Sunday, August 23, 2009

Big Brother

Yesterday was my brother Scott's birthday. He is in Finland now so I wasn't able to wish him a proper happy birthday. But really, what's better than a blog birthday? At least this birthday tribute will last forever. So, here are some of the best things about my big brother (mind you he is 10 years older so some of my memories may be a little fuzzy).
  • I'm pretty sure the time I cut my own hair was while he was babysitting me. I told my mom "it fell out" but I'm pretty sure he still got in a little bit of trouble for not watching me closer. Sorry :)
  • Another time while he was babysitting me I ran under him while he was lifting weights. I got hit right above my eye and it cut me pretty bad. Scott took care of me, cleaned it up and put a butterfly bandage on it. Debby came home, said he did it all wrong and bandaged me up differently. My parents came home and decided I might need stitches and took me to the doctor. The doctor looked at it, and ended up putting a butterfly bandage back on it. (This is how I remember it, but my memory is hazy because I think I was only 3 or 4 and I had just gotten hit in the head afterall).
  • He protected us from all kinds of ferocious wildlife: the copperhead snake that slithered through our campsite, and the wild bees that attacked us while we were sitting on the Renfrow's lawn. Scott rolled down the hill to distract the bees or squash the bees, I'm not really sure. But, he had a ton of bee stings and I only got one.
  • He also protected me from the neighborhood boys. Apparently one time Scott tied our neighbor Chris up to a tree because he had been mean to me. There was also a bow and arrow involved. I didn't find this out until I was a junior in highschool and Chris and I were in the same class. I guess it worked, because I only remember him being nice to me.
  • Scott really liked to tie anyone up. I got tied up to the post on the porch several times for various reasons.
  • My friends LOVED him. They thought he was soooo cute and would just swoon when he would come to the basketball games to watch me cheer when he was home from college. I can remember several times meeting girls a few years older than me that knew who he was, even though he was still several years older than them.
  • He only dated girls whose names began with an "S". And of course he married the best one.
  • He could kick the football over the house.
  • He is a man of few words but yet he studies and teaches linguistics. Perplexing.
  • By example, he taught me the finer points of the "lay low policy". This is when, particularly as a teenager, you go about your business without drawing a lot of attention to yourself. You tell, rather than ask, your parents where you are going as if they have already given permission. You don't talk back or cause big fights and thereby you pretty much get to do whatever you want without nearly as much parental intervention or inquiry as our fiestier counterparts (a.k.a. the other three sisters).
Happy Birthday Scott!!!

Church Pants and Hand Prints

Feeling slightly more confident in my sewing skills, I decided to make some baby pants out of a pair of Brad's old dress pants that Blink chewed a hole in. Not only did the pants turn out really cute, but now I can hate Blink a little less.



I wouldn't call myself a clean freak but I do like to keep a tidy house. However, I think this little messy reminder might be sticking around for awhile. It's just cute.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

This little gem...

I picked up this little gem at a consignment sale recently and it has been worth every penny!







Nap Pants

I have little or no creative talents of my own and have always been amazed by people who could create something out of nothing. However, creating something out of something else...now that is something I can do. Well, at least with a little help from my friends*. So recently I've been getting reacquainted with my sewing machine and making baby pants from old T-shirts. I call them nap pants b/c not only are they comfy for the little guy to nap in but they are so stinkin' easy to make that I can whip out a pair during his nap time.


* Thank you to Lauren for always being creative and inspirational and having links to creative people on your blog, thanks to Dana whoever-you-are for the idea and tutorial, and special thanks to Angela for the letting me come over and sew with you!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Best Friends

This one is for you, Rebecca.




And Now For the Good Stuff...


...but first, 12 month stats and such
Height: 30.5 inches
Weight: 21 lbs 9.5 ounces

Teeth: We'll call it 7, but 2 are just barely poking their way in.

Sleeping through the night? Yes, if you consider a 5:30 am wakeup still sleeping through the night.

Walking? Yes! He can walk halfway across a room now, but for longer trips his preferred method of transportation is still crawling.

Favorites: Blueberries (still), opening and closing doors and gates, shoes (as toys), having books read to him over and over, pulling apart legos, pushing buttons (on toys, tv's, phones, etc), pulling all of the clothes out of the drawer (we call this helping).

And finally: Parties, Presents, and Messy Cake Faces
* click to enlarge