Number 2
Gootloader infection cleaned up
4 years ago
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Placeholder: The Home Improvement Edition
So, as promised, here is the long list of lame excuses as to why, up until two days ago, there had been a month's-plus silence on the blog. First, I've been super-duper, very, especially, completely, overwhelmingly busy with work--more than usually so, in case you didn't catch my meaning there. See, twice a year, all six journals for which I manage the edit, publish within a month and a half time span. It's a bit insane for while, and so everything else slides a bit. It's all I can do it keep up with work, the kid, and the house. Plus, in light of said craziness at work, there hasn't been too much of note going on at home. I know you all miss my rambling (and the pictures, yes, the pictures), but trust me; you missed nothing.
What have we been doing? Well, Jon and I (okay, mostly Jon) have started in full-tilt on the upstairs bathroom again. His dad is available to help with tiling tomorrow, so we needed to have the bathroom "tile-ready" before Nana and Pa (or NanaPa as Maddie used to refer to them) arrive. Therefore, Jon cut and is currently laying down the last of the backerboard for the shower, the floor, and the odd 80s-style step in front of our tub. Wednesday and Thursday night were spent painting, which is one of the few remodeling projects I can help with. Dear readers, I am so sore! The bathroom is the only room in the house with vaulted ceilings, so painting it involved screwing a roller onto a broom handle and seeing how high I can make it go. Also, I'm not tall. (Chris Stoppel, I want you to note that I just said I wasn't tall. I am not short. Average height! Anyway...) Tonight we went and bought about three tons of tile, so by tomorrow, I'm hoping the floor and shower wall will be taking shape.
On the Maddie front, she's still talking up a storm. Yesterday, she said what I think has got to be her longest complete sentence to date: I saw a man walking a doggy. Not the most scintillating material, I'll grant you, but still, long. Sadly, she's continuing her streak of getting up ridiculously early. It seems like once a week, she sleeps in until about 7:30, and the rest of the week, we're lucky if she's still in bed at 6 a.m. Luckily, she's cute, or we might have to sell her. (What? Maybe there are some people who'd like an adorable, curly-headed alarm clock. People who like to get up really early all the time.)
All right, lovelies, I'm going to wrap this up and enjoy what's left of my evening off, but I promise some pictures or videos or something soon. Have a good weekend! --A
What have we been doing? Well, Jon and I (okay, mostly Jon) have started in full-tilt on the upstairs bathroom again. His dad is available to help with tiling tomorrow, so we needed to have the bathroom "tile-ready" before Nana and Pa (or NanaPa as Maddie used to refer to them) arrive. Therefore, Jon cut and is currently laying down the last of the backerboard for the shower, the floor, and the odd 80s-style step in front of our tub. Wednesday and Thursday night were spent painting, which is one of the few remodeling projects I can help with. Dear readers, I am so sore! The bathroom is the only room in the house with vaulted ceilings, so painting it involved screwing a roller onto a broom handle and seeing how high I can make it go. Also, I'm not tall. (Chris Stoppel, I want you to note that I just said I wasn't tall. I am not short. Average height! Anyway...) Tonight we went and bought about three tons of tile, so by tomorrow, I'm hoping the floor and shower wall will be taking shape.
On the Maddie front, she's still talking up a storm. Yesterday, she said what I think has got to be her longest complete sentence to date: I saw a man walking a doggy. Not the most scintillating material, I'll grant you, but still, long. Sadly, she's continuing her streak of getting up ridiculously early. It seems like once a week, she sleeps in until about 7:30, and the rest of the week, we're lucky if she's still in bed at 6 a.m. Luckily, she's cute, or we might have to sell her. (What? Maybe there are some people who'd like an adorable, curly-headed alarm clock. People who like to get up really early all the time.)
All right, lovelies, I'm going to wrap this up and enjoy what's left of my evening off, but I promise some pictures or videos or something soon. Have a good weekend! --A
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tete-a-Toddler: Conversations with a Budding Linguist
Time: Weekday evening
Place: Kitchen
Maddie: Dadeeee, whew ah ooo?
Jon (who is standing right next to Maddie): Maddie, where do you think Daddy is? Where is Daddy?
Maddie (grinning): Daddy ah wuk! (giggles)
Time: Weekday evening
Place: Kitchen
Setting: I'm cooking, and Maddie is watching me and "helping." I've given her a set of measuring spoons and an empty measuring cup.
Me: Maddie, are you cooking with Mommy? Are you cooking?
Maddie (fiercely stirring an invisible substance of some sort): Yeah!
Me: What are you cooking?
Maddie: Salt.
Time: Weekday morning
Place: Maddie's bedroom
Me: Maddie, let's get you dressed so you can go to daycare. Do you want to go see Miss Laura?
Maddie: Yeah!
Me: Who else will you see at daycare?
Maddie: a Miss Wawa, a Yandon, a Spehcer, a Caityen
Me: Yep, you'll see all your friends at daycare.
Maddie: a Pa?
Me: No, Pa won't be at daycare.
Maddie: a Nana??
Me: No, Nana won't be at daycare either.
Maddie: a Unca Chiss???
Me: What? No. Maddie, none of those people have ever been to your daycare!
Time: Sunday morning
Place: Church
Setting: At the end of our church service, the congregation stands around the outer edges of the sanctuary, holds hands, and sings a closing song. Last Sunday, my parent were visiting, so they attended the service with us. I was holding Maddie, and my dad was standing next to us. My dad tried to hold Maddie's hand.
Maddie: Nooo! (Wrinkles up her forehead, nose, and mouth, and pulls her hand away.)
Grandpa: All right. I won't touch you (puts his hand on my shoulder).
Maddie (pushing his hand away somewhat violently): Noooo! No a toucha Mommy!
Time: Weekday evening
Place: Neighborhood playground
Jon: All right, Maddie, one more time down the slide, and then we need to finish our walk and go home.
(Maddie goes down the slide.)
Me: Okay, time to go. Let's go get in your stroller.
Maddie: Nooo. A mo' sa-yide. A mo' sa-yide!
Me: No, it's time to go.
Jon: Say bye-bye, slide. Say bye-bye.
Maddie: Bye-bye, sa-yide. See ta-ma-oh.
*My apologies for the length between this post and the last. I'll be posting again in the next couple of days with some lame excuses for the delay, pictures, and general updates. I appreciate your patience!
Place: Kitchen
Maddie: Dadeeee, whew ah ooo?
Jon (who is standing right next to Maddie): Maddie, where do you think Daddy is? Where is Daddy?
Maddie (grinning): Daddy ah wuk! (giggles)
Time: Weekday evening
Place: Kitchen
Setting: I'm cooking, and Maddie is watching me and "helping." I've given her a set of measuring spoons and an empty measuring cup.
Me: Maddie, are you cooking with Mommy? Are you cooking?
Maddie (fiercely stirring an invisible substance of some sort): Yeah!
Me: What are you cooking?
Maddie: Salt.
Time: Weekday morning
Place: Maddie's bedroom
Me: Maddie, let's get you dressed so you can go to daycare. Do you want to go see Miss Laura?
Maddie: Yeah!
Me: Who else will you see at daycare?
Maddie: a Miss Wawa, a Yandon, a Spehcer, a Caityen
Me: Yep, you'll see all your friends at daycare.
Maddie: a Pa?
Me: No, Pa won't be at daycare.
Maddie: a Nana??
Me: No, Nana won't be at daycare either.
Maddie: a Unca Chiss???
Me: What? No. Maddie, none of those people have ever been to your daycare!
Time: Sunday morning
Place: Church
Setting: At the end of our church service, the congregation stands around the outer edges of the sanctuary, holds hands, and sings a closing song. Last Sunday, my parent were visiting, so they attended the service with us. I was holding Maddie, and my dad was standing next to us. My dad tried to hold Maddie's hand.
Maddie: Nooo! (Wrinkles up her forehead, nose, and mouth, and pulls her hand away.)
Grandpa: All right. I won't touch you (puts his hand on my shoulder).
Maddie (pushing his hand away somewhat violently): Noooo! No a toucha Mommy!
Time: Weekday evening
Place: Neighborhood playground
Jon: All right, Maddie, one more time down the slide, and then we need to finish our walk and go home.
(Maddie goes down the slide.)
Me: Okay, time to go. Let's go get in your stroller.
Maddie: Nooo. A mo' sa-yide. A mo' sa-yide!
Me: No, it's time to go.
Jon: Say bye-bye, slide. Say bye-bye.
Maddie: Bye-bye, sa-yide. See ta-ma-oh.
*My apologies for the length between this post and the last. I'll be posting again in the next couple of days with some lame excuses for the delay, pictures, and general updates. I appreciate your patience!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Placeholder
Not having anything particularly topical to write about, I decided to do another quick update on the goings-on at Casa de Stopster. We haven't really been up to a whole lot--finishing taxes (ugh! we are definitely withholding more up front this year), getting the yard back in shape, and trying to spend as much time out in the nice weather before the boiling Kansas summer comes home to roost.
Shortly after we visited the Deanna Rose Farmstead--okay, like the day after--we visited Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory in Louisburg, KS with our favorite 'also-parents', the Jantzer-Wards and their totally-squeezable son, JJ. This refuge houses 7 tigers, 3 cougars, 3 bobcats, a leopard, an adorable lion cub, and a couple of coatis (co-ah-tee), which may be Maddie's new favorite animal, or at least word to say. Cedar Cove, from what I could tell, mostly takes in animals that have already been captive in some capacity and need somewhere else to be. For instance, the leopard was originally in a private residence (yes, it's insane; I know), but when they decided to have a baby, they thought the combination of baby and leopard might not be a good idea (so, maybe not completely insane), and the shelter took him in.
After we gave the kiddos some tiger-time, we stopped by the other attraction in Louisburg, Somerset Winery, for some adult fun. They have a huuuuge open lawn space, so after those-who-are-of-age selected a bottle share, we sipped wine in the sun while JJ and Maddie got good and dirty running around in the grass, playing with rocks on the gravel path, and slogging through the mud near a small bridge. (The bridge seemed to allow one to cross a small drainage ditch, and yes, it was about as pointless as it sounds, but being almost perfectly toddler-size, they thought it was great.
Other than that, we've been sticking pretty close to home. Maddie's still going to Kindermusik every Tuesday, and she seems to enjoy herself. Her favorite part may be the stamps she receives at the end of class, but she also gets pretty excited about the dancing and story time. Maddie's the youngest kid in the class, so usually, when stamp time comes, the older kids kind of push her out of the way, but a couple of weeks ago, she ran right up to the front and pulled up her shirt to Miss Amy could plant a stamp right on her belly.
Oh, and Maddie has fairly flawlessly made her transition back to Laura's for daycare. She seems pretty happy to have lots of kids to play with again, but we have seen signs that she hasn't had to, um, "share" recently. Either that or she's well on her way to "two" a little earlier than scheduled. (I'm betting on a combination of both.)
On a final note, I thought I'd share this picture that I snapped last night. Apparently, when you leave the room to get more paper (20 seconds, people!), she will find a different medium to work with:
Shortly after we visited the Deanna Rose Farmstead--okay, like the day after--we visited Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory in Louisburg, KS with our favorite 'also-parents', the Jantzer-Wards and their totally-squeezable son, JJ. This refuge houses 7 tigers, 3 cougars, 3 bobcats, a leopard, an adorable lion cub, and a couple of coatis (co-ah-tee), which may be Maddie's new favorite animal, or at least word to say. Cedar Cove, from what I could tell, mostly takes in animals that have already been captive in some capacity and need somewhere else to be. For instance, the leopard was originally in a private residence (yes, it's insane; I know), but when they decided to have a baby, they thought the combination of baby and leopard might not be a good idea (so, maybe not completely insane), and the shelter took him in.
After we gave the kiddos some tiger-time, we stopped by the other attraction in Louisburg, Somerset Winery, for some adult fun. They have a huuuuge open lawn space, so after those-who-are-of-age selected a bottle share, we sipped wine in the sun while JJ and Maddie got good and dirty running around in the grass, playing with rocks on the gravel path, and slogging through the mud near a small bridge. (The bridge seemed to allow one to cross a small drainage ditch, and yes, it was about as pointless as it sounds, but being almost perfectly toddler-size, they thought it was great.
Other than that, we've been sticking pretty close to home. Maddie's still going to Kindermusik every Tuesday, and she seems to enjoy herself. Her favorite part may be the stamps she receives at the end of class, but she also gets pretty excited about the dancing and story time. Maddie's the youngest kid in the class, so usually, when stamp time comes, the older kids kind of push her out of the way, but a couple of weeks ago, she ran right up to the front and pulled up her shirt to Miss Amy could plant a stamp right on her belly.
Oh, and Maddie has fairly flawlessly made her transition back to Laura's for daycare. She seems pretty happy to have lots of kids to play with again, but we have seen signs that she hasn't had to, um, "share" recently. Either that or she's well on her way to "two" a little earlier than scheduled. (I'm betting on a combination of both.)
On a final note, I thought I'd share this picture that I snapped last night. Apparently, when you leave the room to get more paper (20 seconds, people!), she will find a different medium to work with:
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sprong!*
Since the weather has been so nice lately (although, intermittently, it must be said), the three of us have been enjoying as many outdoor activities as possible. I posted a photo album on Facebook, and I'm too lazy to repost anything here, so I'm just going to link to it, but I do have a reward for you, my faithful blog readers. That's right--here you will find some exclusive, blog-only content: Actual video of the goat feeding. I know; sometimes I go above and beyond. There's really no need to thank me. (But, if you did feel the urge, I'm totally craving brownies right now. Just thought I'd throw that out there.)
Anyway, check out the pictures and enjoy the videos.
Anyway, check out the pictures and enjoy the videos.
* Sprong! = Spring has sprung! It's my new word. It'll catch on, just you wait.
Editor's Note: Those of you who are curious, here's a link to the farmstead we visited. It's a really great place--lots of animals and activities that I think will be great once she gets older. It's also fairly inexpensive: free for children under 2 and $2 for everyone else. (This excludes the mountain of quarters you will spend so your child can feed every animal...)
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