Christmas in Ohio

As usual, not so great at getting photos.  

The Ohio cousins were super nice and patient with our short intrusion.  These kids got waayyy crazier than pictured here - I just happened to get them at a quiet moment, I think.  It was a lot of fun.  

Things to do on a chilly weekend

Build towers with dad.  As you can tell from this picture, it was serious business.

Footballlll

It was a cold, but beautiful day, so we had to go and see Chris's school play in the state championship game (they won) at Rutgers on Saturday morning.

We are lots of junk, of course, and ran around mostly, but it was a lot of fun.  And I just love this picture because the monkey looks so little to me.  Must be the chubby cheeks...

Bounce U

Birthday party to end the long weekend...

...with giant bouncy houses and running around and pizza and cupcakes. 

Spending one of the last warm nights of the year at Turtle Back Zoo

Chris's brother and his wife had this great idea to meet up at Turtle Back Zoo for (I guess it's new) their holiday lights "show".  Even though we didn't really see a lot of the animals, it was a beautiful night and it was fun to hang out and run around and see all the lights.  Best of all, it was free!  Well, except for the merry-go-round, which of course, the kids HAD to ride. 

This kid loves giraffes (for now)...

Look familiar?

This kid loves dresses.  Drives me bananas...I finally got her to wear this one.  I really just wanted to get a picture of it, but since it was the only clean "big" dress (i.e., one she can twirl in), she just went ahead and wore it to school. 

Trying to enjoy some of the last "warm-ish" days left of the season

Head to toe in pink (basically).  Hair a complete mess.  Running from one area of the playground to the next.  Usual day for the monkey...

What to do after getting a flu shot?

Go to the aquarium of course...

Just for you Grandma Shauna

One with the mask:

The whole Bat family

The monkey proudly walks hand in hand with her other Bat super hero during the school parade.  I thought it was school policy they couldn't wear masks, but I guess I was wrong.  Oh well...

A super hero helps stack wood...

I'm just glad that nobody got into a car accident when they saw this on the side of the road:

Waiting for the THE GLOW

Monmouth Park Racing track had an even this weekend that displayed over 5,000 pumpkins that were carved into some random items.  It's hard to explain, but they would get a bunch of pumpkins, stick them together (kind of like building blocks I guess) and then carve images into them - skeletons riding on motorcycles, dinosaurs, the White House, to name a few. 

It was pouring rain, so we zipped through pretty fast, but it was still fun.  I tried to get a photo of Chris and the monkey dancing around while we were waiting in line, but this is about all I could get. 

Our little chatty monkey talked the entire time...some of the things she kept saying: "Soooo shiiiney....I never noticed that before."  "Whoooooaaaaa...check 'em out"  and "Soooo beautifulllll...I never seen that before". 

Bowling, according to the monkey

Hit yourself on the head with the pin, throw the ball into some mud and then wipe the mud onto your dress. 

Then, go wave to Daddy as he's getting in his 16,000+ steps for the weekend (mowing the lawn, weed whacking, getting rid of dead opossums, just a typical Saturday for him).  Repeat.

Learning about the letter B

Needless to say she came home with ink all over her face and hands...

The logic of a pre-schooler - or, why do I have to sit in a car seat???

Monkey: "Why can't I sit in a big seat?  I'm a big girl now."
Me: "Because the police officers and your mommy and daddy want to make sure that you stay safe in the car and your car seat is the best way to keep you safe.  Besides, if you don't sit in your car seat, we'll get in trouble with the police officer and they'll give us a ticket."
Monkey:  "Wellll, I think that's OK if they give us a ticket because we can just go see a movie with the ticket."
Me:  "Fair point."

And after...

Updates we made:  Painted the walls Benjamin Moore Weimeriner, the same as the entry way.  And painted the wood paneling just a plain white.  We're mostly done in this room, just need to figure out what to do with the "half-wall" that you can see in the lower right hand side of the picture.  Paint it white like the rest of the wood paneling?  Or stain it dark like you can see on part of the mantle on the fireplace?  Probably won't worry about it for at least another year I think...  

Time for another "before" picture...

This is the living room as the previous owners had it.  Again with the orange.  Not as much wall space in this room, and really the focus is the fireplace, so it wasn't completely awful.  But not my taste at all.  Wood paneling, blech.

Last hot day of the year?

Here's the little monkey's pose as a "silly statue." 

Happy Labor Day!

Fun at the playground

Chris and the monkey found a new playground this weekend and, of course, she found some things to climb on.  Not necessarily things that kids should climb on, but she did it anyway.

They sent me a video and the dialog went like this:

Monkey as she's climbing up on the roof:  "Doing it...doing it...I got it!"

As she's climbing over the peak: "Whoa whoa!"

And then slide down the other side and jump to the ground.  Oy that kid...

And after...

Wall color is from Benjamin Moore (seems to be a family favorite brand) Weimaraner is the color.  The photo is a bit dark but, the bench and table are both from Wayfair, coat tree is a cheapy from Amazon (can't really see it in the picture, but I don't really like it, so it doesn't matter), rug is from World Market, lamp is from a design store in Red Bank.

Artwork is a combination: local finds from Cape May and Bed Bath & Beyond, and a little known artist currently living in Ohio (we'll just call her Aunt Val); and a couple of pictures of the monkey.

There are still a couple of things we are going to do in this room.  2017 will be the soonest i can even think about it though...

Another before picture

This is the entry way (and part of the living room) as the previous owners had it.  Note the orange walls...so unsettling. 

Not sure if you can see it, but they had these cross-stitched gnome pillows in their living room.  And then bunch of gnome statues around the property outside.  Randomly, they left like three for us.  This was among the many other very random things they left when they  moved out (not one, not two, but three step stools; a sander; some sort of power saw; water shoes...totally random).  Anyway, back to the entryway.  Smallest area in the house, of course, but the first thing people see and since it is open to the rest of the house, we had to pick a good wall color that flowed through to the rest of the house, and also looked good in the living room since there was no break in the walls where we could change the wall color.  Anyway, first priority was to get rid of that orange!  

Such a hot week...

but everyone rallied and made a trip to Turtle Back Zoo.  Had to see the new giraffes! 

They're hard to see in the background, but they are directly behind the little monkey (by a few several yards).  Not sure if it was the heat or just her lack of caring, but, aside from the sea lions (that she could not get enough of), most of the day went like this:

One of us: "Ohhh, look at that [insert animal here]"
Monkey: "Wow...look at that! Let's go see another one." 

Not sure we looked at anything for more than 30 seconds....

And it continues...

...with a day at Sandy Hook

Well, a morning anyway.  Still have to get naptime in otherwise we would all go crazy.

Little monkey had to have her surfboard.  I don't think it ever touched the water, though.  After getting tossed around in the waves for a while, she and her dad built some sand castles, he buried her in the sand...you know, your typical sandy day at the beach.

"Stay cation" continues

Storybook Land!  One of our favorites because it's small enough that none of us get overwhelmed, and we get to leave by nap time since all the rides are ridden by then.

The monkey had a special fondness for this part of the park, mainly because there was this little elf out front and she got to say over and over again: "Granddad calls me Dopey!"

This one goes out to you, Old Man!

"Stay cation"

Our little surfer girl:

and after watching some of the olympics swimming events: 

Monkey:  "Put my hat on, and my goggles...'Merica!"

swim splash swim around in the tiny pool...

Chris:  "Did you win the Olympics?"
Monkey: "No!"
Chris:  "No?"
Monkey:  "No.  The crab taked my 'lympics!"

Still can't figure out how to do video, so that will have to suffice.

Just doing some spin art with my curly hair

First room completely done - part 2

And here's the AFTER:

painted the walls a Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, the cabinets are a Benjamin Moore color that I can't remember right now.  Curtain and pictures are courtesy of Etsy and linens are a Target special a la Nate Burkus. Chris also painted all the woodwork a plain white.  In the process of changing the hardware, but that's coming later...

First room completely done - part 1

Just a reminder before picture: 

This is the mater bathroom with the previous owner's set-up.  I forgot how awful their curtains were...

"I have to make a big pancake"

She asked me multiple times for a mixing bowl - I guess I took too long to get her one so she took matters into her own hands (please see tiny blue bowl that we use mostly for her snacks).  She also needed a pastry roller, a pastry brush and a straw cleaner/brush to make said big pancake. 

Splish splash day at school

Busy artsing and craftsing

Conversations with our toddler...

As we're trying to get the little monkey into bed for the night:  "Dadda, we better hurry up because mom is losing her patience." 

Chris: "Does mom lose her patience a lot?"

Monkey: "Uh, yeah."

Happy fourth of July

After living here for over a month, we finally took the long walk to the end of our street.  It took having some guests over, and gorging on the July 4th feast that Chris prepared for us.  For some reason the Andy Griffith theme song kept rolling through my head. 

Just need a fishing pole and some overalls...

Graduating to pre-school

Monkey's school did a little bit of mock yearbook page for her last day in daycare.  Every kid got at least one "best" designation.  I'm not sure how I really feel about this, but she likes looking at the page of photos we stuck on her fridge of all her friends, so I'll keep it for a while...

"Can I have more junk food?"

is what my three-year-old asked me as she came inside for her second cupcake of the day...

...hanging out with cousins at the pool.  How could I say no to this face??

Get ready for some before/during/after photos of the new house!

Here is a "before" picture of the master bathroom, or as posted by the previous owners on the realtor website:

The pluses include:
A linen closet
Much larger space than we are used to
Very bright and sunny
Double sinks (this never bothered me, but I know some people love them)
Hardware on cabinets are nice
Nice, giant jet tub (not sure if I'll ever use that, but it's pretty)
Tile floor is not my style, but pretty

Minuses include:
Weird layout
Awful oak cabinets
Vanity top shows dirt very easily
Don't love the yellow wall color
The mirrors above the sinks aren't medicine cabinets
Not in this picture, the shower is small and the medicine cabinet is OVER the toilet (that is weird to me)

Birthday celebration

I know the monkey's birthday was well over a week ago, but with the move and Memorial Day, this past Saturday seemed like a better option to have the family get together.  I didn't even care that the house wasn't even close to being put together yet.  We all had fun anyway...

...and this is the only picture that I took.  After everyone left, and after I realized that I never gave her her party hat to wear.  Oh well...

The Monkey's art studio

This little bob is soooo much easier to manage...

...got it cut over the weekend to show off my curls better :)

Crazy hair...

This is just one of the styles our little monkey has come home with lately.  Finally getting some sunny days, so the hair just gets a little crazier...

I guess this is the school's attempt at trying to do some control.

Just a little Sunday morning reading

We found some of Chris's old yearbooks and football jerseys in a box as we are getting ready to move (8 more days!) and also found an old science textbook.  Not sure why anyone would have an old textbook - I always thought we were supposed to hand those in at the end of the school year.  Maybe Chris just happened to love this one...

...his daughter loved it too apparently.  She dragged that thing around all day!

I love pizza!

Carrots and peppers?  Mehhhhh....

When life gives you lemons

Or when you're going through a move and your mom has packed most of your toys away...

...you find something new to play with.

Playing on the Fun Bus

in one of her favorite dresses...

Just another fun day at school

Batting practice

Stalling at bedtime

Our little monkey has become pretty creative in trying to prolong the bedtime routine.  Anything from "Mom, I need some water" to "Mom, I need you to move my dresser."  She's getting more creative...

But almost every night, she starts off by trying to get Chris back into the room for "one more kiss and hug."  That started turning into two and three more times every night until finally he just said, "I'm only coming back one time so think about what you want from me."  Her response to that?  "Dadda, come back please, I want a lot of things from you!" 

Made us giggle anyway...

Taking advantage of extra TV time as we're trying to get out the door for some showings on our house this weekend

It's going to be a bit of a transition once we've actually sold the house and moved and she won't get as much TV time. 

Enjoying some warm weather...

while it was around anyway...

Happy Spring!

All aboard the Fun Bus!

"I put on my cape. I put on my boots"

"SUPER MAN!!!"