Cousin Fun

We went to Mike and Sarah's for dinner tonight.
Pizza + yelling kiddos + chatting parents + children running all over the house = a night at Mike and Sarah's. :)
Tate always loves it when we go there and we do to!
He is so blessed to have the majority of his cousins so close by...now if only we could get the rest of them (and their parents!) in the area!

Yummy...

Want to learn how to make Roasted Cabbage w/ Lemon?
Check out A Peakin To My Recipe Book.

More out of the mouths of Mommies

I have had so much fun lately looking back at old posts on my blog. About a year ago, I posted "Out of the mouths of Mommies" and so I thought I would do that again!

So here are several things that have come out of my mouth lately...

Tate, just say excuse me, you don't need to announce that you tooted every time you toot.

It's rude to talk about your penis in public, so let's not do it anymore.

If you finish your ice cream, you can have a cookie.

No more talking aloud. We are done talking. Mommy can't think unless you stop talking for a few minutes.

No punching. You're what? Did you say that you're the sucker punch wall? No you're not...like I said, NO punching!

What is that all over your Woody?

You need to stop playing with your Woody and go to sleep!

Tate, will you please go get me your cup? Your Tervis Tumbler IS a cup. It's the same thing. I don't really want to argue about this. Fine, please go get me your TERVIS TUMBLER then!

*I feel like I need to disclose that Woody was referring to one of the characters in Toy Story that Tate has a "guy" of that he plays with all the time.

well that was fast!

I had a super busy weekend! Sean, Tate and I headed up to Colo on Saturday evening and arrived just in time for supper. We ate a yummy supper and then I took off to head down to Ankeny to do a friend's hair. It was so nice to chat and catch up with her and time kind of got away from us. It was after midnight by the time I got back to Colo!

On Sunday morning, I had to be down to Des Moines by 9:30 to do a practice up do on a bride/friend who I'm doing hair for her wedding at the end of October. It's been a long time since I've done wedding hair and it was fun and turned out beautiful! Following that, I headed to my aunt's house to do her and my uncles hair and then from there went to my friend/old co-worker Jenny's house to do her hair! By then, it was supper time so I headed to Altoona to meet up with Sean, Tate, Pat and Linda for dinner and then we headed home. Tate fell asleep in the car on the way home and I can't even remember what time we got home...I think around 9pm.

It was busy, but really nice catching up with friends and family!
What a whirlwind of a weekend!

Window Shopping -Take 2!

Two years ago tomorrow, I posted this post titled "Window Shopping" about 3 things I was drooling over at that time.

I truly didn't think that in less than 2 years I would have all 3 of those things...especially the car!
So I decided I'd post a few things that I am drooling over now and maybe within 2 years I'll have acquired all of these things too!
:)

Canon EF Lens - 50mm - F/1.8

Sewing Machine
(don't know enough about these to know what kind I want)

Acer Aspire Laptop
(I know, we already have a laptop, but I would love one to do my photo editing and photography stuff on...someday, someday.)

A new couch, preferably leather so Tate's spills don't ruin it.
Our furniture is just falling apart...it's almost 8 years old (which isn't too bad), but it wasn't probably the best quality and 4 of those years have had the wear and tear of a child.
Ped Egg
I hear they're amazing and I NEED something amazing for my heels!
And if I wasn't so lazy, I could probably go out and buy one, I just keep forgetting!
Maybe I'll do that sometime next week, then I'll be able to check one item off of my list!

A house.
Not a townhouse, a duplex, a condo or an apartment, but a house.
You know, with a yard of our own, no walls to share, room enough to have people over for dinner comfortably.
This would be at the top of my list.
We will see!

Oh September...

This is the busiest month for us. I love it, it's fun busy, but busy none the less. I love the weather, the start of football, the fact that I can break out my jammie pants and hooded sweatshirts in the evenings, the fact that I can start making soup for suppers, the beautiful days, the leaves starting to change...I could go on and on. With September comes Labor Day weekend, Sean's birthday, our brother-in-law Travis's birthday and Brandon's (Tate's birthfather) birthday which ironically all happen to be the same day, my birthday also falls in the month, our anniversary, Sean's dad's birthday, along with a couple of my friends birthdays and then usually we throw in our annual apple picking trip up to Wisconsin in the month. Why not right?! :) This year we are not going on the annual apple picking trip. I am sad, but there was just too much to fit in and something had to be passed on this year. So that was it. We are planning a trip away for a couple days to celebrate our anniversary/my 30th birthday and we are also attending the IA vs. IA State game with Lora and James on the 11th. My best friend from high school, Kay, is coming to town over Labor Day weekend and it'll be so nice to spend time with her. Our times together are few and far between, so that will be fun.

So only a few days left until our crazy month of September begins! Bring it on!

Tomato Salad w/ Balsamic Vinegar

Yummy recipe posted on A Peakin To My Recipe Book.

he needs a dog

Or maybe not.
He's seriously scared of most dogs...especially the vicious Willow.
Ha.

Dad had to "protect" him from Willow.
He wouldn't leave his lap for the longest time.
Notice how he is eying the dog in both of the pictures below.
He is seriously scared.

He finally got off Dad's lap when Dad said he could sit on top of his car.
Until Willow was secured with a leash, Tate wouldn't get off the car.

We are totally normal.

We celebrated Dad's 58th birthday party tonight.

We had flowers and pink decorations (my dad's favorite color), a fancy cake and relay races.
You know, normal things that families do for 58th birthday parties.
We ARE a totally normal family after all!
And I raced...yup, I'm fast.
Bet you didn't know that about me.
I'm kind of like a gazelle.
I don't talk about it much because I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I am...really, really fast.
In fact, I started running in my first race and ran right out of my shoe.
True story.
So I decided to run barefoot because it would be more fair...even it up between me and the slower people in my family...ahem, Cassie.
:)

Don't normal people decorate a fancy table in pink and flowers for the man of the house's birthday party?

The beautiful (and delicious!) cake...

Tate and Ayla starting their leg of the relay race...

Ayla and Tate

They are doing better getting along.
A lot better.
I may even venture to say that they are actually enjoying being together and becoming friends!
This makes me so happy.
And they are totally cute!
The only downfall is that they CANNOT be trusted alone together.
They are sure to get into something they shouldn't!
Little stinkers!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. As I read posts or talk to people that have lost their dads, I realize that I am not only so blessed to have my dad here still, but that I have an amazing dad here still. A dad that I can go to for advice, that makes me laugh harder than almost anyone, that is always there for me when I am in need, that when I have asked him for help he has never said no...never. And I can't think of a better example of someone who is more giving than my dad.

Thank you, Dad for being you! Happy Birthday!!!!! I love you!

Dad in Liberia, Africa this year...

Dad in Haiti just a month after returning from Africa...

I tweet!

So I have never had a Twitter account, but I thought I may as well join the rest of the world! :) You can find my most recent tweets on my sidebar. Don't know how this will work out as my life isn't too terribly interesting, but I thought I'd at least give it a try. :)

a crafty day

We had Ava and Chloe over for a play date today.
We crafted...

The kids loved it!

The final products...

I know I've said it before, but these two are truly the best of friends!
They love playing together and get along famously (most of the time!).
I love these pictures that they have their arms around each other...

Super fun day!
See post below for another craft we did today.
:)

a special gift

I saw this idea on one of my favorite blogs, The Crafty Crow.
I have been waiting to do it and thought it would be a great time while I had Cassie's kids.
You cannot tell in this picture very well because I put it back into the packaging before I remembered to photograph it, but each pendant has a thumb print on it.

All you do is buy polymer clay and a chain that you like.
Roll out the clay to the shape and size of your choice, poke a hole in the top and press the child's thumb print into it.
Bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes for every 1/4 inch of thickness.
Cool and put on the chain.
DONE!

The one pictured above is one that I made for Lora that has Ava's thumb print on the big pendant and Chloe's on the littler pendant. For Cassie's I had 3 pendants of course for each of the kids. They younger the child, the smaller the pendant. I, of course made one for myself too with Tate's thumb print!

Super easy and super cute and very special!

Spaghetti and Root Beer Floats

That's what we had for dinner before I took the kids home Sunday night...

Spaghetti per their request and Root Beer Floats because they'd never had them!

Lani loved them, Brigg wasn't a huge fan.
It was fun and I was sad to bring them home!
Can't wait until the next time we get to keep them!

Surprise Photo Shoot

I had a photo shot to surprise Cassie and Paul with some pictures of the kids.
The kids were SO GOOD!
The photo shoot lasted only about 15 minutes and we managed to get LOTS of great pictures!
Here's a sneak peek...

Check out JenniePeakinPhotography.blogspot.com to see some more!

zoo crew

our crew at the zoo today...

we rode the train...

fed the birds nectar...

the birds bit Brigg...several times...

And I had to post this picture below because Brigg looks 16 in it!

It was a super fun zoo trip.
We are now relaxing at our house and Ayla is napping.
It's been a fun day so far!

wing span

And we couldn't forget Sean.
He wanted his turn too!

what we did today...

We swam...

Even Lora and Ava joined us!

We were trying to decide what to do for dinner...Lora and James so graciously offered to have us over to their house for dinner! Yay! They blew up the bounce house and the kids had a blast!

Lora may have invited us over because she secretly (well, not really secretly, she admits it!) wants to steal Ayla. And honestly, Ayla loves her too!

And I am in love with these kids. Really. They are angels...obedient, sweet, fun, adorable...I could go on and on!

It was fun, really super fun!
Tomorrow should be just as fun!