Instant Collagen Effect

If you are feeling like you need a little more fullness in your lips but don't have the extra cash to spend on collagen injections right now, you can just follow Emerie's example and smack your face on a hard surface floor.

If you don't think you can bring yourself to do it on your own, I'm sure Jace would be happy to help. He didn't seem to mind too much in this case.

Finally Walking!!!!

Well....kinda.

Emerie is now 14 1/2 months old and this is how she opts to get around. We have been able to get her to take a few steps, but I believe she may be a bit bull-headed like her daddy. I'm so mild mannered I know it couldn't possibly be from me. She gets around fast enough, though. As soon as the pantry is opened she's there dumping out cocoa, powdered sugar, knocking cans over, etc. Then to top it off, she takes things, like boxes of jello, from the pantry and dumps them in the garbage if the lid happens to be open. It's like she's in a slam dunk contest, and from the looks of things, she'd smoke the competition. It's a good thing she's so squishy and cute...I just have to forgive her.

As for Jace, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Faith, Trust & Tooth Fairy Dust

So I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how important it was for Hallie to finally start losing teeth--to her dismay, she did not lose any during Kindergarten. She had to wait clear until first grade before she lost her very first one….and this is when it happened…she became completely obsessed with the tooth fairy. Can you guess what she is being for Halloween this year?

Anyway, back to my babbling…after her first visit from the tooth fairy she was sold. The next lost tooth was accompanied with a note under her pillow that went along the lines of “I don’t want any money. I just want to meet you…yadda, yadda, yadda.” While this touched my little heart it caused “Starla” (Hallie’s personal tooth fairy) to pen back with “I’m sorry, but it is against regulations in the Fairy Handbook to meet humans.” There were several other correspondences coinciding with more lost teeth. Then Hallie’s mouth went on a kind of hiatus for about six months. Well, she once again lost another tooth. What will this bring? I asked myself. I could not have been more surprised OR amused when I read the note for Starla.

Now, before you read the note here is some background information from this past week. Hallie’s school is constantly asking for money. This week they are acquiring “pledges” for a walk-a-thon fundraiser. Hallie has been relentlessly bugging us to give her money for this cause…OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Now, read on…

The note accompanying Hallie’s newly lost tooth read:

Dear Starla I have lost my tooth. Of course. Please show me a picture. Thank you. You are my best friend. What is your last name? Sign it right here ____________________. Please give me ten dollars I want to get pleges to my school. Thank you and ten or twenty is good.

Seriously, can you say car salesman? Sadly, she only got a dollar.

TIME FLIES

I know the old adage is “time flies when you’re having fun,” but I found during July and now August it also has the ability to fly when “fun” is not necessarily the first word that comes to mind.

We did celebrate Hallie’s 7th birthday in July with a little Tinkerbell party—I’m so happy she is currently out of the “I want to act like a valley-girl-teenager” stage. The attitude and jargon that came along with this phase about drove me to an early Prozac addiction—I’m trying to save that for high school.

She finally got the Barbie mp3 player she'd been wanting--it was fun to see her excitement, though.

We did begin August with a bang…Emerie turned one! Once again, where has the time gone? She’s not even close to walking, but that’s okay with me…she’s got a Russian march meets River Dance thing goin’ on. Perhaps her smokin’ hot thigh rolls will stay around a bit longer, though.

She still has not eaten her first piece of cake. The only thing that came from this experience was the opportunity to wash green icing out of her hair.

This has nothing to do with anything other than I love how she just "chills" every time I put her in the bath, and here she is again just chillin' with Kevin.

As for Jace, nothing too exciting to report…he spends the majority of his time in superhero mode. If there are superpowers involved count him in. Every once in awhile he likes to be “Octopus Prime” (transformer) or likes to play games like “Old Maybe.” It’s also always a safe bet he’ll give me attitude daily…I’ve heard “WHATEVER” and “I don’t like having a mom” more in the last month than most parents probably hear in a lifetime. But, “WHATEVER.”

I bet for those of you who knew about our 24-hour pet dachsund you'd never have imagined we would get another pet. Who knew? At least this one has a short life span.

Here is my favorite quality time with Jace, and I'm not talking about the slip-n-slide either.

No fabulous vacations or camping trips to report, but we had a few fun simple times throughout the summer...here are my kids having backyard fun with their cousin Taylor.

Everybody's first visit to the Living Planet Aquarium...I guess the octopus getting its food out of Mr. Potato Head was kinda cool. This visit definitely fits under the summer "filler" category.

When it comes to this past summer, I don’t know, but I think I want a refund…I did NOT get my money’s worth.

Cravings & Dreams

So, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but I LOVE my itty bitty I-pod. I was slow jumping on the mp3 wagon, but now I’m here and loving it. This week I was doing some dishes while enjoying some tunes…really I was gettin’ down. If anyone was peeping in my windows they would think I was crazy. Anyway, it was getting to the climax of the song…which I’m a bit ashamed to admit was a Pussycat Doll's song…and I was feeling the music, you know, really belting it out. It was then Jace got my attention to advise me, “Mom, sing it like it’s soft because then it’s more beautifuller.” A.K.A…shut your mouth…you’re killing my ears. This is after the fact that Emerie is my first baby who doesn’t cry when I start singing. I suppose I will have to say good-bye to my American Idol dreams.

On top of my lack of singing talent I’ve also had a problem with cravings lately. Okay, well not really just lately…I’ve always been one to enjoy a treat or five, but they’ve become a staple in my diet. I’ve tried hard, well kind of hard, to be healthier. I’ve been going jogging in the mornings, and I’ve stopped buying treats to bring home, but the cravings keep a-comin’. Yesterday I resorted to sniffing out some stale tootsie rolls leftover from this last year’s preschool. I ended the evening with finishing off Jace’s milkshake which had pretty much melted, refroze, and then sat in the freezer for a week. Mmmmmm…yummy. I think I may have a problem.

Lazy Days

From crazy days to lazy days…I love summertime! Hallie celebrated the end of her school year with an extremely disgusting whipped topping fight. What happened to good ol’ fashioned water fights I ask you? I seriously made her bathe twice she was so revolting…but the kids all had a blast, so I guess that counts for something.


Without preschool taking up a large majority of Jace’s time, his imagination has been in full throttle…here he is doing some repair work on Emerie’s walker. He’s a man’s man.

Emerie has finally emerged from her bedroom during her playtime…the house is now hers for the taking. While this seems to satisfy her for a longer duration she, unfortunately, found her adventures taking her tumbling down the stairs. Yeah, I know, I should totally be up for mother-of-the-year.

With all this extra time on our hands we’ve become quite creative with family activities this summer. Our newest pastime is watching Jace, who is a horribly picky eater, taste test all of Emerie’s baby food. It started out with fruits…not too terrible…but has progressed onto the dinner entrees. I’m talking ham, rice and pineapple dishes. I waited for him to toss his cookies, but each time he just licks his lips and wants more. Tonight Hallie didn’t want to miss out on the fun…so after Jace mmm-mmm’d the vegetables and chicken, she decided she’d like a bite as well...I don’t think Jace and I have ever laughed so hard together as we watched Hallie dry-heave her way to the bathroom. Good times in the Pursel home.

Our other past time is attempting to get Emerie to pull her faces at us…she’s a pro. Here’s what we’ve been able to get so far…

With the rest of the summer still ahead of us it’s kind of scary to imagine what we’ll be resorting too for pleasure when this is where we’ve begun.

The sky is the limit, I suppose...

Crazy Days in May

Wow! I can’t believe I made it through…it was touch and go there for awhile. I’ve come to realize May is more hectic than December could ever hope to be. Between preparing for preschool graduation, dance recitals, birthdays, Mother’s Day, end of year school activities, etc. I sometimes wonder what I’ve gotten myself into and that maybe the vagabonds living on the streets have something on me. Yet, after a night of 11 hours sleep along with a two hour nap the next morning and staying in bed all day reading, I think I once again have a handle on things—nothing a little slothfulness couldn’t cure.


Preschool graduation was last week, and while it takes a lot of effort, it is always fun to see the kids perform for their families—especially when one of my own is in the mix. Jace did a really good job belting out the tunes, no matter how monotone he sounded. The “Dopey” look also makes it a sweet experience. Jace also turned four-years-old this month. We went to Farm Country for his b-day and while there he informed us he is allergic to horse poop. He followed up the fun experience with a 20-minute screaming tantrum because we didn’t get him popcorn as we were leaving. I thought girls were supposed to be the emotionally draining ones…I guess I’m just super lucky.

Hallie had her dance recital as well this month. The recitals are the main reason I signed her up for dance—she gets a cute costume, pictures, and I get to see her perform. However, after I watched her run cluelessly around the stage looking for her mark I questioned my logic. She still looked cute in her costume, though Kevin questioned where the other half of it was. I counted an approximate 3.5 seconds she actually danced. Needless to say, she will not be signed back up this fall. She’s not too broken up about it, though. We’re going to try out some gymnastics this summer and soccer this fall.

As for Emerie, it has been a big growth month for her. She now has six teeth and is crawling—spastically crawling, but crawling none the less. She has also perfected the pouncing tactic. She will be softly caressing our faces, adoringly, then out of nowhere she just about claws our faces off. She’s worth the pain, though.

May is pretty much over…Whoo hoo! While I don’t like to wish days away for the most part, I am really excited for this summer and the extra time I will have to spend enjoying my family and making memories…good or bad…I’m excited no matter what!

This is how I occasionally find Emerie sleeping.

This is how I occasionally find Emerie squawking for me, but when I peek in I find...

"Surprise! I'm not stuck I just wanted to show you how cool I am."