This one's for you Darah

Off we go to see this wonderful child - I've missed him so! We plan to come home with lots of good pictures and video ... back with you next week!

It has begun!!

Packing ... again. I've got a good start, good enough to leave on vacation without worrying that I won't get done! Plus I've got lots of good help coming the week after we get back, so this pile will grow and grow and grow and before I know it we'll be done! Right??

Mason walks!

Check out this talented boy - his mouth is like an extra hand!! He cracks me up with his hats - and it's the only word he knows. Kind of odd, I agree, but very cute ... couldn't get him to say it for the video, next time maybe?
Also his shorts crack me up ... they look more like capris because he's so fat that's the only way they can get them big enough to fit him around the waist! Chubby boy!!

Focaccia Bread

Yummy, easy bread recipe!!






2 3/4 c flour

1 t salt

1 t sugar

1 T active dry yeast

1 t garlic powder

1 t dried oregano

1 t dried thyme

1/2 t dried basil

pinch ground black pepper

1 T vegetable oil

1 c water

2 T olive oil

1 T grated Parmesan cheese

1 c mozzarella



In a large bowl, stir together the first eight ingredients. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.



When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.



Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Punch dough down; placed on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozarella cheese.



Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.



** My tips/variations - I only use 1/2 t of oregano because we're not overly fond of it. I use my kitchen aid mixer to do the kneading (don't want to burn a calorie if I don't have to!). I usually prepare a mixture of olive oil and spices (kosher salt, oregano, pepper and basil are what we like) to dip the bread into. Good stuff!! I've also discovered that putting my bread in the oven with the light on (only - no heat!!) makes it rise very nicely.

Video problem??

I've had two people tell me they couldn't get the video to run - has anyone been able to watch it besides me? It works fine on my computer, but if no one else can see it, well, that's sort of useless, isn't. Since I took the silly video in the first place! Let me know - thanks.

Fun shots from this morning

Who do you think these kids are? Especially the one on the right? Will it blow your mind to tell you it's Christa?? Is that not the spitting image of Lexi?! I took a picture of an old picture, sorta cheating, trying to trick you, it amused me.


Here's Lexi's award certificate from her first real hair cut, complete with locks of hair! Guess Christa agreed with me that the home hair cuts are not for us. :)


Here's Lexi trying to squash her breakfast (puppy chow - see video below :) with a squash.


The remains of the spaghetti stain on the carpet ...



And ... drum roll please ... what a roll of toilet paper looks like after the terrible-two-year-old has completely unrolled it onto the floor and Mommy has rolled it back up. Very patiently and happily I'm sure.

VIDEO POST!!

I'm so excited! Thanks Shannon! I figured out how to post a video on here ... this one's not expecially remarkable, but trust me I'll be looking for good ones from now on! Kinda weird - the sound seems to lag behind the video itself, but still cute. :)

Spaghetti Sauce and Suspicious Flushes

Last weekend Brenda and family brought Christa some dinner from Fazzoli's - yum yum. The container made it into the trash yesterday, still a bit saucy. While Christa was in the next room checking her e-mail, she asked Lexi what Mason was doing. "Sleeping," she says ... to which Christa freaks out, thinking maybe he's bonked his head or is choking on something ... she runs in the living room, and lo and behold, messy Mason has retrieved the pasta container from the trash, and is posted up to it on all fours in the living room (on the carpet of course), his head buried in the bowl, licking it clean. Sauce everywhere - sure wish I had a picture of that one!!

Recently, Lexi was on the potty (she spends a lot of time there these days!!), and Christa heard it flush. Since they have a rule about not flushing unless she "puts something in the potty," Christa said, "Lexi, did you put something in there?" Lexi said, "Yep, FARTS!! And I flushed them all away!!"

Mullets and messy grins

So Lexi got a hair cut ... actually Christa just cut her bangs ... it really doesn't look this bad most of the time, but a trip to the salon may be in order, what do you think?




And Mason, after eating at least three handfuls of sand ... again (see previous "Lexi eating sand" post), you would think once would be enough but we finally had to take him away from the sandbox!! The funniest thing was, instead of trying to spit that nasty mess out, he just kept chewing and swallowing!! Poor kid probably pooped a sand dollar the next day.

And this is just cute ... classic Mason. Happy happy - especially after a meal!

Brandon Wins the Marathon!!

Well, not really, but it sounds good, huh? He ran a half marathon yesterday, with, according to him, not much training, in 2 hours and 3 minutes, and came in 2,438 place!! Woo hoo!! He even got a medal!! I think he said there were 6000 runners, so that all sounds pretty good to me. :) Here's his summary of how he feels today: "Knees = not bad, left one is a little sore, they were both pretty bad yesterday, but better today. Other than that, just a few blisters and a little soreness. Not bad for the minimal amount of training I did =)"

He said he may get a picture e-mailed of him running the course, and will send it on to me to post if it happens.

New house pictures

Here's a few pictures of our "new" house - I totally forgot to take a picture of the front outside!!

This one is taken right outside the sliding glass doors of the dining room - nice big deck and fenced yard! The house backs up to Harold Street, and if you could pan right about a block across the street you would see Christa's house!!


This is the living room - love those bookcases! We negotiated a big carpet allowance, and hope to have all new carpet installed before we move in.


My favorite part of the house [sarcasm intended] ... we'll be changing the wallpaper and light fixture right away! I do really like the built-in hutch thingy though.


This is a not very good shot of the family room in the basement. Nice walls, huh? :)


And finally, the kitchen. I'm going to be really happy with all the counter space and cabinets - there's also a pantry on the other side by the refrigerator.

We're moving!!

We bought a house! The negotiating process was not much fun - the other agent was a bit difficult. But when it's all said and done, we'll be the owners of a house about 1 1/2 blocks from Christa and family in Olathe! Our closing date is September 8th, and with a trip to San Diego between now and then it'll be busy getting everything done. So I'm making excuses now if I don't get this updated much for awhile. :)

We have the kiddos overnight tonight - J is out of town, and Christa has to work. Darn. They're both sleeping now - we put them down for late naps about 4:15, and it's now 6:00. I'm wondering how long to let them sleep ... don't want them to be up too late tonight!!

A new favorite game with Lexi goes like this:

Nini: Once upon a time, there was a little girl named ...
Lexi: Lexi Grace Kuchta!!
Nini: And she had a brother named ...
Lexi: Blankie Pink.
Nini: Lexi Grace Kuchta and Blankie Pink loved to play in the ...
Lexi: Mud!!
Nini: And when they play in the mud, they get very ...
Lexi: Dirty!!
Nini: After they play in the mud, they like to go to the ...
Lexi: Garden.
Nini: And while they're in the garden they ...
Lexi: Pick some flowers!!
Nini: And those flowers are all different colors, like ...
Lexi: Pink, and green, and red, and green, and BLACK!!
Nini: And after they play in the mud and the garden, they ...
Lexi: Take a bath!!
Nini: Because they got very ...
Lexi: Dirty!!
Nini: And while they're in the bath, they play with ...
Lexi: they toys!
Nini: and they also get clean with ...
Lexi: Bubbles!!
Nini: And after they take a bath, it's time for ...
Lexi: Bed!!
Nini: So they say their ...
Lexi: Prayers
Nini: and go to sleep. And they all live happily ever ...
Lexi: after! The End.

Of course it's different every time, sometimes funnier than others! The mud is always inserted somewhere, as is the bath. What a hoot.

Well I suppose I better wake the sleeping beauties and feed them some dinner. Pictures tomorrow, I promise!!

Insomnia

So it's 2 a.m. and I'm wide awake. Which really stinks because I was so tired I could hardly stumble to bed at 10 p.m., and tomorrow (well today I guess now) is going to be a busy day! Maybe I was feeling too guilty about neglecting all of you to sleep?

Exciting news - we looked at houses yesterday, and will probably make an offer on one today. It's only a couple of blocks from Christa and family and from my folks, which will be wonderful. I miss being close enough to bug them anytime I feel like it!

Funny story - we were looking at houses in a new subdivision, construction going at full speed everywhere. (OH MY GOSH the water softener just kicked into (LOUD) recycle mode and scared me half to death!!!!!!) Anyway, this house looked to be almost done, and the garage door was part way open, so we walked over to look at it. Greg grabbed the garage door and started to lift it, and we heard this scuffle and saw a ladder wobbling and a little man ducking and hollering - he had his ladder set up inside the garage, and was up at head level facing the top of the partly-open garage door, working on the automatic opener! When Greg yanked open the door it practically decapitated the poor guy - he was yelling in Spanish and Greg was apologizing like crazy - once we realized he was ok, we cracked up laughing!!

Anyway, we didn't pick that house. :) The one we like is about 8 years old, and needs new carpet (which we hope to negotiate for) and a little bit of other work - like covering up the hideous wallpaper in the kitchen/dining room - but it's a great floorplan and has a fenced backyard, nice deck, and sprinkler system. And it's less than a block from a nice community playground. So yes, basically we're buying a house with the babies in mind, but what did you expect?? I'll try to get some pictures when we go back today and put them on here tomorrow if the deal goes through.

Random Hobbit Hollow stuff - here's a picture of our mama deer and her two babies - we have enjoyed watching them romp so much this summer! Of course they have basically decimated our garden, but oh well.



Speaking of gardens, remember that squash I was trying to identify awhile ago? Well I started obsessing on it a couple of days ago, and found a picture on the internet that matched - it's a "yellow crookneck squash" and I have been letting them get WAY too big! Basically they were turning into gourds by the time I picked them. So I'll try picking them earlier and see if I can make anything decent with them!

Lexi is doing a great job with potty training - she is so proud and pleased every time, she yells, "Come quick, I did it!!" Very cute. She has started inserting the word "new" in all kinds of random places ("I want my blankie on my new head" - what??) and told Christa the other day, "Mommy you have a big big nose!!" The girl always makes me laugh.

I must try to sleep. This is ridiculous.

40th Birthday Roast

So my "little" brother Chris turned 40 last week - his wife Amy threw a surprise party for him, and everyone was supposed to "dress like Tharp." You have to understand, Chris never misses an opportunity to get into a costume, so we all had lots of memories to choose from. There was lots of camoflauge, bowling shirts, and a couple of guys in tablecloth dresses - I'm not sure I ever got the whole story behind it, but evidently Chris dressed like this to "honor" an outgoing VBS director at his church, and one of her past costumes must have looked something like this!

His friends met him at the door with a wheelchair, and after we enjoyed some great food together, we roasted him. I think he was surprised, and we all enjoyed telling stories on this crazy guy. Here's a few pictures from the event:





Here's his cake - very cool - and a picture of the whole crew. Very fun night.

Poop week, revisited

This one goes in the Tot Lot Hall of Fame, for sure. This little guy's name is Jayce.



He cried pretty much all week. Look closely, and you'll find the tracks of his tears ... that is, if you can get past the bottom lip! :) He was my buddy, and a very earnest young man. He started every sentence with: "But Miss Angie, I have to tell you something ..." and somewhere in every conversation we had he told me "But Miss Angie, I just wanna go home!!" Almost every time he was in time out, his time had to start over because he just COULDN'T STOP HIMSELF from talking.

About mid-week, I found out from his Big Sister, Rachel, that he had pooped his pants twice that day. Deja-vu?? For me too! I thought for sure Week I was the end of the poop fest. But no. I told her that from now on, she should come get me to clean him and the mess up, because it wasn't in her job description to do that. The next day, during naps ... well suffice it to say he tried to clean up after himself and I'll just leave it to your imagination from there. Later that evening, during free play, on the playground ... yep, again. By now it's taken on the consistency of pudding. Yikes. (Sorry but you need to know that to appreciate the end of the story.) Another clean-up, with him in the shower this time (I just pitched all his clothes, it was all I could handle by that point). After all was finished, I walked back towards my room, and found Diana (the Bible teacher) and Brooke (the pseudo-nurse - more on that later). I told them what had just happened, and that it was the fourth time in two days, and Brooke said, "Oh, so I guess I should stop giving him a laxative twice a day now?" OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!! Apparently his mom sent the medicine with a note to stop giving it when his poop got runny, but due to the shortage/underqualifications of staff none of us communicated with each other this VERY IMPORTANT piece of information!! His Big Sister knew he was getting medicine twice a day, but didn't know what it was for, I didn't know he was getting medicine at all, and the nurse didn't know he was pooping his pants!!

Having said all of that, it was truly remarkable to see Rachel, his teen-age Big Sister, lovingly cleaning him up and caring for him - she was absolutely the hands and feet of Jesus to that poor little guy!

Where to start??

Well, I'm finally feeling a bit better - it's been awhile since a virus has taken me down that hard!

News from the fam - Mason is officially walking, and Lexi is potty training! She is doing great - only a couple of accidents so far, and yesterday she went on the potty six times! She always says, "Mommy, I put somepin' in there!" whenever she goes. A few pictures ... gotta love that little butt. I know, I'm risking getting myself shut down again, but I can't resist.





And here's one of Mason ... surprise ... wearing a hat! Dimples everywhere!!



In other news, Greg is in the second week of a three-month basement finishing project - so far so good! It's great to have the next three months or so mapped out already.

We're getting excited about going to see B.J. over Labor Day weekend - he just took over the volunteer department on top of his other duties. It's temporary, while they're trying to get someone hired for the position, but he says he's catching on and enjoying it for the most part.

Finally, it seems we'll be moving soon. Long story, we've loved it here, but it's time to go. We're looking for another rental in the west Olathe area, and are also looking into a house in foreclosure in our old neighborhood - which would be right across the street from my folks and just a couple of blocks from Christa and family.

Time for a nap ... coming soon: poop week revisited, and the 40th birthday roast!

Sick days

Sorry folks, I've caught a "post-camp" bug and have not been feeling well all week. I'll be back with you as soon as I can!

Home at last!

I'm home, to stay for awhile! I had a hard but good week at camp - I've got some pictures and stories to tell, so check back soon! I'm still unpacking and getting my feet under me, and trying to catch up on my sleep. Last night we went to my brother's 40th surprise birthday party - it was loads of fun and I've got pictures from it too! Come on back, ya'll! :)