MJ's Tea Party

MJ decided it was about time for another tea party. So she and Emma put on their party clothes. She said she wanted me to take pictures of her and her daughter (the Cabbage Patch kid) and her granddaughter (the Care Bear). The CPK was mine; the bear hers. Isn't it funny how the toys we played with are what our kids are playing with? Is that what we'd call retro? She just loves being a little mother. They made a big mess in the living room, but they had fun!

Fun with stickers

The other night Emma came out of the bedroom with stickers all over herself. I had taken her shirt off (can't remember what for. I probably was going to give her a bath or put pjs on and got distracted). Anyway, here she comes. I told her she had stickers on her belly and she was so silly. I said stickers don't go on your belly, so she decided she'd put them on the wall. It was cute, but I told her stickers don't go on the wall and I got her a piece of paper. She was very proud of her masterpiece and we put it on the fridge. 

Eat, sleep, paint. Repeat.

Well, if you've been wondering about us it's because that is what we have been doing almost every waking moments and some when we should be sleeping too. But, I am excited to say, the walls of the house are finally finished!! Thanks to some fast work by my hubby this weekend--he gave the basement walls their first coat and gave me just the push I needed to tackle that job. I have touched up a few walls, but now we just have the baseboard and some trim left. Such a good feeling. It's really starting to feel like our home now. Here are few more pics of our progress. The girls have been really patient about the process so I'm thankful for that. We're anxious to get moved and start enjoying this home as a family. The first photo is the kitchen. We'll be getting the new cabinets and countertops next week sometime. The second is the playroom. It matches our bedroom and the office is one shade darker beige like the living room and hall. The third is Josh's half bath. I'm excited to say I installed that floor by myself. Now, it's just peel and stick tiles, but I still am proud of my accomplishment. The next is the girls' bathroom. The final is the TV room in the basement. All the walls and hall are this color. It's two shades lighter than the living room upstairs. Josh and I were both happy with the paint colors. You never quite know how it's all going to turn out when you're looking at a little paint chip. It's a little overwhelming I think. It all turned out nicely though. I think we went through around 13 gallons of paint for the house. 

My little helper

The other day I was trying to fold clothes out of the dryer. Josh had done such a great job of cleaning off the tops of the washer and dryer, I thought I'd be efficient and fold the clothes right there in the laundry room. Because our laundry room is also our entry, I usually take all the clothes to the living room or bedroom before folding them. Well, my little Emma wanted to help me with the clothes. She kept taking too many out (she's used to unloading everything at once) and they kept falling on the floor. After I kept putting them back in, she just decided I wasn't doing it right so she just climbed into the dryer herself. She thought she was pretty cool. Oh, and she took her bear in with her. Now, this is one of those times when you take a photo because it's cute, then you say to your child. Okay, don't ever do that again. Don't want her to think playing in the dryer is something we do regularly. :)

Emma is still very much in the stage of wanting to do everything Mackenzie does. So, MJ was playing dress-up, so Emma wanted to play too. She wanted the Cinderella dress even though it's about three times too big. 

I still can't quite believe our little Emma is two years old now. I followed her around with a camera the other day just trying to capture her little personality. She was talking to the horses and the cat getting quite excited about seeing them. She's so busy all the time and hardly stood still. Our baby is a little girl now! Where does the time go? 

Big event

Well, besides getting the house ready, I did have a big event last week. I've been planning a tour and workshop in Boise since last year and it finally all came together. We had a group of ag journalists, photographers, writers, marketers, etc. join us for a tour of the local area, then a full day of workshop speakers. It was a great success and a lot of fun. Now, this isn't as fun as my cute kiddos, but I am kind of proud of the event so I thought I'd share. Here is our group photo taken at a local vineyard after we did a wine tasting. It was a beautiful setting. We had a catered dinner there also. Josh came over and joined us so I was glad he came to meet and greet. The host group was the Livestock Publications Council, a professional group I belong to. I have been involved with this group since I was in college. I became inspired when I went to their annual meeting my sophomore year and realized I wanted to be an ag journalist and to educate and communicate about agriculture. We toured a mint farm (second photo) and mint still. Mint is cut with a swather, similar to hay, then steam is used to make the leaves release the oil. After that, we made a stop to a mint handler who is the company who buys the mint oil and sells it to places like Wrigley's and Colgate for gum and toothpaste. After that we toured a sugar beet factory and learned more about how they process sugar beets into sugar. It was very cool (quite stinky) though. We came away with a whole box of different sugars though. MJ was excited about the possibilities of cookie making when I showed her. :) We made another stop for wine tasting and tour of a distillery that makes Idaho potato vodka and fruit brandy, along with wines. Then, our last stop was another vineyard and dinner. The next day, we had western and lifestyle photographer David Stoecklein as our keynote. For those of us in the industry, this was a huge highlight. He is very well know for capturing the American West and also works for huge companies like Jeep, Wrangler and Jansport. He's very down-to-earth and gave a great presentation. Our other speakers were well-received as well. We had a nice turn out and received so many compliments. It looks like this may turn into an annual event. The last photo is of Diane and I. She's been a mentor since my college days and is the executive director of LPC. After the workshop day, a group of us enjoyed a family-style dinner at a local Basque restaurant. It was great to have all my hard work turn out even better than expected. I should also mention MJ and Emma stayed at Mark and Carla's. MJ was so excited to have a sleepover. They had lots of fun with Mich and Matt during the day. Mackenzie got to make a pinåta, which she thought was really cool.

Oops, I've done it again

Okay, sorry again for being behind on the blog. It just seems all we've been doing is painting or doing things with the house. I have gotten some pics of the girls so I'll try to update more. These are of Emma eating Ricearoni. Yes, I let her just stand there at the table eating her dinner. She made a huge mess, but at that moment, it was better for me to eat my dinner in peace then make her sit down in her high chair. Oh, the adventures of this two-year-old!