The Sweetest Thing

Ryan has a very big vocabulary. Last night we ate at the new Mexican restaurant by Dahl's. Ryan says, that's a picture of a pyramid! By gosh, he was right, they had pictures of the Mexican pyramids. When we were paying, the waitress asked if he was 4 since he talked so well. I said no, he's 2 1/2. She said, "well I hope you have more babies because he is beautiful and smart!"

That was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.

One more thing that just popped into my head - I am shocked. First that Bernie Mac died, and second that John Edwards turned out to be just another sleazewad politican that can't keep it in his pants. The chick he cheated with was homely too. I bet if his wife wasn't dying she'd ditch him.

Obsessed with Dressing Up

Ryan is obsessed with dressing up, wearing boots, and wearing socks on his hands. Here are some of his recent outfits.

1 - Mr. Hip Hop

2 - Super Hero

3 - In Chase's Spider Man Outfit

Trying to Adjust - It's a Good Thing!

Last Friday night was the first Friday night that Todd hasn't worked in 3 years. We went out to TGI Friday's, then to the park, and then for ice cream. It was a great night. Here we all are at Dairy Queen. Todd and Ryan were even color-coordinated.

Ryan sporting the same shirt the next day - see the monstrosity behind him?

Ryan in his new outfit with a BIG BOY BELT!! that Todd bought him, and the SpiderMan shoes Sandy bought him. Ryan is very excited about his belt and has been wearing it over his pajamas.

The rest of the story is that we are all trying to adjust to Todd not being at the bar all the time. He is trying to sleep normal hours, and it isn't working so well. It also doesn't help that he and I have each been sleeping alone in the middle of the bed for 6 years, so inevitably one of us ends up on the couch. The gout has also spread to his wrist, thumb, and foot so it is hard for him to get comfortable. The hard parts for me are that Todd is eating us out of house and home, I have to cook for him and actually plan meals, and there is absolutely no silence in the house after Ryan goes to sleep because Todd is around. It's hard, but it's a good thing. Ryan and Todd are on cloud nine, and I am actually relaxing a bit for the first time since we had Ryan.

The entire month of July was shot to hell by the bar. Todd started selling stuff and cleaning it out on June 25, and finished at 8 pm on July 31, four hours before the lease was up. Every weekend was either spent working at the bar (or me watching Ryan at the bar while Todd's parents worked instead of me) or building the new shed in our backyard (aka "The Monstrosity"). Todd and his parents worked a lot of nights there. The idea was to build a new shed (our little one got smooshed by a tree limb) and then move the stuff in the garage to the shed and put the stuff in the bar in the garage. We bought a shed kit from Lowe's that said it would take 6 hours to build. It ended up taking 4 days with folks from Humboldt coming to help and then Todd, Mike, and Big Gilk finishing it on the hottest day of the year. It was not finished before the bar closed though, so all the bar stuff is in a 10 x 25 storage unit next the Des Moines River. That sounds ominous. The shed is huge and shaped like a barn. Ryan believes it is his barn for his toys. He likes to go inside, fling open the doors, and yell Surprise!

In the midst of this chaos, we had new windows and a patio door put in the dining room, and I repainted it and ripped out the carpet. It has taken forever because I am using 4 colors and I paint one coat of one color at a time while Ryan is asleep.

I have also been gardening every Wednesday night at the Fair and at home too. If you go to the Fair, my bed is the raised one next to the gazebo south of the Ag Building.