Bee beh!

That's how Hollie says "big bed"!  She has one now.  :)

Since we got the second vehicle, we've been slowly cleaning out the garage so that hopefully - eventually-  we can park both of them in there.  The thing taking up the most space in there was the crib, which Hollie used between the ages of about 3 months and 10 months.  We planned on just moving it down to the basement, but we remembered that one side can be removed, like so:

They call it a "day bed", which I don't get.  She mostly uses it at night.

Whatever.

But I think she likes it...

The "down low" on the basement

Hahahaa...get it?

Hollie likes to edit Daniel's basement floor plans.
It's going to be her bedroom someday, after all.

We've been making great progress lately!  The electrician has been in to help complete our wiring, and the plumber came (on the same morning...both unexpectedly...mere minutes after getting phone calls from both of them saying that they were on their way...it was crazy) to run water to the bathroom and install the tub/shower.

Between the two of us, Daniel and I have nearly finished framing in the new bedroom closet (moved from one wall to another), new hall closet (which did not previously exist, but does now, as a result of the new bedroom closet location) (are you bored with this yet?), and built-in bathroom cabinet!  Things have not always fit together the way they should, but we've found that if you hit a 2x4 with a mallet enough times...it'll fit.  :)

By the way, did you catch that?... built-in bathroom cabinet?  I am soooo jealous.  I want one in our bathroom, too.  :(

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Also, speaking of Lawn/Home Maintenance, remember that front lawn drainage fiasco we kind of forgot about for a while?  Well, it's finally getting dealt with next week.  Woohoo!    

You Capture - Outside

A walk in the park on a cool, blustery [see blog title], 70-degree afternoon -- 

the first time in weeks that we've been able to leave the house between noon and 3pm without sweating our brains out.

When she's not in the stroller, she insists on pushing it herself

Strong gust of wind blew the stroller back toward her...yikes!

Had enough.  Your turn, Momma!

Hollie's favorite thing to do at the park: collect trash.

[She would love to collect poop too, but I vetoed that.]

Occasionally, we find a good spot,

and sort out the findings.

...then we hang onto the keepers

and keep on movin'.

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This post is part of Beth's weekly You Capture challenge...head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to check out the other awesome entries!

Fun in the sun

[This one was kinda out of focus, so I editted the crap out of it with Picnik.  Love!]

We have a nephew!

Levi Leger

Born on his due date, August 21st!

Check them out on their blog here...

Congratulations, guys!  We love you and can't wait to meet little Levi!!!

You Capture - In the kitchen

Sharing lunch with her puppy.  

How sweet!  

Also sharing with a Homer Simpson magnet on which Homer is saying, 

"Trying is the first step towards failure."

Oy vey.

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Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to take a peek in everyone elses' kitchens!

"Wild Child"

You can't read it, but that's what it says on the front of her new pajamas.

She evidently took it to heart [and then some].

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Also, something I just realized about my last post -- I talked about how clumsy I can be...and then talked about using power tools.  I was really really careful.  I promise.

Nerds and power tools

Daniel is good at bowling.  Really good - he bowled for his high school varsity bowling team and he was kind of the team captain.  He knows about lane patterns and finger grips and he can make the ball do that magic curve halfway down the lane like a pro. 

I, on the other hand, took bowling as a summer class in high school to get out of regular phys-ed.  I'm not what you'd call...good at sports.  Or anything requiring more coordination than showering.  But I figured, hey, bowling is inside in the air-conditioning, and mostly based on luck anyways, right?  Plus any class that lasts six weeks rather than a whole semester is fine by me.  I finished that class satisfied that I had dodged the PE requirement, and certain that I would never bowl again for the rest of my life.  Seriously.  Most awkward sport ever.

Ever since he and I met, I have not been able to give up teasing him for his choice of nerdy, awkward hobby (never mind the fact that we were both in college marching band).  This hasn't been enough to keep him from doing bowling leagues and weekend tournaments because apparently there are a LOT of people in Wichita who love bowling (need more proof there's nothing to do in Wichita?).

Anyways.  This weekend was another such one-day tournament.  I would have gone to watch, but Hollie wanted a nap instead, and refused to be reasoned with (I admit I didn't try very hard).

Out of 37 participants, Daniel came in...

FIFTH!!!

I've abruptly gone from teasing to the proudest wife in history.  This is so cool!!!  It doesn't hurt that he won a little money, too.  But that's beside the point.  :)

Honestly, though, it's nothing less than I expected.  ;)

You're wondering, what does this have to do with power tools?  Nothing, but I do have something to say about them.  Daniel did something cool this weekend, and so did I.

Back story - We're in the process of finishing our basement.  When we moved in, there were walls framed in, and some of the electrical work was done, but that was it.  We're going to have a contractor help us out with the bathroom and installing some carpet, but we are doing a lot ourselves.

Actually, Daniel is doing a lot of it himself.  So far my only contribution has been going to Lowe's with him a few times.  I felt really bad about this, because when he's home he's rather be relaxing, and here I am itching to help out.  But he's the one who knows how to use tools and what kind of wood we need and which walls are load-bearing and all of that, and for most tasks it would take just as long to explain to me as it would to just do it himself.

This weekend I finally got to do something.  And yes, it involved power tools.  I got to measure eleven (11!) two-by-fours to various lengths and cut them using a circular saw.  Oh my goodness, it was fun!

Never mind that this afternoon I realized I had measured three of them incorrectly and cut them too short.  I called Daniel at work and told him my mistake, but he said he could fix it.

Honestly, though, it's nothing less than I expected.  ;)  

Miscellaneous pictures

Once again, I've accumulated a whole bunch of random pictures.  Here you go...

Hollie just picked up her lunch, and decided the bottom shelf of the bakers rack was the most comfortable place to be.

 

Here she is back at the table.  I just love this picture.  <3

Momma's shoes (on the wrong feet) and a graham cracker (that Momma was too lazy to break into smaller pieces!)

Found another new lunch spot!

Hollie never took a pacifier as an infant, but we kept them around for her to play with.  What a goof!

Some quality Daddy-daughter TV time.  I don't let them do this too often.  :)

I caught her one day just examining herself in the mirror.  Yep, she's cute and she knows it.

We loooove this little pool!!!  Daniel took this through the front window - that's why it looks funny.  I set up the sprinkler next to the pool and she just has a wonderful time.

Last and certainly least [clothed]...sometimes yogurt just needs to be eaten while naked.

Our luck

is such that...

...the day the Canadian geese show up and carpet the entire world with their poop...

...is the same day that Hollie refuses to wear her shoes at the park.

(By the way, Hollie learned how to remove her shoes.)

I think these pictures speak for themselves...