Not quite warm enough for the park.

But we went anyway, and now Tad has a cold.

When are we ever going to learn not to take our baby to cold places?

I've been waiting for it to warm up so we could take Tad to try out the swings, but I couldn't wait any longer (and Fred needed a break from studying). We weren't out very long & he loved them!

Today we picked up Fred from school (he's dressed up for a research presentation). We got some Wendy's and headed to the park to watch the ducks. Tad loves to follow the birds as they move around. I tried to get him to help me feed the ducks but went they got close he'd turn and hug my leg like he was scared. It's amazing how much he's changed lately, becoming a little toddler, and very opinionated.

Why am I posting a picture of goldfish?

Because these are the goldfish that will never die.
When I was little we'd get a 10 cent goldfish from Walmart that would last a day, maybe 2 weeks. These fish are older than mine & Fred's marriage!
My sisters got them for my bridal shower as a joke -- our "first pet". They bought 10. We left them at my parents until we got home from our honeymoon and moved into our house. I think when they finally moved to our house we had 5 left. Gradually they've died, except these 2. They are 7 1/2 YEARS old! (And huge! It's hard to see since they're in a cool whip bowl- I'm cleaning the tank.)
Fred & I both say that they're not moving with us, but I don't know if I can flush them, I kind of want to know how long they'll really live.

What GIVES you $$$ and entertainment?

Fred's little car officially died. There was a hole in the engine and they don't make the engine he needed anymore. Our best option was to put it to out of it's misery.
Fred's dad helped us haul it to a metal recycling facility so we at least got some money out of it. I took the camera because I have to document everything with pictures. After I took one picture I looked at Fred and he looked all excited (I should have taken a picture of him). He said "Take a lot!" So......here are a few.

It causes me pain to describe it because of the 2 day old windshield. :{ (Major tears!) Also because this is the car Fred had when we started dating. Lots of memories and it's so final- no turning back.

We took the new tires off and hopefully we'll be able to sell them. The tractor picked up the car crushing the side windows and carried it off of the trailer. He set it down and adjusted it's grip - including the horn. It honked during the whole "flight". He had to set it down and pick it up again to make the horn stop. Fred said if we take another car there he'd take the tires off again just so he could watch them pick it up---- such a little boy at heart!

So, we spent most of Friday and all of Saturday car shopping. Not my ideal weekend, but even car shopping is fun with Fred because he's so mellow, KNOWS cars, and can walk away from any salesman without feeling bad.

Since the brakes went out on his truck, we're hoping to just get a new truck. Too bad his want list is near impossible to fill: Manual, Diesel, Long bed, Extended cab, Low miles, and Within our price range!

Any leads let us know!

7 month old Leprachaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
(7 month pictures)




The 2nd one makes his head look big because he's leaning forward, but we love the look on his face.

Fred's rough day... continued

Fred called me Saturday while he was out running around to get his car inspected. We got 2 new tires, a front end alignment, a new windshield..... the phone conversation went like this:
"You'll never guess... my car just exploded."
"What?"
"My car exploded and now it won't start."
He'd left my car at the shop where he picked his car up so I didn't even have a car to go get him. Luckily my little sister had nothing better to do than go fetch him.
He ate and left for work- not a very happy camper.

His dad helped him tow it home. They're thinking it's the engine. The car does have over 200,000 miles on it. Do we replace the engine or let it RIP?
On a happier note, we spent Sunday relaxing and made a full turkey dinnner, including pie!

Fred's rough day

Fred just can't seem to catch a break. He tries so hard to do everything, but something always seems to go wrong. Yesterday the things seemed to pile up.

Yesterday he went to school - found out he got the high score in Comparative Physiology (148.5 out of 150) --- yes, he's a nerd. A SMART one! :}

Then he was supposed to meet with the dept. head to finalize his graduation paperwork. I heard him pull in early and went out to remind him of his meeting. He'd left a paper at home that he needed for it, resulting in an extra hour of driving. :[ When he got to the meeting the guy wasn't there. He waited for a little bit, when the guy came in he said he couldn't meet with him. First of all it was the dept. head that set the appointment. Second, he said he'd look over the paperwork and give Fred a call---- why wasn't that an option the first time?

Later that night he went to scouts - where he was reminded that he had a Home Teaching appointment right after. On his way home from scouts the breaks on his truck were messed up. He ran a stop sign and luckily the person coming was able to brake. Of course with Fred's luck there was a cop right there. The cop thought he wasn't pulling over with just the lights so he did the siren too. (Way to add to the irritation!)

I feel bad for him and don't know how to help him. I definitely can't help him with school- I hate science! I know I wouldn't be any help with his truck. I can't study for the MCAT for him. I guess I'll just have to bake---- choc chip cookies solve everything right?

And so it begins.....

The FUN stuff!
Trying new foods....

Learning how to open mom's cupboards...

Tad is definitely starting to show his personality. So far he's a little bit of a tease and strong-willed when he doesn't want to do something. As long as we don't clash.... this could be fun. :} (Mom won the fight of eating all his dinner, Tad won with no evening nap.)
The video looks like he's having a seizure, but it's his latest trick. If you say "Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle" to him he shakes his head. If he's laying on the floor he kicks his entire body like a worm.


He can say the "k" sound for "kitty" and loves to babble to Fred.
Hopefully he'll get some teeth soon and start crawling.

So, I collect things.....

I KIND OF collect turtles, I WAS collecting shot glasses, but I'm thinking of switching to another vacation collectible - maybe something a little more challenging to find. I figured shot glasses were cheap, easy to find, and easy to transport home. We don't have any vacations planned, just a random thought.
I also collect thoughts for my thoughtbook that I started in 8th grade for an Honors English assignment. I obviously collect pictures. :}
But MY FAVORITE might be my collection of GAMES (76 to be exact - that's not including the dozens of games we know how to play with a regular deck of cards) !!!!!
* Adversity * Amazing Race * Apples to Apples * Balloon Cup *Bananagrams * Battle of the Sexes *Battleship *Blokus * Boggle * Boomo * Bunco * Buzz word * Catch Phrase * Cheater * Clue Mysteries * Connect four * Cribbage * Dominoes * Double Talk * Family Fued * Five Crowns * Go Fish * Imaginiff * In a pickle * In Pursuit * Jenga * Last Word * Life * Linkity * Mancala * Missionary Impossible * Monopoly (2) * Newlyweds * Oh Pharaoh * Old Maid * Partini * Password * Phase 10 * Phase 10 dice * Pictionary Man * Pirates Dice * Pit * Pitch Six * Pitureka Cards * Racko * Rummikub * Scattegories * Scrabble * Scrabble Deluxe * Scrabble To Go * Sequence * Settlers of Zarahemla * Shakin' Sorry * Skipbo * Smart Ass * Smart Mouth * Sorry Card Revenge * Speak not * Spell down * Sudoku * Swap * Thinkblot * Tilez * Totally Insane Card Game * Tri-ominoes * Trouble * Uno * Uno Dice * Uno Spin * Up Words * Visual Dice * Who? What? Where? * Whoonu * WWJD * Yahtzee Supreme *
AND.... my latest new game that I got for my birthday * Word on the Street*
In case you couldn't tell, I love word games! More importantly I love games, but not the usual games, all the ones you've never heard of. :}