Scrappy Things to Share

I have put my old blogger site to use as a display for some of my digital scrapbooking pages. Look under my profile to link to that site.

I'm a Lumberjack

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.
I work all night and I sleep all day.

Tonight, after the girls went to bed, I went outside with the intention of planting a couple of flowers and plants that the girls and I bought today and ended up sawing limbs off of not one but two pine trees. I asked Keith where his hand saw was.

Why?
I want to trim the pine tree out back.
Can't this wait until another time?
Nope.

So out I went.
One branch.
Two branch, etc., until I lopped off 6 large branches from that tree. Then, if that weren't enough, I decided that I'd better do one of the trees out front while I had the time. I must have taken another ten off of that one. The boys next door are going to be so bummed. They like to hideout in there. The youngest told me it was his "secret" hideout. His dad thought it was really nice that his son had a secret hideout in our yard. I'm going to tell his parents that I trimmed the tree because I got sick of him playing in my yard! They will know that I am joking.

I do feel like I got a lot accomplished in the yard tonight and have finally embraced my inner gardener that I have been fighting for years. I have always loved flowers but hated to take care of them. Now, it is the best escape at night. It is so quiet and flowers don't cry or whine - ever!

I did get lucky today and had no crying when we went to Bordine's Nursery to buy the plants and flowers. The girls were so good. I have never gone this late in the growing season so I was really surprised to see how empty it looked from both lack of plants and lack of people. Lauren wore her new butterfly wings and helped me push the cart around the aisles of flowers, occasionally stopping to smell the flowers or put something in my cart which I would later take out. She looked adorable. I was asked several times where I found the butterfly. I just replied, "She was fluttering around by the roses. I think she is the last one." It was nice to go there and just walk around undisturbed while we looked at all the beautiful flowers. They even have a playscape in the middle of the trees! I need to go back for a few more things but it seems like such a hassle. It takes longer to buckle the girls in their seats then it does to drive to Bordine's since we live so close. I wish we had a nice sidewalk so we could just take the wagon and go. Maybe someday.

Dancing with Lauren

Lauren's Bike

Okay. We still have to wait another week yet because we are going to give this to Lauren when we celebrate the girls' birthdays next Saturday but I can't contain my excitement! This is the coolest pink tricycle EVER! This picture doesn't do it justice. The pink is so pink and the chrome is so shiny! We found it at Sunrise Bikes and Boards in Fenton when we went to look for a bike rack. (Kurt - explanation for Keith's weird call about borrowing your rack... He wanted to make you think we were just rudely taking yours again but we actually had our own. Would have been funny but you were so easy going and mellow about the whole thing that it ruined it. :D) Anyway, while Keith was looking at the racks (including the one on the sales girl), Lilly and I were following Lauren around and around and around the store as she rode this trike, ringing the bell the entire way. Pretty cute. They wanted a lot of money for it because 1) it is a specialty bike store and 2) duh, it's Fenton. So we came home and I used my trusty Google search and found it at Walmart.com for $30 cheaper!!!! So now it is sitting, waiting under the stairs for the big day when Lauren gets to ride it and I can barely contain myself! We also got her a pillow. I know that sounds pretty boring but it actually quite exciting in its own special way. It is her very first pillow. She is going to be a big girl! Tonight she was almost a big girl. After dinner, I was trying to get her diaper changed and get her pjs on. She wanted to do some streaking. It is one of her favorite past times lately because it makes Lilly laugh so hard. She decided to sit her little bare butt down on her potty and she started to try to poop. She farted and it startled her and then she hopped off and then back on a couple of times. We were cheering her on and I quickly grabbed The Potty Book for Girls so that she could look at another girl using the potty. We were just so surprised. We have talked about it, read about it and watched Elmo sing about it but we have never tried to push the issue at all. She is ready to give it a try! Yeah! Unfortunately she did not go on the potty. Instead, I chased that little blond demon around a chair in the living room as she clenched poop between her cheeks and giggled. At one point she tried to clear a laundry basket and smeared that with a little bit of poop and that is when I decided enough was enough. I tackled the Great Brown Streak-er and diapered her all the while screaming over her cries about what a big girl she is and how she is going to be an awesome pooper! Yeah. My life is vastly different then I ever could have imagined. After all of that, I discovered that one of the cats had puked on the floor. They never do it on the wood floor, naturally. Crap!
Keith: "And this girl wants new carpet."
I do.

Flashback

I just came across this picture of Mom with Kel and me on our awesome couch from the woodsy flower collection circa 1978. This pic of me looks a lot like Lauren and Kel is a great fill in for Lilly. How weird that my girls are so similar to mom's girls! Lauren's hair is even growing like mine. I have other pictures that show Kelle & me looking even more like the girls but I will have to scan those at another time.

I AM NOT ALONE!!

Now, I hadn't been posting for such a long time and I have overlooked something very important. My friend Andrea is PREGNANT - AGAIN! Andrea, just like me, will be having Irish Twins. She had her adorable little boy, Sean, December 11th and is expecting a very, very short time after that. Oh, life's little surprises, huh, Andrea? I think I will remember our conversation almost as well as when I found out I was having Lilly. She called me and I was in Home Depot on Mother's Day!!! She told me, and I later apologized, but I laughed and laughed. I think it just felt nice to know that someone else was going to understand what I was going through. Hey, Andrea, it really is getting much easier now but I am not going to lie, the first year is AWFUL! On that note, Good Luck & Congratulations! (PRAY FOR ANDREA!)

Andrea, Garth & Sean (at Christmas)

A Conzelmann Girl Is Born

Mark and Jourdan Conzelmann had a beautiful baby girl, Susan Ann on June 6th. I recently got some photos and thought I would share them. Congratulations Mark & Jourdan.

Susan & cousin Drew (Sarah's little boy who is the same age as Lauren)

Mark & Susan

Papa Dave & Susan

Jourdan & Susan

Susan

All the Way From Japan.... It's Keith!

Karaoke is not just for Keith's trips to Japan anymore. Yesterday, we started playing SingStar 90s. It is so much fun. For those of you who don't know about it, it is a karaoke game. You can sing solos, do duets or play the way Keith and I did last night in battle mode. That is where you sing the same song at the same time and get points for pitch, timing, length of the notes, etc. I am sorry to say that Keith beat me at Wilson Phillips' Hold On and a few other girlie songs that I knew and he didn't. Know how? I know the words but he sings no matter what and has better pitch. I sound like a Peter Brady on that episode of the Brady Bunch when his voice changes in the middle of the song. Work what you got, I guess!! Apparently, you just have to make noises and you get points. We started the game with Baby Got Back and while I was singing away and trying to get points, Keith was sitting, watching and banging on his microphone. He racked up 160 points just tapping the beat on his microphone. How unfair! Later, he had me laughing so hard that I couldn't sing. And you should hear our duet on Poison's Unskinny Bop. They really should give points for knowing the guitar solos. We had so much fun, didn't wake any kids playing it but did the stupid thing of staying up until 1 a.m. to play. Yeah, it was worth it. It was so much fun. I think we are going to have to unload the kids some night and have a SingStar party.
Speaking of sleeping kids. Lilly is doing so AWESOME! She has been sleeping through the night. She is way less drama then her sister. Lauren still wakes up once every night. She is getting new molars so I let it slide a little while longer.
I read Aunt Angela's comment that she could view Lilly's fish face video. I haven't deleted it and I can still see it but wondered if anyone else is having trouble with it. Please let me know whether or not you can see it. Just leave me a comment with a yes or no. Thanks.

No More Frank Family Website

Well, for the few of you who care, I have dismantled the Frank Family website. Only Aunt Angela, Scott & Katie, Amber and my mom had even visited it so I am done. I think it would have been a fantastic communication tool for such a large family and if enough people request it, I might do it again in the future. I am a little bummed it didn't work. Oh well, thanks to the few of you who tried to get things going.

And here is your daily Lilly. Both girls were splashing up a storm when Lauren told us to look up at the plane. (She never misses a single plane that goes over the house.) Lilly did just as her big sister told her to do and looked up. Taking after my "Grandma Kodak," I had my camera in my hand and snapped away. Cute.