Category Archives: growing up

Ready for the races…well, mostly.

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Oh.My.Gosh. This weekend was gorgeous!

After running some errands and visiting with our “second family” for a while in the morning, we went home, ate lunch and after Ry’s nap we spent the entire rest of the afternoon outside!

We even took Ry’s bike outside. You know…the one she got for Christmas and has been riding it in the house ever since. {Yep, apparently we’re those parents}

Turns out, when you get pretty good at riding your little bike on carpet you’re a rockstar on the road.

But? It also turns out that when you learn to ride your bike on carpet, you have to constantly keep pedaling in order to keep moving forward and that’s not so much the case on the smooth ground. Learning the art of coasting is sort of a tough concept for an almost 4-year-old to grasp.

This would be the look of determination…in case you were wondering. Those fingerless riding gloves kill me!

Ok seriously!? These two and their smiles. I love their excitement here! {And oh yes, that’s my hubby…the poster boy for Pepsi, Carhartt and Crocs. The only thing missing are his Oakley’s.}

More determination. She was pedaling uphill…very serious stuff.

Daring dog was daring. I was totally waiting for him to take one more step and end up completely under water!

Oh yes, and then there’s me…well, my shadow anyway.

It was a perfect day.

I totally overdid it though, because Sunday I woke up and was pretty sore and I had a headache. Boo.

We pretty much took it easy for the day.

But, I did made these creamy chicken taquitos for dinner and let me tell you…SO good and pretty easy. Next time I make them I will be doubling the recipe and freezing some.

To the moon and the stars and space and all the earth.

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My Dear Rylee,

Oh my sweet, sweet girl…

So many people have said that three is harder than two. And I’m not going to lie…they were right. But somewhere along the way lately things have changed.

Don’t get me wrong, you’ve still got plenty of sass to go around and we have our occasional battles, but they are far less than they were just a few months ago. Where there were once regular battles of will, there’s now you hollering at me from the living room to come sit and snuggle with you. And once you get settled in what’s left of my lap, there’s no squirming. There’s just relaxation and your sweet, still dimpled little hands gently rubbing my growing belly and playing with whatever necklace I might be wearing.

I kiss the top of your head and you just nuzzle in closer.

I tell you I love you. You tell me you love me all the way to the moon and the stars and space and all the earth.

Your hugs seem tighter, your snuggles seem deeper and your 1,000-watt smile seems brighter.

You’re so full of life. Always dancing or singing along to your favorite “God CD”. Your curiosity challenges me, your facial expressions kill me and your wit astounds me.

I don’t know if it’s because we’re wrapping up year three and getting ready for the big #4? SO many people have said that 4 is their favorite age for little ones because the sweetness abounds. Or if it’s because on some subconscious level, you know that no matter how hard your daddy & I will try to make things change as little as possible, in just a few short months, things are going to change…a lot. It won’t just be you anymore, so you want to soak up as much mama & daddy time as you can before that happens.

Whatever it is my sweet girl, I’ll take it.

I love you to the moon and the stars and space and all the earth. And back again.

Forever.

 

Throwing up on siblings, making out with boyfriends and epic surprises…

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So, as part of my deal with partnering with Toyota and their TWIN project, we were asked to go check out The Camry Effect.

I started checking out the site, watched the video and immediately thought what a fantastic marketing campaign it was. I mean, even though I’ve never owned a Camry, I have so many amazing memories tied to cars throughout my lifetime…

Like the one time my sisters, mom and I were on our way down to visit my Grandma, driving along in our sweet tan station wagon that backfired. We must have been driving the back roads, because all I remember is getting super car-sick, and throwing up red Kool-Aid all over my oldest sister’s mint green pants and my mom having to pull over.

***

A few years later, in the same station wagon, my mom had taken my sisters, some friends and me up to the water slides one super hot summer’s day. I remember sitting in the “way far back” with the rear facing seats with my best friend and making faces at all the people we passed. Then on the way home, just blocks away from our friends’ house, the station wagon totally over heated and we had to pull over on a busy road and walk the rest of the way to their house.

***

We finally ditched the station wagons (yes, plural, we had not one but TWO!) when I was 5 or 6. We ended up with a new Ford Explorer, manual, of course. A few years after we got that car one of my sisters started learning to drive. We were on our way home from the coast, as a family, and she was driving. Well, we came to a stop sign, on an incline, for a railroad crossing…my sister must have killed it no less that 6 or 7 times trying to cross this incline when the cars started piling up behind us and she got so frustrated that she got out of the car and switched places with my dad. I still laugh every time I think of that…though I’m pretty sure she doesn’t.

***

I’ll never forget my first ride in one of Andy’s 78 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruisers. It was before we were even dating, I even had another boyfriend at the time, he was picking me up to take me to the local community college to show me around campus, take me out to breakfast and basically woo me into dating him. He drank Pepsi for breakfast and I thought he was crazy…some things haven’t changed a bit.

***

Mine & Andy’s first official date was not too long after that college tour. We went fishing. In his ’89 Corrola. He had that thing forever and I used to tell him I married him for his Corolla…well, that and because obviously as a teacher, he was going to be RICH someday. I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit sad when we sold the Corrola…we had some good memories in the thing. Yes, maybe even including a make-out session or two (or maybe even more, I’ll never tell)  while parked outside my dad’s house. {Sorry Dad!}

***

We drove away from our wedding in one of Andy’s ’78 FJ40 Cruisers…the lifted one. The one with the bikini top. The fancy one that he painted in our garage the week before our wedding and the one he was up until 2 AM putting back together the day of our wedding. We got some crazy looks driving through town (and the DariMart drive-through for Pepsis) all dressed up in our wedding clothes.

***

And probably my very favorite memory to date…the look on Andy’s face when he got home from 12 days in Alaska only to realize I schemed with our mechanic and got his beloved Cruiser running after sitting broken down in the garage for over 4 years. I still smile every time I picture his face. I’m still waiting for my wife of the year award for that one.

***

It makes me wonder what Rylee’s favorite memories will be…will she remember her first ride in “that Orange Thing”? I mean…obviously she won’t be making out with boyfriends in their cars. At least not until after she married. ;)

So, what about you? I know you’ve got to have a favorite memory or two tied to a vehicle. Let’s hear it!

 

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.

The Cheese Stands Alone: A Battle of Wills

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Anyone that knows my husband will read this next line and think “Uh, duh”. But if you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting him, I’ll fill you in on something…

He is extremely stubborn.

He takes after his father and his grandmother this way.

And our daughter? Well, let’s just say that apple didn’t fall very far from the tree.

I’ve always known she was stubborn, but last night, she let us know just how stubborn she could be.

After waking up from her nap, Rylee decided she’d like a snack. She said cheese and crackers sounded pretty good, and Andy thought so too so he got a snack for both of them. He put some sliced up cheese and a pile of ritz crackers on a plate, then handed Ry a paper towel so she could grab what she’d like. She took a few crackers and one piece of cheese.

She took one tiny bite of the cheese and set it back on her paper towel, then preceded to eat all of her crackers and tell us she was done.

Uhhh…no you’re not. You love cheese. You chose to take a piece, you need to eat it.

No. I don’t want it.

Rylee you will eat that piece of cheese before you get anything else. You can choose to eat it now, while it’s still good or you can choose to eat it before dinner, but it won’t taste as good.

And so, there it sat on the paper towel.

A couple of hours passed and soon it was time to set the table for dinner. One of Rylee’s favorite dinners, by the way…roasted chicken, green beans, and fetuccini alfredo pasta.

The lonely piece of cheese moved from the paper towel to her dinner plate.

Andy was not letting up on this one. And I get it, her eating habits have been horrible lately, saying she wants one thing, then not wanting it 5 minutes later. And things she LOVES too. Frankly, it’s getting old.

Rylee sat there with nothing on her plate but that little bit of cheese until Andy & I were nearly done eating before she finally decided that she wasn’t going to win this one.

She ate choked down the cheese and any 3.5 year old drama queen would do and preceded to eat a fantastic dinner.

Weird.

{And by weird, I mean not weird at all. She is so much like her father, sometimes it’s scary.}

When one thing goes wrong, a million other things do too, but then you get to buy something new!

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You know when one thing goes wrong it’s like a million things go wrong?

Well I feel like that happens to us all.the.time. And right before, or was it right after, Christmas was no exception. Andy was on his way to cut firewood with my dad in our Suburban and they got home way to soon. Something had to be wrong. Oh and it was…they were lucky to have made it back home. The Suburban broke down on their way and they had to turn around and come home. We knew the Suburban was going to need a new motor sooner or later, I mean it’s a freaking ’89 for cripe’s sake, but we were banking on the “later” part. Anyway, off to the mechanic it went. And stayed for a few weeks. We were, thankfully, able ot bandaid it and put of the new motor for at least a few more months.

That same weekend, we were told by our renters that there was a leak in the roof of the house. Well, eff. The leak pretty much ruined the new laminate flooring Andy had JUST installed in July before they moved in. Luckily, he was able to pretty easily fix the leak and the floor doesn’t really need to be replaced, it’s just a little bit warped in one spot.

Well, then, right after we got the Suburban back from the mechanic’s I went to start and warm up our ’88 Buick {seriously, y’all, I told you we be glamorous high rollers} in the morning before work. I noticed it did sounds like it normally did. I headed back in the house to grab my stuff and give kisses goodbye only to come back outside to find the Buick not running. What the whaa? So naturally, I tried to start it again. No dice. So to the mechanic the Buick went.  {Side note, our mechanic freaking loves us}

At this point it was right before the end of the year and not knowing what the deal was with the Buick we started talking about getting a new car. Could we afford it right now? We haven’t had a car payment since a month after we were married, so that’d be a major adjustment. But, my student loan would be paid off within the next 3 months, so well…could we really afford it? We decided we better wait to hear back from the mechanic before making any decisions.

But, being the dreamer I am, I was on Toyota’s website looking at new cars the next day.

Here’s our {or my} requirements for a new car/Buick remplacement:

  • Must get good gas milage-right now the Buick gets 27 miles/gallon.
  • Since the Buick is currently Andy’s main daily driver and I normally just drive it on his days off/summer/winter break, this would be a car for him. So a new car can’t be anything lame and…not manly. {granted, he’s been rolling in an 88 Buick Le Saber for the last 3 years, so anything will be a step up, but he draws a hard line at the smart car!}
  • We rarely let Rylee ride in the Buick, so it’d be nice to have another “kid friendly” vehicle.
  • It’s gotta be budget friendly…we haven’t had a car payment in a long time. Lots of “things” have happened since then in regard to finances in our house. Will Andy still have is “head teacher” position next year? Because if not, that’ll be a reduction in pay. Oh and there’s the minor detail that we’re having another kid! so yea…budget friendly is a must.
  • It has to last…I mean duh, we have an 89 suburban and an 88 buick and right now our newest car is a 2004. We keep the vehicles around for a while.

Ok, so based on our criteria I’m thinking, when the time comes to replace the Buick, we’ll be looking at something along the lines of a Corolla or Matrix on the lower end or, maybe we’ll even think hybrid {I mean the man does drive 70+ miles a day}…and go with the surprisingly affordable, family friend Prius V.

Image Source: http://www.toyota.com/priusv/

At this point it’s just a waiting game, but let’s hope when the Buick does make it’s last ride, that’ll be the ONLY thing that goes wrong.

{And by last ride, I mean I’ll be throwing a party and doing a happy dance}

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.