Another cute comment...

It has been super rainy here. We've pretty much had crap weather since...ummm...like October - with the exception of literally just a spattering of sunny days here and there. This last Tuesday was one of those rare, sunny days. So, with more rain in the forecast, Andrew decided to make the most of it and set up the sprinkler under the trampoline for some fun in the sun.

Andrew's little friend, Jillian, had come over to play with him. He asked her if she wanted to run back home and get her swim suit so she could play in the water with him. Jillian lives just across the street so of course she ran home excited.

I was doing who-knows-what around the house and after a while I went outside to check on them, assuming Jillian was already back.

When I got outside, Andrew was jumping on the trampoline all by himself...no Jillian.

Me: "Andrew, was Jillian going to come back and play with you?"

Andrew: "Oh yeah, it just takes women a long time to put their swim suits on."

Women???

Jillian is 8.

And besides, he better get used to it. We women take a long time to do just about everything.

Cute Comment

Andrew has some really great neighbor friends. Seriously great. Two of his best friends are a brother-sister duo, little "Gracie" and "Brycie". Bryce is considerably younger than Andrew but Andrew just eats him up because it's like having a little brother around...something he has desperately wanted for a long time.

Bryce is an adorable little man, with big eyes and squooshy cheeks and such a cute little voice. A couple of days ago he was over at our house with his sister and they played and played for a good part of the day. I desperately needed to get to the store to get a few things for dinner, so I let Andrew know that we would need to send the kids home in a little bit and run a few quick errands. He whined and grumped like a typical 9 year old and, with his head back and his eyes rolling upwards, said..."I dooooon't want to go, why do we have to go?"

Before I could say anything, little "Brycie" walked straight up to Andrew, looked up at him with his puffy cheeks and big eyes and said, very matter of factly..."because your mom said so."

He took the words right out of my mouth.

Quote of the Day by Andrew

Disclaimer - this entire conversation was a little inapropriate...fair warning.

The other day, Andrew and his dad were throwing a small, rubber bouncy ball back and forth to each other in the living room. On one of the throws, Tim wacked Andrew on the upper part of his leg...not too far from you-know-where.

Of course, Andrew did the normal man-flinch reaction when flying objects come any where near there.

Andrew's eyes got big and he smiled and said:

Andrew: "Whooooa, that hit me on the leg!!"

I leaned over to Tim and said under my breath...

Liv: "Good thing it didn't hit him on the third leg."

I didn't think Andrew could hear me. And certainly if he did he wouldn't get it, right? Sometimes I forget that he is 9 years old now, and he can process things in that brain of his.

Of course, he did hear me.

Tim rolled his eyes at me in disgust for saying such things with small ears in the room.

We waited...trying to pretend I hadn't said anything.

I looked up at Andrew and could see the wheels turning.

Then his eyes got really big...the light bulb had gone on.

Andrew: "I think the third leg isn't even long enough to touch the ground."

Bingo.

New Floors

Before

While Aaron and my mom were here in February, I got a major hankering to tear my nasty green carpet out. My mom was supposed to be on vacation and I think she started panting and hyperventilating when I mentioned my desires to her. Aaron is super mellow and just goes with the flow so I don't think he cared what we did. They were both super good sports though and helped me with the tearing out...sort of.



It was a bigger job than I had anticipated, even for a little house. So we got the carpet out, went on our ski trip and left it at that for a few days so they could enjoy the rest of their vacation.

After Aaron had gone back home, we got started on the new flooring. We got the dining room in pretty quick with the help of my brother in law, who just happened to be in town for some grocery shopping or something like that, and Tim was home so there were lots of extra hands. After that, it was pretty much up to me to finish the job...my mom headed back up to Plains to make the most beautiful prom dress you've ever seen...and Tim, well he works like 27 hours a day so he helped when he could...

Progress

I kind of prefer to work alone anyways. It's just really exhausting putting a floor in by yourself. Lots of up and down, up and down, down to measure, up to cut, down to lay, uuuggghhhhh. I don't think I will be doing this again anytime soon.

But seriously, who could bring sexy back better than me with this getup?

Notice the duct tape on the knuckles?



Next project...painting my kitchen cabinets. I can't wait!!!

PS. I still do not have any official 'after' pictures. Coming soon.

Ski Day

Back in February my brother, Aaron, came out from Seattle for a visit. My mom, who winters down in Sierra Vista, AZ, also came up. She was actually up for about a month housesitting for my aunt and uncle. Anyway, our grand plan...to do a ski trip! We didn't get crap for snow this year, but it was still fun. Seriously, it's impossible to NOT have fun when you have Uncle Aaron and Grandma Sue around. Tim had to work, the poor sucker. So it was just me, Andrew, mom, Aaron, and we stole Maddy away too.



And it's tradition whenever we go to Blacktail to hit Dairy Queen at the bottom of the mountain. Mmmmmm...blizzards.


Just chillaxin' at my aunt & uncles house in Plains the next day...

Uncle Aaron and Lexie

3 of the 6 siblings...Aaron, Nikole, me

Pinewood Derby 2010

Andrew had his Pinewood Derby back in March. He came in 1st place at his pack meet this year! How cool is that? Even cooler is that his cousin, Jackson, came in second place.



(What the heck? Did I actually let my child go out in public with his hair like that?)



Then he got to go to the district race at the mall the following weekend.


Andrew named his car 'The Flame Mobile'.


He came in 8th place at Districts. Not too shabby! He had a great time this year. Last year, he didn't understand the concept of competition and that other kids might actually beat him. This year was a lot better for him, knowing what to expect and understandning that, yes, it is fair if someone else kicks your butt.

Best Friends

I love it when two best friends have a conversation kind of like this on a beautiful, sunny afternoon...

Ben: "Hey Andy, do you want to go burn ants?"

Andrew: "Sure!"

Ben: "Can I run home real quick to get my own magnifying glass? Do you want to burn stuff at your house or at my house?"

CLASSIC!