My Worst Nightmare

Wellll...that might be exaggerating just a tad. But really-imagine in this space
a GIANT brown recluse spider...long legs, small brown body...Well--that's exactly what I found in Ollie's room Tuesday!!!!!!! I actually DID take a picture of it--but to be honest--that picture gives me the greebles every time I see it--I decided the last thing I wanted was a giant picture of it on our blog!!!! We've had many spiders in our house in the last 2 weeks. Finally, my hero husband sprayed for the stupid arachnids.

Anyway--the other news from our house is that I start school next week. I have been busy spending hours up there getting ready. I have to say, it is nice though, to only worry about half the load! My co-teacher, Amanda, is doing part, too. I only have to think about and plan for reading and social studies/science. Yay to Mr. N (our princi-PAL) for letting us job share!!!!!

Finally, Ollie. He is the loudest boy in the world. I'm realizing he has his dad's talker... He will shriek and scream for anyone to hear! It is hilarious, but very loud. I'll have to post a video sometime soon...

Welp, see ya!
(what movie is that from?)

Our Weekend in KC

Okay, okay. If you read Courtney and Tyler's blog (my bro and sis) then this will be redundant. But for those of you who haven't--here's a brief summary of our short weekend to Kansas City. We went to visit my brother and his wife, Tyler and Erin, and their cute little girl Addilyn. They live (for a few more days) in North Kansas City. It is actually a town! It's very nice--and they have a really cute apartment.

This is Oliver and Addilyn "playing" together.

Ahh, good times at Nebraska Furniture Mart...

Saturday we played Frisbee Golf on an amazing course just north of the city. I was carrying Oliver, so I didn't do that well...(that's my excuse...) I think Joel picked up a bit of poison ivy...again.


Sunday we went to a big shopping area. We ate lunch at Chipotle (mmmmmm!) and then walked around. We also went to an arcade (which I can never remember the name) and then to Scooters, a great coffee place.


Oh yeah, Saturday night we went to the Plaza and ate at a great Italian place called Boca's (there's more, but I can't remember what it's called). It was delicious. And our car stopped running correctly--so Joel and Tyler had to spend a while fixing it...luckily they have the "know-how".

It was a great weekend. If you want to see better pictures of the weekend--go to Courtney's blog link--she had some good ones!

Lucky Charms, Here I Come!

We tried cereal last night--it wasn't exactly a hit! Here is a video of Ollie eating...he didn't get much down, but it was pretty cute. We'll maybe wait a few days and then try again...

Guess What?

I got a shot today! In fact, I got 4 shots today! Mean mommy and daddy brought me to the same place as two months ago...I thought I made it quite clear how I felt about those! But, I do have 4 shiny band-aids...

On the bright side, that means that I AM 4 MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!!!! "Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday handsome Oliver...(I added that part), Happy Birthday to Meeeee!!!!!!"
Since I am now 4 months old, I begged mom and dad to let me try solid food. So, tonight's the night! Rice cereal, here I come! (watch for video tomorrow to see how that went...)

Random Thoughts

To be honest--we don't really have anything exciting to write about...but the "gassy" video has been on far too long. I'm glad so many of you enjoyed that...
School
I've been working in my classroom a few hours a week now. It's nice that Ollie can lay on the floor and just watch. He's pretty content that way. I'm job sharing with a wonderful friend this year--I'll teach afternoons, she'll teach mornings. So it's been fun to set up a room with someone else.
Random Itchy Spots
I have this spot on my hip--Joel says it's poison ivy--that itches like CRAZY! It's red and bumpy. That's been a minor annoyance this week. (don't worry, I'm not including a picture)
Reading
I started re-reading the book "Here I Stand" about Martin Luther. (the reformer--not MLK) I remember liking that book when I had to read it in college--and then Sunday our pastor mentioned something about him, and it sparked my interest in reading it again. It's so far been a great book.
Gardening
We have a garden this year that's doing pretty well, despite two April snowstorms. For the month of June, we had spinach coming up. It was delicious! That's died now, with the heat. (or the rabbits) Right now we are enjoying our tomato forest. Seriously. I pick 4-5 ripe tomatoes each day...and there's lots of green ones still growing! I'm trying to freeze salsa. We also are growing jalapenos (tempting to spell that "halapenos"), raspberries, green onions, basil and parsley. I havent' really used parsley yet. A friend gave those herbs (also tempting..."erbs") to us, and I've loved the basil.
Lunch
I just enjoyed a nice lunch of pb/jelly sandwich, chips and HOMEMADE salsa, and a peach. Mmmmmmm.

Do you smell something?

Listen very closely...you may want to turn your volume up...but don't forget to plug your nose!
I'm afraid this is just the beginning of these sounds! Enjoy! (Kendall doesn't have a chance in this house!) -Joel

"Holy Gleaming Cabinets, Batman!"

I'm not usually one to endorse cleaning products. As my family and roommate from college know, I can be a less-than-par cleaner. But while Joel's parents were here, they insisted I buy the Magic Eraser cleaning sponge. So I bought one (actually the Great Value brand--there are 4 for $2!) Anyway--they are AMAZING! It cleans marks off our white kitchen wood cabinets that had been there for years! I am a believer.