Finally Finished! and other news

After having it sit on my counter for 2 weeks, I finally finished the love swag! I didn't do it exactly like the tutorial, because I wanted it to be a stash-buster. So I used beads to put the hearts together, and a little metal heart for the center of the O. The letters are chipboards that I had, spray painted red with little red beady things & clear coat on top. The beaded strand above the LOVE is attached at the ends & was from a beaded lampshade that was getting thrown away & I took the bead strand off...for just such an occasion.

I also started reorganizing my ribbon onto clothespins a la this tutorial. I got about 2/3 of the way done, and had spent probably 2 hours doing it. Then I ran out of clothespins so I went to bed. When I got up, this is what I found...
Yes, Chick thought the new organizing system was too tempting to resist, and unrolled most of them. Thankfully she did put the ribbons, straightpins, and clothespins all back into the jar so they weren't all over the table or floor. I guess it's the price I pay to sleep in a little bit.

Tonight for dinner we tried this recipe for Asian Wonton Salad, which my SIL posted about on her blog here. It was indeed delicious--I wasn't as excited about the wontons as I was about the dressing...but Chick (who eats as much as an actual chick these days) loved the wontons AND the dressing and ate FOUR helpings! She just kept dishing it up! Everything except the tomato, at least (which she always forgets & calls a potato). (oh, I left out the onion...I don't do raw onions.)

Speaking of Chick: last night she offered me a pretend muffin or cupcake from her play muffin tin. I pretended to take one, and pretended to eat it, and told her that it was delicious & thanked her. She looked at me funny and said, "There wasn't anything in that one." ROFL.

Also speaking of Chick: she's really starting to get creative. She found two "Hercules Hooks" in the closet and brought them out and said that if we glued them together they'd make a heart.

Speaking of Hearts: HH has been sick all weekend. In bed until noon yesterday, and then laying on the couch for the rest of the day. Today he was a little better better, but he said that Monkey's cereal breath made him want to vomit & he stayed home from church (I left Monkey with him). He went to bed at 7:30. (Will you think less of me if I admit to being a bit resentful that he can just essentially stop living when he's sick? Seriously, I had a sore throat for a few days this week & didn't get to take to my bed. Men.)

Speaking of Monkey: she had her hand under the running water while I was changing her diaper the other day. At first the water wasn't hot, but then it started heating up more than she liked & pulled her hand back and signed "hot" and said "haaa!" She also signed potty for the first time today. She also signs "please" a lot, but the funny thing is that she doesn't sign what it is she's asking for, so we can't always help her. She also is super fast at going down the stairs--she does that trick where you just lay on the tops of the stairs & scoot down without touching the flat part of the stairs. Such a clever little Monkey. We're all crazy about her.

Speaking of: Have you ever played the "Speaking of" game? Probably not, since an old roommate and I made it up. But anyhow, someone says something, and whatever they ended with is the new topic. Someone else has to say, "speaking of ____, blah blah blah" and then whatever that statement ended with is the next sentence. It makes for a funny dinner conversation. You can do it when you have guests over for dinner & not tell them and they think you have really strange conversation skills.

example of the game:
"I worked out in the garden today raking up leaves."
"Speaking of leaves, did you hear that Steven is leaving to go to Kentucky?"
"Speaking of Kentucky, this fried chicken is delicious! I'd love the recipe."
"Speaking of recipes, ..." etc

Speaking of super cool people who happen to be pregnant: Here's me a week ago (at 25.5 wks).