Ashlee Stücki

On Tuesday we got word that Angel’s little boy, Nicholas, was very sick. On Wednesday he  had surgery to remove scar tissue from his intestines. He’s still in the hospital recovering, but seems to be progressing well. Emily and I were able to go visit Friday night. Layla is anxious to visit him, but for now she’s been content to help me fill care packages, color a Get Well poster and let him borrow her beloved Avatar DVDs. He’s been in all our prayers and I hope you’ll keep him in yours, too.

Saturday Layla had her first school friend come over to play. In the past she’s had friends over from playgroup or cousins come over, but never a friend from school. They ran around like crazy people for 3 hours or so before dinner. Lots of fun!

Ben was out of town this past week. He left Saturday morning to speak at a conference in California just as Layla and I headed to Rock Island. He got home last night and we sure did miss him! We’ve been lazy together all morning and it’s been splendid.

Filed under: Love & Marriage, Family Updates, Mommy Musings on August 24th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

This weekend I took Layla on her very first tent-camping trip. The plan was to head to Rock Island on Friday night, but my car had other plans. So instead the car got a new battery Friday night and then we headed out first thing Saturday morning. I had called to reserve a spot before we got there and requested one near the bathrooms and playground.  It only took about 45 minutes to get us all unloaded and set up.

We had a quick PB&J lunch then headed out to the two easier hiking trails.

Layla fell asleep on the way back from the trails and when we got back to our site she made friends with a 5 yr old girl at the site next to us. They played on the playground, read books and played Go Fish until dinnertime.

And after dinner we made s’mores.

After that we played on the playground with all the campground kids again and watched the bats doing mosquito control. We made our way to bathhouse around 8pm and got washed up and changed into pajamas. Then it was back to the tent for bed.

Layla and slept pretty well. And yes I forgot just how hard Tennessee ground is and no, my yoga mat trick made little difference. I grew up sleeping on sandy Floridian ground, but I think from now on TN camping requires extra padding of some kind. Layla didn’t seem to mind and not once was she scared, just missed her daddy. But all was fine by morning.

We made (veggie) sausage and biscuit on a stick for breakfast.

Layla was great at helping with camp chores.

After some more playground time we drove out to one of the overlooks since none of the shorter trails took you to any great views.

On the way back to camp we saw deer.

Then it was time to break down camp and head home.

On the way out we stopped at the overlook again and explored the springhouse.

It was a GREAT trip. Layla cried when we had to pack up and we’re already plotting out our next trip. I’m so glad that I just did it, even though I couldn’t find anyone to go with me & I was a little nervous going solo. I’m also glad that I scoured the internet and made a thorough checklist, because we didn’t forget anything or bring too much. Rock Island was beautiful, the weather was perfect and getting grimey at camp with my little girl was just about the best way to spend a weekend I could imagine.

Filed under: Notes from the Road, Family Updates, Mommy Musings on August 18th, 2008 | 3 Comments »

This weekend our Georgian relatives were in town to celebrate my grandpa’s 81st birthday. I hadn’t seen my uncle & cousins in a while so it was great! I posted a lot of pictures in the July album. The last few pictures are of me interviewing grandpa and writing the answers in a keepsake book. I had the gift in mind for a while and did a lot of research on the different grandparent memory books out there. The one I chose gives a great view into his personality as well as his history and heritage. We got about 1/4 of the way through it and he said he thought it was very fun and enjoyed it so far.

And now, everyone’s favorite blog material, Laylaisms.

These are her bargaining tactics:

“If you don’t let me play with play-doh I won’t play with you anymore. ”

Ok

“If you don’t let me play with play-doh I won’t be your kid anymore.”

Yes, you will.

“If you don’t let me play with play-doh then I won’t want to play with it anymore! ”

********

When I grow up I’m going to be a vet and only work on girl animals. I won’t get married or have kids and I’ll close at 6:30.

Filed under: Family Updates, Laylaisms on August 1st, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Meet our new kitten, Teeth.

Other names Layla considered: Mouse, Puter, Goldfish…..but Teeth was her first choice and well, it stuck.

She’s a tiny little thing:

But that doesn’t seem to stop her:

Filed under: Family Updates, Mommy Musings, Laylaisms on July 22nd, 2008 | 2 Comments »

Operation Fireworks was a success as evidenced by the excessive photos in our July album. During the big fireworks show she had to cover her ears, and she wasn’t about to help her daddy shoot off Roman candles like the other kids, but really - I’m just fine with that!

The next day we braved taking Layla to the theater for the first time since she was 6 months old. We saw WALL-E and she did fantastic. We were so proud that we’ve raised a courteous little movie-goer. Especially since the rudest/dimmest kids I’ve ever been around sat right behind us.

To round out that weekend we had the Normans over for a cookout, some Wii action and even more fireworks. Life is good.

Last weekend we spent Saturday on the lake with some friends of Ben’s parents. The church group they used to camp with in the early 80s now have grandchildren and they thought it was high time for a reunion. So Layla and I got introduced to about 50 new people and she got to go on a boat which she proclaimed was, “really cool….and scary.”

This weekend has revolved around……Avatar. You see, we’re big nerds. We have seen every episode multiple times and it’s our little family thing. And last night was the series finale so you know we were huddled on the sofa with our eyes glued to the screen.

We did do other great things this weekend. Friday night we trekked to the Wilderness Station for a campfire with strangers. It sounds odd, but it was really fun. There were s’mores, games, stories - and no bears. It was Step # 2,439 in getting Layla over her irrational fear of bears before we go camping.

Last but not least yesterday I got to spend time with two of my favorite ladies. We went to breakfast, got spa pedicures, then went shopping and had lunch. It was fantastic and we should really take that time for ourselves more often. How about next weekend?

Filed under: Family Updates, Mommy Musings on July 20th, 2008 | No Comments »