Philly or Bust

The last couple of days have been interesting to say the least. Rylee woke up on Wednesday with a fever of 102. The doctor cleared her to fly, but her attitude made us wonder whether it was a good idea. In the end, we decided to try it.

Add in the havoc of Tropical Storm Nicole just for extra fun. Actually, I'm surprised we even made it (and on time!). All the flights to Boston and New York were cancelled.

It was a rough flight (turbulence and Rylee-wise). And it was definitely the most white knuckled landing I've ever experienced. Explaining it wouldn't do it justice so I'll just let these two comments tell the tale.

Right after landing the flight attendant said: "and that's why we wear seat belts" and the whole plane clapped.

The gal behind us said: "US Airways, more like US Scareways." :)

At least we made it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Work in Progress

About a year ago I turned our bar room into a dining room (the times are a changing, right!), but I never got around to repainting and redecorating. Since I'm hosting book club next month, it gives me a deadline to work towards.

Yesterday I repainted our accent wall green and hung new curtains (pumpkin-ish in color) on the windows. It looks so much better. I still need to get something for the wall and a new light fixture, but I'm already loving it. Jon also needs to repaint his aquarium, but that won't get done for a while. At least not until after duck and deer hunting season!

I won't be able to work more on the room this week either, since we're flying out to Philadelphia on Thursday for a long weekend with Rylee's cousins! (I might not have time for blogging till we get back.) It should be fun. Can't wait!

Rainy Day

I haven't had much time to blog lately. Thursday night was book club, Friday night Rylee decided to fight going to bed until 10 pm (fun times!), and last night I just wanted to catch up on all the TV premieres I missed. :)

Anywhoo, yesterday was one of those lazy, rainy days. So what did Jon and I do? Make Rylee watch "Return of the Jedi" of course. (More like 10 minutes of Ewok scenes but it was nice to watch something other than Grease 2.) She knows the characters from her book so she was excited to see Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess "Leila." The Ewoks were pretty cute too...

 

By evening it was quite nice (and almost cool, emphasis on almost) so we played outside, took a long walk and finally gave Rylee her last birthday surprise: a power wheels 4 wheeler.

 

Jon got it from a friend and fixed it up a bit. Rylee thinks it is very cool to crawl and pretend play on. She's a little too small to actually drive it, but someday she'll think it's awesome. :)

Wacky Wednesday

I need to blog about Mickey & Minnie's Jungle Safari Adventure and our Keys Camping Weekend, but... I'm too pooped to do it. Instead I'll just post these silly pics of Rylee playing dress up of sorts.

The Littlest Librarian

 

"Wig"ed Out

 

Monkey Feet

You may remember this photo from when Rylee was only a few months old: all of us wearing our monkey slippers. (They were the first gift that Jon and I bought when we found out I was pregnant.)

 

Rylee never really got to wear hers considering she couldn't even walk at that stage. So when I saw these at the store, I knew they would be a perfect birthday gift. And it would be a perfect time to update the monket feet photo.

 

The best part is she loves them and wears them every day. That's my monkey girl!

Part 4 cont - More Gifts

Jon and I were working on a "big suprise" for Rylee's birthday. It kind of came about last minute, entailed way more work than either of us imagined and almost didn't come together in time, but in the end it was worth it. First, some backstory...

My Mom had a little kitchen cabinet when she was a kid. We don't think her parents bought it new (more on that later) so we're not exactly sure how old it is. It was ivory with yellow cabinet doors (which she proceeded to decorate with some stickers). My grandmother, the saver, kept it and gave it to me when I was a little girl. My mother, the non-saver, gave it back to my grandmother to save for my kids. Eventually my Mom hauled it down to Florida where it's been living in her garage for the past few years. It was worn and dingy and definitely needed the lead paint removed.

After I rearranged the upstairs last month and created this cute little space for Rylee's kitchen and play food etc, we got the idea of refinishing the cabinet. Jon worked for weeks stripping and sanding the paint off. He attacked the project so quickly I never got a photo of the cabinet in it's original state. I'm sure there are pictures of it when I was a kid somewhere. Here is how it looked once he was finished with the grunt work.

 

He found layers of blue and green underneath the ivory so again we're not sure who had it, or for how long, before it came to my Mom. Jon and I argued quite a bit about what to do with the cabinet after he stripped it. He kept talking about staining it and returning it to it's original look or something. I thought that would be butt ugly and wanted to paint it. In the end, we agreed on painting it: ivory and mint green.

The ironic part is the day I went out to start painting it, I read something on the back of the cabinet that Jon had never noticed. It said: "Sellers Junior Cabinet, Ivory on Mint Green Enamel." All that discussion on restoring it to it's original state and here it was the whole time! Originally it had been mint with ivory doors, but I decided not to reverse my idea. I went with the ivory on the cabinet and mint on the doors. More like how it had been for my Mom and I.

Jon didn't have it ready for me until the Thursday before Rylee's party, so it was a frantic couple of days painting multiple coats, but I think the end result speaks for itself:

 

*Oh, forgot to say that Jon cleaned up all the hardware and uncovered the Sellers brass logo plate which had long since been painted over. We couldn't save the glass cabinet pulls so we bought new ones in the same style.

We didn't unveil it until after the party which was probably more special anyway. Rylee wasn't distracted by anything so we got to see how truly excited she was with her "big surprise" and she got to play with it right away!

 

To complete the whole kitchen nook upstairs, I also bought a cheap Ikea table and chairs and painted them in ivory and mint to match. I actually finished this first and gave it to her a few days before when she woke up in the morning. She and Baby Elsie loved it so much they had to have their breakfast up there. :)

 

Part 4 - The Gifts

Rylee got so many cool gifts for her birthday, I can't possibly list them all. I guess I'll focus on the family gifts.

From GS & GC, Rylee got this amazing doll house. I'm not sure who has more fun playing with it, Rylee or the adults.

 

Her cousins each bought her a room of furniture: a bedroom set, a living room set & a kitchen. Jon and I bought her the nursery room set for the twin babies. Here she is with one of the babies on the diaper changing table. Ahhhh...

 

As you already know, Gaga & Papa bought her a splash table and a swing set (both of which she got early). My Mom also got her a baby doll that can go in the bath or pool (Baby Tubbles: renamed Baby Lorraine*). Rylee loves her!

*Jon has asked me to please stop naming Rylee's dolls after our deceased family members, but I can't help it. She already has a Baby Elsie (named after my Grandma) and a Baby Lisa (named after my Aunt). I think it's sweet so keep your opinion to yourself if you think it's creepy! Anyway, Rylee got a dog and a bunch of puppies with her doll house so just to make Jon crazy I named them: Gretchen, Taco, Charlie, Bandit & Dancer after both our families dearly departed dogs. But I digress... :)

Gaga also pulled out one more surprise with this pink motorcycle. Paired with her new pink lady jacket and accessories from Norah and Jess, well she just couldn't be any cooler.

C-O-O-L R-I-D-E-R!

 

(It's a Grease 2 song for those who are missing out on the joke.)

Part 3 - The Food

After the kids played in the pool, they ate their hot diggety dogs and french fries. They must have been starving because they were all so good and quiet. It was spooky! :)

 

After lunch, everyone changed out of their swimsuits so Rylee could open her presents. We had opened all the family gifts early (some before, some on her actual birthday, and some when GS & GC arrived) so luckily it didn't take too long. A few of the kids were literally shouting "cupcake time" so we had to hussle.

We put the candles on the big cake, sang "Happy Birthday" and Rylee blew out her candles on the first try. My mom missed the shot so she asked if Jon could light the candles again. Rylee immediately started singing "Happy Birthday" so everyone had to sing to her twice. It was funny! Here she is blowing out her candles (one of the times!).

 

The kids ate their cupcakes. The adults ate the other cake (it was delicious – yellow and chocolate cake with a chocolate pudding filling!). Rylee enjoyed the Duncan Hines cupcakes so much more than the previous milk-free attempt. She even had her lactose-free vanilla ice cream on the side. Yum-o!

 

Most of the kids were ready for a nap at this point so we passed out the take home gifts and called it a day. It was a great party. I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did.

Part 2 (Take 2) - The Guest List

**Weird. My post pics were up last night, but I guess they weren't working this morning. Maybe Blogger/Picasa didn't like that I put more than 4 pics in the post. Picasa only uploads 4 at a time so I'm breaking it down and hoping they will still be here tomorrow. :)**


Most all of Rylee's friends were able to come to her party and we made a point to take a picture of everyone in their mouse ears. Too cute!

 

 

 

 

 

Venessa even loaned me a pair of fancy ears so I could get in on the fun.

 

Last, but not least, the birthday girl:

 

*Jon, Gaga, Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Chip were there too of course. But since they weren't wearing mouse ears, they didn't make this picture cut. :)

Rylee's Party Part 1

Today was Rylee's birthday party. We had such a great day. I don't really know where to begin. I guess back at the beginning. :)

We spent all day yesterday prepping for the party: decorating the house and baking. It was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it. Rylee actually saw everything yesterday afternoon when she got up from her nap. She kept screaming "Mickey" and "Minnie" every time she saw something so I guess she liked it, which is the most important thing.

Here's a picture of what the dining room looked like all "mouse-ified." :)

 

I made Rylee a practice cupcake cake for her actual birthday and although it turned out cute, the cupcakes themselves were barely edible. I had bought some strange dairy-free mixes at the whole foods store (my sister-in-law makes them for her kids, but obviously not that brand - hers actually taste good). Since I didn't want to go that route again, my Mom spent like 2 seconds searching on the Internet and discovered that Duncan Hines yellow cake mix and vanilla frosting are milk free. Thank goodness!

Long story short, I made the cupcakes last night and my Mom and I decorated them this morning. We decided to change up the cake a bit from Monday to make sure each kid would get a cupcake with Oreo ears. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Cupcake Cake Take 2 :)

 

My mom also bought a cake for the adults to enjoy from Doris's Italian Market. It was yummy and cute!

 

This morning we set up everything outside and tried to make it look festive out there as well. My mother-in-law and I were working away when all of a sudden a small parrot flew into our yard and landed on one of our chairs. It scared the heck out of us at first.

It was obvious though, after just a short while, that he was tame and quite comfortable around people. And apparently he liked to party. He wouldn't leave. Here's Jon and Rylee feeding "Fiesta" some cut up grapes.

 

He roamed around the whole day and was a big hit with the kids. And except for the fact that he popped a hole in Rylee's favorite little beach ball, he was quite a good guest. He finally decided to bid us adieu after every one left and we cleaned up. It was nice meeting you "Fiesta." Hope you enjoyed the party!

 

11 on the 11th

Happy 11th Anniversary Jon! We actually celebrated last weekend and had a very nice time. Here we are posing for the obligatory anniversary date photo:

 

(We went for a beachfront walk and dinner hence the casual shorts.)

I always wanted to throw a semi-fancy party on our 11th anniversary, but alas that didn't happen. We will be prepping for Rylee's birthday party tomorrow so I guess that will have to do! :)

Tinkle?

Jon took Rylee swimming in the pool before her lunch party on Monday. When they got inside, she wanted to sit on her potty chair. We didn't think much of it since she mostly sits there and never does anything.

 

All of a sudden we heard the music start to play. (There are little sensors inside that detect when liquid hits the bottom of the bowl.) We were so excited that she decided to go potty on her birthday. We made a big deal of her accomplishment. It was a family affair...

 

Then we got her off the potty and when we looked into the bowl there was one tiny little drop of liquid. Jon didn't even miss a beat. He rolled his eyes at me and said, "A drop of pool water probably fell off her butt!" It cracked me up. :)

Go Vikings!

Are you ready for some football?

We are!

 

Cream & Sugar

Rylee and I were pretend changing her doll's diaper the other day.

First Rylee asked for the diaper "wipes." Then she asked for the "cream." Then she asked for the "sugar."

We always use "cream" and "sugar" in our pretend tea and coffee so I guess they go always together.

I told you that girl makes me smile!

Birthday Parties 1 & 2

Rylee had a great 2nd birthday today with two parties to celebrate her two years. The first was a small lunch get together with my Mom and Venessa. The second was an impromptu dinner party when Miller and the Froyd's came over to drop off Rylee's gift. It was a great day! Here are the pics to prove it...

Our favorite "Picture of the Day":

 

Eating her McDonald's lunch (a girl should be able to choose her birthday lunch after all):

 

Her homemade cupcake "cake":

 

Eating the yummy, milk-free cupcakes (yummy might be a stretch!):

 

Chillin' with Miller (in the new shades he bought her):