Uh huh... yeahhh baby.

In the last house we lived in, we never put more than blinds on the windows and it kinda really bugged me. I always wanted to do it, meant to get around to it, but usually couldn't afford to do all the windows at once and I also knew there would be a lot of discussion about what color/kind of window treatments to use, and I also knew I probably wouldn't get what I wanted and if I wasn't going to get what I wanted, why get anything at all then...? Follow me?
So we've been in this house since July and I actually shopped for, chose and purchased a valance and rod for the kitchen! I figured it was only one window — one I spend a lot of time in front of — so it wouldn't break the bank to cover.
I was confident that I could borrow a drill from my neighbor, Steve, and put the whole thing up pretty easily. And I did! Except when I was almost falling off the counter backwards, jamming my head into the ceiling, and using the provided screws that were too long. But it's up and done pretty well. There are only 6 extra holes in the wall, but they're covered up, so they aren't really there, then, right?

Here's how the window looked: severe and boring, right?

Here's how it looks now:

A bit softer and I like how the colors match the walls and cabinets. I'm happy with it, so I think my bedroom is next...uh huh, yeahh baby, I put that up there all by myself! Right on.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween this year was great fun! The weather was pretty nice, albeit cold, but what do you expect for Halloween? Kait was a pirate lass, Kyle was the Joker and Maggie was a banana. The best banana ever!

Kids' toy of the week!

And I call it "toy of the week" because it seems like every time I turn around, there's a new toy Kaiky just HAS to have, "because Ashley got it and it's so cute, I want it Mommy! Pleassssse! Pleeeeeeeeeeease!"
First, it was Japanese erasers. I have to admit, I thought some of them were pretty cute, especially the animals. I was also amazed at some of the detail they put into the food erasers. But, of course, Kaiky had to collect as MANY as she could as FAST as possible, but her weekly allowance didn't come close to satifying her needs for another rubber piece of sushi...

Then, Go Gos Crazy Bones came on the scene and, at $1.99 for a three-pack, both kids were pretty satisfied with how quickly they were able to collect the coolest, the cutest and the RAREST Go Gos. These hard plastic guys really appealed to Kyle and I think he has over 150 (don't do the math, please!).

Go Gos were fun for a long time, but soon I started hearing from Kaiky that Squishies were the way to go, and, "they have them at KidSnips and can we pleaaaase go there and get some? Ashley has them! They are sooo cute, Mom!"
So we went to KidSnips and sure enough, there they were, in one of those gumball-type dispensers for 50 cents each!! I did a major double-take...these were the worst rip-offs yet! And you couldn't even choose which Squishy you wanted, what you got was at the mercy of the gumball machine and the five, slacking, highly-styled hairdressers sitting behind the cash register gawking as we placed all of our hard-earned quarters in the machine. Sigh.

We did finally find Squishies that we could hand-pick at Galt Toys, but for the same ridiculous, rip-off price. They even had big ones for a whole dollar.
Thankfully, the Squishy phase wore off very quickly! Now we're on to Beyblades, which are simply tops marketed from the Japanese Beyblade anime series, which I won't even pretend to know about. All I know is the important stuff: these things are $9.99 at Walgreens, a two-pack is $14.99 at Target, and with this being the most expensive fad yet, I hope it passes quickly!

As the world turns

I can't believe I haven't posted here for over a year! That's partly due to my losing my password to Google, moving to a new house and just being plain old busy. But I resolve to continue posting once again, even though I'm pretty sure no one follows this blog.

Obviously, a lot has changed over the past year, look at the kids! We just took these pictures October 16. Look how beautiful they are. Photo credit: Dory L. Tuohey Photography

One year ago...

Work is somewhat slow today, so I was reviewing old photos and found these two from a year ago, yesterday.
As you can see, some things haven't changed for Kyle.
But some other things have...

Baseball fever

This Spring, Kyle has moved up a level to "Mustang". It's for 3rd and 4th graders so the ages range from 8 to 10 years old. Again, Kyle finds himself having to step it up to play with the "big boys", but he's definitely holding his own.
Last Saturday, he had his first time on the pitcher's mound. He was scared to death, but did just fine.

Kaiky's new bike

On Friday, Kaiky got a brand-new bike. We immediately took it for a spin.



Later, Kaiky scatted on her new bike.