Bigger, stronger, faster....

Skipped out of work early to go to Best Buy because Christie was having withdrawals already and even NewEgg's shipping wouldn't be fast enough (ok, I didn't feel like waiting either if it could be avoided).. Got a good referral from a techie at work (bribes are paying off again). Got a LG 19 inch widescreen monitor with some high speed specs. 2 ms refresh rate, 10,000:1 ratio, etc. Still tweaking the display settings, but otherwise back in business.

There goes the last of my overtime bonus check. This and tires and a new printer. But it was worth it.

Going, going.....

....gone. Our monitor is about 99.99% dead on the display. Shopping for a replacement, but may be a few days. See you on the flip side.

Is this the one?

Does this look like the Nativity we had growing up?

Delicious!

I guess she still does like Cinderella, at least enough to LICK the TV whike its playing! Can you say Sensory Seeking?!

Fireproof

I hope this movie is as good as it looks. I kind of doubt it's going to come to the drive-in, so I may have to find another way to watch it. And, of course, I had a crush on Kirk Cameron back in the day, so that's a nice bonus.

Free Cookie

From Kashi

Rough evening for Elizabeth

First Daddy left for a scout training overnighter. Then she fell off her bed into a laundry basket, which isn't unusual and she rarely even makes a peep. But this time she busted her lip open and was crying like crazy. It took mulitple ice pops to make it all better. Then we got in the van to go somewhere (take dinner to a family in the branch with a new baby) but she hadn't had a nap, so was so tired that she fell right asleep and woke up when we got home...some trip! And we just had a rattlesnake on our front porch last night so I'm not ready to let them play outside right now. So with a busted lip the enchilada casserole and spanish rice I made for dinner didn't go over so well and she was already upset over the short nap/trip. Poor baby. But Mommy made it all better.

Here she is with ice cream, watching Cinderella, which she hasn't seen in months. I just had a feeling a visit from an old friend might help and I'm getting a little sick of Bob the Builder.

Wish me luck getting them both down tonight.

Elizabeth's word book

Elizabeth got this Picture Dictionary from ECI to help her with her speech. She has loved sitting with us and repeating the names of things (which is itself a huge improvement since she's never been one to either sit still for books or be willing to repeat things we say). Now she's starting to practice on her own. I wish I'd gotten more of her face, but I have to be sneaky about it. I especially love what she does for "hug" and "kiss."

Story about Blythe

My sister Katie's recent post about baby names got me reading the Baby Name Wizard Blog and I found a reference to this article about a guy in Blythe going to Margaret White in the 1950s.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91216351

Chillin' at the grocery store with Mama

Meetinghouse grounds

How about every meeting house yard? Look at the pictures I took at church yesterday!

Yep, we're in West Texas and there's an oil boom!

But, no, the Church isn't getting in on it (that I know of). That's actually a water well they're drilling for. Which is interesting enough. Do any of you have a water well on your meeting house grounds? Local leadership doesn't even know anything about it, but I don't think our FM group does a very good job of communicating, because they didn't know about the parking lot resurfacing the week before.

Anyway, the meetinghouse is very visible from the freeway and I wonder what passers-by think!

The 30 Year-Old Wagon

As sisters in Pyote we'll ride in the wagon
And Daddy will pull us around the houses
We'll go on the sidewalk and into the stickers
'Cause in Pyote the grass doesn't grow in our yard!

That song has been running through my head the past several months whenever we go outside with my old wagon. The wagon is almost 31 years old. I got it for my first birthday. Still going strong, even after having been used by my dad to haul engines and transmissions for several years. The license plate on the back is from one of his old trucks. It's been on the wagon about as long as I can remember. My parents brought the wagon with them when they came to visit a while back, and the girls have loved it since!


Elizabeth decided to take her turn pulling the wagon to and from the playground the other day. She hit a patch of stickers too thick for her sandals, but didn't want to admit defeat either. She resisted being put into the wagon, and in the process discovered wagon surfing, which she insisted on doing on the way home.

Climbing lessons

Ok, Amelia, you put your hand here and your foot up there.Now you try it! Go ahead, you can do it!

Tupperware cupboard

It had been a long time since I'd taken the baby-lock off the tupperware cupboard. After this, it's gone back on. Elizabeth loves teaching her sister all sorts of new ways to give Mommy more to do.

And, yes, different clothes=different days. I don't learn too quickly.

I made a beanbag!

Yes, one beanbag. That's all the girls have let me finish so far. I'm making them out of a couple of old pillowcases James' mother gave us. And by old, I mean at least 20 years old, so I'm using 2 layers of fabric to make sure they're sturdy. Actually, the plain green side has 4 layers, because that's the edge of the pllowcase and it already had 2 layers. The beans were given to us by a family friend trying to rotate her food storage when we were first married.

Very pleased with the prototype. Amelia is holding/patting it as she nurses right now. Elizabeth and I had a grand game of "catch" aleady (nevermind the fact that she doesn't get the concept of trying to catch it and she LOVES when it hits her...sensory seeking, remember?). One little beanbag and both girls were as thrilled as if it were Christmas.