Thursday, August 26, 2010

Corn on the Cob

Last night we had corn on the cob with dinner. At first I didn't give any to Clara, but she seemed intrigued watching Jeremy and I eat ours so I asked if she would like some and she said yes.

I was going to cut it off the cob for her, but then I thought why not let her at least try eating it off the cob, fully expecting she wouldn't be able to do it and she'd get frustrated and throw it across the room (yes, she does things like that when she is frustrated).

So I cut a little chunk of the cob off and stuck the holders into it and she just went to town on it no problem.
Oh, and see that little pink thing that looks like it's protruding from her head? That's a hat that's on the back of her chair.


Partway through the eating of her first ever corn on the cob she decided it was a hat-worthy event.


Isn't she the cutest?

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Mismatched or the Latest Trend?

Clara has a bit of an obsession with shoes lately. She wants to wear them all the time, even when we're in the house. She's pretty good at putting them on herself, though sometimes they end up on the wrong foot or she has trouble and she throws a fit because she's frustrated.

This morning I told her we were going to the store, so as usual she took off running to her room to get shoes. I was busy getting the diaper bag and Lola ready to go and a couple minutes later she came in the kitchen dressed like this...



Even though they didn't match each other, I have to at least give her credit for picking two shoes that did both match her outfit. :)

Placemats...Not Just for the Table

You see that new pillow on my couch there?


Here's a close up...

Would you have guessed it's a placemat? Yep, it's a placemat.
I'll confess right off the bat that I did not come up with this genius idea. I stole it from someone else in the blogosphere, but I love it. $3.99 for a placemat at Target, plus about $1.50 worth of stuffing and voila! a pillow. Genius!

$30 Fan Makeover

This week we have started some work in our kitchen in preparation for the big cabinet/countertop/flooring renovation coming next month. Last night Jeremy gave the ceiling a fresh coat of paint and hung a new light fixture. Today we had to tackle the issue of the ceiling fan that was above our table.

Jeremy wanted to just trash the fan and buy a chandelier, but I was lobbying for just giving our fan a facelift in favor of saving some cash. I convinced him to let me try because I told him we'd only be out $6 for the can of metallic spray paint if it turned out terribly.

So this morning we bought the supplies and came home to tackle the project. It was kinda going to be my project for the day, but Jeremy ended up doing most of it, which was fine and it probably turned out looking nicer that way anyway. I get too impatient; he's the perfectionist.

So here's the before and after...



Total cost $30..... $6 for the nickel finish spray paint and $24 for three new glass shades. We already had the white paint that we used on the fan blades, but that cost us $1 when we bought it a few months ago. A brand new chandelier would have probably cost us $80 or more so I figure we easily saved $50. And Jeremy did say the thrifty makeover turned out better than he was expecting.

The after picture looks very white, but that's because we haven't yet painted the walls the lovely "village green" color that we picked up today. I'm super excited to crack that open and get some on the wall!


Monday, August 16, 2010

Hot Summer Night

This is what we did one night after dinner a couple weeks ago.


Clara played in our thrifty sandbox. Cost: $1 for the sand toys. I already had the container and we got the sand for free at Menards using a rebate coupon.



Mommy got to admire these gorgeous curls. :)


And this gorgeous, happy face!

And Clara played with our thrifty water toy. Cost: $1 for the sponges. We had the bucket sitting around the house and then I brought out a few plastic dishes and things to play with in the water. She thought it was great!



Children's Museum

A couple weeks ago we met some friends at the Children's Museum for a morning of fun!

Waiting for our friends to arrive. Clara didn't want to sit for a picture...


because there were these big fun balls to play with in the lobby.


Dropping pennies in the spinny thing.


Working at the grocery store. The girl does love to push buttons!


Driving the bus.


Even Lola got in on some mail delivery action with Daddy!


Splashing at the water tables.


Running in tunnels.



We had a great time and now we want a membership there. We'll probably wait until later this winter though, when Lola is getting closer to being able to walk. There is so much to do there we barely covered a fraction of it!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Pics of Lola

Some recent pics of Lola, in no particular order...


Those black things on her tummy are hair binders. I guess Clara thought Lola needed some.


Lola at her cousin's birthday party. She's not sure what to think about that crown.



Pics of Clara

Some recent pictures, in no particular order...

Using her foot as a phone. :)


Playing in the "johnny jump-up"
even though she's way too big for it.


Dressing herself in Lola's shirt.


At the neighborhood wading pool.


Playing at the park - a very favorite pastime of hers.


Sporting some pink pants with camouflage accents, courtesy of Nana and Oompa.


Swinging in Lola's swing. :)