Bonus!

So here are a few old pics from before we went to Texas. I'm a slacker, but ultimately I do not dissapoint.

I know I shouldn't really be impressed by this, but we took Tyler (Juston's nephew) to the Brake Pad and he ate an order of 20 hot wings by himself! I'm amazed and kinda grossed out all at the same time.

Frankie and Ty share a bonding moment at the park.

Toonces loves Frankie's chair. (Yes, we miss our friends' cat. Frankie still looks for him each night to give him a good-night kiss. And when he visits us, his name is Toonces, sorry for the confusion Annie and Dan!)

Love <3

What does it say about a person when they *love* this color?

I like to call it 'the aquarium.'

Interior Paint!

Here are the latest iPhone pictures of the house. I think I'll take the camera this weekend and get some shots of the finished product since the painting is supposed to be finished today! Plans for the weekend are to finish installing the kitchen cabinets and install the master bathroom sinks to prep for the installation of the rest of the lights next week. I can't believe it's come this far.

Looking down the hallway. The colors turned out quite a bit bolder than expected, but I love it; these photos don't do it justice. When we saw the finished hallway, I think we were both ready to have them re-paint the whole house that color because it's just so great.

The office - a neutral and the only one in the house. I guess I'll grow to love it.

The 'family room' is the same color as our current living room, a nice shade of purple. We can paint the whole house beige when we move out, right?

The Family Reunion.

Here are the long-awaited photos from my week in Dallas with the fam. We all decided that Frankie had more fun than anybody because Grandma and Grandpa have a....... swimming pool!

Frankie even said his first 'real' sentence this week and continues to say it even though we're home: "I want to go swimming." Sorry kid, Mom's got to blow up the kiddie pool and that's not happening any time soon. Anyone have an air pump we can borrow?

Grandma and Grandpa also have a...... ping pong table!

Frankie would sit on a stool and one of us would paddle the balls over to him - he got to where he was hitting them by the end of the week. Obsessive sports child has found another sport (that's debatable) to love.

We spent one afternoon at a waterpark. Frankie thought it was awesome and my delicate, pasty skin got fried. Here he is relaxing in the shade with Aunt Becky.

He went down this slide at least twenty times; by the end he was pushing me away and going down alone. This kid is fearless.

Soaking wet in the splashdown pool.

There was a baby shower for my second cousin's wife, Nisha, the lovely and happy mom-to-be.

This is Audrey, Frankie's only younger cousin. She'll probably be the target of some beatins' in the future, so maybe now would be a good time to start training her in the art of combat.

Frankie and his cousin Elena - this was the best photo I got; you should see some of the rejects. Trying to get two-year-olds to cooperate is akin to, well, herding cats, to use an overused cliche.

Frankie and his cousin Lily, ever the ham. She's four, what are you gonna do?

Out to eat - waiting for the food was followed by a breakdown just after its arrival. Sadly, I had to pack up my food to eat at home and we spent the rest of the meal walking around outside. It happens.

The pinata. Frankie had way too much fun hitting it and cried when we took away the baton. He was far more interested in beating it after it fell down than gathering up any of the candy on the ground.

Last but not least, the roasting of Grandpa in commemoration of his 65th birthday. Many embarrassing stories were shared by all (and Dad, I'm still not sure I'll ever live down being in the 'calculator club.' Thanks for that.)

We had a great time visiting with everyone and taking a break from the insanity that is trying to finish up a house and all of the work that keeps getting thrown at us (it's not a terrible problem to have, it's just really busy and if anyone gets bored on a Saturday and wants to learn about renovation-or babysit anytime!-, please drop by.) We love you guys!

Coming soon...interior paint! Here's a preview...the hallway is burnt orange and it looks AMAZING.

Trim

I'm out of town and wasn't planning on posting this week, but Juston sent me a photograph of the window trim at the house and all I can say is, 'wow.' (Plus I've been online working for the past hour and I need a diversion.)

It looks fantastic - Hector, the guy we hired to do all of our trim and moulding, built these to look like what already exists in the house. The interior painting commences next Monday; I'm amazed at how things are starting to move along at a nice clip. We might actually have the house in a comfortably livable state by our August 1st deadline!

Frankie's so hood.

Frankie's preparing for our move to Atlanta's West End.

The bling belongs to Tyler, Juston's nephew. It's the high-quality, made in China, costs $2 each bling that one can only buy at The Underground in downtown Atlanta. He bought five of them to give as presents to loved ones on return from his trip. (It seems to be a popular gift item among those from the outside.)

If we're not careful, a grill might be next, once Frankie finally gets all of his teeth.

Think About Your Dad!

Happy Father's Day to all of the fatherly types out there! I don't know what it is, but that video cracks me up every time. We even got Frankie to do the dance tonight.

Animal Exploitation #2

Us: 10 points. Them: 0 points. I think we're winning.

(I just had to explain to Juston - a cat wearing a tie is worth 10 points. I haven't yet calculated the foil incident.)

More house stuff.

I'm feeling lethargic, so I haven't the energy for wit. This week, Juston's nephew Tyler is in town helping us with the house. Here he is with our kitchen cabinets. We're still working on the installation, but we're slowly getting there.

Frankie with a hammer, covered in dirt.

Oye vey.

What a week. Last night, we endured a night of sheer hellishness as Frankie decided that he wanted to scream and cry like he's never done before.....all night. I'm guessing it's the famous two-year-old molars coming in, but whatever it was, it made me seriously think about ever having another child. I'm not really sure I'm cut out for this parenting thing. Last Friday, we had a fever and a puking day, and now this. And he's not even that bad! *sigh*

Other than aforementioned fun times, we did have a decent week. I worked a lot, Juston spent every night at the house installing trim, and Frankie watched a lot of the They Might Be Giants ABC video. I am absolutely sick of it, but it's all he ever wants to watch, and when I'm working I kind of need him out of my hair. We also joined the proud ranks of the Wii owners this week (are we the last ones?) and I will be testing my skills at Mario Kart soon. We hit up the public pool, and I did not take my camera, but they have a great zero-entry pool and Frankie had a blast. After that positive experience, I signed us up for parent-tot swim lessons, which start at the end of this month.

Seriously, who thought this was a good idea?

This week marked the acquisition of the little plastic toilet. Frankie loves the thing and wants to sit on it all the time. Unfortunately, it also means he wants to run around 'commando' to accomodate sitting on the potty, so I've had to instill a new 'no diaper zone' in the bathroom only. He's not yet to the stage where he tells me if he needs to go potty, but I figure that if he's interested, I might as well feed the interest. We'll get back to you in a year or so on this one.

Yes! The potty! I can already tell that my blog is only going to get better as we get into the throes of excrement.

Frankie's taken over vaccuuming. Every time I pull the thing out, he insists that he must use it and nothing gets done. My productivity level is finally at an all-time low.

That about wraps it up. My hopes for the rest of the day? A nap.

Battle Bridget!

Last Saturday night, Frankie was asleep and I was working, doing some proofreading at our dining room table. Juston was in the kitchen, putting away dinner, and happened upon the new roll of foil. I guess he got to thinking, and this is what happened next.

Battle Bridget! A full suit of foil armor!

I really feel like the look on her face says it all. I'm going to side with the vegans on this one, it's definitely animal exploitation.

Battle hat.

Choices, Choices...

Okay people, which one is it going to be? We have to decide soon!

-OR-

The GA 400 race will probably have better vendors and free food afterwards, plus it might be kind of fun to run down the main streets in Buckhead, but the Army Race is literally right down the street from my house - the runners will run right past my street about a 1/2 a block away. The GA 400 race is also 4 miles, so it's kind of a nice compromise between the 5k (done it) and the 10k (not quite there yet.) They're both under $20. Is anyone else up for one?

(Or do I just scrap it altogether and go see Ladytron on Friday the 13th? Anyone want to do that instead? New album's out tomorrow!)