Oh the soothing melodies of a shop-vac

We are in the middle of remodeling our bathroom.

If I haven't mentioned it before, it's because we didn't know this would be happening until we saw the studs behind our shower tile.

Here's how last Saturday went: 

Per our Saturday morning ritual, we watched "This Old House." Joe then disappeared into the bathroom for awhile and then came out and asked, "Is it crazy to want to re-grout the shower today?" 

"No, not at all. Go for it!" I answered.

Our home is more than 80 years old and the bathroom hasn't been updated in a looooooooong time. It's one of those bathrooms that is always kinda groudy, not matter how much I scrub it. 

So the prospect of a cleaner look in the shower was extremely appealing to me.

By the end of the day, this is what the bathroom looked like:

 Um...yeah. We're in the midst of a little more than re-grouting now.

I'm so excited. It wasn't planned but it's just necessary and now I want to re-do every aspect. 

I had no idea I could be so giddy walking down aisles at a home improvement store. Tiles! Vanities! Faucets! Toilet seats!

Because let's not fool anyone. I may say "we are redoing the bathroom" but we all know Joe is working hard while I just look for ways to make it pretty once the loud stuff is over.

I also need to pause for a minute and say this: how in the world do men know how to do stuff like this?! I have no clue how to demolish a bathroom, much less put it back to together. But Joe just gets in there and starts messing with stuff and makes it better. 

But I do impress him in my own ways. He doesn't understand how I can just see the picture of a celebrity and start spouting off what movies and shows she's been in as well as every detail of her personal life.

Totally comparable life skills. It's just that mine isn't handy in a bathroom improvement situation.

This girl

This girl is a riot. 

She went over to my parents tonight and they took her to Chick-fil-A for dinner. In the car on the way, my mom and dad sang "Do-Re-Mi" and tried to get Madeline and her cousin Brennan to sing along with them.

After several attempts and no response from the kiddos, my parents finally gave up and asked Madeline if she would sing her favorite song. She, of course, immediately belted out "Single Ladies." 

Ah, yes. That is the definitive generation gap. Julie Andrews to Beyonce. One of these ladies did a whole lot of booty shaking while the other one made me wish for a nanny.

(In this picture, Madeline's watching Tangled for the second time while wearing a Tangled dress and light-up Minnie Mouse shoes and holding a Tangled doll. Yes, we are Americans, why do you ask?)

This girl charms everyone she meets.

I know I'm biased but seriously, if you walk around with her for 20 minutes, you'll see it. She loves to talk to people. Anyone. If you're within a 17-foot radius of her, she'll want to know your name and then want you to know all about her friends, Barbies and Pooh Bear.

Every time I go through a drive-through, she asks if I can roll down her window so she can yell, "Excuse me, what's your name?" The last time it happened, I think the McDonald's worker thought I was hitting on him. 

He didn't understand Madeline's question so I repeated it. He then leaned a little closer to me (not the kid in the backseat who was THE ONLY PERSON IN THE CAR WHO WANTED TO KNOW HIS NAME) and said, "Carlos. And what's your name?"

This girl is three months and 23 days away from turning 4 years old. Some days I feel like she might as well turn 19 while she's at it because I've totally lost my little baby girl.

This girl owns my heart.

She's been asking for a dog, baby brother and baby sister. The closest we can give her right now is to watch our friends' dog for the weekend. As soon as I walked in the door with Laney, Madeline ran to get her blanket and pillow. 

Her ability to find pure joy in the smallest of situations makes me the happiest woman ever.

FYI - the hairbrush on the floor in between Laney and Madeline? Madeline's microphone. Every day, she thrusts the brush in my face and asks, "And what's your question?"

I'm running out of creative answers at this point. Help.

Again, I love him

Today Joe read the Bible out loud while I cleaned the kitchen.

(I realize this could be quite the overtly pious statement so please let me clarify. We decided to do a One-Year Bible just this morning. As in January 16. We have a lot of catch-up to do and are crossing our fingers that we remember to do it tomorrow.)

Anyways, Matthew 2 was part of the reading.

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  ¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt..."

After he read that, he stopped. 

Silence. Then he gasped. 

I looked at him. He looked at me. 

And he said, "Inception!"

Proof that he is way funnier than I can ever aspire to be. I love him.

Nap Time in Naptown: Duckpin Bowling at Fountain Square

 All photos by my sister-in-law Janna

Ah, January in Indianapolis, A.K.A. peak of cabin fever.

One of Indianapolis' best places for indoor family fun is duckpin bowling in Fountain Square. If you've never been to this is a funky part of town, you need to go.

No, really, GO! It makes for a great family day, fun girls night out or date night.

Duckpin bowling is a blast. I went bowling at Fountain Square while dating Joe in college. My cousin had his rehearsal dinner there which still stands as my favorite wedding-related activity ever.

Knocking down tiny pins next to a buffet line of delicious food and the excitement of a wedding the next day? Wicked awesome, folks.

But with a kid in tow? Duckpin bowling just got even better.

 

Madeline's aunt and uncle took her duckpin bowling as her Christmas gift and I hope they make this idea a tradition. Toys, puzzles and books are wonderful but these memories are pretty sweet.

 

 

She had been bowling but never duckpin-style. 

I wasn't there but there's photographic evidence that it was a pretty bit hit.

Fountain Square Duckpin Bowling
Located in Fountain Square Theater Building
1105 Prospect St., Indianapolis
$30 per hour, per game
Free shoe rentals

For the love of snow

So far, 2011 has been pretty good to me. We have had a couple delicious snowfalls with flakes the size of hubcaps. When the wind whips the snow around and it snows all day long, I love staying home all day and never venturing out except when Madeline wants to play outside.

This is the first winter Madeline has actual snow gear. In the past, we've just done the poor man's version of everything. For example, the poor man's snowboots is a pair of my Smartwool socks and her frog rainboots.

It works surprisingly well for children whose feet grow half an inch a day.

Public service announcement: If you don't own a pair of Smartwool socks, you must not love your feet. They're pricey but so worth it. Keep in mind this coming from the woman who waited three and a half years to buy her daughter snowboots. I have a lot of love for Smartwool.

But a couple weeks before Christmas, I found a super-marked down pair of princess snowboots and couldn't justify not buying them. I told myself they could be a Christmas gift for Madeline because I enjoy lying to myself in the heat of the moment. 

I knew there was absolutely no chance I could keep those boots from her for a couple of weeks, especially with all the snow we've had but the lie sounded really well-intended in the store.

So I did what most moms have probably done. I gave her the boots early and wrapped up another gift in the shoebox because the box itself was such an exciting gift. (Pink! Snow White! Cinderella! Sleeping Beauty! Glitter letters!)

Next on the list: snowpants which we scored for just $2 at Goodwill's 50 percent off sale. I realize this statement might make me sound like an avid deal-seeker but trust me, I'm not.

If you called me and said there's a pair of snowpants at Goodwill for super cheap, I'd hop in my car and drive over right away. But to just look through Goodwill and possibly find nothing our family needs is a process that drives me crazy.

I'd much rather shop the deals at Macy's because there's a much higher probability that I'll find nothing at a thrift store than Macy's and my time is precious.

I mean, I have five seasons of "Friends" left to watch. My time is precious, people!

When I found the pants, I tried to only freak out in my head because I didn't want to scare the other shoppers, especially the sleeping baby in the next aisle. But dang, I was excited.

So after all this excitement and after putting in all this effort, I just wanted a picture of Madeline enjoying it.

And this is what I got:

Merry late Christmas to me. Thanks sweetie.

Wrapping up 2010 and welcoming 2011

It's 2011. 

Last time I checked in, our snowman needed the number to a good chiropractor. He has since melted and a few other things have happened.

Like a wicked awesome wine/cheese/karaoke party.

Five Christmases.

Gobs of family dinners.

One memorial service.

Countless movies. (Including two back-to-back viewings of Salt.) (I loved it more than I should love a movie containing Angelina Jolie.)

One little girl still begging to visit the North Pole.

One day of thrift store shopping resulting in two vintage wood chairs with orange vinyl seats and a brand-new copy of "Gift from the Sea" for $.49 which might have been the highlight of my entire 2010.

One New Year's resolution to eat less. 

And then one Colts birthday party with a fantastic loaded queso dip and super moist chocolate cake.

I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up.

I've written about 30 posts in my head and none in the computer.

One thought was a post with all the books I read in 2010. But since my list includes "sTORItelling" AND "Candyland," the post title would have to be, "I am a Disgrace to Literary Lovers Everywhere."

Then I wanted to write a post about a phrase that was plastered on the big screen at church this weekend. "Every past needs a pardon. Every future needs a purpose." 

I love that. Love, love, love that. But really, there's not much more to say than I love that. My life craves pardons and grace and forgiveness and I'm hunting for purposeful days in 2011.

Then there was the whole discovery of ESPN's 30 for 30's "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks." If you were alive in Indiana in 1994/1995, you need to watch this. Oh gracious, the memories came flooding back.

Like the memory that there once was a sweet time when I loved the blue and gold. (Mark Jackson and, for crying out loud, Dale Davis!)

(And Katy? Just a friendly reminder that I was 11 years old then. Need a refill on your prune juice?)

This has nothing to do with anything that has been mentioned yet but does anybody rearrange their house about every two months? Because I'm seriously addicted to moving my furniture and decor around.

I also want to paint my living room and dining room desperately but have no idea what I should do. And if this is my greatest dilemma in 2011, I think I'm doing alright.