It is Good to Be King - but We Know the Princess is Really in Charge

So much for disliking Vivian. Jack appears to be willing to keep Vivian around for the cool perks. Plus - Vivian does not use the toy all the time - that means it is part Jack's.

There will be no hiding - Jack is not that good at it anyway.

Vivian is enjoying her new castle swing/slide set. She has not quite mastered it all yet, but so far it seems fun. Her favorite part by far is climbing up the slide.

Sure we could climb up the right way, but what is the fun in that.

I am also pleased to announce that we have a sunflower open in all its glory. I was pretty surprised because this - plus a few other plants - are volunteers from last year's crop. This bloom is about six feet high - which explains why the picture is taken looking up. I like the color and I like a good volunteer plant.

Finally, I leave you with this thought. I believe that I may be the reasonably prudent person (my apologies to the late great Professor Selinger who was pretty sure he was the reasonably prudent person). Why? Well why else would I put up this eyesore in my backyard when a whole bunch of people from our community will be in the neighboring yard for a cookout tomorrow. I just have a bad feeling about preschoolers, beach balls, and the four foot deep hole in the back of my house. Not that this would solve much of that, but it gives me a defense - doesn't it defense bar? Trust me - this will all be just a picture come Saturday morning.

10 On Tuesday

Well, it looked like a good idea - so here it goes.

1. Vivian has been playing much harder since she now crawls well and pulls herself up on things. She let me take a few pictures, although it is getting more difficult to take her pictures now because she wants to attack the camera - translation - shoot quick and get out of her way.

2. Stuffed animals that are larger than your child makes for a lot of fun - plus it saves them wallering you.

3. This toy piano ROCKS. It is one of her most favorite toys and it is not overly annoying to listen to. It plays a few different tunes and is always a big hit. Way to go Fisher Price.

4. My Husband tried out a new hairdo over the weekend - no hair at all. To put this all in perspective, this is the man who has been worrying about losing his hair ever since I have known him. For the record, I objected to this hairstyle on several grounds and was very surprised to hear the clippers running while I went to check on Vivian. He shaved a streak down the middle of his hair, so I had to clean up the rest. I guess the only good thing I can say about this new look is that I love him and I only have to see it on the weekends:)

5. Vacation Bible School. It is always quite an event in our neighborhood since we live next door to the preacher and across the street from the church. This year I was asked to help one evening (breaking me in slow) prepare the meal that they served the kiddos. Well, I got over to the church at 6:00pm and the other volunteers were in a tizzy. Turns out the church only has two ovens and that was not nearly enough room for all the chicken nuggets and tator tots. No problem - I brought them to my house to help cook what they did not have room for - crisis averted. Of course this rushed us to get everything ready in time for the meal, but we pulled it off and must have made it look easy. Right after we were done serving the meal, Scherry asked if Pat and I thought the chicken nuggets were done - not the best time to ask (but better than asking when the parents showed up to get their kids). It was pretty funny (and yes the chicken nuggets were done). So much for any aspirations we had of being lunch ladies - it is harder than it looks.

6. While on the topic of VBS - sometimes I wish I was not so in tune with potential liability causing situations. Our neighbors are having the entire VBS group over to their house on the last evening for a cookout - problem is they are cooking out right beside my unfinished hole of a patio - guess I will be building some temporary construction fence Thursday night.

7. Little Tikes Outdoor Toys - I believe the manufacturer of these toys smokes crack before writing the instructions and when giving the time estimate for constructing the toy. I put together a castle swing/slide thing this evening that the box said would take 20 minutes - an hour later I was done. And what is with picture only instructions - I can understand if your child was doing the construction, but I can read. Next time - Vivo can read the instructions and assemble it (she actually may pull it off in 20 minutes).

8. Work - it has been a little slow lately, but today I did an adjudicatory hearing Order in an abuse and neglect case. Now that I am a Mom, these cases make me really mad that any parent could do the things that these parents do and still act like there was nothing wrong. I also could not imagine being told by a Court that I could never see my child again - sad, very sad.

9. Life is expensive - Had to go to the local feed store and buy some straw to mulch our garden with - wow is it expensive. Straw used to be $2.00 per bale - now it is $5.15. It is rotten and the worst part is I know that the folks who baled it and the store that sold it are not getting rich. Seriously, it is going to be a long haul until this economy is in decent shape - at least I will be able to keep the weeds down so maybe we can grow some food.

10. I miss my husband. Love you babe.

Sometimes it just clicks.

For several months now, Vivian has been doing the belly crawl to get around everywhere. No more. Yesterday, I put her down on the floor after bringing her home from the babysitter and she was crawling like she had been doing it her whole life. She is quick, coordinated, and shifty. We have entered a whole new level of babyproofing.

Last evening we headed outside to try to do some weeding in the flowerbeds. This was a good opportunity for Vivian to practice her new skill. Normally, we would have done just grass - but this kid pulls up so much of it (and eats a little bit) that I opted for the quilt. I apologize for all the binky pictures, but it was close bed time and I was not going to mess with this baby!

I was not the only one who was a bit surprised at Vivian's newfound crawling ability. Jack used to be able to maintain a safe distance.

Turns out that safe distance is now a bit farther away - in our preacher's yard to be exact. Chicken.

Finally, I leave you with the picture of my little horticulturist. She is so into plants and checking out everything in her world. It is refreshing seeing how new everything is to Vivian - it makes me take a second look.

Dinner Time

What a wild evening! I do not know what she did today, but whatever it was - it had her pretty excited for the whole evening. We tried dinner - with mixed results:

A banana orange medley/green bean/sweet potato and corn mixture to be exact.

After dinner she helped supervise the installation of her upstairs babygate by Grandma and Momma. She also took time out to pick me a daisy and gave it to me with petals still attached. Good evening. Silly baby.

I'm Back

Whew, it has been pretty hectic getting used to our new routine. Lucky for me that the Vivo is sleeping right now and I can blog with you all. So, update time. Rick is doing okay at the academy - not really enjoying it, but surviving. Vivian is doing super at the babysitter and has adjusted pretty well to everything going on in her life. Grandma RaRu has really been a lifesaver - she is a great mom and a great grandma at the same time. I did the roids over the weekend and I do not recommend them - still recouping, but hopefully I will be feeling better soon.

I had to share this picture - Vivian is pretty silly sometimes when I am trying to take her picture. I enjoy this one for some reason. I think it is because she was in such a good mood while I had the camera out. Crazy kid.

Missing Daddy

What a day. Vivian went to the babysitter for the first time. I talked to the sitter about an hour ago and she said Vivi is pretty upset. Last night Vivian stayed up as late as she could - waiting for Rick to come home. Today at the sitter's the only thing that keeps her settled down is if the sitter's son (who is blond like Rick) is in the room or holding her (fortunately she is pretty tired too, so she is taking naps between being upset). Poor kiddo.

Thankfully she will remember none of this when she is older. I know we will both be glad to see him and we are really proud of him.

Rick's First Father's Day & a Birthday

We had a really good weekend and I think Rick really enjoyed his first fathers day. We went to church Sunday morning and assumed our now regular seat in the back of the church so we can quickly exit when we have issues. This Sunday, Vivian was REALLY LOUD during one hymn - drowning out the whole joint and was able to be heard at the front. It was pretty cute (particularly when Preacher Kevin blamed baby Ethan for all the noise - poor boy). She also demolished Rick's carnation that he wore for being a father. After church we had a cookout for Rick and for my dad. Rick worked hard to pack in as much Vivian time as he could and we had a blast.

Here they are after church. Vivian now has more hair than Rick.
As my father reminded us this weekend - it is not every day you realize you are an amateur barber - this is special (I did most of the work - hey, its what Rick wanted).

Here they are pool side in Vivian's new wading pool. It is pretty cute and she seems to enjoy it almost as much as her father.

After the pool, it was off to Grandma & Pop's farm for a little 4-Wheeler riding - the fact that she does not hold on concerns me a bit, of course they were going very slow.

It was also a birthday weekend at our house - I am older now and we had some cake. It was really fun. Mom, Dad, Ashby, Rick, and Vivian helped me celebrate a little bit early. Vivian was so taken with the whole cake and candles thing. After I blew out the candles she swiped some icing off of the cake and ate it. She should be ready for October.

All and all it was a good time and I really enjoyed spending time with everyone. I think Rick enjoyed all his cool gifts (even though he got impatient waiting for me to finish the picture book at Walmart). Hope you had a happy father's day, Rick.