Out with the Old, In with the New!

I have been back on a house-decorating kick. More like picking up where I left off...not a thing has been done to our house since my parents helped paint the nursery, way-back-when. I have wanted for the longest time to paint the entry way from the garage, half bathroom, and laundry room, but something about having a baby has caused me to not follow through with many house plans. BUT we managed to get that whole area pained (courtesy of a lady who did the work!) and I am now in the process of the perfecting the details of each area. I can now check the laundry room off my list...it is C.O.M.P.L.E.T.E.!!!

Out with the OLD....

In with the NEW!!!!!

A fresh and lovely laundry room, with good organization and flow :)  I am very excited to be doing laundry again.  NOT!  But I am excited about my pretty room. 

Who knows, maybe I will have some more pics for you of the half-bath within the next year!  Don't hold your breath...

What am I Thankful for?

This amazingly sweet face. 

And he was clearly thankful for mommy's Thanksgiving cookin'!  He couldn't get the food in his mouth fast enough!  Keagan was such a big boy sitting at the "grown-up" table!  We are very thankful to have had Josh's parents and sister in-law join us for Thanksgiving meal.  It was a very nice, quiet Thanksgiving Day and it was fun to start new traditions!  Hope you had a warm Thanksgiving Day filled with family and friends! 

(now I am trying to figure out how to lose the 10 lbs of turkey dinner off my belly and thighs...blah!)

Stone Soup

Today was the Stone Soup meal at Keagan's school and parents were invited.  Ever heard of the Stone Soup story?  I had, but couldn't remember...Josh had not.  Luckily, they refreshed my memory and enlightened Josh with a synopsis of the Stone Soup story:

Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. So the travellers go to the neck of the stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavour, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with carrots to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.


The one year old room was in charge of bringing tomato soup.

It was fun to eat lunch with Keagan and his friends, although he didn't much care for the Stone Soup! He also wasn't a big fan of his turkey hat...which got a leg ripped off right after these pics were taken. 

One of Keagan's friends, Reece, was fascinated by my camera and kept squealing every time I showed him a picture of himself!

Dancing dancing dancing...notice that he's surrounded by girls!  He's a Ladies' Man! :)

After lunch Keagan wanted to show off the toys in the room...he was pretty wound up!  We had to leave him to try and take a nap after that.  I felt bad for the teachers, a bunch of parents stirred the up the kids then left!!  (none of the kids slept, apparently!)

Sad Spot Chair

Keagan has entered his second year of life and even though he isn't two yet, it gives me grounds to classify his new ill-behavior as none other than "terrible two" behavior!  I know this will get worse and I can only hope that we can keep some control (and sanity!) as we dive deeper into this new stage of toddlerhood.  All-in-all, Keagan is a really good boy.  It's just this new independence and defiance that makes Josh and I stand in shock as Keagan shakes his head and says "no."  All semblances of our baby are gone.  We have a full-fledge child on our hands now!  Sooo...enter the Sad Spot Chair.  (for Keagan, not mommy and daddy)

When Keagan entered his new school I began noticing big-boy attitudes and behaviors at home that we hadn't had to deal with yet.  So I discussed this with his teachers and asked what they did to keep control.  They laughed at me and said that Keagan rarely needed reprimanding, to which I responded with a laugh.  "No, really. What do you do?" I asked.  They replied that other kids would sit in the Sad Spot (i.e. time out).  So we implemented a Sad Spot, and recently got a chair for Sad Spot.  And now I know Keagan knows what the Sad Spot is because if I threaten him to go sit there, he generally pipes down (thus, I think his teachers are lying to me!  but nice of them to feed me bull that my child is wonderful, charming, and perfect...because I really do think that of him!).

We don't have to use the Sad Spot Chair daily, but there are days when we use it time after time after time until he goes to bed.  Today was one of those days.  So, I took some pictures of him.  (the blog has been slow lately)  It's weird to grab the camera and start snapping pics when you are reprimanding your kid and trying to be all serious-like. 

Here's what you get when you combine:

1) Orange Chair (from The Container Store)

2) Little Piggy time-out Timer:

3) And a whiney child who refuses to mind or blatantly ignores you and might even throw a toy out of anger.  Said child might even hang onto your leg(s), follow you around the house crying as you try and separate yourself from him, and/or throw himself onto the floor and boo-hoo 'till tears spray from his eyes (I know, you are feeling bad for him aren't you?  That's what he wants you to feel.  Don't fall for it.)

Anyways, combine the above three ingredients and you get Sad Spot Chair: 

Pretty sad, isn't it?  Not really...I am not buying it.  I am a mean mommy, I guess.  But really.  Come live a day with us when he starts up his bad behavior.  You'll threaten and/or use Sad Spot Chair.  (and just so you don't turn me into CPS, this is an acceptable form of reprimanding.  I do 1 minute of time out because he is a year old.  Super Nanny uses it.)

Switching gears just a bit.  Have you wondered why I don't do monthly pictures anymore?  Well, a) it isn't as exciting as months 1-12, b) it took a ton of time, and c) Keagan REFUSES to sit still (unless he's on the Sad Spot Chair...and, well, you see how those pics turn out!). 

But the other day after church I wanted to take some "Thanksgiving" pics with Tom, our front porch turkey-pumpkin.  Keagan was in a good mood, so I assumed he'd do well...and Josh was home to help me get some smiles.  Um. Boy, was I wrong.  Here's what I got...

And since Tom the Turkey-Pumpkin was the only one to sit still, he got his picture taken.  (See why I don't do monthly pics anymore?  They'd all have the whiney face or running away look.)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So Wicked.

This past weekend was a Girls' Weekend in Nashville!  I haven't had a girls' weekend in a loooooooooong time...and they typically revolved around running and races.  So, Tassie and I drove down to Nashville and picked up my mom and Hannah, who flew in from Texas, and my Aunt Angie, who came from California.  My mom and Angie and I had been scheming since April about a girls' weekend to see the musical Wicked, and surprisingly we made it happen!  We had a blast...did lots of eating, drinking (except Hannah), shopping, laughing, and just enjoying a fun girlie weekend.  And on top of it all, Wicked is a FANTASTIC musical and everyone should see it!  For those who are unfamiliar with Wicked, it is the untold story of the witches of Oz (from the Wizard of Oz). 

  

A Hissy Fit

And other personalities...

Yesterday was a glorious fall day and I just received a parcel on my front porch containing new photography stuff....so I wanted to combine the two into wonderful autumn pictures of my big boy.  Ha!  Boy, was I seriously disappointed.  Keagan neither wanted to play in the leaves nor be photographed.  And he showed me one of his ugly sides.  I was assuming the photography session was a wash, but then I looked at the pics and laughed. 
I decided to blog the pics anyways, because this is my child.  And he isn't always an angel...in fact these days he is rarely an angel!  So to be fair to the times, I decided to showcase Keagan's multiple personalities... starting with the hissy fit he threw when we first started "playing" in the leaves, complete with throwing acorns and leaves.

Despite the hissy-fit, I did get two really cute pics... (oh and the boo-boo on his bottom lip?  He fell at school and skinned the outside and bit the inside...have I mentioned that we will be lucky if he makes it to 2 with all his teeth?)

Some playtime while we await Daddy's arrival home from work...

Oh My Goodness.  This boy LOVES his dad...it is so sweet.  When I told him daddy was coming home, he yelled into the air "Daa-da? Daa-da? Daa-da?" as if  calling to him would make him arrive quicker.  Kisses and snuggles for daddy...

 Exploring the corn in our backyard that was put out to attract critters :)