May 31...Day 125

Another basement remodel picture! Daniel started painting tonight. It's hard to get an accurate picture of the color, but this gives you an idea. For all of you Stampin' Up! people out there, it reminds me a lot of Cool Caribbean though maybe a little darker. It makes me very excited to put everything together and see what it's all going to look like!

Also, Audrey is 7 months old today, which seems like it should warrant a picture on this blog. But I posted her pictures on my other blog, so you can go there to see them: www.lifewiththesheltons.blogspot.com.

May 30...Day 124

Camping, Day 2. (I added a picture from our first day of camping on yesterday's post.) The kids kept us entertained for most of the weekend. Here is Cael playing with his water table.

May 29...Day 123

We went camping this weekend! I was very nervous about taking a 7 month old baby camping in a tent, but Audrey did great. She was hardly fussy at all. She took pretty good naps, and she slept all night! I think she likes being outside, and there were lots of people around so she had plenty of things to keep her entertained. I still am not sure about how enjoyable camping is for me with a baby...it just adds a lot of extra work and stress and stuff...but I'm glad we went. And besides being Audrey's first camping trip, it was also Audrey's first time to ride in a swing. And she really loved that as well!

May 28...Day 122

Before Audrey was born, I was worried that Maggie would try to eat all of Audrey's toys. Fortunately, that has not been a problem as Maggie pays no attention at all to Audrey's toys. What I did not anticipate was Audrey wanting to eat Maggie's toys. Now I can see that this is what I should have worried about from the beginning. Audrey can't even crawl yet, but today I caught her with Maggie's toy in her mouth twice! Gross! (Yet rather than stop her tonight, I grabbed my camera instead. That's how dedicated I am to this blog...I will let my daughter try to chew on the smelly dog toy if it means I can get a picture for the day!)

May 27...Day 121

Today, Audrey wanted to show you all the inside of her mouth.

May 26...Day 120

I don't have any interesting pictures from today. So here is the book I am reading tonight. It is book number 16 for the year. I want to read 40 by the end of the year, so I'm on pretty good track right now. This book is fairly good. I know what's going to happen because I saw the movie. It has a very depressing ending. Most of the books I read tend to be really sad or depressing...what does that say about me???

May 25...Day 119

Amy was teaching Cael how to look for Audrey's belly button. That's all I have to say about this picture.

May 24...Day 118

The scrapbooking that I should have done last night got done today....though the house is still a mess! Even though all the scrapbooking I've been doing lately has been for "work" (it's the last week of my scrapbook challenge: www.scrappingchallenge.blogspot.com), I'm having a lot of fun with it. I think it's because I have such a cute subject...it's fun to design cute pages around her!

May 23...Day 117

I'm sitting at home by myself (for the second night in a row). Daniel is working, Audrey is sleeping, and I should be doing something productive. This is what my living room looks like right now, which is only a fraction of the mess that can be found in the rest of the house. I should be cleaning or at least scrapbooking and getting some Stampin Up projects ready. But instead I'm just sitting here. I think I'm going to read a book...or watch a movie...or maybe both! Cleaning and scrapbooking can always be done another day, right?

May 22...Day 116

I'm still experimenting with this external flash. It's tricky to get it just right, and then I'm not sure that I really know what "just right" is anyway. I used the flash yesterday for Maggie's picture and it seemed to be a little overexposed. The lighting seems to be better in this picture from today, I think? Someday I'm going to really learn about photography and figure out all these things.

May 21...Day 115

Maggie got a much needed haircut today. She now looks more like a Miniature Schnauzer and less like a shaggy mess. And she can see again!

May 20...Day 114

Why do babies find remotes so fascinating?? Audrey gets so excited every time she sees a remote, and I just don't get why. Maybe it's like the forbidden fruit; deep down she knows it is something she is not supposed to have, therefore she has to have it!

May 19...Day 113

So Daniel should know better than to fall asleep on the couch when I am searching around the house for something to take a picture of for today. Back during my least favorite things week, I said that falling asleep on the couch was one of my least favorite things. For Daniel, falling asleep on the couch is one of his favorite things. This is a pretty common sight at our house after 9 pm.

May 18...Day 12

I had a picture ready to go tonight of Audrey reading one of the books we got for her at the library today. She already thinks the library is a fun place and is going to love books, just like her mommy! But as I was uploading that picture, Daniel had just finished feeding Audrey and was burping her. And she just started looking at me and smiling and laughing...so I had to take some more pictures. And this picture of her beautiful, happy face became my new picture of the day!

May 17...Day 111

I love this picture from small group tonight...the way Audrey has her hand on Wesley's face...the look on his face as he's staring at her...it makes me smile!

May 16...Day 110

Tonight we put Audrey to sleep in her Pack n Play while we were at the Dolbeares. I never get to see her when she is sleeping. We put her down in her crib, and when we go to get her out, she is normally awake. So it was cute to see her sleeping like this...with her bottom sticking up in the air!

May 15...Day 109

Maggie ran away tonight right as a thunderstorm was brewing. The back gate was open. We don't know why, but that gate is randomly open every once in a while. I looked out the back window about 5 minutes after I let Maggie out and realized she was gone. Daniel took off after her, first on foot and then in the car as it started to rain harder. He ran into some neighbors while he was looking for her, and they joined in the search as well. About 30 minutes later, I saw a couple of our neighbors in the driveway, herding Maggie up to the house! We have the best neighbors, willing to go out in the rain and look for our crazy dog. Maggie was soaking wet and scared when she got home. I tried to get her to sit still for a picture, but she kept shaking out her shaggy hair (she's finally getting it cut next week) and running around the house. I'm kind of glad, because this picture turned out way more fun than if Maggie was just sitting there.

May 14...Day 108

The waterproofing portion of our basement is now complete. The moat is gone, now filled in with concrete. Underneath the concrete is some kind of pipe or something that collects all the water and sends it to the sump pump, which then sends it out into the backyard...or something like that. All I know is that we are now guaranteed to not have water in our basement...and that is very exciting!

May 13...Day 107

I apologize for the poor quality of this picture. I had a picture on my camera ready to go, but then I forgot my camera at the Noggles tonight. So I had to use the webcam on my computer. Tonight was the Lost finale, and I made these cupcakes for our finale party. They were inspired by the video recaps, Lost Untangled, that we've been watching this season. The video recaps are done by ABC and feature action figures and paper doll versions of the Lost characters. Very funny stuff. Anyway, I only had a Pierre Chang cupcake left after Lost tonight...but I had a different character on all the cupcakes I made. We're all so sad that there won't be any more Lost for 9 months!

ETA: Here is the picture that I wanted to post but couldn't because I forgot my camera. Here are the Sawyer, Juliet, Kate and Jack cupcakes that I made for the party. And in case you were wondering, the green blobs are gumdrop leaves...that are supposed to be trees or at least representative of the jungle on the island.

May 12...Day 106

I had a piano recital tonight for my students. What a relief now that it is over!!! I think, as a teacher, I dread the recital just as much as the students. I have to sit there helplessly and hope that they don't mess up. Once they get up on that stage, there's nothing I can do to help them...it is very nervewracking. The good news is that everyone played really well tonight. No one had any major mistakes. The best part is that, with only 8 students, the recital was really short...only 15 minutes from start to finish!

May 11...Day 105

Today they started the process of waterproofing our basement. Right now we have a moat running around the perimeter and down the middle of our basement. Maggie and I went downstairs tonight to check it out. But Maggie was afraid of the moat and refused to jump over it, even though it is only like a foot wide.

May 10...Day 104

Happy Mother's Day!! For lunch today, it was my choice. I didn't want to go anywhere that had a long wait (which was everywhere!), so we ended up going to this little pub and grill place. It wasn't busy at all and was pretty good. The best part was that they were doing free dessert for Mother's Day...so I got to enjoy this yummy caramel fudge brownie!!

May 9...Day 103

Happy Birthday Daniel!!

May 8...Day 102

Tomorrow is Daniel's birthday, and to celebrate we had some friends over to our house tonight. The one thing Daniel wanted to do for his birthday was play Catan. Well, he got his wish...this is what everybody (except me) is doing right now. So far, Steve and Natalie are tied for the lead. It's going to be a close one. Exciting stuff.

May 7...Day 101

I made banana muffins today...yummy!

May 6...Day 100

I need a more exciting picture for Day 100, but this is as good as it gets today. Maggie should be excited, she is making it into my picture of the day two days in a row.

So it's not good when your dog is sniffing the scent of another animal in your kitchen. We came home from Lost tonight, let Maggie out of her crate, and she went crazy sniffing and scratching around in the kitchen.I 'm thinking we have a mouse...and that freaks me out. I am terrified of mice, especially when they think they can make their home in my house. This is not good, not good, not good. I'm sitting and typing with my feet up on the chair, because I can just imagine that mouse running right across my bare feet. Eek!

May 5...Day 99

By about 7:00 every evening, this is how you will find Maggie. She crashes for the night and doesn't hardly move or make a sound. I took tons of pictures of her tonight with my bright flash and she didn't even move. All of her barking during the days, at the squirrels in the backyard and the people walking down our street and anyone who comes to our house, must wear her out!!

May 4...Day 98

Oh dear, I'm not sure I even have words to describe this picture. Audrey was cracking me up today making all sorts of faces, so I had to get the camera out and take pictures. Her favorite thing to do today is to blow raspberries. She hasn't done it in a while, but today she was back at it with a vengeance. She would puff her cheeks out (which are puffy enough already!) and blow with all her might. The result: this picture! Poor girl, I can see this one coming back to haunt her in a wedding slide show or something.

May 3...Day 97

I have a feeling that I will be posting a lot of basement pictures in the coming weeks. We are getting ready to have our basement waterproofed next week. Then hopefully we won't need this Shop Vac anymore, at least not to soak up water in our house. We're working on getting it cleaned out...Today Daniel took down the bed that used to sit here. Once the remodel is finished, this is going to be Audrey's play area!

May 2...Day 96

Today, I worked on a Stampin' Up! class that I am teaching on Tuesday. The class is called Fee, Fi, Faux, Fun (cheesy huh?) and it's all about Faux stamping techniques. I'm really excited about all the cards we are going to be doing at the class, especially this one. This one uses the Faux Silk technique. It's even prettier in person; it reminds me of China. If you live in the area, I still have 2 openings for my class on Tuesday!!

May 1...Day 95

Happy 6 month birthday Audrey Paige!!