Quality Dining Experience

Me: There are some very stubborn chunks of Velveeta that just won't melt in my dip.....Probably because it's not real cheese.

Link: Yeah, what temperature does it take to melt plastic?

Great minds think alike

(Earlier in the day I called Link from the office)

Me: I found the perfect $7.8M home for us today while reading Boston Magazine.

Link: Oh yeah?

Me: Yep. It's on Snows Hill Lane. I think we should get a discount.

(After I get home from work I show him the ad)

Me: So here's the description on the house. This sensational, custom designed 6 bedroom, 10, 814 square-foot residence offers exceptional living space including a gym, sauna, 2,700 bottle wine cellar, four-car garage, tennis court, lap pool, and heated driveway on 4 landscaped acres.

Link: Only a lap pool?

Me: That's exactly what I said!!!!

Well.....back in my day.

The other day my young assistant and I were talking about the internet and IMing and the like.

My wonderful assistant: I remember back in high school when IM came out....)

Man I felt old.

I am silent, hear me roar!

Part of my job as Office Manager is to handle employee disputes. Recently we had a dispute between two employees, both female. Ones name ended in "y" and the other in "i". I now have another dispute between two employees, both female. Ones name ended in "y" and the other in "i" (but not the same employees).

I was recently exchanging IMs with a friend about this to which he replied:

Names that end in "i" do not fare well with names that end in "y".

It's like they are fighting over the vowel sound.

But you trump them because you have a name ending in "e" but the "e" is silent.

I have to say, that was one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time.

Jakey's big boy bedroom

It's time to move Jake out of the nursery and into a big boy room. We've moved him down the hallway to a slightly bigger room and decorated in a theme of his choosing (Super Mario Brothers). He also picked out the lofted bed and tent from IKEA himself.

With him up in Maine this weekend it was a good time to get everything together and ready for him to move into his new big boy room.

Check it out:

Jakey says the darnest things

For the past few days Jake has been up in Maine with my sister-in-law Diane and his cousin Kayla. Earlier today Diane took the kids to York Wild Kingdom where they have all sorts of carnival rides and games. Apparently they went up on the Ferris Wheel and when they came back down Jake said he didn't like the ride, he LOVED it. He then proceed to talk about the "magnificent view" from the top. Di was cracking up at his vocabulary.

I've talked to Di a couple of times each day but Jake hasn't really missed us enough to want to stop playing and chat. We talked to him very briefly last night and then missed a call from him a little earlier this evening. About 20 minutes after he called I noticed we had missed the call on my cell phone so we called him back. At the campground up in Maine you have to walk away from the trailer to get a good cell signal. After he got my voice mail he walked back into the trailer with Kayla, stomped his foot, and announced to his Aunt Diane "Seriously? She doesn't even have time to talk to her son!?!" Di was still laughing about it when I called back 20 minutes later.

Jake has done wonderfully being off by himself. I was worried that he would get homesick and that he'd certainly miss Daddy but I guess he's been having a blast and behaving really well for his Aunt Diane. I am so incredibly proud of him.

Like mother, like daughter

Hannah has updated her blog from Seattle. Check it out: http://bananasnow.blogspot.com/2010/07/point-defiance-zoo-is-place-to-be.html

A very exhausted girl....and dog

Hannah stayed with my sister Debbie and her husband Mark this weekend. They have a yellow lab puppy that followed her everywhere but after a long, busy weekend I think both of them were completely worn out.

I love the fact that he's laying on her legs like Leo does but he probably weighs about 50 lbs more than Leo. What a difference!

Coast to Coast

I know that technically we've been separated by an entire continent from Hannah ever since she left, but it hit me tonight while both kids are off on vacation without us, that they are literally spread out coast to coast. Hannah is in Washington State. Jake is in Maine. They couldn't possibly be any more spread out then they are.

Lincoln and I have enjoyed a very lovely, very peaceful weekend without the kids and the only question we have is, "When can both kids start going to Seattle for the summer!?!"

Jake's first sleepover AND his first vacation away from us

Diane (my sister-in-law, not me): So, we thought Jake could spend the night with us and then go up to Maine with us for the weekend.

Me: Huh?

Diane: And no, before you ask, I'm not drunk. I'm perfectly sober and making this offer.

Me: You want to take Jake for the weekend? But you're taking him next weekend when we're out of town. Then you'd have him both weekends in a row.

Diane: I know.

Me: Are you sure you're not drunk?

Single again....together

Hannah is in Seattle for 4 weeks with Grandma and Grandpa Lentz. Lincoln's sister-in-law, Diane, volunteered to take Jake to Maine for the weekend with her and his cousin Kayla.

We're alone.

With no kids.

Alone.

On one hand, it's exciting to think how much we can get done around the house and in the apartment. No kid to stop and feed. No kid to entertain. Nothing. Just us. Freedom to work and work and work.

OR......

Lay in bed and do nothing. Spend hours watching movies and not having to clean the house, do the laundry, feed the kids........just like when we were dating.

So, what will it be?

2010 Tick Count

Jake: 1

Hannah: 0

Leo: 1

Skinny Living

Last week I mentioned that I let Jake go skinny dipping in the pool one day which he has taken to the next level with skinny walking around the house.

Anyway, here is a picture I just couldn't refuse when he was swimming. Pretty artistic, huh?

An Army of One

This morning Jake was picking out his clothes and chose his "soldier" outfit which consists of a pair of camouflage shorts and an Air Force t-shirt.

Jake: Daddy, do soldiers wear underwear?

Link: Yes.....except for Commandos for some reason.

More fun at the doggie daycare

Playing tug-of-war with Sam:

Chilling in the pool:

My new favorite picture of Leo

I just got this picture from my sister-in-law Diane. It was taken many months ago when Leo was still a very little puppy with her dog, Bruce.

Aren't they adorable? Especially since, as a rescued greyhound, Bruce is trained to chase little things like Leo and yet they get along so well.

IKEA's new satellite showroom

A few weeks ago we took advantage of the 4th of July sale at IKEA to buy all the kitchen cabinets and furniture for the mother-in-law apartment. We drove over there with both Link's pickup truck and my SUV. As you can see from the pictures, by the end of the day we had loaded both vehicles up with everything including the kitchen sink.

Now we're in the process of putting all that stuff together and therefore our living room has turned into an IKEA showroom. A very messy IKEA showroom full of cardboard boxes. We've been having to assemble everything in the house because we still don't have electricity out in the apartment and we've been working on this in the evenings. What you don't see in this picture are the other six kitchen cabinet frames that I had assembled and Lincoln had already moved up to the apartment.

So far I've put together seven cabinet frames, one entertainment center (with Link's help), two kitchen chairs, a kitchen table, a bookcase, a coffee table, and two laptop tables. Soon I'm going to hire myself out as a professional IKEA assembler.

Well that didn't work out the way I thought it would

Jake: Mommy, you didn't come look.

Me: I'm sorry Jake. Mommy was just finishing up something in the office.

Jake: It was just in the kitchen.

Me: I know. I'm a bad Mommy. Maybe you should get rid of me.

Jake: And get a new one?

Me: Sure.

Jake: Hmmm, like who?

Gee, that wasn't quite the response I was looking for from him. Usually when I tease Hannah about that she throws her arms around me and says "No! I love you. You're the BEST Mommy."

Sleeping arrangements

I've never been a huge animal lover and I've never been a fan of dogs but that all changed with Leo. I'm so madly in love with that dog. He is just so darn cute and sweet and well-behaved.

Not long after we got him we discovered he did a lot better at night if we didn't crate him. Basically we came to the mutual agreement with him that if we didn't crate him he'd stop pooping and peeing on the floor while we slept. As soon as we let him start sleeping in our room he magically was able to hold it all night long. Go figure.

And once he was out of his crate there wasn't anything to stop him from sleeping with us. We sleep with the door open because of the kids so he'd just come right on in and sleep at the foot of our bed. Occasionally he sleeps with Hannah and once or twice with Jake but nine times out of ten he sleeps with us.

Once again we have come to a mutual agreement that benefits him more than us....and yet I don't mind it all. For such a small dog he takes up a surprisingly large amount of room in a king size bed. The new agreement is that he sleeps wherever he wants and I contort myself around him. So far it's working out. An added bonus is that it has brought Link and I that much closer - literally - since Leo usually sleeps on my side of the bed, I sleep in the middle, and Link sleeps on his side.

Who ever thought I'd turn into such a dog lover?

Exhausted

For the past four days (and into the foreseeable future) Lincoln and I have been plugging away in the garage. The walls are all sanded and painted, the floor is down in the bathroom and kitchen, and we're starting to put the kitchen cabinets and furniture together.

The first thing we do in the morning is go out and work on the garage and the last thing we do at night is assemble stuff in our living room since there still isn't any electricity out in the garage. It's madness but I absolutely love watching it all come together. I promise to post pictures when we're finally finished.

Major progress

Today Lincoln and I sanded and painted the kitchen, bedroom, and living room walls in the apartment. We also laid the linoleum floor in the breezeway and hung up pictures in our living room in the house. It has been a VERY busy and very manual labor intensive day.

Below are pictures of the painted breezeway (which I did before work yesterday morning) and the new floor. We still need to put in baseboards and trim around the doors but we're getting there. The bench in the picture is one I found in a secondhand store yesterday for $20. I've been looking for a bench for the breezeway and have been amazed at how ridiculously expensive benches are. They're only a few pieces of wood but start at about $75 a piece! What a rip off.

I'm very proud of my $20 bench.

Into the vortex

For the past week Hannah has been in Seattle and Leo, every now and then, seems a little confused as to her absence. I was telling my sister-in-law, also named Diane, about this and she said he probably wonders what she did to get sent away.

We always use the side door of our house to go in and out. I can probably count on one hand the number of times we've used our front door before today. We did have to use it today though because I painted the breezeway floor with bond adhesive before we laid down the linoleum. Most of the day we had to use the front door, including when Leo went up to Di's doggie daycare. Lincoln was standing on the front step, with the door open, calling his name but Leo just stood there and looked at him. This is exceptionally strange since Leo usually just sits by the door anxiously awaiting the trip up to Di's house so that he can play with the other dogs.

Me: It was so funny this morning. When Link went to bring Leo up to your house he sat by the front door and didn't know what to do. He didn't seem to want to go out that door.

Diane: He's probably thinking "Is that the door Hannah went out?"

Working hard

I'm learning all sorts of new things in this process....including how to use an electric sander.

Hard working man

This morning Jake helped me paint the breezeway at the house. I will only be posting the pics of him from the waist up since he was in his underwear at the time and I don't need to get arrested for kiddie porn.

Skinny Walking

I made the mistake of letting Jake go skinny dipping in our pool one day. Obviously he liked it since he just asked me if he could go "skinny walking" around the house.

Love vs. Torture (subtitled: a very fine line)

Jake can be a bully sometimes but he's usually only a bully with kids that are older than him. He is really good with babies which led me to believe he'd be really good with a puppy. Unfortunately that isn't always true. He tends to love Leo just a little too hard. Jake squeezes him too hard and pats him on the head too hard but it's all because he loves him and just doesn't quite understand how fragile a puppy can be.

Tonight Leo, Jake, and I were riding home in the car together. Leo was curled up on the seat next to Jake and Jake was petting him very nicely.

Jake: Mommy, look at how gentle I'm being with Leo.

Me: I see that. Good job.

Jake: Just wait until Hannah comes home and sees how nice I'm being. Usually I torture him!

A difference in realities

Hannah is out with my Mom and Dad for the next month in Seattle. Today was the first day that Mom and Hannah went shopping which, I must admit, surprises me that they lasted that long. They love to shop together.

Hannah texted me to tell me they were going to Kohl's. When they left the store, she texted me with the amount they had saved (but not what they had spent). I asked her what she had gotten and she replied that she got "a pair of shorts and a shirt".

Not exactly.

According to Grandma she got five pairs of shorts, three shirts, a 7-pack of underwear, and an undisclosed number of socks.

Which leads me to this question...

Why did I even bother packing for her?

A big step

Here is a picture of Jake jumping into the pool for the first time! He's finally overcoming his fear of the water.

Meat Loaf (the man, not the food)

Thursday night Lincoln and I went to Meat Loaf at the Pavilion. He's not a huge fan but I am. My wonderful friend Melissa managed to get me into the "Meat" & Greet backstage. It was a great show and we had a blast.

Our little independent traveler

Here is Hannah this morning getting ready to get on her flight to Seattle. This is the first time that she has flown by herself and she absolutely loved it. She was so ready for this and so excited to be doing it. It was a long few hours for Mommy but now I know she's safely on the ground and in Grandma and Grandpa's custody. I know she's going to have a great four weeks out in Seattle.

Fun with hair

Last night we took the kids to get their hair cut. Jake's stylist had a little fun with his. Don't worry, it isn't permanent.

Eaten alive

Monday was a beautiful day and we spent most of the afternoon and all of the evening in the pool. The other Snow's came down to join us as well and we had a nice dinner on the pool deck before starting a fire to hopefully keep the bugs away.

Well, it didn't work.

I officially have at least 70 mosquito bites on my body. Most of them are on my back and shoulders where I can't reach them because I was in the pool and only my shoulders and head were above the water. I have 15 of them on my forehead, cheeks, and ears. Yes, that many.

I look like a castmate on Survivor. Or like I have the chicken pox.

Kicking it pioneer style (subtitled: TV can be good for kids sometimes)

Jake: Where's Daddy?

Me: He's over at Grandma and Grandpa's taking a shower.

Jake: Why?

Me: Because our boiler is out and we don't have any hot water.

Jake: What are you doing?

Me: Boiling water so that I can take a bath.

Jake: Just like in the olden days!

Me: Right.

Jake: When they didn't have any pipes.

Me: That's right. How do you know that?

Jake: Sid's Grandma.

Me: Who?

Jake: Sid the Science Kid!

Maine

Last weekend we went up to Maine to stay at the campground seasonal that Link's brother and sister-in-law own. The kids and I went up with Diane and her sister Donna (who has the seasonal next door) on Friday night. When we got up there we unpacked and then headed out for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. Hannah absolutely loved it and mastered chopsticks almost instantly. Jake struggled a little bit but once he started spearing them he was fine. He did, however, fall asleep at the restaurant because it was pretty late.

Saturday morning was incredibly sunny and almost unbearably hot. We say out in front of the trailers and just hung out for most of the morning. High tide was in the middle of the day so we couldn't go the beach. Instead we filled up the kiddie pool that Diane and Donna keep for the dogs and let the kids hang out in there. By the time the tide had gone down it was too cloudy to go to the beach so we just hung out back at the trailer.

Kayla, Hannah, and Jake explored the campground and went down to the playground and rec center. Hannah has her new cell phone so it was nice to be able to send them off with that and she would text us with constant updates. Once she discovered picture texting she'd even send us pictures of them playing to prove they were at the playground.

Saturday night Lincoln drove up to join us. We all headed out to dinner and had a wonderful time just kicking back that night.

Sunday we headed down to the beach after high tide. It was pretty much sunny the entire time with a few clouds here and there. The kids had an absolute blast at the beach and even I managed to get in the water and hang out for awhile. Considering how much I'm not a fan of the ocean this was a big deal. Hannah and Kayla hung out on an inner tube for hours just riding and waves and Jake ran back and forth in the waves like I've never seen him do before.

The entire trip made for an absolutely fantastic weekend and it was so nice to hang out not only as a family but with Diane, Kayla, and Donna as well before Hannah leaves for Seattle next week.

We really do live a pretty good life.

Maine - a photo essay