Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star...

Casey is such a happy boy! He goes around singing to himself as he plays. Twinkle, twinkle, little star is his favorite, but he also does most of the Wheels on the bus and trys for Happy Birthday! Most of the time that one just comes out Happy Day!

Having three children makes me forget sometimes. Their cute little voices all run together in my head. So I got the idea that I should remember Casey liking to sing that song and I thought, Okay I'll take a little clip with my camera and see what happens. I mean I knew I could take video clips with my camera, but always wondered what would you do with that??! Here's my first attempt. It seems to be moving around a lot, but I'll get better. I have such a poor memory at times, this should serve to jog it.
Maybe next we can get Emily singing Hannah Montana!

Casey's Birthday Party ***EDITED***

**I added this sign that Carter made for Casey because he did such a good job all by himself!**













We had a 2 year old birthday party for Casey, Sunday at the Library. They have a nice big room available for meetings, etc. It has a huge projection screen, open space, etc. So, we brought the Wii and our bean bag game; I bought punchy balloons and parachute men and we headed out. We got there early to set up. The kids hung the posters they and their cousins had made for the big event, I worked on the food and bean bag game, while Al set up the Wii. As he is unpacking the game, he says, "oh here is a present for Casey" and he hands it to him. Of course Casey opens it and then insists on wearing it!!! Of course Casey wore his new Thomas the train pjs from us the whole party and two days later he still has them on!!!! Emily made the sign pictured. You can click on it to make it bigger and read it. I thought it was so sweet! We had an Elmo cake because it was easy for me to create and because Casey begs for Elmo every time we turn around. He got an Elmo DVD for Christmas and he wants to watch it all the time. I finally bought another one so I could quit watching the same DVD over and over. He still asks for the first one 9 times out of 10! Oh well...Everyone had a great time, especially Casey. His actual "Happy Day" is Thursday. I can't believe he is 2 already! It seems like last week when we were being told "We've got boy parts!" when we were expecting girl parts!!

We love you just the way you are Chubber Bubs and we are so blessed to have you! Happy Day!

Life

The other morning I was heading to work and noticed my squirrel feeder in my haste to get to the van and get to work and I just had to turn back and take a picture! I love this squirrel feeder that Al made for me! Sometimes the squirrels even fall asleep after they fill their tummies and the sun beats down on the glass.

That's just life in my little yard in this small town.

What is in a Name?

My daughter Emily is 8 and she has a set of those five quintuplet dolls called the "Fivesies." They are like Barbies, only smaller. They came out about 4 years ago and you could buy sets to go with them like 5 high chairs, 5 rocking horses, a house with 5 rooms, etc. Em's aunt Amy started her on these and Emily began to expect something every Christmas from her.
That said, Emily names her dolls. These particular names are very orginal.
Pinky, Bluey, Greeny,
Yellowy, Purpley
The names coincide with the color of outfits they are wearing.
Obviously....
A couple of years back Emily wanted a baby kitten so badly. We had 2 cats already, but they are old and fat and she wanted a kitten. My aunt happened to find one abandoned in a gas station parking lot and asked if we would like to have it. I thought, what a perfect way to get Emily a kitten. For free!
She named him....
Blacky
Yes, he is, you guessed it, all Black.
Al and I were talking about how she names dolls, pets, etc. and how we named pets as a child.
Yep. I had a dog named Montana. We got her in, you guessed it, Montana.
At least we can say she comes by it honestly. And I am glad I outgrew that phase when my children came around. I think
Emily, Carter and Casey
are pretty great names!
Maybe it was Al's influence??

Did you Know??

1. I want a tatoo?
2. I went to school in Idaho for a semester?
3. I am an only child?
4. I hated camping as a child and now I love it!
5. I have a minor in French and want to visit France someday.
6. I love dark chocolate, no other chocolate will do when you've got a craving!
7. I love to write and would love to write a novel one day.
8. I never realized I wanted to be a librarian and now can't imagine anything else!
9. I have been a "crew leader" at Hardees and a telemarketer before.
10. I am blonde and Beth has reminded me that it is easy to be blonde when it gets you out of stuff.
11. I am a closet Jimmy Buffet fan.
12. I own Madonna's Immaculate Collection, shhh don't tell.
13. I was an editor of a creative writing magazine in college.
14. I love to roller skate ( I even owned my own pair when I was little)
15. I met my husband in a bar!!!

Volcano

We had another cancelled school day Monday, February 18th!!! the kids were really getting antsy although they would never admit it! Consequently, Emily and I decided we should do some "concoctions" with our free day.





Concoction #1 - The Volcano - Using 2 Sponge Bob paper cups, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup vinegar and some red food coloring we created our very own Volcano! It even blew the top off! We tried it several times in a row, so it must have been a hit!



Concoction #2 - Blue Silly Putty - Using 1/4 cup glue, blue food coloring and 1/4 cup liquid starch we concocted Blue Silly Putty. The big draw back here was the blue turned our hands blue!



Casey's Concoction - As we needed to keep Casey out of what we were doing, I gave Casey, flour, water, spoons and measuring cup to "concoct" his own creation!



Our fun concoctions made the day go better and more fun! We even made it upstairs and cleaned out Emily's closet a little bit! We can see floor in her room!! Amazing! Little by little we will get there....

Whim

Al went to pick up our new camper Saturday a.m. early!!! Yay!! I can't wait to camp; I wish this 15 below would stop already!! Anyway, he convinced our neighbor to ride along with him so he didn't have to go by himself and I didn't have to go with him!! Yay again!!! I was not looking forward to taking 3 children 2 hours in the truck (close quarters) and stopping for 1/2 hour then riding 2 hours again!! Especially when we had talked about Grandma's house all week!!!

Here are a couple of pics of the inside!



We even get a toilet!

Since my neighbor was keeping Al company on the drive, his wife, Janet, who I believe was joking at the time, says to me, "So Stacey, what should we paint in your house while the guys are gone?" Little did she know that I had been thinking about this for a year or more and that I make decisions better under pressure! Needless to say...I went uptown to the lumber yard with 30 minutes to spare and bought paint!!! I was only going to start with one wall....You know how things go, you've got great help and things are going well, you are excited, etc. I actually called the guy at the lumber yard and asked him to go back up and make me another gallon later that day and we painted the entire living room/dining room! We painted a while in the afternoon, then stopped and went to my parents for supper and a slide show of baby Stacey (fun, fun, thanks mom and dad!) and then came home and painted from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.Wow!!! When I finally got up around 9 a.m. Al and I looked at it and talked some more and then decided to change 1 wall's color so Janet came back over and we painted more and then rearranged the whole room!!



Boy what a difference a little paint and changing things up can do!! (Since we changed, I actually ran out of paint again and so behind the computer desk still needs painting, but the rest of the room is awesome!) My house had been the same color, Angel Hair (fancy name for off-white), the whole time we had lived here, about 10 years!! It deserved a change. And I LOVE it!!
So, that's what a great neighbor and a whim can do for you!! Thanks Janet!!