swinging with grandpa

It's no run-of-the-mill swing....

harnessing up

clipped in

the wind up

whooosh

bliss

what happens...

... when Mommy leaves the oatmeal bowl unsupervised.

Oh my.

outtake from passport photo session

Not quite the pose that Homeland Security is looking for...

slowly but surely

M's lower canines are finally poking their way through her gums. Still awaiting the arrival of the upper ones. At this rate, she'll get her 2 yr molars when she's in kindergarten!

rocked out

maddie's monologue

Last night, we had some spectacular flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder roll through. This was the first storm that has woken up M in the middle of the night and it took 45 minutes of the three R's -- reassuring, rocking and reading -- to get her settled down again. The rain and thunder started up again today at lunchtime so we talked about the night's events again. I love her version of the story...



**The seemingly random references to trees, garage and ladder are due to the emergency gutter clean-out I performed on our garage during the lunchtime storm. **

more july celebrations

Last night, in honor of their shared birthday, we had a cookout for Josh and our nephew Cameron. In addition to Gma L, Natalie, Cameron and Peyton, we were also thrilled to have Zack, Jennifer (+ imminently due Baby Jordan) and Curtis spend their afternoon with us. The eldest birthday boy/grill master chose the menu (grilled pork chops, four cheese chicken sausages, pork+pepper+pineapple kabobs, extra cheesy mac & cheese, and corn on the cob) while Gma sweetened our night by bringing two kinds of ice cream cake (one for each birthday boy).


It was a happy day, indeed.

30

Here's to Josh...

... Madeline's favorite teacher ...

... her trusted confidante ...

... and her fearless protector.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

first haircut

After his working day ended, Josh met us at Snip-Its for M's first haircut. She's watched him get his hair trimmed at the barber's and she has been talking about getting hers done ever since. We started purposefully talking up the whole experience earlier in the week in preparation for today's big event: explaining that she would wear a "blanket" that was like a giant bib to keep her clothes clean, talking about how "special" scissors are used to cut hair (in hopes that she won't try this on her own with the kitchen shears at home), and discussing that cutting off the ends of her hair will get rid of the tangles at the bottom and will help her hair be smooth and shiny. She handled the whole thing like an old pro!

Sitting patiently while the tangles are combed out

The first cut!

More snipping

The end result

us

grandma & grandpa live where?

Trying to find Kansas on the map...

happy birthday to linus, wyatt & gavin!

Our playgroup boys have a string of July birthdays and this weekend was dubbed birthday-palooza in honor of them. Here are pics from Linus' fete (oops, forgot to take out the camera at Wyatt's party). I think the kids had a blast all weekend long! Happy birthday, boys -- we're so glad you're our friends!

today's fashion statement

they came, they sawed...

Gma and Gpa B arrived on the 5th and spent the next week helping get projects accomplished around our humble abode. It was a very productive week!

My favorite project was building a new bridge across the small ravine (it's about 4 ft deep) that cuts through our property. The old bridge was rickety, rotting and not aligned with our back gate. The new bridge is wider, very stable and now gives us a straight shot back into our woods. Dad and I haven't gotten to work on a project together for a while -- I had a great time!

Adding planks to the new base frame

Ripping out the old bridge

One satisfied builder!

go fourth!

To celebrate Independence Day, we loaded up the car with lots of fun summer gear, picked up Jonathan and Chelsea and headed off to the Little family's homestead for some fun in the sun.

With the temps rising and not a cloud in sight, we started off with some lounging and laughing in the pool. Madeline loved floating around in the little inflatable boat that Shirley brought out for her. Zack decided that Madeline's float was also appropriate for adult use.
After we had sufficiently prune-i-fied our skin, we took a break for some chow and relaxing on the deck. Mike grills a mean burger! And then after stuffing ourselves to the gills, we resumed our activities.

Jonathan assisted Madeline on the trampoline.

Frisbees and footballs were thrown, the wiffle ball got a few good hits and a couple rounds of Kubb were played... despite Madeline's best efforts at removing the sticks.

Madeline and I also explored the flora and the fauna around the farm.

We headed home sufficiently tired and fell asleep before the fireworks even started. Maybe next year we'll get to see them! Thanks again to Mike, Shirley, Melanie, Elliott, Grandma, Zack, Jennifer and Amity for a fun filled day!