This is what happens....

...when i try to leave the kids alone for a few minutes. and i was only trying to go to the bathroom!!!




i came out of the bathroom, and this baby came crawling down the hallway.... with white hair!!! i was only gone for a few minutes!! and she was just as happy as could be!

so, i asked shiloh, "what on earth has gone on here????" thinking that maybe rae got into something that spilled on her head, or... i really don't know what else i was thinking at that point. then, shiloh started giggling her "i-did-something-i-know-i'm-not-supposed-to-and-now-you-found-out-and-i'm-nervous-about-it" giggle. so, i asked her, "did YOU do this?" i couldn't help but laugh, so she started laughing, and said that yes, she did. "what IS it??" i asked. she told me it was formula. okay, now i was mad. formula?!?! that stuff ain't cheap!! then, she showed me where it was, and it wasn't formula. it was.....

baking soda!!!!! HAH! the other night, rae had gotten up in the night throwing up and in the process of changing her, she had thrown up in our bedroom floor. we steam-cleaned it and had sprinkled baking soda over it to make sure it didn't get too stinky and also to soak up some of the remainding water from the steam cleaner. APPARENTLY, in our middle-of-the-night-pukefest stupor, we left the baking soda sitting out within shiloh-reach and she covered rae's head in it, i mean, really rubbed it in. i couldn't shake it out, trying to use a wet washcloth to wipe it off did no good b/c it just clumped up. i had to give her a full shower and use the handheld shower head to get it all out.

i mean, why on earth would shiloh be walking down the hallway and think "that's a cute baby, but what she REALLY needs is white hair!!" and then i can't believe that rae just sat there and let her do it!!

so random. so. random.

Random Pictures and Our Latest Stray

SO, our laptop was busted recently and was unable to be revived. we were sorta bummed about that b/c that's what i've been using to post pictures, even though it was really old and really slow. THEN, a woman at rick's work said that she had a netbook that was practically brand new for sale! this particular machine retails for $400, but she's only asking $200 and she said she wouldn't expect us to pay her until after Christmas! YAY! this machine is TOTALLLY awesome! it has exactly what i need: wireless internet access, an SD photo card reader (SUPER important), the ability to stream video (i'm a netflix junkie), and it comes with a wireless mouse. there are more accessories that she has to go with it, but rick will get those next week. woo-hoo!



the main thing that i'm excited about is that i just plugged in my SD photo card from my camera and the pictures just magically appeared on my screen -- hah! the reason i haven't been posting many pictures as of late is b/c this is the process i use to do be able to do so: take out the batteries and SD card of our current camera and put them into the old camera that has a broken screen (we can't find the software for the current camera, but the software for the older camera is still on the delapidated desktop we have in the bedroom). then, transfer -- SLOWLY -- the pictures onto the desktop. THEN, go through all of the pictures and put all of the ones we want onto a thumb drive B/C the desktop doesn't have internet access. FINALLY, i take the thumbdrive and put into the old laptop and put the pictures online. so you can imagine my sheer delight to have a wireless laptop that runs at a decent speed that has an SD card reader. this makes my month. :o) the only thing is doesn't have that i need is a photo tool to crop and rotate the pictures,



next, we found another stray in our neighborhood. i seriously think word has gotten out that if you're a dog and you're lost, that you go to the Petersen house, b/c they're total suckers and will take you in. he's a purebred yellow lab, maybe two years old, that is A-W-E-S-O-M-E. we joked that instead of posting a "FOUND DOG" sign, that we were going to post a sign that says "OWNED DOG LOOKING FOR HOME: a six-year old black lab mix looking for a new home. we would like to replace him with the one we found." HAH! seriously, i wouldn't replace Lump, but if this dog doesn't have someone who wants him, he's found a home with us. Shiloh has named him "Himmer." She says that it's the "long word for 'Him.'" too funny. and he answers to it now, so i guess as long as he's here, that's his name. Lump is thrilled to have somebody to play with (Dallas is too old now), and he's just all-around great. He must belong to somebody, he's completely at home in a house with a family. I'm going to post some flyers as soon as it stops raining, surely SOMEbody is looking for him.



It's practically impossible to get a good picture of a dog, but here's some that i was able to take this morning (and get online so quickly b/c of this awesome netbook!!):

Here's some more random pictures that were on the camera this morning. First, here's Shiloh at the Farmer's Market. This is "her" bench. It's a pretty small indoor place, so i can keep an eye on her while i'm shopping. every single time we go in there, she wants to eat a green apple. so, i buy her a green apple, and she sits on this bench and eats it while i do the rest of the shopping. pretty awesome. :o)

also at the farmer's market, they had a halloween place set up. there were TONS of kids there that afternoon. here she is playing on the playground area:

and i especially like this one -- peeking through a "window" in their cornstalk maze.

and, lastly, this is totally random, but i find these all over the house all day long. she sets up her little figurines and horses and dollhouse things in different scenarios and then leaves them there, so i'll happen upon a scene like this:

or like this:

it's just cute and it makes me smile when i see it. :o)

okay, i think that's all for today. yay for new netbooks and easily accessed photos and completely awesome stray dogs!!

Girly Pictures

:o) so, renee made a blog post recently and made me realize exactly how long it's been since i posted any pictures for family to see. i'm sorry, guys! i got together several tonight, so hopefully this will make up for it somewhat!

i'll just jump right in with (i think) where we left off, at the tail end of summer. these first few are from rick's company picnic in fulton in mid-august. they had alot of things for the kids to play on and they even made veggie burgers for us! how thoughtful. :o)

i know this looks bad, but she's actually not crying. i was going to snap a picture of her bouncing in the thing when she stopped and yelled "STOP EVERYBODYYYYYYY!!!" to all of the other kids in there. *sigh*... she apologized to them afterwards, but still. diva much?

daddy teaching shiloh how to throw a basketball.

back in the bouncer-thing. happier this time, mostly b/c i think there weren't any other kids in there to bounce her around. hah! :o)

shiloh and rick:

this is shiloh's effort at taking my picture at the park one afternoon:

then it was my turn to take hers. :o) in this next one, she's making a classic 'rick' face:

then, a classic 'shiloh' face. :o) i love this picture of her!

after playing outside one afternoon, she had a really dirty face and wanted me to take her picture. i think she did it on purpose. ;o)

at the Magic House, St. Louis' Children's Museum. we went there when kathy and dan, rick's parents, came to visit. the battery ran out on my camera so i took a TON more pictures with my phone, but they're still in my phone. :o( here, she was in the "detective" section of the museum, using a magnifying glass to look for clues in a painting.


lara and shiloh, being sisters.

outside with dallas:

this is just random. i was making a shirt for shiloh one evening while rick was making dinner. i was talking to him and got distracted, sewing the arm of the shirt into the neck hole. hah!
one weekend, we went to cahokia mounds, a historic Native American burial ground.

i'm not sure why i like this picture so much. maybe b/c they're both so calm in it. ;o)

and then they weren't. ah, well. :o)

cute! shiloh running to her daddy:

and then, we couldn't leave without taking advantage of the beautiful backdrop for some pictures!



getting ready to climb the steps to the top of the mound. this was the first tier. there was another, much longer, one after that. the girls were much more enthusiastic than we were. :o)

but, we made it. barely.

the only good picture i could find of me and the girls, and shiloh was picking her nose. ah, well. at least it's a good representation of us. ;o)

you probably can't tell in the picture, but they're pointing to the arch. you could see it pretty well from on top of the mound.

afterwards, we had a picnic lunch there. (shiloh is in different clothes b/c she had an accident. blah.) anyhoo, this is just a funny picture of her and rick. it looks like shiloh's telling him off about something!

at home in the back yard, just random.

lou and shiloh before church one morning.

one saturday morning, watching cartoons downstairs in one of rick's tshirts. she sure is a cutie.

wearing her new coat:

outside on one of our first colder days, picking wildberries. this is BY FAR one of her favorite things to do outside.

lou had a difficult time at the beginning of the year, but after working with her and her teacher quite a bit those first few weeks, she's been doing so much better! we were SO proud of her when she filled up her "good behavior" chart and the teacher sent it home. we put it on the fridge to remind her that she IS a good girl. so awesome!


random cuteness: lou and shiloh watching a movie together.

shiloh and rick outside the mall. we went and let her play at the indoor play area while lou was having a visit with her bio mom nearby.

shiloh and dallas. i LOVE this picture. :o)

shiloh working on her cutting skills on a construction paper pumpkin we made. she's been doing pretty well, but she gets tired of following the lines sometimes and just cuts out whatever she wants. we're getting there, though!

at the park, daddy helping shiloh on the monkey bars.

cuteness. i love "swing" pictures!

i think rick had a pretty good time, too. ;o)

i love this picture. shiloh looks soooo happy!

my girls. they got tired of playing and wanted to go for a walk, picking leaves and wildberries.

okay, here's a new section. these are things that i've sewn recently. most of the things that i've made have been for shiloh b/c lou's mom and her dad and his family usually buy her clothes and send them. so, i haven't forgotten lou, it's just that she tends to have more clothes than shiloh does unless i buy/make some, and making them is just so much more fun than buying them!

this is a shirt i made from an old pajama tank top i used to wear in college. i made the sleeves from new fabric, but the rest is from the tank top. it has a strawberry on it that says "sweet."


these are the infamous pajamas. for those who don't know, i made these for lara for her school's "pajama day." i told her that i was making them as a shirt and capri-style pants, showed her the fabric, etc, but she got it stuck in her mind that she was going to get a nightgown. so that night, i finished them late and put them in her room so she would be surprised the next morning. she WAS surprised, just not in the way i'd hoped. she absolutely hated them b/c she was convinced that she was getting a nightgown. so, i altered them slightly and gave them to shiloh, who loves them and wears them all the time. :o)

a church dress. this was made from a scrap black/white patterned fabric that a friend had given me about a year ago and the black fabric i'd had for longer than that. i'm trying to use up my fabric stash before i go buy more, and this turned out pretty well, i think!




this was sort of random, just a long-sleeved tshirt. shiloh really liked the fabric (it's yellow with little blue and red flowers), but there wasn't enough to make it long-sleeved for the colder weather, so i cut up a tshirt that was in my "donate" pile of clothes that's ever-growing to use for the sleeves. the neckline is a little ill-fitting, so i'm going to have to go back and pull it in a little bit, but she does really like it. :o)




these are their winter coats. i made them for lou and shiloh, and they both actually like them. even lou -- YAY!! i also got about half of the material from my fabric stash. the outside is denim, which i already had, and the inside is thicker fleece, which i bought on sale at 50% off. woo-hoo! there was enough fleece left over to make them matching scarves, too. :o) shiloh's is the first one with a white patterned fleece with blue, green and yellow flowers all over and bright green buttons.


lou's is the same on the outside, with various bright colors in an alternating geometric pattern and bright pink buttons.
and the back. pretty plain. :o)

lastly, i made a dress for shiloh out of an old sweater i hadn't worn since high school. i got the idea from reading one of the craft blogs that i read, although i can't remember which one. at any rate, it was pretty easy, took just an hour or so to make, and looks super cute on shiloh!

before:
after:shiloh wearing it. she looks kind of awkward in this first picture. she wanted to hold her big stuffed nemo that she'd brought outside with her, but i told her no b/c i wouldn't be able to see her dress. so, she's just trying to get the pictures over with so she can have her nemo back. ;o)

then, i asked her to make a funny pose and this is what she came up with. goof!

i've crocheted/knitted/hand embroidered a lot of other things, too, but i don't have irresistibly cute models for those!

all righty, guys! that's it for pictures! i don't have the halloween costumes quite done yet, so i'll post again when we get that taken care of. love you guys!