Saturday, September 29, 2007

Child Labor

I got a break from vaccuuming today! Landon decided he wanted to do it so we plugged in the little vaccuum and let him go to town! He spent half of the afternoon getting in all the cracks and crannies of our living room, using only the tiny little hose and no attachment! It took him forever, but he finished the whole room (even the giant amount of dried black eyed peas he had spilled everywhere while making "dinosaur fossils"!) ;o)





Notice in the pictures that at one point he decided it was more efficient to pick up little pieces of dirt with his fingers and put them directly into the vaccuum hose! It was so funny to watch him concentrate so hard! The last picture is his famous "camera face". You will never see him looking any different if he's posing--Ha ha ha!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Hee Hee Hoooo (Lamaze Breathing)

I can hardly contain myself!!!! The Office starts back up tonight--Weeeeeeeee!!! It's about time!...CAN I GET AN AMEN FROM THE CONGREGATION?! Sharon? Anyone?

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Hanging out with Harry

We met the Lakadosch family in the strangest way: shopping at Target. Diana came up to us out of nowhere and introduced herself. We talked for awhile and went on our way. Then, we saw them again at the zoo one day on Andy's lunch break. Then we saw them at the Greek Festival downtown...Then AGAIN at Barnes and Noble, the library, an finally, at church (which was weird beacuse we live in the Bible Belt and Catholics are outnumbered.) This city isn't huge, but there are over 500,000 people living here, so seeing the same person everywhere you go is more than unusual. We decided for this reason, that we were "supposed" to be friends and have found out we actually have a lot in common. Diana and her husband, Joel, came over to our house for dinner a couple of weeks ago and then we helped the celebrate their son, Harry's, second birthday last weekend. I wanted to post pictures of these two things earlier, but I'm running late with it as usual!





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It's Finally FALL!!!

Even though it's been over 90 degrees this week, I am wasting no time decorating for Halloween! (Gotta get a move on so I can jumpstart Christmas). (I've already been listening to Christmas music). (Hey, shut up). Landon picked out three pumpkins for us at The Fresh Market today and we spent some time after dinner painting them (and watching The Biggest Loser--Woo Hoo!! We're addicted!). Here are some pictures of our masterpieces:



Monday, September 24, 2007

Didn't Think About This Part


Last night I went to bed with a new haircut, that had been fussed over and waxed up by a highly qualified stylist......This morning I woke up with a cross between a mullet and a rat's nest. You know, instead of a party in the back, it's a party all over...or--wait-- that's still flattering myself a little. It's more like the hangover than the party. Do I really have to style this every day? And where the heck did my network go? I see how it's gonna be!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

The verdict:

Today I felt like I was starring in that cell phone commercial that shows a "network" of people following the cell phone customer wherever he goes...Only, instead of a phone network, I had a "hair network". Imagine getting your hair cut in front of over one hundred strangers who are there to critique you. That means over one hundred different opinions were given to me and over two hundred eyes were staring at me for the better part of an hour. It was a little bit intimidating, but in the end, I decided every haircut should be like that. I heard everything I needed (and then some...) about my overall appearance before I even stepped out of the salon! I am telling you, self-conscious flew right out the window! And now I'm one step further from having to be turned in to one of TLC's makeover shows for frumpy moms. Anyone want to volunteer to update my wardrobe next? Tim Gunn, hmmm?

Uh Oh.....

I agreed to be a "hair model" for a hair show today. For your viewing pleasure, I'll post a picture of My Royal Baldness after all is said and done....

Ohhhhhhh Lawd!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

What a Great Day!!


We had the BEST time today helping Jack Kauffmann celebrate his second birthday! The weather was hot and sunny, allowing all of the kids to run around outside. They rode on Jack's train, took turns hitting the pinata, played "Pin the nose on Elmo", checked out all of Jack's toys (demolishing the living room!) and ate cake. Landon was so exhausted afterwards that he fell asleep as soon as we got home.

It was so great to be able to see so many members of the Sanda family (read more about them at Sharon's blog) all at the same time. I've known them all since I was eleven years old--I grew up with them and now our kids are growing up together. It is the most amazing thing to see them all playing together (and probably the closest thing I'll have to nieces and nephews for a loooooooonnnng time--LOL!) Anyways, Happy Birthday Jack! Thanks for inviting us to your party! We had so much fun!!!
SHARON, WE MISS YOU!! NOW MOVE BACK TO SC, WOMAN!



Friday, September 21, 2007

At the Risk of Being Called a Blogging Copy-Cat...

I saw this on Kim's blog today and liked it so much that I decided to post the whole thing directly in my blog for everyone to read, rather than posting a link to Kim's blog. Do stop by Kim's blog, though, if you ever have a chance. It's one of my favorites and she is a GREAT mother--one I totally relate to and look up to!!

"Here's another great "Daily Groove" message that I found in my inbox this morning!

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: The One-Body Principle ::

Suppose your right leg began twitching for no apparent
reason. If it persisted, you'd do something about it.
You might massage your leg or take some vitamins
that support nerve functions.

But you wouldn't yell at your leg or threaten to hurt
it! Nor would you ignore it and think, "It's the leg's
problem, not mine." Such responses wouldn't make
sense because your leg is a part of YOU.

Likewise, when your child's behavior seems
unreasonable, you can overcome the temptation to
react negatively by responding to your child as if s/he
were a part of your body.

Like the parts of your body, your child functions well
when you pay attention to his or her signals and,
instead of resisting those signals, you do your best
to honor and respond to them. There's no blame; you
just deal with it.

Today, imagine you and your child are like one body
and notice how that perspective affects your
interactions."

http://dailygroove.net/one-body

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2007 by Scott Noelle

Thanks for the great post, Kim! It's something we should all remember when our patience is running short!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Life is so Hard Sometimes...

It has been a very tough week here at the Pfaffl House, as we have suffered the loss of three people we loved. One passing, in particular, has absolutely broken my heart and I have hardly been able to think about anything else. This past Saturday, the world lost Rick Crittenden, a beloved father, husband, neighbor and friend. I have spent the last few days trying to write a tribute to this amazing man, but none of the words seemed quite right. Until I come up with something worthy of this amazing man, I'd like to direct you to his son, Michael's ,blog. Michael, who is like a brother to me, wrote the sweetest, most heartwrenching post about his dad that has been forwarded by hundreds of people throughout the week. And since all of my crying and thinking and worrying this week has completely exhausted me (therefore giving me writer's block :o), I will leave you with the words that have given me the most comfort during this confusing time. This poem was printed on the program from Rick's funeral.

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you. Whatever we we were to each
other, that we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the
easy way which you always used. Put no difference
in your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or
sorrow.

Laugh as we have always laughed at the little jokes we
enjoyed together.

Pray, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always
was, let it be spoken without effect, without the
trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as
it ever was; there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of
sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very
near, just around the corner.
All is well.

-Henry Scott Holland

Thursday, September 6, 2007

I am LIVID!



GRRRRRRRRRRR!! We found out tonight that a bunch of the toys Landon has been playing with since Christmas have been recalled due to a risk of poisoning from exposure to lead paint. I am so incredibly PISSED OFF that this type of thing keeps happening and we as parents are expected to accept the generic one-size-fits-all apology from the toy companies and quietly take our new crappy replacement toys home (probably just to find out that they're toxic, too, six months from now!). Anyways, I wanted to post the link to the recall site in case this one has slipped your attention, as it did mine. They announced this in JUNE and I am just now realizing my house is LITTERED with this stuff. Fantastic.

Click here to be directed to the "Gotcha Again Crap-O Poison Toy Recall Site"

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Burning Bush

















It was so HOT here a couple of weeks ago that a bush in our backyard actually caught on FIRE! Jeez! Isn't it about time for Fall?

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

I'm On Strike

Fantasy football season hasn't even officially started this year (I have until tomorrow at six before I lose Andy's time and attention 100%--LOL), and I am already SICK OF HEARING ABOUT IT! Blah!! My husband is going completely insane, calling everyone we know at all hours of the day and night, trying to "recruit" them for his team. He's been trying to convince me to play, too, and he is driving me nuts. Every time I ask him to do something, he'll say, "Play Fantasy Football and I will." It's not so much that I don't WANT to play...I just like to see him squirm! Squirm, Fluff! SQUIRM!!

My blogs during football season will probably be pretty colorful...Someone call up a marriage counselor!