Changes

We have had a few changes happening up here in NoDak country. Vance started school! I was worried about him adjusting, but it has been pretty smooth. Mommy is the one adjusting to getting up earlier - that's about it! Here is the happy schooler on his first day. Porter has his puffy morning eyes on!!
My parents came to visit in August. It was so nice to have them around. They helped start our bathroom remodel. The boys had too much fun with the demo!! Vance started whacking walls that were meant to stay! Apparently you have to give specific hammer instructions to 5 year olds. Safety first!
The first picture of the blog is of Vance's checklist. He was keeping Grandpa and Dad on task and organized during the remodel. Hmmmm.....I wonder if we have a future engineer on our hands???
Porter has been doing a lot of playing. Right now he would like to be a pirate most of the time. My sister gave him a dancing pirate monkey that never leaves his side. In the middle of the night I hear the "Dynamite" song booming from his crib! Thanks Brooke....so much!!!

I am excited for fall. It's my favorite time of year.....any season that gives me an extra excuse to bake with pumpkin and chocolate is alright in my book!!!!

Summer, Summer

It has been quite the busy summer for us......as summer should be!

We have had a lot of fun things going on - which I have NOT documented.

The reason for the neglect is embarrassing. - I got a new computer and just barely figured out how to upload my pictures. I probably should have just asked Vance. He is the only one who can change the TV back to cable after we watch a movie.

I'll do a quick summary - Adam has been working. WE have had 3 relatives living with us for the summer - V turned 5 - I turned another year older - we are growing a garden - AND - it's really hot and sweaty in ND in the summer!

That's pretty much it - we just keep getting older and sweatier!

I have some pictures to share of V's birthday party. He wanted a batman pirate party - I got him to settle on a pirate pool party instead. It was really fun!

Adam's brother made a really neat treasure chest for him( couldn't upload those pics for some reason) and Adam took all the kids on a treasure hunt. Most importantly we had ice cream cake - it was delicious.

The missionaries joined our little party. Vance has become quite enamored with the missionaries lately. It is so cute to watch him be so excited about them. The missionary on the far left is my 1st cousin. He got sent to our area for his last 6 weeks. It was so funny to see him at church on Sunday. I knew he was here - but he didn't know I was! Priceless!

V and his uncle D have close birthdays so we celebrated him as well!

The boys are about to discover treasure!!

Vance and his pirate party peeps!

It's almost Mothers Day....

...so I thought I'd post the pictures from Easter.
Somehow I managed to not be in a single one.

Is that short for Ace-a-rooni?

Here are some photos of Porter's second 1st birthday party. Adam got delayed in his travel home from a business trip and he missed Porter's 1st bday! Luckily - Porter had no idea and we had another party with Adam and our dear friends the Jordans. I finally made his birthday cake. It is a peepin masterpiece! Haha! I saw the idea for a sunflower cake and I decided to change it to a blue flower cake for my little one year old. My mother in-law thought it looked like a baptismal font----so funny! I am not a very good baker, but I think it sufficed.

Vance was helpful and blew out the candle. Porter had no interest in it.

On a funnier note, I took Porter to his one year check-up. It was disastrous for a number of reasons, none regarding his health.
I will only touch on one.
I had been wrestling him in the waiting room for about 13.5 hours and it was finally our turn. I was sweaty and on the verge of tears. In between fielding questions from the nurse and my 4 year old, the doc asks me if Porter" has had his left testicle before." That's exactly how she worded the question.

Excuse me?? Is that something I should have been looking for on a regular basis?I wasn't aware it was missing???

Trying not to burst out laughing like a 10 year old boy at the word testicle and telling Vance for the 522nd time that he could not have another sucker I had to confess I had no idea where Porter's left testicle was.

sigh.

She told me how to look for it while he was in the bathtub. "It's warmer in there."

The instructions were hilarious because I am still mentally a 10 year old boy. When we finally left I just sat in my car and laughed as I tried to call Adam and tell him of the missing member of the family. Adam and I like to communicate through a code of movie lines.
For those of you who have seen Failure to Launch, the title of this post will now become hilarious to you....or so it should. Porter officially has another nickname.

Ace.

It's unwarranted, however, because as of a few days ago, lefty is accounted for.

Face lifts......

Project I

A long long time ago........When Adam and I got married......were weren't what you would like to call rich. So we bought a bedroom set from a flea market. I hated it - but it worked - so we kept it. While Adam was gone for work for a couple of weeks I had some friendly visitors!! So friendly in fact that they helped me give new life to my sad furniture. Pictured here is Chelsea(sister in law/ furniture extraordinaire) !! She is giving a little vanilla frosting to my otherwise dark and gloomy dresser. She saw its potential and just kept going. The end result brightens my room and makes me so happy! I picked the crazy blue color for the knobs. Adam hates them....but they are growing on him.

It's not quite as yellow as it looks in this picture. The lighting in my room isn't great...but that will have to wait for another day!!! Chelsea also painted my bedside tables to match and they are adorable!! Thank you so much for sharing your talent with my saddies bedroom furniture!! Their self-esteem is back from the 70s!!


Project II

My mother in-law was so kind and found this adorable hutch for me when we moved into our house. It needed a little tlc!! Luckily Sonnie, my dear friend / furniture extraordinaire, came to visit the week after Chelsea. She and Jessie helped me bring this old girl to life!

I don't know why the picture makes my house look likes it's sloping down......weird!! Probably the fault of the photographer! sorry! But there she is in all her glory! It makes me happy to see her every time I walk into the room! I am now redoing some chairs and a table that go with the hutch! Pictures will come later!!
ALSO---Special thanks to Jessie for her help!!!

A recipe......

I have been slowly mourning over the end of "soup season." I know it will always come again and usually sooner than I think. I still have a little separation anxiety until the cold nights return along with my soup recipe stash.
Then I found this recipe that I believe will help me get through the summer. I just wanted to share it with you all. I've recently been opened to the world of food blogs and I can't get enough of them. The Sisters Cafe is my favorite right now. They have a FANTASTIC CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP. It is so easy and so delicious!! You should try it TODAY!!!

Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh!

My little Porter Bug turned 1 last weekend! How did that even happen!?!? It goes by so fast!!!

The 1sts of February....

We have had a crazy February. Vance lost his first tooth - two teeth actually. The bottom front teeth. The new ones are growing in and it seems so weird that he is starting that part of his childhood already!! He was so excited and daddy tooth fairy was pretty excited too.
Running out of loose teeth was a total bummer!!

Porter also had his first haircut. Nothing fancy - I just trimmed his mullet. He likes to flash his chicklets, eat anything, and empty everything and anything that is in a container. He is pushing his little zebra walker everywhere...he thinks he can run away from me with it now! Mischievous!!

Adam's brother Zach came to visit us this weekend. He took our first family picture at our new place. We are not color coordinated, but we are all dressed with our eyes open, so that will have to do!

I also wanted to add this picture of Vance. He went through a phase where he only wanted to drink out of mugs. They were "just his size" and "have such a nice handle." I made him wear my glasses for a lunch date photo-shoot. He was a good sport for his mom. This one cracked me up! (Adam didn't think it was funny)
I also bought my first pair of skinny jeans. I know - I was shocked they came in my size too. It was more of an experiment when I tried them on - but they were actually pretty comfortable and on SALE. We will see how long it lasts and if I wear them in public.