A Fresh Coat of Paint

Want to know what our weekend consisted of??

One ugly desk purchased for ten dollars.

A ton of sandpaper.

One coat of primer.

Two coats of yellow paint.

Some new knobs.

And voila!!

Isn’t it perdy?? It is our new vanity/desk. I can use it in the mornings for my makeup and jewelry and such and Mike can use it when he needs a quiet place to study (because our kitchen table is far from a quiet place).

We repainted one of our old Ikea kitchen table chairs to match as well.

I would have some better after pictures but I could only snap one before Tennyson got in the way.

We are all very pleased. Including Tennyson.

(Cheesy smiles like this are his new thing.)

And just because I’m so gosh darn proud of us, I will let you see the before and after one more time.

 

Splash Pad Success

It was over 90 degrees here in Lansing today. And humid.

So we visited the community splash pad. Basically a splash pad is just a bunch of huge water towers that kids can run around and play in.

We set off onto the trailhead we usually start at to get to the county park. The park is about half a mile from the trailhead and it saves us the entrance fee if we start there instead of at the park.

I almost didn’t go into the splash pad because it looked awfully crowded and intimidating. I really wasn’t sure how Tennyson would do with so many people because he’s still little and fragile and baby-ish. Boy, was I wrong. The crowd didn’t faze him one bit. He didn’t even come close to being trampled. I think I’m in denial that I have a kid and not a baby.

At first, the water made him nervous and he wouldn’t do anything without one hand clinging to me.

After he felt a bit more comfortable, he plopped down and just played sitting for a while.

I took quite a few pictures and then put away the camera because I figured that was as good as it was going to get.

Boy, was I wrong. After he had been sitting for a bit, I picked him up to show him another fountain. When I put him down, he ran off. Suddenly, he could have cared less how close to him I was. The only thing he needed me for was to get him back onto his feet when he fell down. If he tripped, he’d stick his arm behind him signaling me to grab on and pull him up. Then he’d run off again toward some other fountain that looked cool.

We really had so much fun! I can guarantee we’ll be going back to this place multiple times this summer.

All that running around and splashing in the water wore him out. I think it took all the strength he had in him not to fall asleep on the walk back to our car (which was supposed to be a run back to our car, but it was way too hot and I had already been outside for almost an hour. Lesson learned. Run first, splash after.)

Show and Tell

Look what I made!

It’s for Tennyson’s room.

I sing him Primary Songs every night while I feed him his bottle. My Great-Grandma Hartmann used to rock the kids to sleep while singing “Jesus Once was a Little Child” and “Tell me the Stories of Jesus.” I starting singing those songs to Tennyson a while back and I’ve since branched out since it takes him so long to drink his bottle.

Anyway, as I sing the songs, I look around and notice that he has absolutely nothing church-y in his room. Which is sad. We've tried to put something church-y in every room in our house, but somehow his got skipped over.

So I saw a cool craft online that someone did and decided to do a temple picture for Tennyson’s room.

It turned out pretty good for making it up as I go. And now Tennyson has something in his room.

Also, Tennyson wanted to join in the show and tell. (Or in his case, it is show and don’t tell.)

Show: Things in mommy and daddy’s trash can.

Don’t tell: Mommy that I found the Fig Newtons.

Brings a smile to my face

There is a certain Lone Star song that brings a smile to my face. I can’t help it. I get excited every time I hear it on the radio.

It shouldn’t be hard to figure out why I love the song so much and why it brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

I love the song because I always think about watching my little carrot top who can barely walk with a sippy cup of milk.

And I smile because he’s all mine.

Thirteen Months

Our little kiddo is now 13 months old.

After much deliberation, I decided that I should still take monthly pictures in the Batman shirt since it is still not only fits, but is a size too big for him. As a compromise to myself, I decided not to do them on the couch. Because that was much more fight than it was worth. This kid does not stay still.

So, I present to you, our on-the-go toddler:



Thirteen months old.

He is starting to walk places. Like from the fridge to the kitchen counter. Or from the couch to his toy table. He still crawls a majority of the time, but he sure has made a lot of progress in the past few weeks. I so look forward to the day he can walk himself in from the car.
Tennyson loves Sesame Street. I thank the heavens every day that he likes Sesame Street more than Wonder Pets.
He loves the theme song from Grey’s Anatomy. He stops whatever he is doing to dance to it.

Tennyson loves bath time. He has learned that he can drink the bath water out of his squirt toys. He stays in the tub until he is a raisin.
He loves hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves macaroni and cheese and breadsticks. He’s such a health nut.

Tennyson loves our iPods. He has figured out how to scroll through screens and open up apps.
He loves Monsters, Inc.
Tennyson loves the songs “Nephi’s Courage” and “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam.”
Tennyson has turned into such a mommy’s boy. Sometimes I can’t get enough of it and other times it drives me crazy.



We love each other.
A lot.