When One + One = Four: What We've Been Up To...

Sorry I've been MIA...There are just not enough hours in the day!!!

So....prepare for picture overload. I have no idea how long this post is going to be, but I have a feeling it's going to be a doozy. :-P Here is a little recap from our weekend...up until today...

Saturday - we spent the day in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois.

After a delicious breakfast, (Thank you, honey) we all got ready to go and headed down to IL for a visit with some friends and then to celebrate Christmas...yes, you read that correctly, Christmas at my dad's. It's more of a "Winter Gathering". LOL.

Before heading out, of course I just had to snap a couple of pictures - because that's how I roll. You'd expect nothing less from me, right?!?

<3 My Valentine Sweethearts <3

Cupcake

Our first stop was at my friend, Georgette's house. Georgette and I have been friends for a loooooong time. We first met in high school, but really we became closer friends when we both worked together at the Moto Mart. While miles have definitely lengthened the distance between us, we never feel that far apart. I know George will always be there for me. Not matter what...and I'd do the same for her. I've watched her son, Levi grow (when we worked together at Moto, I think Levi was 3...and now he is a junior in high school) - he is a good kid & I am so proud of the young man he is becoming. I love her & her kiddos very much.

Levi & Vadyn - She LOVES him!!

Right now, she's doing a bunch of construction on her house...(It looks great, btw, George)...since it had been A YEAR or more since I'd been at her house, there was a lot that changed. Like the ceiling in Zoey's room. The minute I walked in the door, I feel in LOVE...I want this for my baby girls room. Only I think I'd go a really really light blue instead of the lavender on the walls for Miss V...

She got the idea out of a Pottery Barn magazine and then customized it to make it their own. AWESOME!!!...and when you are standing in the room it is even AWESOMER. : )

While we were there, I went ahead and practiced up on my little girl "hairdo-ing" skills (Seriously, I am severely challenged in this department and could use any tips/hints/suggestions, etc.) on Georgette's daughter, Zoey. She was a very willing subject and sat so nice for me to brush her hair and give her a set of "Minnie Mouse Ears" as she called them...

Zoey loved them and told me she was never, ever, ever going to take them out.

A quick picture with our girl :)

After a short visit with Georgette, Levi & Zoey - we headed over to my Dad & Laura's. Even though I took a CRAP-load of pictures this day...one thing I failed to do was get a few pictures of my surroundings. Prairie du Rocher is such a cool little town - and I should have snapped a few shots of it, too...along with all of the other pictures I took...LOL. I'll do a better job of that in the future.

So...Us, Stephanie, Leslie & Zack, my step-sister, Michelle & her twin girls (Silly Lily & Morgan) all met over at my Dad & Laura's house for dinner & to spend the late afternoon/evening together. Let me tell you...while we all had a good time, (We need to do that more often, btw) I think the kids had the most fun. The girls & GT less than a year apart in age, but you can't tell...

Vadyn & Gma Laura

My Dad (aka...Daddy-O) & Stephanie

My step sister, Michelle...LOVING holding a baby again...

OUT like a light!!!

GT & Morgan (on the slide)

Silly Lily - being very serious here...
(This is her BEFORE shot)

Another willing hair subject!! She loved her pigtails, too!!!!
(AFTER)

Morgan & Miss Vadyn

It was such a beautiful day....perfect for a coat & the swingset...
(I love how Lily's pigtails are flying up in this picture)

I smile the biggest when little kids are taking my picture.

These two are trouble together...I'll tell you that right now.

Silly Lily, GT & Morgan

You have no idea what we had to go through to get ONE picture of the three of them.
Poor Morgan, she was so willing...GT & Silly Lily were going CrAzY!!!!!!

Goofballs.

My Dad with Vadyn & GT

Walking on the ceiling. Thanks Uncle Zack!!

Pile on Pa Steve!!!! Dad with his grandkids...minus Kyle. : )
Not the best picture.....but you I think you can really feel the mood of the room in this picture. LOL

After a delicious dinner, and even more delicious dessert, we hit the road for home. After playing so hard with the girls, GT fell asleep within seconds of getting in the car. He hadn't had a nap that day. The long drive provided a good nap for him, but then we got home at 9 o'clock...Guess who was wide awake. Yep. GT. Sooo....Gordon & I suggested to GT that we do a little "adventure sleeping" and we laid out the futon and popped a movie in the DVD player. Guess who wasn't falling asleep...GT...about 12:30 a.m. he got up from our little nest we had created and declared, "I'm going to my bed". HAHAHA So much for adventure sleeping. He is such a creature of habit. He is comfortable in his bed & that is where he wanted to be. I can't blame him. I was happy to return to my own bed for the night. : )

Sunday was another beautiful day, weatherwise...GT was outside "fighting robots" on the deck and made mention about his Mimi and Papa coming to pick him up. While I wasn't aware of any plan made...he concocted the story all on his own...Gordon gave Mimi and call and coordinated the plan for them to make GT's imagination a reality. Mimi came and picked GT up for a few hours and to take him to dinner and it was just Gordon, Vadyn & myself at home...

Gordon & I made the most of our day. I folded my laundry for the week and we did a bunch of other miscellaneous jobs around the house. Three months ago I would have probably slept the entire time GT was gone. I am so glad that I have energy now and actually get things done when I have the chance, rather than put them off...

Ms. Grabby...she will pull anything off of the table if it's close enough for her to reach...

One thing Gordon & I accomplished while GT was gone for the evening was switching out GT's toddler bed for a full size bed. (No...he's not spoiled at least by me... the full size bed was the bed that was in the room before it was GT's room, so the mattress had just been sitting downstairs taking up space) The bed that we were taking out of his room is the same bed that he used for his baby bed...it's one of those beds that changes as the child grows...anywho...GT was getting too big for his bed. It was time to make the change and we took full advantage of GT not being there to "help".

Before we got rid of his old bed, I snapped a few pictures of it I wanted to capture these for GT's scrapbook so that I can show him someday what he used to cut his teeth on...

So you know...he would never swallow any of the wood...he'd just shred it with his teeth.
We used to have bath towels wrapped around these areas on the frame so that he would STOP chewing them...

When GT got home, he was SUPER EXCITED about his new bed.
He slept like a LOG...and has every nap & night since!!!
(Please excuse the sucky iPhone pic)

I worked Monday day, then rushed home to do a "changing of the guard" with Gordon, so that he could go to work in the evening. Monday nights, I'm taking a crochet class with a friend - I am hooked!!! - and so Gordon & I did another tradeoff of the kids and I went to class. (I'm looking very forward to sharing some of my creations, soon!!) I was up wayyyyyy late Monday night crocheting...you know, while everything was still fresh in my head from class.

Tuesday, Gordon headed off to work early & the kids & I enjoyed the day at home. The other night I had written out some flashcards for GT of household objects. Words like: clock, door, bookshelf, stove, fireplace, etc - for him to place around the house. We practiced spelling the words and then he would place the card and then after all of the cards were placed, we went around and reviewed them. He loved the activity. The cool thing I noticed as we reviewed, was that he would look at the word on the card when saying it, rather than at the object. I made up this activity on a whim, but I'm sure it's something legitimate that will help with word recognition, spelling, langauge, etc. Score!!

Here are a few pictures from yesterday...