Blessed Outdoors

I feel like I’m slowly starting to come out of the fog. I haven’t been exercising like I want to because of being so sick with this pregnancy. But last week I did manage to get outside for a few walks. The weather has been so mild and beautiful this summer.

One of my favorite things about our neighborhood is all the outdoor activities available. We really enjoy this community trail, which is basically behind the tree line in our backyard. Because it’s so easy to access, there’s no excuse not to take long walks and bike rides. There are two wonderful parks, including a splash park that are within walking distance.

 

Here is a picture of the back of our house from behind a fishing pond near the trail (our house is the one in the center).

 

Here are some zinnias that have popped up in my small, meager flower garden. It’s the first time I’ve planted flowers specifically for the purpose of cutting and bringing indoors. I made sure that I couldn’t see the garden from any of my windows so I would be more motivated to cut them. I love having a bit of nature inside.

 

Boone Co. Fair

We had fun taking the kids to our small, county fair this week. They loved it. It was the first time we let them try out the rides. It was also their first time to experience the joys of cotton candy. Animals, rides, and sugar--what more could a kid ask for?

Meredith especially loved the bunnies:

 

 

 

 

Meredith wasn't sure about her first ride:

 

Her face after the first ride:

 

 

Clara LOVED the big potato sack slide. She wanted to go on it again. We let her go twice (she had to have an adult with her and that meant double tickets!) even though she tried to get in line a third time. Here we are after the second time down:

 

Clara had a birthday!

Someday soon I am going to write a longer post about Clara. She turned two on July 22 and she is at the height of cuteness right now. She says and does the funniest things. We are so glad God gave us Clara two years ago. Life just wouldn’t be half as fun without her.

 

 

 

 

So ... I've started a new journal.

I’ve started a new journal. Here is one of the first entries, which I wrote nearly two weeks ago. I’ve been too tired, busy, and sick to my stomach ever since to post it on my blog!!

July 2, 2009—The first thing my doctor said today was, “Do you want to do an ultrasound?” Absolutely! So, I got to get my first peek at you! It was so fun to see your little body moving around. Although I must confess, right now you look like a glorified kidney bean. Your head and body are distinct. You have leg and arm “buds,” which are like long stumps. Your fingers and toes will all be developing in the next week. But despite your short appendages, you were moving around a lot and the ultrasound tech said that even now you are building up muscle mass. All of your organs are present. We could see your strong heart fluttering on the screen. Everything looks healthy. One really cool thing was that I was able to see a 4D ultrasound of you, so I could see all of your dimensions. This was my first time to have a 4D ultrasound. It was pretty amazing! I’m already in love with you. I want you. You are my baby.

Every night at around 5:30, all I want to do is eat a bowl of Cheerios and crawl into bed. Hopefully there is only two more weeks of this, though. Each pregnancy has gotten worse as far as sickness goes. The more tired my body is, the sicker I feel. We’re due around the first of February. We are very excited but I must confess that right now three kids seems like a lot. I told Kevin, “Wow, three kids.” He said, “Yeah, that sounds so very … Responsible.”

Symphony and Fireworks

We had such a great time July 4th weekend at Symphony on the Prairie!

 

Aren't these little guys adorable? They all played so well together. It was a late evening for them!

 

You can see how crowded it was--the fourth largest attended concert ever. It was such a beautiful evening so the crowds packed out the prairie. Some kind lady gave Clara a pinwheel, which she loved.

 

The fireworks and music were awesome.

4th

We always look forward to the 4th of July bash at Aunt Beth's house! Despite a rainy holiday, we had lots of fun and a new tradition was formed--we held our first annual Garage Cornhole Tournament.

 

The crazy guys experimenting with fireworks. Each one had to be bigger and better than the one before. They were quite amusing to watch.

 

The Garage Cornhole Tournament was a success!

 

Clara enjoys watching the tournament.

 

A yummy and beautiful tart made by Kevin's mom.

Birthday

Lots of birthdays in July around here—our country’s birthday, my dad’s, Meredith’s, and Clara’s (she opened some presents early while my parents were in town).

This year Meredith asked for a "Belle" cake. I think this is the last year I am going to make a princess doll cake. Last year my Cinderella cake turned out quite well and I think it was because I was nervous about it. I read lots of articles online and looked at lots of pictures and tutorials. This year I was like, "Yeah, I've done it before and it's easy." So I plowed ahead and it turned out a flop. I made a from-scratch recipe and it only came up to the doll's knees. Then I wrote "Happy Birthday Meredith," and the icing slid down the dress. So, basically, it looked like a Haunted House birthday cake. That was it--this birthday cake simply could not be used. As I surveyed the ugly mess of a cake, it was midnight on the eve of Meredith's birthday.

The next morning at 6:30 a.m., I called the local bakery to see if I could just buy one. But they said, "It takes us two hours to make a doll cake, so you need to give more notice." I was like, "Yeah, you're telling ME how long these stupid cakes take to make." So then I headed to the grocery store to buy a box mix and more icing to attempt round two. The second cake turned out okay, except for the fact that the doll was tilting backwards a little.

Next year, should either of my girls request this cake (which I'm sure they will, because they love them), I am going to call the bakery.

 

 

 

Fishing

I didn't get a ton of pictures of things we did while my family was in town, but we did have a memorable time fishing. The pond in the back of our house is full of fish. The ones we caught were small but they bit as soon as we put the line out there. It is the perfect fishing experience for kids.

Kevin says that the picture of my mom with the umbrella looks like the famous Renoir painting.

And I even caught a fish, even though everyone made fun of me for not knowing how to cast properly.