Summer fun!

We are having a great time this summer. From family get-togethers to playing at the park to swimming at the pool with friends, there seems not to be enough time in the day.  I must tell you that I am slacking on my housework as of late because it is so much more fun to be outside enjoying the days playing on the swing set with the boys than cleaning a bathroom or moping the floor.  We have gone to the public pool in Berryville twice now. The first time it was too cold for Scott, but the second time- yesterday- we all had a blast! We met some friends there and Stephen really is starting to try and swim. I think there might be lessons in the future because he still doesn't like water on his head. Scott had a blast once he was in. He loved splashing and playing with mommy, but his favorite thing was to be in his orange tube and walk around by himself! I think he is definately trying to keep up with his big brother!

Stephen loves all things with balls.  He has been asking us recently to play tennis all the time and one of his little buddies, Michael, also loves to play tennis, so one morning we (the Moms) decided that it would be fun to take the kids to the court.  Stephen and Michael had a blast hitting the balls back at us.  Stephen is getting better about his swing, but he never has really been taught.  The whole time we were there, I just kept remembering the times my dad would take us to the tennis courts and teach us to play. I look forward to teaching Stephen "happy feet" and making fun memories with him.  While we were playing tennis, the babies~ Scott and Nicolas, who is about a month younger than Scott~ had a good time on the blankets we brought for them with some toys, that is until Scott started taking Nick's passy.  Once Scott stopped that, the boys played really well together.

What a Week!

This week we added a new member to our family!  He is around 16 pounds, black and white, and will grow to be a horse! Peter has always wanted a Great Dane and I have never felt the need to have a dog that will outweigh me, but since this year will be his 30th birthday, I thought it deserved a present that would fulfill a dream of his since he was a little boy.  His name is Sir Boots von Ville, but we call him Boots for short. He is turning out to be a great family addition.  Roxy didn't know what to think at first but she is learning to be a great big sister dog to him.

Other activities that we have done this week are going to the pool for the first time, Joelle Cole and David Cole's high school graduation parties and celebrated Father's day.  The men~ Caleb, Peter, my Dad, and Granddad~ went out to play golf and then we had a rib dinner after they came home.  We ended the meal with a raspberry cobbler that I made for the first time and it was delicious! Joelle, my cousin, graduated on the 12 of June from the school I coached at with a couple of the other girls I coached. It was a great ceremony and it was fun to see some of my girls again. Joelle will be going to Liberty University in the fall.  David, another cousin, graduated from Broad Run High School with an Air Force ROTC scholarship to the University of Alabama. We are proud of them both. My brother also came home from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, so I look forward to seeing and spending some time with him this vacation.  He will be returning in 2 and 1/2 weeks to go through the academy's SEAR training course. He just finished jump school, and had 5 jumps out of a perfectly good aircraft.  He said it was a blast! I will just believe him (since I am scared of heights)!

what do you do on a rainy day?

Thought I would give you a glance into our world when its raining... We have a blast singing and dancing, playing wii and reading stories.  Other things we like to do are going to the library, watching it rain on the porch, and playing with toys.  This is a video of Stephen singing his alphabet. He also likes singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." He loves to perform and asks me all the time if he can be "videoed."

I am so blessed to be able to stay home with the boys. It makes times like this priceless when I think about working moms and how much they miss their children growing up. 

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jarrod!

We were fortunate enough to have Jarrod and Stephanie come up and stay with us the night before they made their trip to Maine and Kentucky. Since they would be traveling on Jarrod's actual birthday, I thought it would be nice to celebrate it the night before.  We had a fabulous dinner cooked by my husband that consisted of beef kabobs, grilled veggies, bread, baked beans and strawberries and bananas. After dinner, the guys went out and set up Ladder Golf, a great yard game and practiced while I put the baby to bed, then challenged Steph and I to play them.  They won~ of course, since they had been practicing  ;)  and then we switched it up a little and in a grueling match of husbands and wives, Peter and I pulled out the victory (nice to do to the birthday boy, right?) 

After that, we headed inside and sung happy birthday over the ice cream cake Steph special ordered from her favorite cake decorator~ ME! It was a layer of white cake, icing, cookie dough ice cream in the middle (Jarrod's favorite), then another layer of cake with chocolate frosting on the top.  It was my first attempt at this kind of cake and I am happy to say that it got great reviews~ so much so that my husband has now requested a similar cake for his birthday! Anyway, after cake we hung out for a little while longer then decided to turn in because Steph and Jarrod had to leave for the airport at O Dark Thirty (4:30) in the morning. Since today is Jarrod's actual birthday, we once again want to wish him a very  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

Boys Day Out!

Peter is a Mariner's fan.  Understatement of the year. So one time a year, when the Mariners make the trip to Baltimore, Peter will be in the stands at Camden Yards  with his Mariner's jersey on with at least one family member.  This year given that it was a night game starting at 7:05, Peter had Stephen join him since he is the "big brother."  This was a special time for the two of them, sharing in the team Daddy loves with the sport his eldest son loves (Stephen wants to be a pitcher when he grows up.)  It was also special because Ken Griffey Jr. returned to the Mariner's lineup this season, which will probably be his last, and is one of Peter's favorite players besides Itchero Suzuki. A good report came home to Mom and Scott- both in bed and asleep when the boys returned- that the Mariner's won the game 4-1 over the Orioles. Stephen loved the time alone with his dad, watching the game, sharing pretzels, peanuts, hot dogs, and sodas. If it was not a yearly tradition before, I believe we have one now... Only next time hopefully we will all be able to go!

How does your garden grow??

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, 

How does your garden grow?

With sweet potatoes and green beans,

And yellow corn all in a row!

This is my project for right now... we are trying to be almost sufficient in providing our family with fruits and veggies!  I have a garden in the back yard that Peter tilled and built structures for, strawberries in the front flower beds, grapes, an apple tree, and blueberry bushes, not to mention the rhubarb that I brought back from Maine! It definitely is an undertaking but is so fun to produce your own food and also helps the pocket book.

Here is a picture of the garden.  It has from back row to front and closest to farthest away: green beans (both pole and bush), corn, tomatoes and okra.  The middle row is home to acorn squash, zucchini, yellow squash, peas, lima beans, cucumbers, and butternut squash.  The front row has onions, carrots, lettuce, radishes, sweet potatoes, yellow, green, red peppers and jalapeno peppers. Thanks mom for helping me design this to produce maximum produce.

I am hoping that through the garden I teach Stephen and eventually  Scott that growing our own food is fun but also very healthy.  You know what you put on it and will eat better than you normally would if you had to go to the store and buy all the produce.  Stephen thinks its great to get to play in the dirt and help plant seeds- as long as he can clean his hands off of the "yuck" afterwords.  He is so cute telling me that he needs to do his "homework" and will go get his shovel to help me out! I only hope this time is teaching him to have a green thumb too!

Happy eating!

Spring or Summer???

I don't know which it really is, spring or summer, but all the same we are loving being outdoors! From going to the park and making new friends to playing in the yard with the neighborhood boys, we are definitely having a good time.

We enjoy going to the park on pretty days, naps, and playing in 

the yard with our toys. Some of Stephen's favorite things to do are play soccer, basketball, ride his bike or scooter, play in the sand box, and play on "Costco park".  We also like to eat popcicles, fly kites (which Stephen did for the first time by himself), play with friends and just have a good time.

We have lost containment.  Scott is a busy body now, liking to get into everything since he started crawling! He is not content just to sit in one place anymore and I always have to have an eye on him or he will get into things he is not supposed to!

 Lately he has gotten into my seedlings and dumped dirt everywhere including bringing it to his mouth.  At the park, he loves to eat sand and bark dust. Oh well, boys will be boys.  My saying  right now is that "God made dirt so dirt don't hurt."  I don't really believe it whole heartedly but its the best I can do. Other new things with Scott is that he has his two bottom teeth, he enjoys tasting everything, he pulls himself to standing, loves taking baths with his brother, and hates his bed.  It is definatly a challenge to put him down for naps and bed in his crib (but that is my own fault).

I can't wait to see what this Summer brings and the new things I get to experience as a mom of 2 growing boys!

Grandpa comes to town

We had a good time with Peter's dad this past week or 10 days. From camping to traveling around the state, they had a good time getting back together and building relationships.  Peter picked his dad up from the airport just in time to set off on the Memorial Day camping trip.  This was a fun time and if you want to know more about it, just look at the last post.  It was a treat because the men cooked breakfast each morning, showing off their scout tricks and they even made a great dessert in the dutch oven! 

The next project that Peter and Grandpa undertook was to put in a gas line to the kitchen so that we could get a gas cook top!  I am so looking forward to cooking again on gas!  Thanks guys!  

Peter also decided to take his dad around the state to look at different areas that he could invest in and maybe move to eventually.  He took him to Luray, Front Royal, and out to West Virginia via Rt. 50.  They said there was some pretty hillbilly  areas but it was beautiful country. He also showed him around Williamsburg one day.  These "trips" were definitely  relationship builders.  I chose to stay back with the boys  because what kind of fun would it be for them to spend hours in the car?? They needed run time to wear them out!

Stephen enjoyed getting to know Grandpa again, while Scott enjoyed meeting Grandpa for the first time.  Grandpa loved to joke and tease Stephen and he got a kick out of it!  It was a special time to watch the boys with some of Dad's side of the family.