Uh. Oh.

Tell me to get these awful thoughts out of my head.

Tell me to stop looking into those BIG, BLUE, BEAUTIFUL eyes.

I'm turning to puddy.

Hurry. Run away. And don't look back.










No, Evan. You cannot have a puppy.
(sniff, gulp, choke, gasp for air, sigh...that wasn't too bad)

Seriously. Now.

What little girl wouldn't want to play in this room?

Notice the new Eiffel Tower vinyl. Thanks, Delilas. We LOVE it!

Anna is really enjoying having Becky around. Geeeesshhh...makes me almost wonder if Anna needs a sister...





This is a joke.

Photos Galore

It is too hard to capture every moment and every memory in just a few photos. The run down on Florida is that we had a blast. A BLAST. From Sea World to the beach and Kennedy Space Center to the water park--it was all a good time. We really enjoyed spending time with the Beatty family and would definitely vacation with them again (unless we scared them from ever wanting to vacation with us)!!!

So, here are a few (or 180) pics to show you how much fun we did have!!!

Leo

Did you know that my husband has a secret talent?

He is The Master at the Wiggle Wire.

The "what?" you ask...

The very tricky carnival game that is supposedly extremely difficult to win...which is why the prizes are always the biggest AND the best.And which is why we now own a HUGE stuffed turtle...
Which of course was immediately named Leonardo...

Which of course was promptly dressed the part once we returned home...
Welcome home, Leo!

New necklaces.

Nothing made me more excited then watching my nieces LOVE their new necklaces. I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of Kira's necklace or a picture of Taylor and Kira wearing them together!
Oh well.

Dear Leah and Laura,

Why was I such a whimp about the toilet bowl ride?

Loved it! Went on it twice with my kids!

Andrea

Sweet.

**Pre-posting**

Evan was so excited to celebrate his birthday at school!!! He decided he wanted rainbow sprinkled cupcakes and that he HAD to have a blue one.We are in Florida today for Evan's actual birthday. He will be having breakfast with Elmo and friends and his "best girlfriend" at Sea World. I'm sure it will be a fun and special day for him!!

We are so proud of our Evan and how much he has "grown" over the past year! He is so loving, so moody, so sweet and so kind. Happy Birthday, Ev!

K

I thought craft Saturday was a success, but now I'm left with 3 unfinished projects!!! I did, however, just finish my "trash to treasure" project. Thanks, Melanie for pulling this one together. I love my "K" and all of it's meaningful junk!

(Eiffel tower, charm from Grams Chiapelli given at our wedding, a trumpet, guitar, house key, keyboard key, triskel, hair bow, hidden mickey, a teardrop,...all significant things to our family.)

Next up is my ottoman...I can't wait to finish that one!

TOOT! TOOT!

Eeeeeeekkkkkkk....In the world of digital scrapbooking there are only a few things that could make me squeal. One is being recognized on the blog Gallery Standouts...

Check out my cheesy, lovey-dovey layout here. And you can buy this fabulous-o kit made by the even more fabulous-oo Erica Zane here.

Pssssttt...Pass it on...WAAD

This is in honor of our friend Grant. Coming from the field of Early Intervention, I know that early detection can make a difference. Please make yourself aware.



Watch for the Red Flags of Autism

(The following red flags may indicate a child is at risk for atypical development, and is in need of an immediate evaluation.)

In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” often referred to as “red flags,” that indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your pediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:

• No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter

• No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter

• No babbling by 12 months

• No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months

• No words by 16 months

• No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months

• Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

*This information has been provided by First Signs, Inc. ©2001-2005. Reprinted with permission. For more information about recognizing the early signs of developmental and behavioral disorders, please visit http://www.firstsigns.org or the Centers for Disease Control at www.cdc.gov/actearly.

I don't know...

...but maybe toilet water does something special for your hair?

(my charming daughter, washing her hair)

On the Road again

Have I ever mentioned that I do NOT love road trips? I used to love them...when I didn't have kids. Now the thought of riding in a car for 13 + hours with four kids, whining, movies, etc...brings on a migraine.

I'm sure it won't be as bad as I envision and that I'll be happy once I'm in sunny Florida, but in the meantime, I'm going to grump and complain my little heart out.

Pray that I survive and that my family survives me!!

Brat Pack

With the arrival of spring finally here, we have seen an abundance of children gravitating towards our back yard. I'm sure a huge, cut down tree is part of the appeal!

I am so grateful my children love to play outside. And that they have their pick of friends to play with. And if that means broken toys (i.e. swings, light sabers, golf clubs, hockey sticks,...to name a few), so be it.

As long as they are being safe, having fun and being kind to each other, they can play at our house all they want.




P.S. We will be having a family night, though, on outside rules. When the hockey stick breaks because it's being used as a sword, I'm not as okay with that!

New Things

Some people wonder why I would spend so much time making these, but I just love these Cupcake Pops!! Aren't they the cutest? I made them for Leslie's shower today. The chocolate ones were YUMMY. The cherry vanilla ones were okay, but chocolate is more my taste. I found this idea on a fun baking blog, Bakerella. She even shows you how to make the cutest Hello Kitty Pops.
I see an Anna birthday party favor in the works!

My next new thing...

I have been oooooing and ahhhhing over the hand stamped jewelry at Etsy for months now.
And I've finally pulled it together and gotten myself the basic supplies!! Just in time for craft day on Saturday!! This morning I made this necklace for Leslie and it took only 10 minutes (seriously)!
It's on a 1" metal blank with a crystal charm. I love how it turned out and how simple it was. At craft day we'll be making the metal charms, crystal charms and the birds nest (from the Etsy photo). I can't wait.

And Rob just bought his own new toy...
Would anyone like some firewood?

Sticker Collection

Did you ever have a sticker collection when you were growing up?

I did. Scratch n' Sniff stickers. Puffy stickers. All kept nicely in a little sticker album.

Evan and Anna started their very own sticker collection today all by themselves. Not only once, but twice!!And the only joy I find in this...when they are older, I'll get to embarrass them like crazy!!

I have a problem...

I, too, have an addiction...to my laptop.

He crashed last night. Big time.

As we speak, he is on an airplane to San Diego with Rob because not even my computer whiz husband could figure out what happened.

I feel like my two best friends have been taken away from me.

Everything non-important to my life is on that laptop. My survival for when Rob is gone is all on that laptop.

I'm already feeling boredom settling in.








P.S. I'm actually kind of looking forward to getting some other things done this week. Like painting Evan's bedroom. That should keep me busy. Or maybe I'll mop the kitchen floor. Yeah right...that's pointless.

Confessions of a Chocoholic

Someone in our family has a problem and it's a very serious one.

He needs help.

Ready to prepare some favors for an event that I'm responsible for, I went to retrieve my hidden stash of bargain chocolates (bought them at an incredible price--I'm on a strict budget here). But to my dismay I found that 3 of the 4 bags had secretly been demolished over the past 3 weeks.

The first step is admitting that you have a problem.

He has done this (after much ranting and raving on my part). I think I even heard the words, "You are right." (WooHoo--I love those words)

But now what? I have tried to curb this problem over the years, but it is obviously out of my control. I'm at a loss. What should I do?







P.S. To those who think I am being absolutely cruel to my husband for outing him in this manner, I say..."Whatever." My next post will be about some fault of my own...now if I could only decide which one to chose!

Jared's turn

Well, the paparrazi was out in full force last night as the 1st graders put on their "Under the Sea" performance.

Unfortunately, most of our photos turned out like this...as cameras kept popping up in the middle of my shot!

Jared was such a hoot to watch! This kid has so much energy and enthusiasm!!! Definitely a ham! I almost feared the crazy antics that Jared and his buddy on the left could come up with...trouble makers in disguise. I seriously don't understand why his teachers keep saying he is quiet. I guess he knows how to put on the "good boy charm" when the teacher is around because he was the farthest thing from shy or quiet last night!!!

Oh my! Is that a wide open mouth? I can almost hear the beautiful music!!

Jared sang his heart out last night and put every ounce of power in his skinny little body to perform. We're so proud of him and happy that at least someone in the Kunz family has the ability and desire to be STAR!!!

Parenting lesson

Not a fan of this...

But I really love this...

And I don't feel one bit bad about this...

Impact.

Uuuugh...we did all that we could to keep them here for as long as possible, however our effort were in vain. But I'm happy for them that they will be back together as a family. I guess wives and mothers really are needed!


A few ways the Bott family has impacted us...

Exactly two years ago, Marlene found us our home. Along with that, we were introduced to a fabulous neighborhood, incredible neighbors and even better friends. I already miss your BIG BLUE VAN!


The Botts have added pounds to our waist lines. From dinners, to treats, late night raids for pie and the unforgettable cinnamon rolls...oh, how I will miss those cinnamon rolls. Leslie needs to get working on perfecting this recipe!!
This family has even made an impact on our physical features. And we will always have a permanent reminder of Mark's enthusiasm and energy.

They've taken care of my kids, taken care of me, picked us up from the airport, fed us, babysat, picked up medicine, loaned toys, picked up mail, mowed our grass, and the list could go on and on. Neighbors and friends like the Botts are irreplaceable and they will sorely be missed.

Now all we have to do is convince Chris and Leslie to stick around so there will always be reason for them to come back and visit!!

Progress

How do we know that Tyler is part of our family?

He doesn't enjoy singing (unless it's purpose is to be silly or make a complete fool out of yourself...then we're completely cool with singing our pretty little heads off).

In fact, his exact quote is "I only sing when I have to."

We have seen progress, though.

In Kindergarten, Tyler glared and growled at me the entire time (and I have video to prove it).

Now, in 3rd grade...his mouth was slightly open and I could sense (just a little bit) that he was actually enjoying himself. But don't tell him that I told you this because he would adamantly deny it!
I love watching the progression of my children and I'm proud of every little step they make.

What the...

I hope there is nothing important in here...

The contents of Jared's backpack.

9 Things About Tyler

As my husband runs off to get our "romantic" dinner (soup from Panera--I'm sick...), I've been sitting here thinking about why I don't care about Valentine's Day. And it hit me that it was 9 years ago that Valentine's Day became insignificant to me. I'd much rather be baking a cake, pulling together last minute party plans, wrapping presents, etc...I can love on my husband every day. But that special day when my child feels like a million bucks comes around only once a year.

So to celebrate Tyler's special day, I've come up with "9 Things about Tyler."

(click on photo to enlarge)

Tyler, I hope you feel better soon and I love you! Happy Birthday!

QUICK thoughts

I love that my kids have a backyard to play in. And I'm glad that we have a fence. A very tall one. Very, very tall.
They had fun. I just can't figure out what it all means.

And while they boys were out trashing our yard, Anna was busy.
Sigh...I love my kids.

psych you out

Are you a fan? I just love this show!!! And Shawn Spencer had THE BEST quote on last nights episode...

Look, all things being equal, I'd rather be scrapbooking right now. But that's not important.
--Shawn Spencer

Like I said, I LOVE this show!!

Good times at the Grocers

I've had a very thought provoking morning...

After dropping Evan off at school, Anna and I headed off to do some much needed grocery shopping. As I was loading up my groceries to check out, I hear Anna gasp, loudly, and exclaim, "HUH?"

I was in the process of retrieving the 100+ boxes of macaroni from the bottom of our cart (which is a Kunz family staple), but I was curious as to what caused this reaction from my almost 2 year old daughter. In slow motion, this is what I saw...

A pair of white, Reebok sneakers--you know the kind. I probably had a pair with Velcro in the 8th grade (oh no, wait, those were Tretorns)...
Followed by a pair of Mom jeans...(which, by the way, send me home if you ever see me in a pair, I'd rather be seen in sweats)
And then a sweater similar to this one...
Then to find out what Anna was so shocked at seeing, the woman behind us looked like this (except with long hair)...

I looked up to make sure that Anna wasn't struck with fear. She surprisingly, wasn't. Instead she stared in awe. And for the next 5 minutes she continued to stare. The woman and I engaged in a conversation about children, she told me about hers,...The entire time, I am so intrigued and I have so many questions...Did it hurt? Why did you do it? What made you choose purple and turquoise? Who designed it? What do your children think of it? What kind of reactions do you get?...

But of course, I was too chicken to ask any of them. I need to get over that because now I'm left thinking about so many things...

Today's lesson...don't judge a book by it's cover. She really was enjoyable to talk with. And thank goodness Anna doesn't have the vocabulary yet to express her curiosity!!

FYI...My Kids ROCK!!

We've always said that a family that plays together, stays together...

(Blurry but awesome!! I should be scared.)

And even on Sundays, when we have a "no video games" rule, they still ROCK!!