Maddie has really long hair. And I haven’t had the heart to cut it yet, so she still has some baby curls. This long hair can get quite tangled and she is very sensitive when I am trying to brush her hair. So I found a deal on a Knot Genie hairbrush. When I first bought it, I’ll admit I was a little skeptical about how well it would work. After trying it out on Maddie and not hearing any... Read More Read More ...

Back when we decided to seriously start potty training Maddie, we decided to get this toilet seat for our bathroom on the main floor. I loved that I didn’t have an extra seat to put on the toilet, take off and clean and I never cared much for the potty seats where I had to empty and clean it out all the time. This seemed like the perfect compromise. The training seat has a magnet on the top to hold... Read More Read More ...

A couple months ago, my book club picked The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. If you have ever read a book of hers, you will understand how powerful they can be. If you haven’t read one of her books, you definitely should. First, here’s what the book is about. Some stories live forever . . . Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories,... Read More Read More ...

Sharp Objects is my Book Club’s pick for May, but I had already started it when we picked it. I just finished it last night and really loved it. Here’s a little run-down. WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown... Read More Read More ...

This past winter, Chuck started the project of finishing our basement. He loves having a project and this was the next big one on our wish list of To-Dos. I can’t believe I haven’t done a post about the basement yet. I have tossed in a couple pictures here and there, but I am long overdue to tell you what’s been going on down there. Here is a picture of the floor plan for the basement. The space on the... Read More Read More ...

There’s a new link to the right —>. It’s a link to my YouTube page where I upload all the videos of the girls. I can’t believe I didn’t already have a link there. Someone was asking me recently where they could find all my videos, so this reminded me to add it here. Happy video watching! Do you get lost for hours watching YouTube videos, too? ...

For April, my book club decided to The Happiness Project. I had heard a lot of really great things about it, so I was really excited to read this book. Here’s a little about it: One rainy afternoon, while riding a city bus, Gretchen Rubin asked herself, “What do I want from life, anyway?” She answered, “I want to be happy”—yet she spent no time thinking about her happiness. In a flash, she decided to dedicate a year to a... Read More Read More ...

A number of friends started doing the 100 Happy Days Challenge. I thought this was such a fun idea and fitting to some of the changes I have already been making in my life this year. I saw it earlier in the year, but like most trends, I am a little slow on the uptake. So here were are, almost mid April, and I’m jumping on the bandwagon. You can read more about it on the link above, but basically,... Read More Read More ...

A few of my friends absolutely love Glennon. I read her blog, but not religiously. She is so raw and true and very refreshing to read. She’s not afraid to show her murky past and is a truly beautiful soul. Here’s a little about her book: For years Glennon Doyle Melton built a wall between herself and others, hiding inside a bunker of secrets and shame. But one day everything changed: Glennon woke up to life, committing herself to living... Read More Read More ...

For March, my book club read Maximum Insecurity. Here’s a little description: After three decades as a successful ear surgeon, William Wright, MD is bored beyond belief. He dabbles with retirement, but finds idleness infuriating. He has to do something. Then he sees an ad for a doctor’s position from the Colorado Department of Corrections at a supermax prison. Now that, he thinks, would be different. His wife has some thoughts on the matter too. She thinks her husband just... Read More Read More ...

Here’s the calendar of events from MOPS for the month. There are some good ones this month! ...

We went the the Children’s Museum back in February with a friend. She was a month away from having her second, so she was happy to let her daughter run off some energy! While we were waiting for them to get there, the girls played in the lobby. I got this cute video of Maddie pushing Dannie in circles in the stroller. I love the look on Dannie’s face! Dannie spent a good portion of the morning sucking down water... Read More Read More ...

I have been taking a bunch of videos with my phone lately. So instead of a photo dump, we have a video dump! One warm day recently, I took the girls outside to play in the snow. Maddie was having fun shoveling the snow and Dannie was freaking out every time she walked near it! At least I didn’t have to worry about her leaving the driveway. I have a bunch of sensory bins I used to play with Maddie... Read More Read More ...

Dannie loves eating. I took a quick video of her eating lunch last week. She wanted the banana I was eating and kept saying “num num num”. She was cracking me up. Dannie is such a ham in front of the camera. I am sure she is going to be our comedian!   ...

A couple months ago I wrote about my reading rut. It has gotten a little better, but I still have a few books started that I would like to finish. The first one I picked up that I figured I could get through quickly was The Death Cure. This is the third book in The Maze Runner trilogy. (The second book was The Scorch Trials.) There is also a prequel in this series, but after struggling to get through the... Read More Read More ...

Since it is almost the end of March, I decided to look back on my 2014 resolutions and see how I was doing. 1. Do :: I have been going to the gym a lot recently and I forgot how much I really enjoy that time. I go there to take classes, but once in a while I’ll get a little extra time there and get to walk on the treadmill and read for a bit, too. It has been... Read More Read More ...

I got a few new books at the library recently and came across a couple books I wanted to share. It made me think of a few others I like. If you’ll recall, these were the last books I wrote about. The first one is called Bugs Galore. I love love love this book. I am definitely going to buy it and any others by this author (I know there’s at least one about cars). They use a huge array... Read More Read More ...

We went to a Valentine’s Day playdate and I had Maddie help me make valentines to give to her friends (we also gave some to a few family members and friends, too). She did a great job with her own and with Dannie’s. For Valentine’s Day this year, we got the girls a couple small gifts. Dannie wanted to kiss her owlover and over and over. Chuck, as usual, picked out some amazing gifts for me. Look.a bouquet of kittens.... Read More Read More ...

Here are a few pictures of the girls playing with the gifts Maddie got for her birthday. ...

For Maddie’s birthday, we got her a new bed. Her crib was already converted into a toddler bed, but we thought she would enjoy a big girl bed. We got her the KURA bed from IKEA.  And she picked out some Doc McStuffins bedding a couple weeks before we got the bed. Here she is enjoying her new bed! She looks so tiny sitting in it. Looking at the bed from the door. Such a big girl. This is looking... Read More Read More ...