Daisy, Daisy

There is an old song that goes: (Imagine it sung by Veggie Tales characters)

Daisy, Daisy give me your answer do
I'm half crazy over my love for you
It won't be a stylish marriage
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two

Halle's version: (sung at the top of her lungs)

AISY, AISY gimme do
I HAF CWAZY
(unintelligible mumbo jumbo) mawiage
(ditto) cawiage
bicycle fow two

AISY, AISY, etc, INFINITY!!!

It's so cute and when she started singing aisy, aisy, I sort of recognized it but couldn't figure out where she got it until we listened to a Veggie Tales CD in the van. And she sings it constantly throughout the day- which means it's stuck in my head too. On the upside she seems to have pretty good pitch for a two year old, maybe she'll be my singer.

Paging All Gilmore Girls Fans...

...or people that like Amanda and me enough to care about this. Gilmore Girls future is uncertain. I know that in the grand scheme of the universe it really doesn't matter what happens and the story line this season has left much to be desired. However, a not-so-great day in Stars Hollow is still an entertaining hour and I can only think of one or two shows that I actually like since we only have 13 channels and out of the 13 there are only 5 that I would watch including PBS. So, if you care you can vote here to *possibly* save GG for one more season. Thanks.

It's spring time again and that means wonderful temperatures, beautiful flowers everywhere, longer days and wasps! I really dislike wasps. They're all over our backyard and make it difficult to take the girls outside to play. Travis is ready to spray poison all over everything but call me crazy, I'd prefer to try a natural approach first (in his defense he wants to try the natural stuff first too- but if one of us gets stung all bets are off). I suppose my Dad's natural remedy can be effective at times- he used to douse my swingset in gasoline and set it on fire to get rid of the wasp nests- but since our house isn't made of metal I think we could do some real damage. So I haven't completed my research but I found this and I think it will be a fun thing to do with Chloe. The article says to use a protein source for bait in the spring and fall so I'm thinking that I'll try peanut butter? It's a less-gross protein source than what originally came to mind (spam- yuck!). And so ends my informative-educational post for the day- thank you.

It is so difficult to get a picture of Halle that captures her personality because the flash on the camera makes her blink and that's always what I catch. So I turned the flash off and used the diffused light that was coming in the window and got several really good pics, two of which are shown here. Travis took the two photos at the bottom that I thought were cute.

Grumpy Buttersticks

Yesterday was such a grumpy day. Halle was rudely awakened to the joys of the time change to take Amanda to school- I know it happened on Sunday but she didn't have to get up super-early that day. So, yesterday she moaned and groaned and fussed all-morning-long. And when she wasn't doing that she was getting into things. While I was stripping wallpaper she got into my brown eyeshadow and was digging it out with her fingernails and rubbing it on the arm of the khaki chair. I-was-so-upset. Thankfully I could brush a lot of it off and Resolve took care of the rest.

Actually, any time I do something around here that requires a lot of concentration Halle destroys something. Last week while I was stripping wallpaper she got into my purse and dug out my favorite lipstick with her fingers and rubbed it all over my favorite green leather wallet along with the table and the floor. I still get a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about it. She gets in trouble of course, but I know that I'm at least partly to blame because I'm not paying attention. I can't expect her to behave perfectly because she's two and she's going to get into things. So I've resolved that I'm not doing home improvement stuff during the day. It's not like there's not enough laundry to do during that time anyway. Of course the evenings are super-busy too and I can't just leave all of that to Travis while I strip wallpaper. I guess I'll have to wait until they go to bed- I'll figure it out.

Chloe has been sick for the last 6 days. She had a sore throat and a fever but that is pretty normal for Chloe and she usually gets over it in a couple of days. But yesterday was day 5 and her fever was 100.7 still so I decided that it was definitely time to take her to the doctor. The only catch was that I hadn't taken the time to find a new pediatrician. We really liked our former doctor and really, who likes to find a new pediatrician or any doctor for that matter? So I looked on our insurance website and there were 4 pages of names. How are you supposed to figure it out when you have no idea who any of those people are? So I prayed and asked the Lord to help me figure it out. Then I saw a listing for a children's clinic in Cool Springs and checked out their website. And one of the doctors is from our former doctors practice. And I suppose I should say that Tisra found her a couple of weeks prior but I wasn't sure that I was going to go there. But I have to say that when I saw her picture on the web I felt much more comfortable with a familiar face rather than with someone I'd never met. I hadn't actually seen her that often because she wasn't our doctor but I really liked her a lot. She was very low-key but personable and and asked lots of questions and listened patiently and intently while Chloe told her a story plus her credentials are excellent so I feel comfortable taking the girls there. Oh, and Chloe has Strep Throat- fun. Oh and I should mention (just for bragging because it was cool) that I took Isaac to his Mom's office after the doctor's visit because it was time for her to leave work and she asked if we'd like to take a tour. A tour of what you ask? Well, it was just a tour of BIG IDEA'S STUDIO!!! There really isn't a ton of stuff to see but the studios design is very cool and there is lots of Veggie memorabilia and it was neat to see where the movies are created. Very fun.

So Chloe's new expression of frustration is to snap her fingers and say "Awww, buttersticks!" I don't know where she got it but it is super-cute.

And my final photo of the day is of Amanda dying her hair a couple of nights ago. She kept sculpting it into different designs and would say "hey, look, look. I look like I'm hanging upside down!" etc. So this one is of her "running". That's funny stuff.

What a great weekend! The Fadely's kept Chloe and Halle overnight for us on Friday and Amanda went to a show in Hendersonville so Trav and I had the place to ourselves for the first time since we moved in. We'd been putting it of since around Valentine's Day for this reason or that but we finally were able to push everything aside and spend some time together. We got out later than we had hoped because Travis had to work late unexpectedly so we got to the restaurant we wanted to eat at around 8:00. I figured that 7:00 is the rush so we probably wouldn't have to wait long but boy was I wrong! We talked to the hostess and it was an hour and fifteen minute wait which would put us actually eating at about 9:45- no thanks. So we wandered around and finally decided on Panera; good food, good music, good atmosphere, and quick. I can't even begin to tell you how relaxing it was. As much as I've wanted to spend time with just Travis I also really needed some kid-free time. We were able to sleep in the next morning and go out to breakfast. We chose a local popular "hole in the wall" restaurant- Travis' menu had been signed by Ashley, Wynona, and Naomi Judd. It was an older menu and since they couldn't get rid of it they just scratched out the parts that weren't valid anymore- cute. This was the type of restaurant that my parents would love- unique and country food. I wouldn't say it was the best breakfast I ever had, it wasn't even close actually, but it was nice to be able to try it out. Then we walked around downtown Franklin for a while and headed back to pick up the girls. We missed them and Halle missed us and told us so. Chloe didn't miss us and acted so badly that she had to go home and take a nap- sigh. I'm glad she loves the kids so much but she could at least have said "hi".

So yesterday we spent hours cleaning and doing laundry. Travis and I finally tackled our bedroom. It's always the last room we get to even though it should probably be the first. It had gotten so bad that I didn't even want to go in there unless it was time to go to sleep. I decided that it was finally time to pull out the clothes that I've been hanging onto forever but NEVER wear. I was holding onto a dress because it was $100 when I bought it even though that was about 13 years ago and was for a date with a guy that wasn't Travis. I wouldn't be caught dead in it now even though it would still be a very nice "churchy" dress. And I got rid of the formals that I'm never wearing again even if I could fit into them. And the suit from 1999. And the ugly brown skirt. And the button up shirts that I have to iron so I never wear them. And the pants that are too big but I hold onto them in case- in case I gain weight!?! That doesn't seem like a good idea, I haven't been able to wear them in a year. And Travis followed suit and got rid of stuff that he hasn't worn in at least a year- even though that meant getting rid of a nice Banana Republic sweater that I love but he thinks it's too big. Oh, and I quit holding onto stuff that I don't wear just because he likes it. We also unpacked a couple more boxes and cleared out a corner that held pillows and pictures. I put these great pillows on the couch. I bought them at Target before we ever moved. They were on clearance, of course for $6.24 marked down from $24.99. They didn't match the couch at the time- and are a little too fancy for the casual furniture we have now but I like them and I don't care. We weren't able to finish our room but we got a lot done and I was able to vacuum and I even made the bed this morning. We still have 10-15 boxes on the dresser but we're going through them and I'm sure we'll get rid of more stuff.

This is our new table and chairs set. It is much more sturdy than our last set and while I was sad to see the other set go (our first one) I think this one suits our needs a little better. It's smaller and you can't seat as many people but it gives us a little more room in the kitchen. I want to refinish it but I was just reading one of my mags and a designer was saying that it's really difficult to get the varnish off, it's tedious, and you can really mess it up. So, that's not even on the horizon right now. I could do the table pretty easily but the chairs would be pretty difficult.

Sooo, in other news, well not news really but anyway....if you haven't checked out the new Crate and Barrel catalogue you really should. They've got some great stuff and even if you don't decide to buy they've got some great decorating ideas. They've got a pottery barn, meets pier one, meets the coastal look,meets mod look. It seems like a bit of a departure from the other stuff I've seen from them even though I always like their style. And for the artsy set that reads this blog I saw this painting ideas machine the other day. It's great for getting the old thinker rolling for new projects. My thinker has already rolled to a project that I intended to start a few weeks ago but I've been sick pretty much constantly since then. I'm planning on painting a surfer girl motif on Chloe and Halle's ceiling fan. It's just a cheap little Wal-Mart fan and I have a picture we bought for Chloe for Christmas for inspiration so I don't think I can mess it up. I didn't get to any wallpaper stripping last week because I was sick but that's definitely my top priority this week. But since I can't do that constantly I'm pretty sure that I can get the fan blades down and primed today. I bought some actual artis acrylics for the project and I'm excited to use them. And now since this post is so long and Halle is screaming I will go and let you know how it turns out later.