I do not help matters when I laugh...

"Hudson, just eat your lunch first then ride the trike."

Kids, Cake and Ice Cream...

Last night the Griesers came out to dinner. It was good to see them. Since the baby has been born I haven't seen them as much as usual. After we ate supper, Bryan got out the ice cream freezer and he and Barry and the kids cranked up a delicious batch of ice cream to eat with our peanut butter and jelly cake. We had a delightful time. 

 Amiah worked away at this for quite awhile and Hudson and Bryan's faces crack me up here.

 Waiting for his turn to crank.

 "Can someone else do this my arms are tired." She hung in there a long time.

 This is a constant activity when these two are together.

 Watching a little bit of movie but things were just too hectic and loud to make it work.

 (Ashley, the picture of Amiah and me is by Andrea, for you. She said you needed a picture of us with that cake.)

Hudson spent the night here so he and I could hang out today for awhile. 

Hudson loves to watch any videos that I have on my phone and it just cracks me up that he navigates all around my phone with less problem than I have finding things. 

"I can do it, Patti, don't show me, let me have it, I know this." Then "Patti, will you help me?"

When it was time to go to bed he said, "I can't yet, you didn't set a timer." hahaha 

Ok, so I set a timer for 5 minutes and off we went. 

Last Antiquing of the Winter...

Yesterday, after a week of cold snow/rain weather, Bryan decided we needed an evening of antique stores and Cracker Barrel. We invited Jayme along (Bobbi is still in Alaska and Ashley is still in Spain) and off we went to Aardvark Antique Mall. While there Jayme found an amazing dress for $30 discounted 25%.

 This picture really doesn't do it justice. It is probably a 1950's or 1960's wedding dress. Brand new (tags still on it) the little sleeved top removes and it is sleeveless. The little lace top has pearl buttons on the back and the white material on the waistband drops down in folds on the back. So very vintage, so very Jayme. When she walked away from the counter, after paying for it, the lady says to me "Is your little girl going to wear that dress to her prom?" I just said "Oh, that little girl is almost 20, so no." She says "Oh, she's so little."
Side note: At supper later Bryan said to Jayme "If you wear that dress, your pink heels and pearls to the hockey game on Saturday night this week I will buy you any hockey jersey you want." Jayme gets a Cheshire Cat grin on her face and says "You might want to rethink that offer since the one I want is $400."
My find at the Mall was a little less glamorous.

 But I was sure that I saw a diamond in the rough.

 The flour bin was in great shape, not rusted out at all.

The ugly 1960's contact peeled right off and when I washed it all up it made a sweet little cabinet with an enamel top. Sure there are a few chips in that top but it is probably as old as me and well, I have developed flaws too so...
Not sure where I will put it but with some rearranging I will get that taken care of. It actually makes a great little center island if I need one, the bonus to that being that it has wheels on the legs.

Better a silly boy with a stick...

than a silly girl with a flower...

Jayme is into hockey. She has decided to follow the Penguins.

She makes me smile.

 She is learning the rules so she can watch and know what is going on.

Last night they didn't televise the Penguins games so she watched Tampa Bay vs Hurricanes.

But the Penguins won in a shoot out.

We used the aqua appliances...

and created some pretty good homemade ice cream and chocolate chip cookies.

Ant Wars...

Another thing I found while cleaning the storage room was an old sketchbook of the girl's and in it were pages and pages of a game that Bryan would play with them, Ant Wars.

I have no idea how this game was played but they loved it.

Such good memories.

So I've been cleaning the store room...

It started on Saturday and I am still at it today. Suffice it to say it had gotten to disaster area proportions. But I have found some gems and had some laughs.

When did this happen? Obviously I don't remember doing this, but I have the paper that says I did.

 This is from someone named Andrea...

But I just love how this describes Ashley (not Ashely) actually quite well.

I remember the day Bobbi caught this fish. She had gone out with Bryan and his friend, Brad. While they were out fishing Bobbi was catching them and Bryan and Brad weren't so she told them where to cast and they started catching fish.

 A letter to Mr. Clinton from Ashley

 These literally went everywhere with us when Jayme was little. 

She played with them by the hour.

February 25, 1994 by Jayme (she would have been 2 years and 10 months old)

Obviously we were concerned that Bobbi would struggle with her studies...

Later in the afternoon Jayme and Bobbi showed up and started to make fun of the old clothes that I had found that we need to get rid of...

trying on old homecoming dresses so they pretended that they were getting ready for the dance.

 and deciding that if you removed the sleeves, take off the lace at the top and remove the train...my wedding dress wouldn't be too bad. Haha there is just no redeeming an 80's wedding dress.

And last but not least...ASHLEY came to the cleaning party 

(Sorry, Ash, you may not realize this but you don't have to dress up so fancy everytime you come home.) 

Oh, we are funny.

And we love and miss you very much. The cut-out is a poor substitute.

I am still not done but these two made the process very entertaining.

It looks like all the girls are home!

 Jayme is! But Bobbi has my car so I have her's and...

the POS just sits there reminding us that Ashley is 6000 miles away. 

Bryan said the other day that maybe when he is done with the VW 

he will turn it into a Dune Buggy. 

Bread & Cup and The Stars...

Wednesday when Jayme was out here she said she wanted to go to a Stars Hockey game. So we all got tickets for last night. On our way there we stopped at Bread & Cup for supper. Bryan and the girls were thrilled that I wanted to take a picture of them there. I do think that maybe our choice of a place for supper was just a little too "hipster" (as Bobbi and Jayme said) for the level of entertainment we chose for later...

 what I am trying to say is there weren't any Stars fans eating at Bread & Cup.

 By the 3rd period Bobbi and Jayme were getting into the rudeness of the sport. 

It was funny.

The Stars won - 3 to 2

Call me crazy...

but isn't Walmart supposed to be less expensive than most other stores...

 Doesn't that seem high for a 2 ounce bottle of little kid's lotion and ...

a set of fake fingernails?

I don't know, maybe I just don't have a sense of what parents will spend on their children anymore...

Of Cleaning and Cookies...

Today I noticed that the weather was going to be in the 70s so I decided that it would be a great day to clean the garage.

 Before - Very messy and full of junk we never use.

 After - Done. I just ran out of steam and didn't power wash the floor.

I actually should have taken a picture of the junk at the end of the drive that the garbage men are not going to be thrilled about tomorrow morning.

 Jayme came out and ate supper with me and we decided to make

 St. Patrick's Day cookies...

flowers and butterflies...

and  cars.

 I tried all the colors that I have thought about having Bryan paint the VW. 

We created a huge mess, but it was fun.

Spring is here...almost...

and I finally bought myself a lounge chair for the deck. UNbelieveable that I have waited 10 years to do this. I don't even know why. So today I wanted to sit out in the sun on the deck and eat my lunch...

Ok, 43 degrees and breezy was just too brisk so...

I set the chair up in front of the deck door in the sunshine,

 ate my lunch and read a book. 

(Ashley, I picked the turquoise Fiesta bowl in honor of you)

 It wasn't quite like eating outside but it was pleasant.

A re-post because it made me laugh so hard...

For those who aren't aware, I take care of the kids that Ashley used to care for. We have a blog so she can keep up with us. I posted this today and have laughed about it ever since. Thought you all might as well enjoy it. 

This just in...

My home phone just rang and I see that it is Andrea's cell number. So I answer, a little bewildered (she almost always calls my cell) there is complete silence except for a very small person breathing into the phone. 

Me: "Hello." no answer "Hudson, it is Patti are you going to talk to me?"(I am thinking Andrea helped him call) "Hudson? are you there?" 

Then I hear a laugh and he hangs up.

Phone rings again. It's Andrea's cell. I assume it is Andrea calling to say that he wanted to talk and then didn't.

 Me: "Hello?...Hudson, are you playing with your mom's cell phone?...this is Patti you called me."

Suddenly..."I NOT CALL YOU TODAY! Why you talkin me?" Me laughing

"But Hudson, you did call me." He says to himself into the phone, "Why she talkin me? I not call her...STOP talkin me." Me "Where is your mom?" H "I don't know...(mutter mutter)...why she talkin, I not call her...(mutter mutter)..." Me "What are you doing today?" H "(mutter mutter) I DON'T KNOW..(buttons being pushed, beeping in my ear) I can't hear you, what?" Hangs up. In the meantime I am laughing so hard. The phone rings again. Silence...

You get the idea...

I am just guessing here...but...Andrea maybe doesn't know he has the phone...

Sink Drain - 1; Patti - 0...

All last week my kitchen sink was draining VERY slowly. So out came the plunger, Liquid Plumber, Pipe snake...you get the idea. I would not be defeated by a sink...
Yesterday I called Joe of Tidball Sewer and Drain. I probably spent more on home remedies all last week than what he charged me to come all the way out here at 7:00 p.m. to clear my drain. Next time I will call Joe on Day 1.

P.S. He only charged me $80.00. Call him if you need him. 

Warrior Princess...

Today I went up to Omaha because we don't have an Apple Store in Lincoln and Ashley needs an adapter for her computer. We have a team of people going to Spain next week and they are taking a suitcase of stuff to all our kids over there. So, off to Omaha to get what Ashley needs. Anyway, while I was up there it was lunch time so I just stopped into a little bakery/cafe at the mall for a sandwich. As I was eating my lunch a young mom came in with her little girl who was probably 4. The little girl had on pink capris, sparkly pink sandals, a fancy white shirt with pink sparkly designs on it and a knight's helmet with visor. I almost laughed out loud. But I loved that the mom just let her wear it. I brought back memories of the days when Jayme would go out shopping with me wearing her Nala costume or her Dalmation costume. While wearing these she would generally growl or bark at anyone near us. I have never regretted letting my kids wear what they want or style their hair the way they wanted. It helped them become who they are.

I am addicted to...

Oranges. Lately I have kept a huge bowl of them on the counter and refill immediately 

when it gets empty. 

And a huge bottle of orange juice in the fridge. 

I'm sure there are worse things to crave...like for instance...

Archer Farms Sweet Cajun Trail Mix from Target...

Just a lot of Canada and Snow Geese...

This just was so amazing and LOUD. They all were in the pasture and then the dogs ran out and scared them up. This was the second pass they made over the house. The first pass was even louder and closer. Basically, we hear this almost all day long.    

Another Friday night in Firth...

Every night this week we have had something and haven't been home. Last night when we were finally home. It was cold and windy out and I felt like fixing breakfast for supper. So waffles, eggs and sausage it was. As we were eating Bryan said "We should watch...(I thought he was going to say "a movie") the video on restoring the interior of a volkswagon." So we sat by the fire and watched the instructive video on interior restoration of a VW.

 Quite informative and helpful for when I reupholster the seats and we recarpet. 

We know how to party. 

Thought you might like a little clip of our viewing...

This is Jose putting in the new headliner...

They're back...

and even though they drive me crazy with their NOISE and mess, I can't deny the beauty of this picture.

And they are a harbinger of spring.

Have to blog this...

On Saturday Jayme came out with some material and we created a duvet cover for her bed. Bryan walked by while we were working on it and said "Gonna BLOG about that?" Oh, he thinks he's funny.

So I am blogging about it. Just for him.

I maybe made some cookies...

for Amiah to give out at school...I can't help myself...

I probably need to see a counselor.

Look who's here!

 Boden (Pierce/Pearce- spelling to be decided) Grieser

7 lbs. 1 oz.

19 and 1/2 inches long

February 28, 2011

1:35 p.m.

The very proud big sister, Amiah and big brother, Hudson.

Hudson kept saying "I like that baby" 

I felt like such a grandma!