delish. Even reheated.

Next up, a summer succotash.  

Summer succotash

Full of seasonal veggies and fresh flavor.  It was really herbaceous, but we liked it. I made the chicken mentioned in the recipe as well, but it was just so-so.  I have had a strange relationship with grilled chicken since I was pregnant.  Sometimes I can eat it just fine, other times it makes me sick to think about.

I'm cooking as much as I can these next few weeks because I know once school starts back I'll be zapped of energy until September...

monday monday

I slept approximately zero minutes last night.  While plywood floors are great for my allergies, they are not so great for dog paws.

Click-clack all night long.

Picture Lofton saying at two in the morning, "I think I'd like to cut their paws off."

And then as the sun rose, there was a chipper three year old in my bed snuggling up and asking for cartoons.  Good morning, Monday.

A little later, I went into Reese's room to scoop up his dirty clothes {and turn off his noise machine}. I quickly realized that something was askew. I turned off the noise and noticed his dresser drawers were open.  Hmm.

When I turned to walk out, I saw that his bed comforter was thrown atop his bed.  Since we haven't covered bed making in our chore lessons, I knew that something was up.

Yep, a quick check of his bed and I saw that he had wet it at some point.  I guess he got up, changed clothes, made his bed, and then slept for the rest of the night in the other bed.  When I summoned him to his room he looked at me and said, "Oh you found it!"


Silly boy.

And it's only ten in the morning...

dress shopping

I hate going shopping. It's not that I don't like to buy things,  I LOVE to buy things.  I just don't like the actual act of going shopping.  I much prefer the safety and peace of shopping from my computer.

This afternoon, though, while Reese and Lofton napped I headed to the mall.  Yuck. I needed a good, all purpose dress by tomorrow {all purpose = work/church/funeral appropriate}. Basically, I was desperate.

{In case you are reading this and attended Auburn at some point, let me speak directly to you: No, the mall has not improved since you left the rolling plains of dixie.  It's still awful. See directly above where I noted my desperation.} 

Since my mom couldn't go {damn them for living so far away}, I took pictures and text her for opinions.

Two things I learned:

1. Animal prints are back in.  Specifically animal print shift dresses. I can't wear shift dresses because they are cut straight up and down.  My body is most definitely NOT straight up and down.

See exhibit A:

I also wasn't sure about the appropriateness of zebra print.

2.  It's really hard to take full body photos of yourself.  Sigh.

I finally settled on these two beauties, lest Lofton think I ran away:

a steal at 50% off

can totally transition into fall with a cardi & boots, plus on sale

And that, my friends, is your pointless Sunday afternoon post.  Does anyone else take photos of themselves in dressing rooms? Surely it isn't just me.

picasso

Year after year my mama continues to put Jackson and I's old, school made Christmas ornaments on her tree at home.  It's really kind of humorous to see those falling apart, marker streaked, badly decorated treasures.  


But now I totally get it.

We collected Reese from his last art class today and were treated to a small gallery of his work.  It is precious to see what those little hands created.

first time for face paint

garden hands

butterfly

holding the snake he made and painted

If you need me, I'll be framing all of Reese's art for our house.  And crying over the fact that he's old enough to take art class.

an update + the zoo

I'd be remiss if I didn't update you on our dental situation.  It appears that I'm being out willed, if you will, by my three year old.  Last Wednesday, the day after the dental debacle, he asked for juice and fruit snacks approximately 400 times.  Since then?  Not a peep.  He's drinking his milk/water like a champ and eating grapes like there's no other snack on earth. Damn.

I have no plan B, so for now we are stuck.  I swore to Lofton that I would not allow him to have a birthday cake in October if he still hadn't gotten his teeth cleaned.  As usual, Lofton laughed at me.

Moving on...

My sweet, sweet Mama took Reese and I on a mini vacay to Atlanta this past weekend.  We hit the aquarium, the zoo, IKEA, and some miscellaneous Atlantic Station stores.  It was a jam packed two days full of fun.

As we learned in June, Reese thinks hotels are pretty much the best thing ever.  We pulled off the interstate in LaGrange to swing through Wendy's and he thought the hotel with the IHOP connected was our destination.  Please keep in mind we go to Lagrange rather frequently, as that is where Mimi and Big Daddy live.

Our favorite part of the trip was the zoo.  It was shady and there were panda bears.  Enough said.

Once we added in a carousel ride and some meerkat fun, it pretty much became the best zoo trip ever.

Reese was a champ.  Mama and I were exhausted from all the walking we did {zoo, ikea, atlantic station} Sunday and little Boo kept right up.  He asked a few times about being carried, but I reminded him that I wasn't big and strong like Daddy-O.  

Tomorrow we wrap up Picasso school.  I can't wait to see what masterpieces have been created...

favorite place

A few weeks ago we drove by Reese's school on the way to a friend's house.  Lofton asked Reese if he missed his school friends, and Reese said yes.  I piggybacked by telling Reese that we should go visit because one day soon he would be going back.  Reese's response?


Umm no, I will not be going back to school because it is not my favorite place. My favorite place is at home with my mama.  


While I wholeheartedly agree, that obviously will not be happening.  Come August 9th, my sweet boy will once again be joining his school friends.  I'm at peace with it because he not only loves school, but he learns so much.  Let's be honest, he's soon to be four {like it or not}.  School is where he needs to be.

With that being said, change is hard for both of us.  We love our time during the summer.  Even the really long days where Daddy doesn't come home for lunch and we fight for two hours over whether he's going to nap/eat lunch/run errands/pick up his toys.  I've started slowly talking to him about returning to school so that he can acclimate himself to the idea.  I've also thanked God {countless times} for allowing Lofton the opportunity to work in town so that I'm not the one taking Reese to school.  Small blessings.

All this to say, when Reese woke up this morning he had a plan to present to me.  He climbed in my bed as he does every morning {very, very early} and said he needed to tell me something.

Mama, I have a plan.  Since I am not going back to school, but you are, I am going to go on a very long vacation with my Emo and Daddy Buck, okay? I think they would like that.


This boy of ours.  Sometimes I'm just at a loss for words.

dentist

I took my stinker to the dentist last week.  And in his very honest words, "It not go so good."

For the second visit in a row Reese did not get his teeth cleaned.  This time, though, instead of quietly refusing, he put on a show.  It was complete with yelling {i'd rather take a nap!!!-- so random}, running down the hall, and rolling around on the floor.

Our sweet hygienist assured me she had seen much worse.  In fact, she said some kids act like that when they're ten.  Fingers crossed Reese will grow out of this soon. While I realize that other children exhibit these unfortunate behaviors, our child rarely does.  I was mortified and a little bit in shock.

As usual, he was unable to be bribed.  I've come to realize no amount of cohersion is ever going to work on him.  Nor threat of injury.  Do you know what he told me when we got home?  Mama, if you want to a spank me so you feel better, you can.  Oh okay, Reese, thanks.

Instead I made him watch me throw away his juice boxes and fruit snacks.  They are his two favorite treats.  He cried.  Lofton and I told him later that night that when he's ready to go back and get his teeth cleaned he can have fruit snacks again.  Until then, no gummy treats.

Tough love-- Coming to you soon on the next episode of Dr. Phil.

new floors + disorganization

When we last we met new floors were being started.  Talk about a process.  A long, messy process.

There was sanding and mopping and priming and sanding and mopping and painting and polying and cleaning...  

And in the midst of all those things, we obviously had to move out of our bedroom.  We are fortunate to have an entire bedroom unoccupied, so sleep was not an issue, but our stuff {clothes, shoes, hunting gear, furniture, etc...} was heaped in our dining room.  I don't deal well with mess.  

There was laundry piled on our couch, picture frames and candle sticks on our dining room table, and boxes of winter clothes in the hall.  My heart raced anytime I looked around.  However, as of today, we are finally moved back in.  It is glorious.  Everything is almost back in its place.  I'm am consequently feeling less anxious. The bedroom still needs a rug and some curtains, but all in all it feels much more us. 

I should note- My husband is a rockstar.  

Reese and I also took a little jaunt to work this week.  Let's just say, the mess in my house paled in comparison to my classroom.  I could have cried.  Our building is being painted this summer so our rooms look like a bomb detonated.  I spent two mornings working through the mess before I gave up.  I'm headed back next week sans preschooler.  He'll be at art camp right down from the school every morning next week, which gives me some time each morning to work.  Alone.

I love my sassy three year old but we need a little time apart.  Art camp is coming at the perfect time. 

carpet no more

You know what's fun to do the night you get home from a seven day vacation?  Rest, do some laundry, maybe refill your empty fridge.

But not us. Oh no, we ripped out the carpet in our bedroom.

Every night, for almost a year, I've gone to bed still feeling like I lived in another person's room.  Maybe if we didn't know the person we bought the house from it would be different, but literally I would look around our bedroom and see her carpet, and her fan, and her bedroom paint color still inside our closets.  And although we adore her, I don't adore feeling like I'm sleeping in a strange bedroom.  Ew gross.

We've been talking about ripping out the carpet for a few months now, but hadn't really formulated a plan for what to do with the floors.  We can't afford to match the hardwoods in the rest of our house, and truthfully, we don't love the color they are either.  Our long term plan is to re-stain them.

A temporary solution is to paint the plywood sub floor.  I've seen it done on various blogs and after a bit of research I think we are up to the task. The color has been selected and this weekend we'll be rolling it on. I'll also be painting the inside of our five closets {yes, five} while our clothes are moved out.  Goodbye mint green. 

I bought a new ceiling fan {on super sale at Lowe's}, which my adorable husband installed Monday night.  

I know it's totally a mental thing, but I slept better the past two nights.  My bedroom just feels cleaner.

And the Fourth of July?  

reese and paw paw, driving the boat

It was spent at the lake with both of our families.  We started doing this a few years ago, and it is really nice to spend the day with both of our parents.  Lofton's grandparents graciously host us all.  Reese gets to bask in the attention of all his grandparents {plus my aunt & uncle, cousin & her fiance, and Uncle John Lee}, and Lofton and I get lots of help with entertaining a very overstimulated three year old.  It's basically a win-win for everyone.

pcb 2012

And we're back.  Home, that is, with no plans to travel anytime soon.

We enjoyed our time at the beach with Lofton's family doing the usual things.  I did have a touch of food poisoning and Reese's stomach finally caught up to him after a week of "fun" food, but otherwise it was delightful.

Prepare for picture overload.

lofton's parents with the kids

sweet husband, building my dream castle

cousins

first putt putt game

feeling a bit yucky

my loves.  even though Reese has wet hair.

And my favorite of the whole trip....

Early one morning Reese and I sat on the balcony watching the waves.  I snapped this with my phone.  It's not often that my baby looks like a baby.  We are firmly entering big boy territory. But in this you can see those chubby cheeks and fingers. I'm hanging on...

And for an entirely unrelated picture:

Daddy graduated from radiation on Friday.  Oh happy day, we are so thrilled it's over.