Skinny Dipping

This summer I've been taking vacation days here and there so I can spend time with Evy--just having some summer fun. Yesterday, on our day off,we were playing in the backyard and Evy dipped Elmo in the pool. Elmo can't swim (hello! he's a stuffed animal) so I suggested she let Dolly swim. Well, once Dolly was swimming Evy wanted to swim too. She didn't have her swimsuit on so I decided to just let her skinny dip. Hopefully the neighbors weren't watching!

An Electrifying Performance

On Friday, Scott and I went with my brother, sister-in-law, and Dad to see Alan Jackson at The Great Jones County Fair. It started downpouring about 10 minutes into the performance and there was a ton of lightening. No worries--we were seated on metal bleachers. Ha! Probably not the best choice of my life to stay, but it was well worth it in the end, considering we didn't end up dead. About 12 hours later a local dam broke and flooded Monticello. Seriously, enough with the rain. But Alan did rock! Well, as much as a"small town southern man" can.

Loving This Now...

Popcorn Indiana brand popcorn. Bag purchased Monday, bag gone Thursday. Whoops.

Where Does All The Junk Come From?

Do you ever feel like your house is just full of junk? Everywhere I look there is junk! It gets worse when we're busy and I don't take the time to manage our crap and last night it about put me over the edge. Junk drawers that are so full they won't close, coupons that need to be filed, three days of daycare "artwork" on the counter, junk mail that needs to be tossed, and at any given time at least three pairs of Evy's socks on the floor. I went a little crazy and threw a bunch of stuff out last night--at least one of the junk drawers will now close.

*Disclosure--this picture is not of my house. I'm not quite there yet.

Just A Swinging

Two weeks ago Menard's delivered a swing set kit and a pallet of wood to our house. Our friend Aaron helped Scott cut all of the wood, Papa Dick stained it all and helped Scott start the construction, then Papa Jake came this weekend and helped finish up the assembly. Our neighbors Colin and JD helped hoist the tower. End result? One really cool swing set. Thanks everyone!

Laundromat Blues

Our washing machine has been acting up lately and the repair man can't come for another week so we headed to the laundromat today. I spent 7 years using laundromats through college and before we moved into our house and I was reminded today how much I love having my own washing machine. Even more so now that I have an active (crazy) toddler in tow. On a positive note it was kind of nice to finish up 5 loads in one hour. But, please hurry repair man!

Day Trip to Detroit

I'm supposed to be at a conference this week but after 16 hours in airports, 2 canceled flights, 2 delayed flights and a closure of the Detroit airport due to lightening I gave up and came back home. I left home a little before 7 a.m. and returned home around 11 p.m. I was traveling with two of my younger co-workers. Later, they commented that the 16 hour day had been draining on them. Was I exhausted the next day? No. Not really. Even though I spent 16 hours in the airport I got to eat 2 meals with both of my hands and no interruptions. I got to read 2 magazines and a portion of my book. I didn't have to feed anyone, change any diapers or manage anyone's temper tantrums. Come to think of it, it was kind of like a vacation.

Like Camping, But Not

Last Friday night some of our friends invited us to their camp site for dinner and smores. We didn't have to bring a thing. It was awesome. We got to pretend like we were camping, but didn't actually have to lug a bunch of crap to the woods and sleep outside. Perfect.

Who Doesn't Like Popsicle's?

I was so excited to give Evy her first popsicle. She doesn't get a lot of sweets so I was expecting some major excitement. Maybe even one of her funny "oooooooh's" as she learned about the goodness that is a popsicle. Man, was I disappointed. She took a lick, and said "nummy" but then continued to run around the yard. She could have cared less about the popsicle and I had to beg her to take another lick. I don't think she liked the cold. I had to finish off the strawberry one. We tried again later and Scott had to finish off the orange one. I even bought her brand (see previous post about Edy. Total coincidence by the way).

Meet Edy

Edy is a funny little girl who hasn't mastered "v" sounds. If you ask her to name everyone at the dinner table she says, mommy, daddy, Edy. Don't touch that milk because, as she bangs the palm of her hand on her chest, she'll tell you it's Edy's.

Edy also has trouble pronouncing the "f" sound. Her favorite Disney character is Goosey and she has been known to ask you to take her shoes oss.

Morning Routine

This is one of those posts that will probably be boring to everyone else, but the blog is our scrapbook, a way to write down memories that will soon be forgotten. We have fallen into a nice little morning routine. Evy wakes between 6 and 6:30 and repeats Mommy or My Daddy until one of us retrieves her from her crib. She has made no attempt to escape her crib and we plan to keep her in the crib as long as we can. When we enter her room she is always standing, holding onto Elmo and her blanket. Sometimes she says "Upsy Daisy" because she always wants picked up ASAP! Then she tells us "Downstairs." No loitering in her room is allowed. So we grab a diaper and an outfit and head downstairs. At this point she always asks for the other parent. So, we have to go find mommy or daddy to say good morning. After that, we are instructed to head directly to the couch where she requests the "Mope". That means TV remote and she is instructing us to turn on the TV. Evy sits on the couch drinking her milk, watching whatever is on the Disney Channel that morning. It may be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Shaun the Sheep, Special Agent Oso or Handy Manny. She gets so engrossed that we have to turn the TV off if we want to talk to her. Scott and I scurry around the house getting ourselves ready for the day and around 7:20 we are out the door to daycare. A nice routine, sure to change in the blink of an eye...

4th of July Weekend

Helping clean blueberries.


One for mom's cake, one for me


Playing with the bubble machine and my cousin Jacob!


Mom, no way am I touching that frog.


I've never had so much fun on a swing. Jacob and Will are the perfect swinging buddies!

Grandma Joan stayed home with the sleeping babies so everyone else could catch the fireworks.

Interesting, but slow...

When I previously posted about Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, several of you suggested Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. After begging the librarian to let me renew the book for the 3rd time I've finally gotten through it. Pollan takes a more straight-forward approach, just giving you the facts about food manufacturing. Kingsolver's approach is more personal. She outlines her family's pledge to eat only things they've produced or purchased locally for a year. Interesting, but the lengthy descriptions of the challenges they faced with turkey mating and the hours spent canning tomatoes were a bit of a snooze. The one message that struck me is you can't forget the grocery store if you're pledging to go green. Our food is shipped from all over the world making the food industry one of the biggest oil consumers. Kingsolver's family doesn't eat bananas anymore because they are all produced out of the country. Bananas seem like such a staple fruit I couldn't imagine going without. But as I picked up my bananas on Sunday I noticed they were a product of Guatemala. Interesting, but I still bought 3.

Whoa!

This morning as I was flipping to the Disney channel I came across Lady Gaga's Alejandro video and paused because I like the song. WHOA! Have you seen this video? It is totally X-rated. I moved quickly on to "Handy Manny" becuse I did not want Evy to see what Lady Gaga was doing. Actually the video is reminiscent of Madonna, but I don't ever remember being shocked by Madonna. Must be an age thing and just one more sign that I've crossed over to the "mature" side of life. Darn it...

The video is really long, but the shocking stuff starts around the 4:30 minute mark. You're curious now, aren't you?

Slide Princess

Evy made this 4th of July hat at daycare yesterday. And, my is it special! Notice that Evelyn is spelled out on the front of it in gold glitter! Not many people can (should) pull off gold glitter so I say go for it princess! Also, Evy's swing set arrived yesterday. To Scott's dismay major assembly is required, but Evy had a blast playing on the slide as is. Let's hope the slide doesn't stay in this location for another month...