Thursday, May 27, 2010

Bed Time Rebel

I know we are not alone in this situation. In fact, I have heard countless parents discuss this same issue. Putting kids to bed. I am not sure if all kids have a gene that goes berserk when 8:00 chimes on the clock. Once you lay them down, they need to go to the bathroom, or they need a glass of water, or a tissue, or a favorite toy, I mean the list goes on and on.

Well at the Duvall house, Ella is this kid. For the past six months she has decided that the night cannot end without Mommy or Daddy getting up fourteen time to attend her every need.

Okay, so last night we laid the girls down and Matt and I sat on the couch watching T.V.
Around 11:00 we turned out the lights and headed up the stairs to bed. Before we could, this is what we came across.

Ella, our bed time rebel...sleeping in the hallway.


All I have to say, is at least she was sleeping and not crying or complaining.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Deck

We are so excited to be starting the building process for our backyard deck. It has been a long time in the savings, and it is finally time to begin the process.
This past Tuesday, Matt, my brother Justin, and myself began digging holes for the concrete.
13 to be exact, and I did the least amount of digging, and I was so sore.




On Thursday, Matt, my dad, and our friend Zach began the amazingly hard, dirty process of filling the thirteen, three foot deep holes with concrete. I felt really bad for those boys working all day in the hot sun. I told them we would repay them with a soak in the future hot tub.




On day three, they started to frame.

And this is their progress at the end of Day 4.



And Day 5




Finally, after fourteen hard days of work, our deck is complete.





Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mother's Day

Well, the first part of my mother's day is king of amusing, because my husband likes to give me a hard time. This is only amusing, because it ended well.

So, I have been asking my hubby for a locket for a few years now. This year, I picked one out and emailed him the link and photo. Yes, I am that girl. Anyways, on Saturday, Matt had presents wrapped up from the girls, and he had them all excited to give me their hand colored wrapping paper presents. From Ella, I received a toaster, and from Wren I received a can-opener. With excitement and joy, I thanked my girls for their gifts and kindly asked my husband if he had a gift for me?

"No, but I did write you a little note on the chalkboard."
Side note: we have a chalkboard stuck to the inside of our bathroom medicine cabinet. Just a little one that we often will write little notes on to each other.

Now, if you know me at all, I will tell you that I am all about the practical gifts. In fact, in the past, Matt and I have skipped the gift giving at holidays to buy things that we needed. This however, was not one of those times.

Back to the story...
So, I put my gifts away, and decided that it was time for dinner and baths, and my husband was in the dog house. After baths, he says, " will you go read my note, it is a really good one." So I do, and there it is, a small little box with none other than my beautiful locket.

Thanks babe for my locket and the pain in my neck. I Love You!






The second part of our day was spent over at Red Top. This time, we were joined by my mom, sister, and brother. We hiked, played frisbee, and had a picnic dinner. It was a very relaxing, fun day.


Thursday, May 6, 2010

Garden Time Again

It is garden time again, and Matt has been working ever so hard on preparing the ground work. It has been a few weeks now, and little sprouts are popping up. The beginnings of yummy food.






To Be Continued...


The Circus is in Town!!

This is the first I have been to the Circus since I was very young, and it is the first time our girls have been to a Circus. Sometimes I feel like the best part of being a parent is being able to watch my children experience something for the first time. I love to watch their faces light up with excitement with just the smallest bit of fun. Although I feel like their favorite part of the day was all the junk food they were allowed to consume, I will pretend that they loved the whole day.



We saw clowns, and...




Trapeze acrobats...



elephants, and much much more.
A fun day on the books.





The Infamous Oscar

Our Dachshund has been apart of our family since 'The Duvalls' first came to be. I begged Matt to get me him a month after we were married. I remember going to pick out which puppy we wanted, and it was between Oscar and one other puppy. I remember that the other puppy was very hyper; running in circles and barking. Oscar however, was so quiet and very shy. I said to Matt, " we should get this one, he is so calm and would make the better puppy." Now, seven years later, I often wonder what that other dog is like today?

Oscar totally had us fooled, and I like to refer to him as our trouble making dog. Since having Oscar, he has swallowed everything imaginable, peed on many house guests, had stitches multiple times, and has had to wear a cone for his many injuries more times than I can remember, not to mention he is the smell est thing ever.

Meet Oscar...

Throughout the years, Oscar has kept us entertained and our laps warm.



He also carries a very bizarre habit. He loves to be comfortable and warm. He goes to great lengths to accomplish this, and he is always on the look out for a warm place to sleep.



Even more impressive, he has taught our Chihuahua to bury himself under blankets.

Yes, I am serious.

Anyways, I thought I would share about our infamous Oscar. If you have ever met him, you will never forget. He probably peed on you, and I am extremely sorry.