Tile Wall Transformation

Well - THIS is what we have done with our new patch of off white tiles in the kitchen! Not TOO bad, hey?? We have a cup of white board crayola markers hanging on the wall - incase our little Picasso gets inspired! Although so far he is only interested in tossing the markers on the floor, and then putting them back in the cup! ;-D

Toddler Activites - Wall Cups

So this is actually my own brilliant idea!! I saw our plastic cups in the cupboard, and was like - OH YA!!! So I taped them up on the wall, and Meer just LOVES emptying and filling them with various things - keeps him busy, that's for sure! In the same breath, I am also sure he will get sick of it soon, but if it amuses him for a week or so - I will be thrilled!

Drive-by Munching

This is Meer munching down on his puffed wheat! He eats like a champion since I filled his bilibo with cereal – he eats by the handful! Who knew! I tried butting him in a big bucket, and poured the cereal around him, but he thought that was just weird and wanted to get out immediately!! There are a few cups inside for filling and pouring – he just loves it! Apparently you let the kids play with it for a few days, and then give the remaining cereal to the birds…

Picture of the day

Meer was drinking milk from his doidy cup and eating peas...

Ego is a bitch...

So the tile guys seemed to have difficulty fitting the border tiles back together – had it all messed up, and then left to go for lunch. So, me being me, I ripped out the ones that were in the wrong place, and got it all sorted out – ended up that in all reality, they would not fit back together without being cut… but in the process of seeing how much I had to chip off, a tile FELL and broke into… say… 15 pieces. NOT joking. Anyway – then I decided to just go for it – nothing to be lost now! So one tile has a bit of a “mosaic” effect – but I say who cares – the darn thing wasn’t going to fit, anyway!

The tile guys came back a couple hours later to find their work completed – OOPS! And they are ONLY replacing the tiles that had fallen off – so we are left with a white square, instead of butchering the entire kitchen. (phew). I figure I will let Meer loose with a dozen or so permanent markers – make it into an art wall! Ha ha ha!!

Anyway – my hands are actually PRUNED. I even put lotion on 3 times so far – IMAGINE. Had to cut my nails to get the dirt out from under them too! :-O

Flickr Pictures

PHEW! I have found a way of uploading pictures - even at my super-slow connection speed! I re-sized them - some small, some medium, and today I am REALLY going out on a limb and uploading in size LARGE!! Imagine the courage!~ha ha ha! Anyway - there is a heap of them. Now that uploading is do-able within a reasonable time frame (aka: same day!) I didn't edit them- it's the full range! If I haven't sent you a link, please email me, and I will add you to the invitation list - the pictures aren't public, so you will have to be invited, and then sign in with your yahoo id. BUT - naturally it is all worth it!! ;-D

Last Week's Projie

Our dining room chairs had been bothering me for… a good 4 years! I had been waiting for a budget to go and buy some fantastic red brocade, or something equally magnificent to recover them in. They had been a funny shade of green for far too long – which matched the dishes that you can see in the pictures. Anyway – last Monday I walked past the dining room one too many times, and decided that I MUST have SOMETHING in my fabric cupboards that would be better than staring at green for one more day! So off I went to dig through the piles…

Found this dark purple – in the same fabric that the green was – so I knew it would upholster and wear well. NOT that purple is my thing…but I just snapped, and it was the best option I had! Within a few hours the dining room was looking better, and I used the remaining scrap of purple fabric to make a table runner. All in all – I am quite pleased with it! Should have done it years ago!! ;-D

Slum Lord Report

So the munchie potato (my version of the more fitting and colorful experlitives that describe him more accurately) has actually sent guys to repair the gaping hole we have in our kitchen wall! About 50 of the tiles on one wall have come loose – a patch of about 12 actually buckled with the house settling, and popped off! Anyway – we have lived with it for seven long months… and NOW, Monday morning, two men have arrived to fix it. Not only that – but the other 38 tiles that are just hanging on by their grout lines! AND – to make the day just perfect – not only are they smashing the sh*t out of the wall above where Meer SLEEPS, but have brought off-white tiles to replace the PEACH tiles that have fallen off. So basically, the kitchen wall is going to look like a… patchwork. Basically. I had to come back upstairs just to tell you all! How purdy. Like – considering the house actually BELONGS to someone – would you not INSIST on matching tiles? I mean – seriously. Or maybe it is just me. Crazy old me. Well – anyway – good luck renting it out for the top money we are paying after we leave! Jokers. No brains.

OH! AND – I thought our septic tank needed to be pumped, so I called and asked the landlord to send a truck to do it – they actually called back to say that maintenance of the septic tank is up to the TENANTS. So like – for price of one month’s rent, we can let their house actually FILL UP with SH*T. NOT JOKING!! And like – septic pump trucks are how much? $100?? Probably less. But – NO – don’t pay for that YOURSELF!! Goodness. I swear. If there was ANY decent house available for rent, we would have moved already. As painful as it is. The guy is just a true dick.

ANYWAY – gotta go play with Meer somewhere where we can hear ourselves THINK…

OH. Icing on the cake - one of the guys went to use Kasimbi's toilet (without asking, of course) - and BROKE IT! Yes. Poor kasimbi has gushing toilet water all over his house, and no working toilet. How NICE... :-(

Budding Vocabulary

So Meer is really beginning to talk – it’s just a matter of us adults understanding which words he is saying! The first word he said was LIGHT – his favorite thing at the time. And then he said THIS, and then THAT. His recognizable vocabulary includes:

Light
This
That
Mama
Dada
Danger
Flower
Dog
Tortoise
Yes

Sawa (Swahili for ok)

Good

Nice

Two

Out

Shoes

I am just THRILLED to hear him say YES before learning the word NO! For some reason it is all important to me to minimize the amount of times he hears "no". Apparently it is shocking how often we hear it as children. NOT that I don't direct his behavior, but luckily with Meer, he is sensitive enough to be guided with facial expressions and little grunts! Well - that is me for you - all weird!! Anyway - he is really beginning to speak up a storm - it is SO enjoyable to hear! ;-D

Picture from New Life Home

This is a picture taken at New Life Home Trust. I am trying to load other ones, but the internet connection is not fast enough to be friendly just now - I will keep trying! Until then, these are some kids playing out on the grass with some volunteers...