New tables for the back

from the "if you want it done right you hire someone to do it" files.



So,

T had wanted to get some outdoor seating for AK and the children of the community like the one we saw at ak's school from ikea thats pictured above. but ikea doesnt make these anymore. we really tried to get this taken care of by the time of ak's birthday party, but it just didnt happen because we couldnt decide if i was going to make them or if she was going to buy some from this guy that makes outdoor picnic tables for kids.

it was as if Brett Favre was running the household....we went back and forth, back and forth,
i really wanted to make some parsons style picnic tables, but the tables that this guy was making were so cheap, 40 a table, and i didnt really have the time anyway. so we went with the guy. besides, he makes these tables all the time and knew what he was doing, where as i was simply a backyard warrior with a saw, right? you guessed it....wrong!!

The guy shows up with the tables (im not there) and assembles the components on site. T notices that they are kinda big.





T - are these for toddlers?
guy - they are for kids of all sizes.


i get home and i take one look and im like, WTF! i thought we were getting toddler tables, not tables for 6 year olds.

T says shell call him to fix them. So he comes out, after a week of no response...is confused by the request...but says hell make them shorter anyway...but doesnt see the point. but none of this matters because his drill battery is out of juice, and says hell be right back. never comes back.

after another week of no response we finally get a hold of him and he comes to fix them


i come home and see the "new " tables....and once again go, WTF! "He just took length off the bottom!!!

T says that she knew it was wrong but he just couldnt understand her request. so i made this picture to email to him










heres the deal...so many people don't respect toddlers, in so many ways.

they ignore their requests, (put me down, i dont want a hug, i dont want to tickle, etc..) they dont tell them the truth, they teach them vocabulary just to get a laugh out of the way they say it, or maybe they dont give them the chance to pour their own milk or put on their own clothes. most of this is because the adult is putting themselves first. As in, "i dont care what you think, your just a toddler, you dont know what you want, let me decide what you want for you." or " i dont want to deal with a mess so im going to pour this milk, make you use a sippy cup, keep you in diapers till your three, put you in front of television that you shouldnt be watching but that i want to watch, etc.

They also don't respect their bodies and think that they are happy sitting at a picnik table that is supposed to fit a two year old to a 10 year old.

toddler furniture is such a niche market. why? the demand of course. people dont want to pay for a table and chair set for their kid when they are 1 to 3 and then 4 to 6 and so forth. they have to for clothes because they obviously dont fit, but parents are not always as observing when it comes to what the market deems necessary. Case in point being tables and chairs

how would you like it if your feet dangled when you sat down instead of resting on the floor.
wonder why you kid wont sit down? maybe he's tired of his circultion being pinched. try it next time your at a barstool, let your legs dangle instead of putting your feet on the footrest



how would you like having to sit far away from the table, or have the table top be the same height as your chest. not very pleasant. but thats the way most toddlers have to sit and eat.

so we decided to give up on this guy and i took them apart and cut them to the right size. i come to find out, they guy didn't even use outdoor screws, and the tables weren't squared up either. and he left the freaking barcode staple on the ends of each piece of wood. BIG pet peeve of mine.


here are the two side by side before i brought the second one down to size

oh well, as long as we are happy now. and were happy now.

will there be cake?

i forgot to post this pic of ak salivating for cake.



Gina knows that as long as she keeps her tone low and makes no sudden movements AK will be patient and let her cut him a piece without AK shoving the entire cake into his face.

Busy weekend

This weekend was packed. But we had a good time and got alot done too.

We celebrated Pearl's B-day on sat at our house. I cooked migas and T baked an awesome orange cake. Then it was over to welcome my dad back from a trip he took to utah . We also went to see uncle sonny, but he never showed up and we had to leave pretty early as it was sleepytime for AK.

Pics of sat morning:



and sat night:


chilimac and uncle kevo!

gonna start with some juicy posts soon, sorry, but i just had to phone this in.

babymak in effect!


AK in effect!


AK speed painting by using two hands.

after he started painting himself and looked in the mirror he proclaimed, "i look like an indian!!"

T and I were like, "where did he get that?"

one time when AK and i were at ikea, he looked at the us, swedish, and texas flag, and he said,
ak - "what flag is that?"
me - "thats the swedish flag."
ak - "whats that other one?"
me - "thats the texas flag."
ak - "and that other one is the Obama flag!!!"

AK B-DAY

AK turned three the other day. we had a kiddie party to celebrate. then we were gonna have a grown up party to celebrate the following week, but he got sick, so he has been celebrating his b-day for about three weeks now. We really wanted this party last saturday to feel like a birthday cuss me and T were not feeling like it was. We decided to use the money that everyone gave him along with a little bit of ours to get him an electric guitar. the speaker is built into the guitar and runs on battery. there is also a headphone jack (wink) and a way to plug the guitar into the computer to record it.




notice babymak on the shakers!



he thinks that all electric guitars are bass guitars. he loves bass guitars but nobody sells bass guitars for kids. I tried having this conversation with him. i have been trying to teach him that bass guitars have four strings (usually) and electric guitars have six.



we go to guitar center for fun to look around sometimes. kick the tires. he loves looking at them all and has been saying "i want one, but i want one thats my size...for next time..."

so he asks if its a bass guitar and i dont want to lie to him. i tell him its an electric guitar.
"but i want a bass guitar" "they dont sell those in kid's sizes." "why not" "well...."




i go on about how nobody aspires to be the bassist, and the lead guitar player is the frontman and all that. i felt funny saying it. and laughed when ak responded with , "oh" as he often does.

ak looves his guitar and freeked out when his finger blistered up because of playing it all day. he was understandibly upset. i think more so because he couldnt play because of the blister than his finger looking weird or hurting.



i explained callous's to him and he is now more interested in using a pic. the guitar strings are metal soo....

ak likes to take responsibility for destruction. even if he isnt responsible, like some renegade terrorist group or something.

"hey! my truck has a flat tire! dang! were gonna be late!"
"i did that dad."

the list goes on.


grandma pauline gave him this singing robin and i cant beleive i forgot the song it sings everytime you press a button on it. i heard it for three days straight till we took the batterys out. it also make real robin sounds i think



heres ak counting off his own birthday song

and here he is cutting the cake!

mak makin noises

baby mak has started to make some new noises. shes moving alot too.

no time to talk