Thursday, October 29, 2009

Perks of Texas Living

Perks of Texas Living? BBQ, Blue Bell, and dinner with grandparents every Tuesday.


Michael's mom and her chubby grandchild #5

June: always entertained by facial hair


And Owen enjoying some Blue Bell ice cream. A definite craving when we lived in Fresno!

Before...

It's only been a month since we were placed as a CARES team for an apartment complex in Roanoke, but in that time, we've been doing events, meeting residents, and recuperating from illness (save Michael...maybe his height keeps him safe from the air-borne nastiness that Owen sneezes straight in my face).


What has not happened is decorating our apartment. I told Michael how badly I wanted this apartment to look more like our home instead of our temporary residence, and he has given it his full support. Lee and Michael painted accent walls in two rooms, and my dad built an awesome console for our new-to-us TV. Now, somehow I haven't quite made time to hang pictures and the like (you know, the kids and part-time job are taking up a teensy bit of my day).

But no more! We're having one building of our apartment complex in our home every month...and the first group comes in 1 week. So, here's the before...


Living room: Yep, that's a 3rd floor balcony. No more using the car to help Owen "give up" and give in to the nap...because then I have to carry 2 children up 3 flights of stairs. Bummer.

Dining nook next to kitchen. Kitchen table coming soon...eating off a clean shower curtain on the floor for one month...not good....shower curtain no longer clean.


View of entrance to the apartment:

I wish I could think of a good joke here. I know some of you enjoy potty humor.

Hey, it's a window in a bedroom. Actually the office/playroom. Owen and Juney-pants share a room.

Thrilling, no? So, wish me luck on wrapping it up.

"New" Activity Mat Review

Some people we know do product reviews on their blog...the following is proof that we don't need any fancy new gadgets at our house when Owen can just reinvent what we do have.


Elephant Activity Gym: not sold with "Bad" Spiderman (which was found under the couch at the apartment clubhouse...blech)


The wrench mobile is also not included.


And I think the pliers dangling over baby's head would lead to a product recall.



That being said, watching her brother work for 30 minutes in "her space" was the most entertaining part of the day for June.