The Veritas Uniform Picture

ths iz/ my noo yuoneform that i wll ware in knidergratiin next yer.

Noah typed this all by himself. In case you need help it says, "This is my new uniform that I will wear in Kindergarten next year."

The Transformation is Complete

Here's what the living room looked like a few days after we moved in.

Then we painted and rearranged the furniture.

And now we have our beautiful new floors!

What do you think? We love it!

Sneak Peak

The floors are done! I just have to re-attach the baseboard molding (and touch up their paint) and move the furniture back in. I'll post more pictures when the room is put back together and we can actually live in our living room again.

The dining room.

The part with all the awkard cuts.

I know some of you are thinking, "Floors-schmoors! Where's that baby?" Here he is.

Todays Project is brought to you by the letter 'I'

and also by the letters 'K', 'E', and 'A'

Before & After pictures coming soon.

Speaking the truth in love

Jeana: Toby, you're so beautiful.

Noah: Ha! Good one, Mom!

Jeana: Huh?

Noah: He's not beautiful! He drools, he makes messes, he always gets into trouble. His shirt is dirty, he eats off the floor and makes stinky diapers.

Jeana: ...

Noah: He's the best brother ever! And he is pretty cute.

He meant "cactus"

We have a jade plant on our dining room table.

On Saturday Noah reached out and poked one of the leaves of the jade plant and said, "Ouch! It feels like a Texas!"

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. She is a really amazing woman. I probably don't tell her that often enough so today I want to tell the whole world:

Peggy Ruth Green Todd is AMAZING!

Noah says, "Happy Birthday, Granny! I miss you and I'm glad you came to visit me. You're the best Granny I know!"

Toby says, "Brub bee maaaaaaaaaaah nana?"

The shortest meme EVER!

Steph tagged me in a really short meme. Here goes...

1. Write the title to your memoir using 6 words
2. Post it on your blog
3. Link to the person that tagged you
4. Tag five more blogs

1. I couldn't pick just one: People are Stupid, I Should Know
The Life and Times of Gorilla-Girl
When Hairy met Silly: A Diary
Born at a Very Young Age

2. Done!
3. Steph
4. Tagging: YOU! If you read Linhart Live, go ahead and write your Memoir Title in the comments or post this meme on your own blog.

The Great Outdoors

Today I loaded up the boys in the stroller and we walked to the library. It was gorgeous outside! I kept noticing new flowers and outdoor toys in the yards around our neighborhood. It officially feels like spring is here. Finally!

After the library we played at a park for a little while. Tobin loves the swings! He actually cries every time we try to pull him out of the swing. We bought one of those plastic outdoor baby swings to put on our back porch but we'll need to get the correct hardware to hang it. It sure will be fun to see him get so excited and happy in our own backyard!

Speaking of the backyard, we just came inside from laying on blankets on the grass ground weeds, reading, and eating oranges. This is the life! We have been so incredibly blessed!

Hip 2 B Square

The best form of Time Travel I've ever seen: A woman dancing with her four year old self...twenty years later

Mother's Day Gifts

A lovely bird tray and an adorable chalkboard cookie jar.

Such sweet gifts from my boys!

Thank you, Geary, Noah and Toby!

I am an extremely blessed woman.

With such great gifts I had no choice but to make cookies!

To all the special mothers in our lives:

Turning the Swiffer into a Lean, Mean, Green Cleaning Machine

This really is a no-brainer and I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it. I simply picked up some micro-fiber cleaning cloths and wrapped them around the Swiffer head. Here's a tip: Get the cloths from the automotive section of Target or Walmart. In the cleaning section the cloths cost about $2 each. In the auto section you can get the exact same things in 8 packs for $4 or 50 cents each.

The best way I've found to secure the cloth to the Swiffer is to drape the cloth over the Swiffer head so that it is covering the top holes. Then stuff the the bottom of edge of cloth into the bottom holes of the Swiffer.

Next, take the cloth that is hanging down the front of the Swiffer head and pull it back so that it goes under the Swiffer head and up to the top holes. You'll now be pushing two layers of cloth into the top holes. Use the end of a spoon or pencil to help you really it pushed in there. When you're done it should look like the above picture on the right.

Now you can just mop as usual! 1/2 cup of White Vinegar mixed with 1 gallon of warm water is a really great (and cheap!) solution for vinyl or linoleum floors. Use 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 gallon of water for wood floors.

Yay! Clean floors! Toby says, "Hey, where did all my floor snacks go???"

Yum. (I know, I can't believe I'm blogging my dirty mop, either.) When you're done simply remove the micro-fiber cloth and toss it in the washing machine! By the way, you can also use the micro-fiber cloths dry just like you would use the dry Swiffer Sweeper pads. No more wasting money on the disposable cleaning wipes! We're being kind to the earth and our wallets!

You probably didn't notice this adorable bird sculpture in the all the Swiffer pictures but in case you did and were thinking, "That is the cutest bird thing I've ever seen!" here's a close up. Geary let me buy it after I fell in love with it at Lowes while we were buying stuff for redoing our front yard. We call it "The Fat Chick."

Muscle Men

Geary has been working super hard in front and back yards. He has dug up tree stumps, moved about 4 gazillion rocks, tilled soil, dug fence post holes, and much much more. In the front yard we are ready to lay sod but we'll need to borrow a truck to pick it up (along with some topsoil) and we're still working on finding someone with a truck. After the sod (and depending on money) we'll add a few shrubs and some flowers to the flower bed and we hope to find a great hanging porch swing.

In the backyard we are working on repairing the fence and then we'll be ready to roto-till and plant new grass seed. Eventually we hope to cover the exisiting chain link fence (ugly!) with split bamboo fencing (pretty!) and add a vegetable garden, clothesline, patio table and chairs, and a hammock.

Right after digging out the stump of a huge tree in our backyard. Check out the giant crater!

Noah helped.

It's not easy being Super

Click image to enlarge:

Idea for Illustrated Blogs by 3 of 6 of the Durias Collective

Yard Work

That's why we haven't been blogging much. But soon (hopefully) you'll get to see pictures of our hard work.