I want...

...these. For my babies' rooms. Based on the amount of singing (and dancing...you know you saw us at the stop light putting "our hands up in the air sometimes", and laughed) we do in our car, I'd venture a guess to say this could be our "family song".

Ben would obviously get the blue one (because it talks about grey...the color of his room). Kaylynn would get the yellow, because I like to think it's a favorite color of hers, maybe not THE favorite color of hers, but she does talk about yellow things a lot. It's the only color BIG TRUCK she points out. She can spot a Penske a mile away.

Naive?

I have been reading through old posts, mainly to compare Kaylynn and Ben's pictures. I ran across this post. Man, the naivety of a first-time mom. Kaylynn has had her fair share of ice cream (on occasion, it's not a daily or even weekly occurrence), cake, goldfish crackers, pretzels, and I'm sure a plethora of other things that I swore she'd never eat (and don't want to know about. Ignorance is bliss.)

We're still holding strong with fast food!

We do own 2 of those Kleen Kanteens though. I love them!

Why I Heart Shutterfly

1. They are doing a promotion for anyone who has a blog - 50 Free Photo Cards - just for writing a blog about it! How awesome is that?!

2. They have a great platform for hosting photo websites. My friend Ashley has one, as does Melissa. It is a great way to let out of town family watch little ones grow.

3. Photobooks - If you upload your pictures to Shutterfly, you can easily create a photobook for a loved one.

4. Calendars - Melissa & I did this last year for our mothers. It worked out quite nicely with Kaylynn, as January she was 1 month, February she was 2 months, etc. They got to watch her grow from her first year all through her second year!

5. And of course, the holiday cards - They make it very easy for busy folks to customize their own Christmas (or Hannukah, etc.) card. They have tons of options, making it nice and difficult to pick which one I want!

Thanks, Shutterfly for helping a family out!

In Shape

Conversation overheard on my way to class today:

SMOKER #1: ::puff puff:: Girl, I need to try to get in shape. ::puff puff::

SMOKER #2: ::puff:: You know, you should start taking the stairs.

SMOKER #1: ::puff puff:: Oh, lord! You know my body can't handle that. ::puff puff puff::

My advice? Puff a few more cigarettes (because then you don't have to worry about what kind of shape you're in!).

Teaching is a Weird Profession

I am officially done shaping the young minds of the Class of 2014. I've been looking forward to this day for a number of reasons:

1. Hanging out with my Sweet Girl - everyday!!
2. No alarm clocks, for me at least.(dang you Brian, still having to wake up early)
3. No worrying if I have "teacher clothes" clean. I can wear shorts and pj's all day if I want.
4. No more dealing with "those" students. (Oh, you know what I'm talking about.)
5. More sewing (yes, I'm a nerd.)
6. Getting the baby's room together.
7. De-cluttering Ft. Frink
8. Going on vacation.
9. Growing a kid
10. Enjoying a (remotely) stress-free day.

But teaching is a weird profession. It's just odd to me that I spend every workday with this kids. I see them everyday. I know their names. I know if they hate A&M and love UT. I know about their parents, siblings, friends, etc. I know who they are "dating" (can you really date in 8th grade??) I know way more about them than they probably know, but, hey, they are the ones talking about it all. But after today, I won't see these kids again. Probably ever.

That's just weird to me. You become a part of their daily life and then you aren't. And they are afraid to say "hi" in the grocery store, but they sure weren't afraid to shoot tweeties across my classroom.

It's just weird.

Coupon-ing?

I've been doing some reading on how some people save crazy amounts of money using coupons. Why can I not do this? 90% of what I buy is coupon-less. It's crazy and ridiculous.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't buy a ton of processed foods who saves lots of money with coupons? I can't leave the grocery store without spending at least $20. I seriously need to start using a list.

Teeny Tiny Flowers & Aspirations

I love the little flower clips from Briar Claire. I just bought Kaylynn 3 (don't worry Brian, it was from my paypal surplus, nothing was charged to the credit card and nothing left our bank account) crochet flower clips (in the colors that I want to do her "big girl room" in one day (mustard, deep aqua & charcoal gray...or at least accent with. Anywho, I got to looking at them and thought to myself, "Self, you could totally make those."

With that inner dialogue, I set out to find an internet tutorial, because if there is ONE thing I'm good at, it's finding a free tutorial online. So I found this one:

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/teeny-tiny-flowers.html

Yeah, I'm going to try it. But what got me today is the lady's "profile info" on the left-hand side of the blog. It says:

Hello! Thank you so much for visiting me in the Attic,

it's lovely to see you. My name is Lucy and I'm a happily married,

stay at home Mum with two young children and a new baby.

We live in a 100year old Victorian house in the North of England

which we are slowly renovating, and here I spend my days

:: mothering, decorating, crocheting, baking, sewing, crafting

and gardening. I hope you enjoy your peek

into my colourful little world. xxxx

Lucy is leading my "fantasy" life...you know, if you were allowed to script your own life. This would be me. And Brian can really choke when I mention that the England part of that wouldn't be so bad either (NO, we're not moving back there....I mean if one could script a life like that, why wouldn't one want to live in England...or Scandiavia...or France...or someplace exotic!)

And aren't the clippies so cute!

Blah

That's how I feel during finals week. Blah. Ordinarily, I'd enjoy all these 2 hr breaks, but seriously, they get boring! I'm caught up on everything. I'm sitting here, annoyed that no one is updating their blog, then I realized that's a bit hypocritical of me to say, since we haven't updated our blog in a while.

Brian and I joke that we sometimes check our own blog to see if it has been updated. Hey Bri, guess what?! I updated it.

I promise to update it with something substantial soon, I promise!

A Shout Out

(picture circa 2005...actually, 8.20.05)

This is Allison - my oldest bestie, not in age, but in time. She and I have been buds since we were 3 years old. We (me first) are knocking on 28's door, so we've been friends a QUARTER CENTURY! Wow!!

Allison is out in LA pursuing the dream. She has been working hard and she now has an IMDB slot to prove it! Check her out here when you're looking up Matt Damon or someone, because they are in the same database!!!''

Way to go, Al! Everyone else, keep a look out for a show on Discovery Health called "Your Kid Ate What?"

Moon Sausage

As many of you don't know, I became a member of 94.5, The Buzz's Fresh Out of Bed, Head to Head hall of fame back in September. Briefly, the Fresh Out of Bed, Head to Head challenge is a trivia game that pits two people against each other on the phone. The DJ asks questions and the first person to say their name has the chance to answer. The first person to get two questions correct is the winner and moves on to the next day to play someone else. If you win 5 days in a row, you become a member of the hall of fame for that year.

The benefit of being a hall of famer is getting to come back at the end of the year in the tournament of champions. All of the hall of famers for a year are put in a bracket (similar to March Madness) in a winner-take-all format. The hall of famers are whiddled down until there is only one person - the champion.

Anyway, I am a member of the 2009 hall of fame and I have made it to the championship game (tomorrow morning). To get to the championship game, I had to beat a guy named Matt. The first question we received was "Which Houston football legend has a sausage named after him." Matt got in there first (by saying his name - there are no buzzers; I said nothing because I had no idea). Matt's guess was Warren Moon. Now, I heard Matt say something, but I couldn't understand him. Warren Moon was wrong so I got a chance to answer the question. My answer: Warren Moon.

It was incorrect for Matt and it was incorrect for me. And of course the DJ let us hear about it. And then my friends and brother let me hear about it. It does make me laugh when I read the emails that say "WARREN MOON?!?!".

I'm not entirely sure why I wrote this post. I think it's because I really just wanted to have a post named Moon Sausage. It might also be because I'm hedging my bets by making a post after my semi-finals match just in case I can't pull off the upset tomorrow. Whatever the reason, this post is done. I'm going to get my beauty sleep, wake up in the morning, eat my Earl Campbell sausage, and try to defeat Shane.

WARREN MOON!!!

The Joy of Kids

I'm finding it hard to focus on my notes for my last final, so I figured I'd write a quick (in Brian terms) post on a couple of amusing things that happened over the weekend.

The first occurred while we were giving Kaylynn a bath on Saturday night. She has these foam shapes that she plays with in the bathtub (they are made by Boon) - and when I say plays, I mean chews on. They are pretty cool in that they stick to the side of the tub when they are wet. We have been showing her this for a couple of weeks and she has been trying to put them on there herself. However, she never understood that she needed to move her fingers out of the way.

Well, on Saturday night, I put one of the shapes on the tub wall and then took it off. Right after I took it off, she pushed it out of my hand onto the tub wall. I thought this was pretty cool. But then she took it off the tub wall herself, stuck it in her mouth, and the put it back on the tub wall herself. Hayley and I were so excited that we started cheering and clapping. Here's the funny part. It scared the crap out of Kaylynn (not literally, fortunately). She was so startled that she didn't know what to do. So she just started clapping with a look of fear on her face. It was priceless.

The second amusing event took place yesterday afternoon. Our neighbor has three kids. I don't know the ages of the two oldest ones, but the youngest is a little over a year old. Anyway, the middle child is a boy who has a crush on Hayley. I'm not making that up. He came to the door one time because he kicked his ball over the fence and asked Hayley to get it. Before she did so, he said she was pretty. I still need to kick his @ss to show him what's up.

Anyway, he came to the door yesterday and I answered. He said he kicked his ball over and asked if I could get it. I said sure thing. (Incidentally, he didn't tell me I was pretty). Shortly after I had come back inside (and I mean within about 15 seconds), I heard another knock. He did it again. So I went back and got the ball again (still no mention of me being pretty) and then came back inside.

:: knock knock knock ::

He did it again. Only this time, when I went back there, he threw the ball back over to me as soon as I threw it to him. I tossed it back over and then he kicked it over. I know he wanted to play catch with someone, and normally I'm the guy to do it. But I had one final to go and was in a motivated mood so I definitely had to take advantage.

So I came back inside only to hear another knock at the door. This time when I opened it, I said "Did you kick it over again?" He said, "Nope, I tricked you. OWNED!!!" and ran away. Yes, I was annoyed when I heard the knock, but I couldn't help laughing at this. I told him I'd get even somehow.

Alright, time to study up...for my appearance this morning on the radio.

Quiz: What's your interior personality (personality color profile)

I found this link on another blog. Since I really want to take a nap right now and not grade papers (hey, I am caught up for once, I just have a new assingnment to grade), I'm not being very productive. I took this quiz, just for fun. I do not think it's results are very shocking. At least not to me.

Now, I just need an infinite supply of funds and no job! :)

Garbanzo Beans!

Just add this to the list of things Kaylynn loves to eat. I made her some for dinner tonight, thinking she'd hate them. I was expecting that "ugh, Mommy what in the world is this junk" face, but instead, she chewed (sorta, as well as she chews), swallowed it, and hit the tray smiling, saying "More, Mommy!".

This makes me so excited, because it's just one step away from loving hummus and if there are 3 of us who eat hummus, we'll just be a hummus eating family.

Did I mention that I love hummus? Hey Jessi, fly to Houston and make some already. Your's is the best!

A Link for the Outdoor-sy Types

http://thewoodlandsparks.blogspot.com/

All about parks in and around The Woodlands area. I am excited I stumbled across this. Once Little Bit is mobile (like running and playing mobile) I want to be a frequent park-er. We don't have trees in our backyard, so it's not ideal for fun outside playing (in other words, it's too dang hot without any shade.)

Thought I would share!

The Champ

Everyone knows that I’m a competitive person. But when you leave the house at 6 AM and get home at around 9 PM, there’s very little time in between to engage in any competitive activity. How thankful I am for the Rod Ryan show on 94.5 (The Buzz).

Each morning at around 6:30 he plays the “Fresh out of Bed, Head to Head”. It’s essentially a meaningless quiz game where two people try to answer trivia questions the fastest. If you get two questions correct, you live to see another day. If you make it five days in a row, you enter the Hall of Fame tournament at the end of the year.

Now, there’s more to it than just winning the game. You also win prizes. Some of them are pretty cool (DVDs, concert tickets, etc.). Some of them are not (t-shirts, etc.).

I tried calling in last Tubesday and actually got through. Don’t ask me how because I don’t know. All I know is that I took Spencer to the cleaners and won a series of some TV show on DVD. On Wednesday, I squeaked by Jimmy and won a t-shirt. Thursday was an embarrassment for Dan as I smoked him for another DVD series (Heroes). I then proceeded to smoke Dan the Second on Friday for another, uh, DVD series...that I forgot the name to...or can’t say...

Last Friday’s victory made it four in a row. I had to wait through the long weekend until today to try to get into the hall of fame. Now, one might not think that it’s a big deal playing this game. I on the other hand got sick to my stomach at the thought of playing. I’d get so nervous that I would start trembling. It was so bad that I’d forget the questions that were asked immediately after I’d get done playing. Seriously. Hayley would ask me what the questions were and all I could say was “I don’t remember”...because I really didn’t.

In any case, today rolled around and I got to face Ben. It’s always unnerving playing against someone with a short name because it can be said faster. Ben is a single syllable; Brian is two syllables. Plus, it hurts your chances when you say your name and they don’t hear it. (Yes, it happened today.)

Anyway, I managed to squeak by again today to become the seventh member of the 2009 Fresh out of Bed, Head to Head Hall of Fame. I’m glad it’s over because I’m tired of being nervous. Plus, I’m tired of all the haters out there (Dufer, Jennifer, my wife) making fun of me for the ones I missed. They’re just jealous of all the loot I won, especially the DVDs I won on Friday.

Tournament of Champions, here I come b*tches!

(Ok, I have to stop ending every sentence with b*tches. You see, I’ve been programmed. When you win, you make a victory speech and it always ends in “b*tches”. Don't worry. The victory speeches are read to you by the DJ and you just have to repeat them. It's all their idea. So yes, I got to say b*tches on the radio 5 times...and it was awesome. But it is time to stop now. I promise that I’ll stop...starting tomorrow b*tches.)

Wandering Minds

So, I (Hayley) am doing this thing through our church - "Bible in 90 Days". It's what it says, reading the entire Bible in 90 days - just 12 pages a day. Simple right?

First of all, it's hard. Like hard reading. Big words, impossible to pronounce names. But fun, it's like reading a story if you go in order (which no one ever does).

Secondly - My mind wanders. I start making a baby name list as I read. Brian just threw up in his mouth as he read that. NO, I don't NEED to make a list of names, I'm just female and enjoy that kind of thing.

Not going anywhere with this, I just wanted to give Brian and mini-heart attack and to tell you that I'm 1 1/2 books down and 84 days to go! Go me!

Almost Forgot...

I'm sure many of you know that Beaverton, Oregon is the home of Nike. I'm also sure many of you know about Brian's not-so-secret obsession with all things Nike (and blue for that matter.) What you don't know is that Kyle & Jessi live just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Beaverton (like 6 miles close.)

We visited a Nike outlet while in Oregon so Brian could get some new golf shoes to wear on his Father's Day/Birthday golf outing with Kyle at Camas Meadows Golf Club. Check out the views of this course. I'm told it was hard and that Brian lost his Mojo many times on this course. :)


The outlet had good prices, so we just couldn't pass up getting Kaylynn her very first pair of Nike tennis shoes (or real tennis shoes for that matter...) They are silver and red and so very cute! She won't be able to wear them until she's over a year old (and walking everywhere), but that's ok. We don't really wear shoes right now anyways. :)

Updates

Lots of updates to come. We got back from our first official Frink Family Vacation tonight. I've got pictures from that, and pictures from Kaylynn's Baptism /visit with Anthony a few weeks back.

Also, today is sweet girl's 8 month birthday! I'll have her "latest and greatest" soon. She's up to all kinds of new tricks and I think we'll have a very big trick right around the corner!

But for now, it is time for bed. I have a classroom to get back in order this week.

Summer!

Finally! Kaylynn and I have a lot of playing to do this summer. I'm working on some good toys for her, involving stacking systems, blocks, and balls - hopefully that crinkle. We're going to reinstate our weekly lunches downtown, work on our "crawling" position, try some new fruits and veggies, and take our very first family trip together to Portland, Oregon to visit Kyle & Jessi! Mr. Carter Timothy is due to "emerge" sometime in the next few days/week(s) and we cannot wait to get to meet him (and show off our sweet girl, of course!)

Unfortunately, my summer break is shorter than my maternity leave. :(

Under Construction

Many of you blog readers don't know my little idiosyncrasies that make me slightly left of center (a little out of tune, if you will - can anyone name that song, "So I'm a little left of center, I'm a little out of tune..."- love it!). One of them is my constant need to change things around (among other things....like an obsessive use of parentheses) My mom could tell you about the countless times that I had to rearrange my room growing up. If you've ever seen the movie "Because I Said So," think about Millie always rearranging - love that movie, too, perhaps because she is also a bit off.

Anywho, that was a long, drawn out way of saying that the vonFrinkenhagen site, much like my bathroom, will be under construction at some point in the very near future. I'm playing around with the software, as we speak (and as my sweet little nuggey is sleeping soundly in bed next to me.)

Perhaps I'll even rearrange my grown-up bedroom, just as soon as we get that tile laid.

Somewhere in the distance, from the depths of downtown, I think I just heard Brian groan, "ugh, she's moving things around again."

Oh, and the song was "You Get Me" by Michelle Branch.