Time For A Make-Over

Steve, Tai and I spent most of last weekend painting, cleaning and decorating my new massage room. We had so much fun, and everyone got their hands dirty! Steve helped clean out and organize misc. stuff at the center, Tai helped her new friend, Adam, put together furniture (she made herself in charge of the tool box ;) ) and I painted, cleaned and organized!

Well, that was all on Saturday.

On Sunday, we went shopping and found great bargains to give the final touches to my new and improved (non-medical) space. Although, it is not completely decorated the way I want it (the room still needs a rug, a new chair, few more pictures, a big mirror and a ladder shelf), I AM LOVING IT!!!

Simple, but relaxing and pretty! Don't you think? The best part ... we didn't break the bank. I get to use my own massage table (finally!) and I am putting to use my graduation gift (an iPod with over 500 songs) that were downloaded for me from my school's clinic! It sure brings back fond memories of when I first began my journey in the massage world. Pinch me, please. Is this for real???? I LOVE MY LIFE!!!

Meet SURPRISE

Tai and Steve carved Mr. Pumpkin on Sunday night. Prior to cutting him open and scooping him out, Steve and Tai went to the drawing board (the easel) to figure out Mr. Pumpkin's funny face. This is the one they came up with ... meet Mr. Surprise!!!

Didn't they do a great job? One pumpkin down, one more to go ...

A Few More Pumpkin Photos

The Search For The Great Pumpkin

We walked down one row, then the next, then another.

We surveyed. We searched. We scavenged. It's never easy to find that perfect pumpkin, is it?

For about two hours on Saturday, we patrolled an immense pumpkin patch in Colorado in hopes of finding our "Great Pumpkin." In the end, we found a few of them -- including a mini-sized one for Taidyn that has quickly become one of her favorite possessions.

The search for Taidyn's "little" pumpkin, which she had requested before we left Laramie to go to the pumpkin patch, was actually over within minutes. After walking past several rows, I decided to hang a right and lead the family down a row of pumpkins. A minute later, I spotted a little pumpkin hiding beneath a few vines and retrieved it for Taidyn. "Ooooohhh!," she exclaimed. She was sold!

It wasn't nearly as easy to find a few good carving pumpkins. There are hundreds of rows of pumpkins and thousands of the orange vegetables to choose from at The Bartels Farm, located on a quiet country road near Fort Collins. Oddly, we found a frog (of all creatures!) before we found our "Great Pumpkin." Check out the photo of our little froggy friend. :)

I wouldn't even wager a guess on how many pumpkins I picked up and inspected. Every few feet, I stopped and took a look at one or two of them. But, most of the time, I placed the pumpkin back on the ground and continued the search. Eventually, though, we found two pumpkins that fit the bill. We even found a man with a wagon who was willing to transport our pumpkins back for us!

Once we made our way out of the pumpkin patch, we found a petting zoo with goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, a donkey and a bunny. Taidyn has never been crazy about goats, but she liked the pigs, chickens and the bunny. And I didn't like the goat much, either. He tried to pee on my leg!!!

After snapping a few more photos and taking a few more minutes of video, we loaded our pumpkins and hit the road for home. A few minutes later, Taidyn realized she had a sliver (which turned out to be one of those sticky things from the stem of a pumpkin) and said to us, "A ham and cheese sandwich will make it all better." We laughed, then headed right for Arby's! :))

Happy Halloween!!

Do You Know The Colors Of The Rainbow?

You know the colors of the rainbow, right?

After today, Taidyn sure does! :)

We spent our Saturday doing a variety of rainbow-related activities, using paint, cornstarch, water and a flashlight, among other things, to show off the six colors of the rainbow for Taidyn. She had a lot of fun and, at one point, even asked to watch her Signing Time DVD that includes the signs for all the colors of the rainbow.

After breakfast, we launched our colorful day by using watercolors to paint rainbows. Taidyn needed a little assistance to paint the rainbow in the right order: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. But she did a great job!!!

Next, Cass prepared a unique concoction of cornstarch, sugar and water to create a gooey mixture for "Rainbow Stew." Once the stew cooled, Cass used food coloring to make batches of red, yellow and blue goo. We then divided the three mixtures into three baggies and played. The neat thing about "Rainbow Stew" is that you can use the three primary colors to make secondary colors like orange, green and purple. It was sort of like a fun science experiment! We'd certainly recommend this project for your children. It's simple and not messy!

We then ventured out of the apartment and headed to the library for a few rainbow and colors books. We found several good ones, highlighted by "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh, "A color of his own by Leo Lionni and "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister. Great books!!

After a nap, we made "Rainbow Music." For this project, we created the six colors of the rainbow (again, using food coloring) in six glasses of water. Each glass made a different sound because we varied the amount of water in each one. So, basically, we made a colorful, watery xylophone.:)

We ended the day by making a rainbow of our own! We dropped a small mirror in a glass of water and then turned off all the lights in the apartment. By angling a flashlight at the mirror, we were able to create the rainbow's six colors on the wall. Very cool! We're not sure what Taidyn enjoyed more: Turning the lights on and off or looking at the rainbow on the wall. ;) But she had fun, and that's all that matters.

We really had a lot of fun today. We're already looking forward to next weekend's big adventure: Pumpkin patch, here we come!!!!

May I Take Your Order, Please?

It's only 12:20 in the afternoon and Taidyn has already made eggs, spaghetti and three batches of cupcakes.

Well, sort of.

As our gift to Taidyn for her progress in not wetting the bed at night -- she's doing really well, especially if we limit the juice intake after 6 p.m. -- Cass and I bought her a play kitchen center. It's a sturdy wood model with a microwave, sink, oven and stovetop. We also bought a few pots and pans and other accessories like utensils to go along with it.

Last night, Cass and I spent an eternity (OK, a few hours) assembling the kitchen. At one point, after we had completed top unit, which includes the microwave and stovetop, Taidyn looked at it and said to us, "No! I want the stove on the top." You see, the top portion of the kitchen was sitting on the floor and she just knew by looking at the picture that the stove went on the top and not on the bottom. Smarty!

As Cass and I worked to finish assembly, Taidyn tried to stay awake. But, around 11 p.m., she finally crawled into bed. We finished up a few minutes later, but she was already in dreamland.

When Taidyn woke up this morning, though, she was thrilled. "Oooooohhhhh, my kitchen is done!" she squealed. She immediately went to the kitchen and began banging around pots and pans and offering to cook us breakfast. We asked for eggs and she took a wooden egg, pulled it apart (there's velcro that holds together the two sides) and placed the eggs, no, not in a pan, but directly on a burner!! We couldn't help but laugh before recommending to the chef that she place the eggs in a pan. She did and, soon after, she served us our breakfast in bed. :)

So, if you ever find yourself in Laramie with an appettite, come on over to Taidyn's Kitchen. It's open for business!!!