Family Vacation

Three weeks ago (I'm just a little behind in posting, huh?) our family, my siblings, and parents met up at my grandparents' house, just a three hour drive from where we live. We had a fun long weekend together. With two little ones (my niece Annie was 5 months at the time), we didn't schedule much but rather just enjoyed being together for a few days.

So fun to see Mark with a little baby girl. He's so gentle with her, not that I'm surprised.

James really loved time with his uncles, Joel and Jeff. He and Joel (pictured here) have a special bond...because this particular uncle was notorious for being active and wild as a toddler. Just like James. :)

We also spent a day at the zoo. We have LOTS of zoo pictures of various animals, but I'll spare you this time. We discovered however that James is terrified of butterflies. There was a beautiful butterfly garden you could walk through, butterflies fluttering about. James clung to Mark. This is my favorite picture from the zoo. It was snapped at precisely the right moment, and appears as though James is trying to punch the poor butterfly! Don't worry; no butterflies were harmed or touched.

Family picture in the 'rain forest'. If James is looking dazed, it's because it was past his nap time. We left for home shortly after this was taken.

James adores cousin Annie. Just today he saw a picture of her on the computer and reached out to hug the screen. We took along a toy that James loved playing with when he first learned to sit up. We're lending it to Annie for a few months. I was so proud of James sharing!

We spent a morning poking around my aunt and uncle's farm. I'm not loving the scruffy look I'm sporting, but thought I ought to document the fact that I'm still growing and growing! This was taken at 28 weeks, THREE weeks ago!

Papa gave a ride in the scoop of this tractor. James was a little timid about it and Annie ended up not lasting long either. I'm pretty sure all of the adults enjoyed it, though! :)

James DID love sitting up and playing with the steering wheel of this tractor, though. He actually gave the tractor tire a kiss when it was time to go.

Downtown in the town (pop. 1000) where my grandparents live is a new coffee and soda shop. Very cute. We all walked down to have a drink. Grandma treated us to Italian Sodas!

Too cute, right? My brother Jeff and his girlfriend Anna.

Had to squeeze in one more of my niece. Isn't she a beauty? I love her!

Saturday Clean-Up

A few weekends ago we had a huge thunder, wind, and rain storm pass through town around dinner time. This tree, in my parents' front yard, was completely uprooted! In addition to losing a tree, they lost gobs of branches from other trees and even some siding and roofing! We spent a few hours helping them clean up the following Saturday morning.

Correction; Mark helped out. I kept feeling woozy in the heat and humidity and James did little odd "jobs" around the yard. He had a blast.

He was dying to know if this flower smelled good.

James observed Papa and Daddy using a chainsaw...he was a little nervous about the noise but enthralled nonetheless.

The neighbor's dog came over to greet us.

One of James' jobs was to pick up all of the little apples that had been shaken from the tree. I'm pretty sure he took a bite of each and every one before putting it in the bucket.

Hitchin' a ride!

Girly Update

While we've made ZERO headway on setting up our daughter's nursery (the sump pump project is finished, though-yay!), I have a few fun girly things to share!
My mom finished the bedding! I'm really tickled with how it turned out...so sweet, vintage, and soft. I love the pillow my mom surprised me with, too! There's also a matching bedskirt, not shown above. :)

An up-close shot of the quilting....the color/lighting is really off in this picture!

And hair things! I've been really obsessed with the idea of making fabric flowers and pretty hair clips/barrettes for headbands and such. I've been skimming craft blogs for ideas and found some of these ideas. The headbands above belong to Andrea...she came over last week and we made a couple of the above-pictured barrettes. The one below I whipped up a couple nights later...I've even worn it on a dress once!

So many more to come...I plan on making several more in the next few days, some with coordinating outfits!

When Life Gives You Bananas...

Well, last week I bought 18 bananas for $.50. I know, a bit excessive. But it was such a good deal...ones of those 'last chance' produce bag deals...

I don't actually like plain old bananas, although James and Mark both love them, but I thought I'd bake some of them into some treats. So I set out to try out a few new banana recipes. First, I tried out these Banana Chip Muffins. I really liked them and they didn't have oil or butter!

Then I ran across this idea for frozen banana bites. You could top them with nuts or sprinkles for something different. We all loved them. I thought they were the perfect consistency after freezing for one hour. If any longer, I'd let them sit out a few minutes before biting into them. They really taste like ice cream inside!!

Then we ended up having friends over Saturday night to play games. I didn't have time to whip up banana bars or cake like I had hoped so we picked up all the fixings for banana splits! I'd never eaten one before, but they were yummy! To top our banana slices, we had chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and caramel, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and salted nuts!

After three desserts, I decided I should make something a tad more healthy....I tried this banana bread recipe because it required 4 bananas, included whole wheat flour and very little fat. It's good, too, but I haven't had Mark or James try it yet...
After all those goodies (and the boys eating several by themselves) we're down to just two bananas left!

Family and Our 4th of July

Hope you don't mind another slide show of photos. We've just had so much going on that I can't keep up with posting pictures individually! These are pictures from the past two weeks, some from the 4th of July brunch at my parents' house and some from visiting Mark's parents over two different weekends!

Good Clean Fun

I've been wanting to let James splish splash in this little fountain near the Farmer's Market for weeks....and I finally remembered to take an extra change of clothes, a dry diaper, etc....But would you know it? He was terrified of it. This teensy tiny little fountain! He barely dipped his tool in the water...

And refused to get wet....My guess is that he might be more brave the second time around, now that he's had a chance to observe.

But splashing in the pool at my parents' house...that's a different story. He LOVES it!

He doesn't appreciate having his hair washed in the bathtub but really likes having water poured on his head in the pool.

Chasing an ice cube around the pool...

If you can over-water a plant on a hot dry day, I'm sure he figured out how...

And really enjoyed 'painting' with water. This was a great idea, thanks to Natasha's mom!!

Trip to the 'Farm'

I have been trying my pregnant best to get out and around with James these past few weeks. I know that next summer it won't be quite so easy and I want to really relish this time with 'just James'. Last week we had beautiful weather so we took full advantage and had THREE outings! Exhausting, for sure, but we had fun! James asked me out of the blue one morning, "Farm?", referring to the local free petting zoo 'farm'. So I took him up on it. Here are a few pictures from our morning. Goats, playgrounds, and tractors. What more could a little boy want?