Imagination in Action

On the quest to always find new and exciting things to occupy Elianna, I saw this idea on, you guessed it!, Pinterest. You simply take a colander and pipe cleaners ($1 at the Dollar Tree) and hand it over to the young'en. She loves to play with this concoction and will, on her own, go and grab the materials necessary. Imagination gets put into action while she pokes the pipe cleaners into the holes. Of course, the colander often gets turned into a hat or a mask to run and scare people with. She has quite the imagination and I love watching it in action!

Petey

Monday I forgot to mention that we had a visitor the Wednesday before. Elianna and Harley were outside and all of the sudden Harley started barking at something/someone outside the fence. I asked Elianna if someone was out there but she said "no." Strange so I went and looked. Lo and behold there was this dog laying outside the fence. Not sure whose dog it was or if it was nice or not, I went out the front door and around to the fence with a bowl of water. I guess I figured if it attacked me, I could throw the bowl at it. Brilliant, huh?! Anyway, he was a nice dog and I drug him inside the fence so he wouldn't run away before we could find his owners. He had a Home Again tag on, so I called the number only to find out that the address had never been registered. Not sure why someone would pay to have their dog chipped with a tracking device and not register an address. On to try #2. I called the vet on the rabies tag and got the number of the owner that way and found out the dog's name was Petey.

That was at 8:30 am. I did not get ahold of the owners until 11:30 am. The man said that they had just moved and the dog had gotten out probably the night before. So our plans got changed while we waited and waited and waited for the owner to come pick up Petey. They came around 3 pm. Poor Petey wanted to come inside so bad since it was ridiculously hot out but he looked a bit mangy and I prefer to not have fleas inside the house. Oh well. I would be glad someone took care of my dog if he ever ran away. Oh! That's right he did once and some nice people did take care of him. Only difference - I went right away to pick him up. Honestly, it wasn't a big deal that they didn't come right away, I just felt sorry for Petey having to be out in the hot hot weather. Poor Petey!

Elianna adored Petey and sang songs to him and talked to him and gave him bones (which he refused to eat) and talked about how she wanted him to stay at our house.  I kept reminding her that she has a dog every single day and she is welcome to do all of those things with him.  But like everything else, we always want what we can't have and take for granted those things we do have. Infested with fleas or not.

*New* - Twitter Tuesday {06/19 - 06/25}

Because my blog is sorta my scrapbook of sorts, I have decided to include my Twitter and Instagram thoughts here. Of course, if you follow me on either of those, this will be a repeat for you. However, like I said, this is my scrapbook. So without further ado, I introduce to you "Twitter Tuesday". This will also include my Instragram pictures since I usually Twitter them too.


Tuesday, June 19 2012

-Plans change when you find a lost dog in your yard and his owners won't answer their phone.

-You know it's hot when your chocolate protein bars are melting in the cupboard. {Must eat them all before they melt. Just kidding.}


Thursday, June 21 2012

-Bling courtesy of EJ. :-)

Friday, June 22 2012

-Enjoyed an evening spent with Chris' aunt and uncle.

Sunday, June 24 2012

-And here I thought I had moved to CO. Must have missed a turn somewhere when we moved here. Oh my it is hot!

-After not eating all day due to a flu bug, Cherrios are just not cutting it.

-Love listening to EJ sing "her favorite song" Blessed Be Your Name.


Monday, June 25 2012

-Dreading the 102 degree weather we are scheduled to have today. We need rain and lots of it to help put all these fires out!

-Love having a big awning over the back porch so we enjoy being outside even when it's 93 degrees.

-Laundry is washed, folded AND put away all on the same day. It must be some sort of post flu miracle!


*I am also going to back date my Twitter statuses. Please don't think you need to go back and read them. Again {beat that dead horse!}, it's for my "scrapbook".

Hello!

While I have absolutely no excuse for not posting last week, my excuse for not having this up earlier today is that I had a flu bug yesterday. Nasty little bugger! Woke up around 2 am and that was the end of that. Lets just say the delicious bean dip I have made 3 weeks in a row won't be made for awhile now. Sad since it was so good!

Last Wednesday evening we had my friend, Andrea, and her husband, Matt, and of course their son, Sam, over for dinner. It went a bit better than I expect since Matt is an extremely quiet guy who is into computers and the such. Thankfully, my Chris has the ability to talk to pretty much anyone about pretty much anything. Of course, Andrea and I have the kids to separate talk about. As I guessed, they are both evolutionary in their views but that is not something that takes God by surprise or is too big for Him. I can't wait to see what He has in store for our relationship with them. Please pray that we will continue to have an influence on them.

Friday night we spent time with Chris' Aunt Bobbi and Uncle Royce. We love spending time with them! Since Shawn, Tiffany and the kids are in California, we had them all to ourselves it was just the 5 of us. We ate dinner and discovered that there was a concert in the plaza so we stayed and visited while Elianna ran around. We ended our evening with Hagen Daz ice cream so it is sufficient to say our evening was a success. 

This year instead of spring cleaning the entire house in just a few short weeks, I have been cleaning 1 room a week (sometimes 1 room for 2 weeks). Last week and this week have been the kitchen. The fridge and the dishwasher are cleaned. Needless to say, I have a lot of cleaning in the kitchen to do this week - top cabinets, bottom cabinets, stove, pantry, counters and walls. Maybe even the trash can if I feel so inclined. Theoretically, instead of 1 big spring clean a year, this schedule allows you to clean each room in your house every 6 months. So far it's been good! I've cleaned our room, Elianna's room, both bathrooms and the hall closet. I have the kitchen to finish, living and dinning room, and the laundry room. I'm leaving the garage for Chris to take care of. Lucky him!

This week is also running club and I have a decision to make. Last running club, I ran 2.5 miles by myself (no one there to push me - not literally but it may be an idea). So now I have to decide if I want to push myself half a mile more to do 3 miles. With my being sick yesterday, I'm just not sure if I'm ready for that. Maybe I truly am but I'm psyching myself out. Decisions decisions!

Well, I am happy to report that posts are scheduled for this week so I won't be the boring blogger this week. Whew!

Twitter Tuesday {06/12 - 06/18}

Wednesday, June 13 2012

-Swimming fun!



Friday, June 15 2012

-EJ playing songs for @kay_gram via Oovoo. Grammy is such a good sport!


-Yesterday I spent the day spring cleaning our bedroom. Today it looks like the house hasn't been cleaned in a week. Ugh!


Monday, June 18 2012

-Playing outside maybe better captioned "Giving mom the evil eye for taking yet another picture of her"

-"Paskettio" = spaghetti in EJ world

-My official to do list has been completed for today! However, my unofficial to do list is miles long!

-Made Blackberry Jam and Balsamic Strawberry Jam in spite of the 100 degree weather. The Balsamic Strawberry? Oh my goodness! So delicious!!!

-EJ's Father's Day gift to @crispyberger.

Father's Day 2012

This year for Father's Day, I turned to Pinterest. There are just so many creative, simple and cost effective ideas out there that I, obviously, never thought of.

Chris worked 4:30 - 9:00 am Father's Day morning. Yes, you did read that right. In the morning. Whew! When he got home at 9:00 am, Elianna was there to point out his first surprise and tell him "Happy Father's Day!"

A Happy Father's Day banner made out of scrapbook paper ties. Scrapbook paper was on sale at Hobby Lobby 40% off last week and I had the twine in my craft box. The banner was easy to make and ended up super cute. Plus it can be used again.

Elianna then ran and got Chris' 2nd surprise - a bucket with Swedish Fish and pistachios. Two of his favorites. The note said "What a catch! {We're nuts about u!} Happy Father's Day!" Again, cute and super easy to put together. Pistachios also just happened to be on sale last week.

After Sunday morning church, we had Chris' favorite dinner - meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. I had made the scalloped potatoes before church so they could cook during church. I made them earlier except for putting the cream on top and then was going to put them in the oven before we left for church. I put them in the oven but forgot to put the cream on top. They still turned out good - just not spectacular!

Then came time for Chris' 3rd surprise. I had asked Elianna certain questions about Chris and wrote down her answers.

ALL ABOUT MY PAPI MAN

By Elianna Promersberger Age 2

My Papi Man's name is Papi Man

He is 3 feet and 2 inches tall

He weighs 3 pounds

His hair color is "he doesn't have any hair. He has a beard."

His eyes are red

He works at Starbucks

He likes to go to Starbucks

His favorite food is pistachios

His favorite drink is coke

I love it when my Papi Man hugs me

My favorite thing about my Papi Man is when he reads to me

*Her answers are underlined

How cute is that? Again, easy to make but so meaningful! The frame was 50% off at Hobby Lobby and I just printed it off on card stock I already had. It just goes to show that you can make gifts that are cute, easy to make, frugal and still meaningful! Chris loved his surprises!

Happy Father's Day, my Chris!

"Essentials"

Getting out of the house can sometime prove to be the hardest thing for us. Well, specifically, Elianna. The reason is simple: getting all her "stuff" together. 

She has to get her shoes on.

She has to get her baby (usually "The Mommy").

She has to get a car seat for her baby.

And Oh! She forgot a bottle for the baby.

And the baby's blankie.

Almost forgot her phone.

Then I tell her put it all in a purse because it's going to be too much to carry.

So she has to get her purse.

Then she puts the bottle, the blankie and her phone in the purse.

Then we put the baby in the car seat.

Now we are ready to go with baby in the car seat and the purse full of "essentials."

She is such a good mommy!

Hiking the Red Rocks

Monday was one of Chris' days off this week so we decided to head up to the mountains and hike. We went to the Red Rocks and hiked the Lair O' the Bear. Yes indeed it is O' the bear. Not of the bear but O' the bear. It was gorgeous!

Before actually hitting the O' the bear trail, we visited the Red Rocks Amphitheater. I cannot imagining going to a concert there in the middle of winter. It would be super cold! You have quite a ways to walk up before even getting to the seating area. Nonetheless, it would be a fun experience. Sometime.

Chris has mountain biked up the trail we hiked so he knew the way and how much farther to the top. It wasn't a bad hike, but the altitude can get to you a bit. Elianna rode in the backpack although I believe she is getting to be too big for it. I'm not sure what we are going to do once she has officially outgrown it. I suppose sometime soon she will have to simply hike beside us although that would take quite a bit of time. She did walk for a ways on the flat part while we headed back to the park.

The positive side of hiking in the Red Rocks as opposed to Rocky Mountain National Park is that Harley was able to come with us. Dogs are not allowed in Rocky Mountain so it was nice to have him along. He would run up a head a bit . . . wait to make sure we were coming . . . and then run ahead again.

After we hiked to the top of the trail, we took a break to eat our lunch on some rocks. We enjoyed being out in the middle of the woods, eating our lunch as a little family. On the way back down, Harley played a bit in the creek. Elianna also got some water time in a part of the creek that went across the trail. They both loved their time in the water!

Twitter Tuesday {06/05 - 06/11}

Tuesday, June 5 2012

-Why is it that I can fall asleep on the couch watching a movie but now that I'm actually in bed I can't get to sleep. So very frustrating!


Wednesday, June 6 2012

-EJ just asked me if I could take a picture of her tooting. Ummm... It might be a good time to step up the "acting like a lady lessons."


Friday, June 8 2012

-Harley's newest injury. He caught a squirrel and it fought back and cut his throat. I need to become a vet.



Saturday, June 9 2012

-First batch of jam for the season - strawberry rhubarb jam.



Monday, June 11 2012

-Excited to go hiking with the family in the Red Rocks today!

-@crispyberger to EJ: "Stop whining or I'll eat all your cheese!"

-@sunshineberger to @crispyberger: "That's your threat?!?"

-@crispyberger to @sunshineberger: "That's not a threat. I'm serious!"

-Spent the morning hiking in the beautiful Red Rocks!

Change of Profession

On Friday as I called Harley into the house, I noticed he had killed a squirrel and, well, I'll spare the details. As proud I was of him killing one of those squirrels that mercilessly tease him all the time, it is rather disgusting for him to be chewing on it. As he came across the back patio, blood dripped from him. Believing it to be from the squirrel, I made him sit hoping it would all drip out. That was probably the grossest sentence I have written. Anyway, I quickly discovered it was not squirrel blood but rather blood from nasty cuts on his throat. In the fight, Harley v. Rocky (our name for squirrels), the squirrel scratched him repeatedly.

Long story short, I tried to put a bandage on it and wrap it up with an ace bandage. Because of where it was on his neck, the ace bandage didn't stay and I soon discovered blood all over our carpet. Realizing this was out of my control, I took him to the vet who decided to keep him so he could be sedated so the wound could be cleaned out.

Elianna, though she loves a dramatic good story to be told over and over, was so upset and crying that she "wanted her dog." I pity the day Harley dies. She will be in a terrible state, but who's talking? I probably would be too. But he is not dead yet. As my sister-in-law put it "that poor dog must have 9 lives like a cat!" Tis true Sydney - tis true!

Thankfully he is ok and has stopped bleeding. The doctor couldn't do much for him because of where the injury was but gave him pain meds and antibiotics. Life #3.

Which brings me to the title of the post. I'm thinking that with all of Harley's injuries, I should become a vet. Or with all the blood I cleaned up from the carpet and wall (he decided to shake splattering blood all over the wall), to be a crime scene cleaner. Or maybe just stay home and take care of my family. I think I'll go with the last one.

The initial ace bandage that didn't work

Lemon Drops and Gumdrops

We have had some doozy of storms the last couple of days. One of Elianna and I's favorite songs to sing is "If All the Raindrops". I actually didn't know 1) there were two other verses to this song 2) that Barney sang the song (gag!) or 3) we apparently sing a slightly different version (maybe our own?). We'll just stick to verse 1 right now and our own version.

(The singing gets better, I promise. Plus the end is super cute!)

"If All the Raindrops"

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops

Oh what a rain that would be!

I wouldn't mind if the sun never shined

'Cause I'd stand outside with my mouth open wide

Singing Ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh all the time!

Energy

Some days I just wish there was some way to bottle up Elianna's energy and sell it. Do you know how incredibly rich I would be?

Monday night after I ran and while we waited for Chris to finish his workout, we headed over to the playground so Elianna could, as she likes to say, "run out all her energy." After we had played for a bit, it started to get super windy. As in gail force winds windy. It was so windy I was honestly afraid that the sand or bits of wood stuff in the playground were going to wind up in her eyes. To help her continue to "run out all her energy", we headed over a big field. Oh boy! She had so much fun just running and running.  I enjoyed watching her and taking picture after picture wishing for some of her energy.

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was every going somewhere, I was running!"

~Forrest Gump