I'm still alive!

and I haven't forgotten about you! Lots of stuff going on right now, with no time to blog about it! I promise a long update soon! Hank has been keeping busy as well, sharpening up his gaming skills.

Wes, Hank, Cam. Hardcore.
See my started T-shirt rug perched on the throw pillow? 

Something more soon, I promise!

Flashback Friday: 3/1/2013

Just hanging out with some ducks. 

Flashback Friday: 2/22/2013

Aunt Bubbles,  Uncle Butch
Aunt Shell, Mom

This was taken in my front yard, though obviously at the time it was my Gram's front yard. It's weird because the background view looks exactly the same.

Flashback Friday: 2/15/2013

In honor of my very favorite Valentine, I didn't have to flash back quite so far this time. Here are some pictures of Wes when we first started dating, around 2005ish. He looked like such a hooligan. Lots of metal in the face. I guess he still kind of looks like such a hooligan, even with less metal in the face. He lived in an apartment building that had a playground out front, and we had way too much fun with that on a regular basis. We got the swords and armor from an after-Halloween sale, and it was all down hill from there.

Wes & Sarah, taking over the playground.

Vanquishing Foes. 

Bowling with sunglasses?

End of the Year SCRUFF.

Flashback Friday: 2/1/2013

Burly Man, Luke, Mom, Eagle

Mom and my youngest brother Luke, around 10 years ago. This made me laugh so hard. "Born to Ride". Enough said.

Happy Friday!

Three Years Ago Today...

I found out I was pregnant. Time certainly flies. 

"Should I take another one?"

Henry Lately.

Henry has been so awesome this week. We've only had a couple of "Mommy IS NOT a big hill today!" instances since I've hurt my back.

Some Henry lately...

He wears these fake glasses without lenses all the time.

He has discovered most super heroes also have "other names", and now knows who Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne and Ben Grimm are. He gets mad when he's given conflicting information from Mommy and Daddy. (How was I supposed to know Wolverines name isn't really Logan but is actually James Howlett???)

He thinks Uncle Michael lives in the elevator at work. (That's what happens when you creep elevators, Uncle Michael!)

He has scary sharp little vampire teeth.

He is starting to put super heroes into their groups! (Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor are the Avengers, Batman works with his sidekick Robin, The Thing and Human Torch are part of the Fantastic Four...) Nerd!

He can count up to 14 now, without any mistakes. He knows some of the numbers after that, but doesn't get them in order.

He thinks Will Arnett on Arrested Development is very entertaining for some reason. Henry hawk-eyes him when he's on the screen. I guess he is a pretty weird looking guy?

He has started making different scenarios when he's driving his car, like "Goin' to see Santa cause he's nice!" or "Goin' to Wal-Mart to get STICKERS!"

He likes to tell Wes that he's his best friend. So cute.

He's getting better at relaying what he did in school that day, like "Henry painted!", "Miss Linda told a story!", or sometimes "NOTHING, Mommy."

He's always trying to talk (force) my Grandma into making him pancakes, regardless of the time of day. "Pancake! Get the griddle HOT! Make it! PUT BUTTER ON IT!!!" (In his defense, she does make some slamming good pancakes.)

He's learning a ton of songs, and he's hilarious to watch sing and dance, which he does with extreme gusto.

His hair is getting so long, but (aside from his bangs) I can't make myself cut it yet.

He still loves puzzles. They were getting a little too easy but I didn't think he was quite ready for bigger puzzles yet, so we decided to make them a little more challenging by mixing a couple of puzzles together. Still fairly easy to sort, like animals with cars or people with airplanes, but it holds his attention longer. Plus, it's fun to watch him check out each piece since it might not go with the puzzle he's doing. "Nope, not this. Nope, not this. THIS ONE, MOMMY!"

This kid is so tall. He's going to outgrow his petite daddy.

He always has to inspect fruit for the sticker.

He's such a good sport about almost everything, and he loves loves loves to "help".

He knows how to turn his tiny DVD player on and start the movie, which is great when you're lying on the floor unable to move.

He's really, really into giving Jen's boyfriend a complex, calling him "Old Ritz" all the time.

He's such a joy to be around, such a bright happy kid.

I sure do love you, Henry Bean!

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up.

Well, I've finally done it.

I have officially joined the Velickoff "HELP!!!! I've thrown out my back!" Club.

Perks of this club:

-Spending 2 hours on the kitchen floor, flipping out because your kid is eventually going to wake up from his nap and demand a banana.

-Sniper crawling all over the house to hunt down the phone.

-Calling a bunch of people and scoring lots of sympathy because you are crying hysterically into the phone. (Unless you're calling my father, then you just get a "Happy Birthday! Ha ha ha!". So much pain, almost dropped the F bomb on my dearest dad.)

-Freaking out your kid because you are crying while getting him previously mentioned banana. Henry was incredibly sweet. He covered me up with his Hulk blanket (and his banana peels) and watched his car DVD player while we were waiting for help. Best kid ever.

-Family Saviors! My little bro Michael came and saved Hank, and my awesome mama took me to the doctor despite having a million things to do before leaving for the weekend. Love them!

After we gimped up the stairs (STAIRS?!) to the doctor, I got sat on by a rather large man (personal space?) who sort of fixed my back. Somewhere between there and home, swelling went crazy and my back went out again. Fun stuff. Went back yesterday, got sat on again, and so far it's better. Better as in I can sit up straight and walk around. Still hurts like a mother. According to the doctor, a vertebrae was stuck sideways and now that it's back in, it's going to continue to feel like a bad sprain.

In conclusion, this sh*t is whack. I am deeply sorry if you have ever had back pain, chronic or otherwise. I was not nearly sympathetic enough. I probably made you bench press my kid and lift heavy boxes and touch your toes. My bad, guys.

I did manage to bust out a few projects this week before the back drama, and I found my camera charger, so more on those later.  In the meantime, check out Emily's crazy productivity.

Have a safe weekend!

Flashback Friday: 1/25/2013

My dad...

Mike Velickoff, 1986

Stuff I love about this guy...

He's freaking hilarious. 

He's the type of person who, while driving, thinks it's really funny to smile and wave frantically at strangers passing just to see the return half-wave and look of total confusion on their faces..."Did we know that guy?"...

I can't tell you how many times I've had the crap scared out of me by him screaming around corners on some of my childhood midnight bathroom runs.

He will ALWAYS laugh at fart jokes.

He can build anything out of anything. He helped us extensively remodel my great-grandma's house a few years ago. We couldn't have done it without his help. I never would have made it through the bats and the bat crap. Thanks, Dad!!!!

He can act like a big 12 year old. When I was in high school, his response to a smart remark my best friend Autumn made- Dad tackled her, took her SHOE, threw it across the K-Mart parking lot, and tried to throw her in a mud puddle while laughing like a maniac the entire time.

He is a great Dad. Growing up with someone who has such a sense of humor was something I will always appreciate. Even if he did stuff like this...

"You can ride on it! It's just a deer!"

I know. He's a baller. I love you Dad!

The Twins are 28!

Happy Birthday to us. Twins doing twin stuff...

Turtle Dancing.

I hope I'm laughing like a goose.

(That's our brother, not our pimp.)

Family Reunion.
(seemed like such a good idea at the time.)

Hot or Not?

Twins doubling as photo props.

And the NOW.

Happy birthday, Jen. LYLAS!

Newspaper Clippings...

That's an article written in 1968 about my Pap. He was 22 years old at the time and had saved a 12-year-old boy from drowning. Pretty sweet. That's him and my cute Grandma.

"Be it known to all men that John Rice has been responsible for saving a human life while performing his duties on a construction job site. Through quick thinking and ingenuity, Joseph Scott Jr., who was in danger of drowning, was preserved June 14, 1968 at Crafton, Pa."

52 Weeks Project: Week 3

One of my goals for the 52 weeks project is to do more crafts with Henry. He LOVES paint, so I wanted to make something with handprints. After seeing this on Pinterest, we decided to make a handprint peacock to hang in our turquoise kitchen. Here's how it turned out.

I didn't get any pictures of Henry since my camera charger is hiding somewhere, but he had a great time smearing paint around. I definitely want to try to find more cool things to make with handprints. Super cute, super quick. Maybe this or this next time. 

Flashback Fridays...

I have always loved reading "Flashback Friday" posts. It's awesome to see a family history and random tidbits of their lives. My mom recently scanned and saved hundreds of photographs for us because she is incredibly awesome, so I really have no excuse not to do this. So here's my first flashback photo...

Ohiopyle State Park, 1980-something.

That is my mom climbing the tree and my dad catching her. We grew up (and still reside) near Ohiopyle State Park, which is where this photo was taken. My parents used to hang out there quite a bit.  They were teenagers, dating at this time, not yet married. My mom was (and still is) pretty fearless. One of her stated reasons for dating my dad was that she couldn't beat him up. Love it. Love them.

Some Henry Lately

Awesome. 

Henry's vocabulary is increasing every day, and it's way exciting but he sounds so grown up sometimes, I just can't stand it. 

Everything is "Henry do it!".

He still loves to read, and hearing him read to himself is hilarious. "LOOK OUT! Evil Dr. Octopus is on the LOOOOSE!" 

His current favorite books are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", anything with "superdudes" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus". Super fun. 

He thinks his stinkers are hilarious and loves to announce them. "Henry FARTED!"

He can spell his name now and he can count to 12. If you ask him to do either one to make him show off, he refuses. But if you give him some paper and tell him to write his name, he'll spell it out while he "writes" it. And if you ask him to count cheerios for you, he usually will...although he does still get stuck on three sometimes. "One...Two...Three....Three...uh, three...". 

He can now identify more superheros than I can. No idea what people do when they don't have a Wesley around to be all like "Oh, that's Kilowog." Right....I totally knew that?

He loves to talk on the phone, and he's getting a lot easier to understand by everyone but my dad...but in his defense, Henry always has to tell Pappy really random stuff like he's wearing octopus pajamas or Rango & Beans went to Dirt to get water...so it's not entirely his fault. 

He loves pizza. 

He's been really into learning peoples "other names". Mommy is Jamie, Daddy is Wes, Henry is Bean or Henry Eisner or Batman Henry or whoever else he is that day, Pippy is Johnetta, Gammie is Sharon, so on and so on and so on. Your secret identity is not safe with him.

He is not very interested in the potty, though he will sit there forever if I let him look at the "Where's Waldo?" book. 

Sesame Street has finally been replaced by the new Avengers cartoon series. Yay!

He's the best thing ever. 

Edit:

Jen caught Hank reading "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus". For your viewing enjoyment:

Merry Christmas!

I love being a parent. It's so much fun to witness the awestruck wonder Christmas from a two year old perspective brings. Magic, for real. Or just extreme gullibility. But I'll take it. 

We had such a great time with our extended family, lots of traveling but lots of fun to be had. As a bonus Henry learned all about dragon slaying and jukebox playing, skills this nerd child obviously will need. 

Slaying Dragons at Gammie's House

Playing Records at Pappy Rick's

At the Perdue house, we have started our very own tradition with "Gandalf Santa" (Merry he could be, and kindly to the young and simple, yet quick at times to sharp speech and the rebuking of folly; but he was not proud, and sought neither power nor praise...how dorky are we?) watching us and monitoring bad behavior to report to the real Santa. 

Gandalf Santa was found lurking among my Nans treasures when she passed away. He came to life through the hands of my great Aunt Mary Ann as a Christmas gift to her several years ago. He is very handmade in appearance, with a sketched on face, a ragged cloak with fur lining, a long grey beard and a wooden staff. I wish I had taken a picture of him before he returned to his home in the attic so you could see how awesomely Gandalf he is. Something for you to look forward to next year, I guess. 

So anyway, Gandolf Santa witnessed Henry misbehaving on a few occasions which led Henry to believe Santa wasn't going to bring him presents. We didn't realize this until my mom asked him on Christmas Eve if Santa was coming, and he replied "No...Henry was bad. Santa saw him." We tried to assure him that Gandalf Santa saw him being good WAY more than he saw him being bad so of course the real Santa was coming, but he still wasn't totally convinced that Santa would bring presents to his house. 

On Christmas Eve Henry left Santa some cookies and salt for the reindeer, and his excitement starting picking up a bit. Maybe Santa is really going to come if we are leaving cookies for him?

When he woke up on Christmas morning, he was so mind blown that presents appeared out of nowhere (with "SUPERDUDE" WRAPPING PAPER!!) and he found a really sweet note from his pal Santa thanking him for the cookies. (I love my husband! He's such a cute dad.)  It was so, so awesome. I got a little too caught up in the moment and took zero pictures. Fail! Santa brought Henry some new puzzles, books, playdough (already on the carpet) and about a million little guys, who seem to have multiplied since then. I feel like I've stepped on half of them already. Mom the Godzilla monster. 

Henry at Pippy & Pappy's House

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

The Spotted Owl Bed & Breakfast!

As you may have gathered from the new blog name and this headline, we are on our way to our new occupation as Innkeepers! We are waaaaay excited to begin this adventure, check out our website at www.spottedowlbnb.com. I'm going to try to post an update with property pictures, news, and all that jazz in the future.

I'm finally making my return to the blogging world. It's been over a year since I've posted on Blogger! What?! How did that happen?

Hank is now TWO!!!! It blows my mind every time I tell someone that I have a two year old kid. He has inherited his dad's love of all things geek. He knows the names of more "superdudes" than I do. His vocabulary is growing at an alarming rate, and he needs to quit talking to me like a five year old. He is the best thing ever. Some December recaps...

First Christmas

Second Christmas

December 2012

 I'll leave you with some adventures in Christmas tree getting...

Short days and long weeks....

AAAHHHHH!!! 

These last few weeks have been filled with those doing much yet accomplishing less than you need to sort of days...

I taught an Arts & Crafts class at VBS. (No one lost any fingers, toes or eyeballs. I may have lost some sanity.)

We made some plum jelly, canned dill pickles and green beans. We shucked, cooked, and froze 6 dozen ears of corn. Tomatoes, beets and more green beans are being tackled next week. Any good tomato sauce recipes, anyone? We prefer chunky marinara.

We TAUGHT HANK TO WALK!, as you know.

We made a weekend trip out of town to the in-laws.

We researched "creepy trees" for inspiration on a wall mural we're doing for a friends little boy.

We felt our first earthquake.


We spent lots of time with my Grandma, who is incredibly awesome. She can work circles around me and has been a huge help with my first years attempt at canning/freezing/jelly/jamming local fruits and veggies. 

Grandma Rose and Henry, Henry's first parade.

We love her so much. (So much that, when given the chance and a TON of help from my Dad, we were able to move into my Great-Grandmothers little house next door to her a few years ago. Now we get to share breakfast and a yard. Yay!)

Grandma and Pap's six foot tall faces in our living room.

She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, which was devastating news, but God has blessed our family and she is on her way to cancer-free. She is the most absurdly cute, sweet, understanding and positive person. 

Henry and I have been fortunate enough to be able to accompany her to her radiation treatments. They have been going well, and I love having her all to myself for a few hours each day. The only negative is that we are both serious thrift store/bargain shoppers and we end up turning an hour long trip into an all day affair.

Which is really only a negative as far my inadequate housekeeping is concerned.

Henry's mad walking skills are improving every day. He's getting so fast! He's doing pretty well with not touching what he's been told not to, standing beside the offending object and vigorously shaking his head no.

He is master of the rings/pole game. (One ring to rule them all!)

He can drive trucks with sound effects.

He is still afraid of lilac bushes and vacuum cleaners.

And his greeting/goodbye of choice is now the high-five.



 Some feet news...

Henry is WALKING!! What?!

His one or two drunken steps here and there have become six or seven slow, deliberate steps. It's super exciting and heart breaking all at once. He seems like such a big kid...

Ain't no thing like a chicken wing.

In other, but not so exciting, news...

We have now finished re-reading all of the Harry Potter books during our evening breastfeeding sessions.

Yes, we are those Harry Potter obsessed, midnight book buying people.

The first part of Deathly Hallows was his first movie. Part two was his first drive-in movie.

Henry has been great about listening intently when I read aloud, though I will admit I have gotten a bit caught up in it at times and continued reading, so he has missed a large chunk of the action unless he is telepathically inclined.

Now we're about to begin reading Dune. He's going to be as nerdy as his father.

.

Grandma visits, zoo trips, butchers and bears, oh my!

First off, congrats Cochran Family on your first year of raising and butchering your own chickens. Super awesome job, we hope to follow your lead sometime in the future.

Our deepest condolences to Sarah, who I'm sure looked something like this...

But I'm also sure she really was a trooper despite her extremely tender heart. I'm glad it was a successful endeavor.

Henry's weekend was significantly more fun. My mother-in-law Sharon (who is great with Henry) came to stay for the weekend and took him on his first zoo trip.

Grandma Betty, left. Gammie Sharon, right.
Obviously they are super fun.

The zoo was awesome, despite my lack of photo documentation.

He didn't trust the elephants at all, and kept whipping around whenever his back was to them.

He loved the monkeys and the otters the most. 

I ended up with four pictures of Henry:

Henry arrives at the zoo,

Henry sees giant reptile,

Henry eats lunch with gusto,

and Henry sleeps.

 We also met a sweet little owl. Sharon gave him a little hoot to make him look for his picture, which got us a lecture about how owls who sound like that also happen to eat this little guy.

Oops...

But he did look for the picture.

Can you see the terror in his little eyes?

I cannot...

but apparently it was there.

I must need to shape up my animal whispering.

They also had a black bear exhibit, which Wesley was a little snarky about, with black bears that were so much fatter than our little guys. I guess our garbage is not providing enough calories.

Eating leftover mac n' cheese.

This cub is one of at least four bears in the area right now. He keeps getting onto our porch and peering in our back door, which is incredibly unnerving. He isn't afraid of people, but he is terrified of cars.

(I've been working on my best car impression, just in case you were wondering.)