Toddler BiPolarism

Halloween Adjustification

by Jen

If you know anything about Eric and I, you'd know that we are huge fans of costume. Halloween. "It's a Drag to be 30" birthdays. Poker in the Green Room. You name it.

Now that the Green Room has been demolished and we are supposed to be the responsible parents taking the kid trick-or-treating, the costumes haven't seen the light of day in a while.

I guess you could say that we could still dress up and parade the streets of our neighborhood with Reese, but I hardly think that Ace & Gary attire is appropriate.

I'm already counting down the days until our next adult Halloween party, and wondering what we'll have to pay a babysitter on such a festive night (after we take Reese trick-or-treating of course). Until then, we'll make do with fuzzy chicken costumes and candy corns.

#1 Wedding Reception Must-Have

by Jen

Our friends Lisa & Ross just got married and while the venue, food, and music were all fantastic, the most entertaining item by far at the reception was...the photo booth. Hands down.


As you can see, Eric and I (with friends Keri & Dominic), had a lot of fun in the booth. Maybe too much fun. So much fun that the other guests were probably very annoyed with our hogging of the booth, as we took 3 times the amount of sets that you see here. And now Eric has informed me that he wants one for the house. Seriously? I mean, how many times can we ask the same friends that come over if they want to take pictures with us? Although this would be a good excuse to pull out all of the old Halloween costumes again...

A Helicopter Ride with Hot Pilot & A Big Glacier

First Rental - Finished product.

by Eric

Amazingly, this dilapidated house came together and rented in a week. Just like all the "flip this house shows" ... right? If the renters ever knew what a rat infested, uninsulated, water damaged, piece of crap this property was, they might think twice. But, all in all it is customized with granite, refinished hardwoods, and surround sound etc. HEY - they are happy!

Alaska Wildlife

by Jen

On our recent trip to Alaska, we had the chance to encounter wildlife in its natural habitat. Lucky for me, it was just a lil' ole squirrel!

We also saw several moose and a few grizzlies on our journey, and thankfully they were all at a distance. Eric was pretty confident that he could handle a bear, but I on the other hand was terrified of running into one. We were given the following tips on how to handle a bear or moose encounter:

BEAR:
Stand your ground, wave your arms, and talk to it.
(What in the world am I supposed to say to a 500 pound bear?!?!)

CHARGING BLACK BEAR:
Roll into a ball and play dead. If it starts to eat you, then fight back.
(Seriously? With WHAT?)

CHARGING BROWN BEAR:
Roll into a ball and play dead. Pray it doesn't eat you.
(Or was this what I was supposed to do with the black bear??)

MOOSE:
Run for cover and hope you can find something to hide behind.
(Whatever.)

I'm fairly positive I would forget all of the rules and just poop my pants, scream, and run.
And it's the running that gets you eaten for sure.

Needless to say, Eric will be happy if he never ever hears the word BEAR! again.

The Train Ride to Denali

by Jen

Alaska is extremely beautiful, but there’s only so much scenery I can take before going cross-eyed. Plus, Eric and I have been married 3 years now and we bore of each other quickly.

So here’s how we killed time on the 7.5 hour train ride to Denali:

Playing gin.


Reading.

Journaling.


Looking for moose.



Taking a break from moose hunting.

Wondering why he hasn't spotted a moose yet.

Nibbling on a nut.

Dreaming about moose.

Waving to Sarah Palin.

Temper Tantrums

by Jen

Reese has entered the stage of temper tantrums, and she is literally drowning in her sorrows. I can't keep myself from laughing most of the time, or trying to intensify the drama for film effect. Bad Mommy, bad.

Salmon Bake

by Eric

With Alaska comes scenery. Scenery. Scenery. Scenery... Oddly enough, this makes you hungry, and you find yourself eating all of the time. After 32 meals in a row together, I thought it might be entertaining to catalog every moment of Jen's meal at the Salmon Bake in Denali.

Crab legs or halibut tacos?

Squirting ketchup.

Shaking the pepper shaker. Shake it. Shake, shake, shake - shake it.


Enjoying the delicacies of a lightly toasted chip.

Cutting action shot.

Looking longingly at her one true love (me) thinking how unbelievably handsome, strong, and trustworthy I really am. Yeah right, she’s probably thinking about that damn pilot. (see helicopter ride)

Sloppy after her 3rd pint.

Driving me crazy, yapping non-stop.

Over served, she's out.

The Lion Tamer

Shake It Up

Sleepless Nights

Amazingly, after years of work on our old house, Eric got antsy and decided to take on the endeavor of a dilapidated house in the neighborhood as a rental property. After we went through the disgusting old house and realized the magnitude of the project to get it inhabitable - we decided against it..... then the price just kept dropping and finally it was affordable including the thousands needed to fix it up. As has always been the case - Eric definitely got himself in over his head. After 8 weeks and nightmare contractors scenarios - the stupid little house shaped up and we have our first little tax haven rental property! We might even live in it now! Oh, and did I mention that it is keeping him up at night?

This is the before version, new and improved coming soon.

What dat?

Reese is curious. Very curious. Everything these days is dat, dat, dat. I can only imagine what it will be like when she's older and we get to the "why's".

Gimme' that Thumb

We recently scrounged up the courage to make the Lake Amistad haul where my stepdad Mike has a place. Amazingly, the 9 hour car ride wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be - even after we grabbed the wrong car charger for the dvd player! Reese had fun spending time with YaYa, helping load the ice chest, and playing "Gimme' that thumb" with Grandad. We wish it weren't so far away so we could visit
more often!

Fun with Ryann

We are fortunate to have our good friends Holly & Jim Bob living down the street. They have a 2 year old little girl named Ryann and are always popping over on their daily walks. Sometimes we even swap babysitting services which has been a nice change from the $12/hour for a regular babysitter!
When they are together, Reese likes to copy whatever Ryann is doing, and Ryann has asked her mommy if Reese is her best friend.



Ryann + Reese = B/F/F!!

Now, if we can only get them to stay in the neighborhood...