Pot Fun

Well, I finally did something about it.  I've talked about my love for bringing a little mother nature inside, and I finally got my moneys together and bought some cute plants.  

One shady morning, Burl and I went outside to plant them.  I could have potted them during his nap, but that seemed so mean.  Denying Burl the pleasure of outside time.project time.and playing in the dirt time.  I just couldn't do it to him.  

For whatever reason, I took him out there shirtless.  He had his bottle scrubber.  {Don't think he LOVES cleaning.  Not at all.  It's his version of a stick.  He makes a motor noise and tries to use it as a chainsaw.}  And he had his cart, aka, lawn motor.  He.was.busy.  

And I was busy taking pictures of him.  The shirtless/long john combo was too cute for me.  

We were out there for over an hour.  And he got to play with just about anything he wanted.  {Except for that one time he put a handful of potting mix in his mouth.}  

It's so fun to watch him work and play and play and work.  He is really cute about the whole thing.  I would love to know what's going through his little head...

After a while, my mom came by the house.  She cleaned him while I cleaned the outside.  It was one of those really fun, no schedule, just be kind of days-which is always a nice change of pace.

This picture might be one of my favorites.  He had paused to look around to see what he wanted to play with next.  Also, I hardly ever take pictures from behind, but I still love that little neck and those little shoulders.  I'm glad I got a "record" of them.  And I'm so glad we had that time.

Hangboard

For John's 30th birthday present, he wanted a hangboard.  It's something that climbers use to do pull-ups and finger lifts and hangs and stuff.  There's a whole science to it.

The only condition to it was that John got to hang it wherever he wanted.  He chose the hallway.  Not too bad.  A couple weeks ago, it went up.  Burl loved the action.  

John assured me that we could make the stability board cute by painting it white.  I told him, "honey, we way past cute."  But sometimes, cute is not the point.

About the same time John got it posted, both my brothers got into town.  That's when the testosterone started flowing.

Sidenote: one of my friends made the comment that my brothers are mostly shirtless when they show up on my blog.  Sorry about that.  That's probably pretty gross.  It is, but to be honest, I never even noticed.  Most of my life these boys have walked around without shirts.  

As soon as they were done showing off, they let Burl have a chance.  He did pretty good.

Considering the help he got.  

And this is a great picture into my life.  Lots of boys and their boy stuff.  And as much as I love my brothers, John, and Burl, I'm SO EXCITED to add a baby girl into the mix.  It's really going to be a nice change of pace.  And hopefully smell.  Girls just smell better, right?

Toddler Bed

There was one day in April when Burl fell out of his crib.  I don't know if he climbed out, fell out, not really sure on the details.  I was about to get him when I heard and felt a THUD.  Then a cry.  Then, I went in and found him lying on the floor.  Pitiful.

It was until later that day that I decided that we would bring down the toddler bed for him.  The reason: he started banging his forehead on the floor.  A repeat of his fall, I'm assuming.

Within a few days, he learned that he can get in and out of his bed.  So, sometimes he sits and waits for me to come get him.  Right by the door.  Sometimes he falls asleep on the floor.   

Most of the time, he plays.  He plays hard and I have no idea what he's doing in there.  It involves his toys, his space, some motor noises, and lots of mess.

It's so cute to try and imagine what he's up to in there.  He really likes it in there and sometimes can play for an hour.  Other times, he get's into stuff.  Literally.  On more than one occasion, I've found him in his basket.  Just chillin'.  And I think it's about the funniest thing in his little world.

This Week's Menu

Nothing fancy...just a little menu for my week.  

And a little picture from lunch.  Both of my brothers were in for the weekend, so we grabbed Sunday lunch with them and my mom.  I took my camera because I knew we would be together.  As we were about to pack up, I said the dreaded words that I always say at these things and they absolutely hate to hear-"Hold on, I want to get a picture."  

I'm that person.

Sweet potatoes, green beans, and pintos (that I still haven't cooked)

Chicken Marsala with Angel Hair

Cooking Club-Mexican/Spanish Night

Bean and Sausage Soup

Wedding Party

Don't ya just love a good wedding?  Oh I do!  I went to a fabulous wedding recently and I was in love with what they did.  First off, the reception was on the river at sunset.  

Que perfect setting:

Second thing that I loved about this wedding {I just typed weeding} was the atmosphere.  The bride planned this wedding in 3 months, please keep that in mind.  It was laid back.  Casual, but not void of thoughtful details that kept the guests saying, "oh how cute!!!"

Here's a little taste:

Tree branch-stump-things + mason jars of wild flowers + white tablecloths = perfect setting for an outdoor venue!

Couple pictures + matted and framed wedding invitation + this guest book from Etsy = the best way to great guests to a slammin' wedding reception!

Simple white frosting + fun flowers + on a tree stump + a mini burlap banner = this might have been my favorite wedding cake

When the bride showed her mom a picture of burlap Mr and Mrs pillows that were done by a local boutique, her mom made them for her and I think that's so sweet and so cute!!!

And they make for great wedding props!

For a while, I followed the photographer around and took some cool shots that she took.  She was going crazy...at one point, she looked at me and said, "Oh my gosh!!!  This light is awesome!!!"  We had a moment.  I can't wait to see what she did.  

The next is a picture from later in the evening.  She took some leftover sparklers and had four girls make the letters for "LOVE"  I somewhat caught it, but I'm sure her's will be incredible!

Once I got a few pictures of the decorations, I started taking pictures of my friends.  Not all of them...

{sorry Keri and Brett-I'll be sure and get lots of pictures of your wedding.  Most of them will be of the food...I've already started dreaming about lobster mac & cheese and fried green tomatoes.}

The lighting and setting and atmosphere were perfect.  All my friends looked so cute, so I got a little camera happy.  When I asked "want me to take your picture?" people were pretty pumped.  We don't get dressed up for nothing.  

Here you go...

John and me...I used the shine-be-gone option on picnik because our faces were glowing a bit too much.  Can you tell?  I might print this one out and I'm not sure if we look natural.

Carson and Kate...married and still got it.  They had some cute posed pictures, but I loved this one more than anything!

Randall and Claire...just friends (I think)...I used to babysit her and Randall used to be in the youth group that I help with, now he's a leader.

John and Allison...married.  Just took an old building and made it a cool house for them and their boys.  Major outdoorsey.  She can teach a mean yoga class.

Randy and Holly...married.  Stand in bartenders. Friends with John and Allison, and just moved into to their old-building turned home.  Note to self: pool-mooch off of them next week.

Jenny and Andrew...engaged. Had normal posed pictures, but went with the thug one instead.

Brian and Kristie. Married. Tim and Robin. Married.  You can't see it here, but those girls have niiiice runner legs.  Nothing stops those hot mamas.

Holly, Patty, and me.  Patty is my go-to girl for the funny stuff.  She and I are a comedy duo.  There. I said it.  You know how some funny people compete to be the funniest...Not Patty and me...she is the ying to my yang.  We feed off of each other.  Even if no one is watching.  But we like it better when people watch.

Here is the happy couple about to take off.  Congrats Micah and Allison.  Thanks for a great party.  You guys are going to do marriage right, I just know it!

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sidenote: they did something at their wedding that I've never seen before.  During the solo, they had three men come and pray for them.   The couple circled up with Tim (a friend), Al (a pastor), and Roger (an older mentor).  They asked us to pray for them and their marriage as well.  The solo was beautiful.  The time was rich.  And everyone talked about how neat that part of the ceremony was.

Playtime

Most of the time, Burl and I are pretty good at having fun during the days when John is at work.  Swimming. Friends. Outside.  General playtime.  

But sometimes I have to get stuff done.  And sometimes we just run out of things to do and we just look at each other with a look that says, "ok...what's next?"  

Those are the times that can get really fun:

Every Monday is laundry day.  (I'm the tryandgetitdoneinoneday kinda gal.)  First, I start with the sheets on our bed.  This is a great opportunity to play Run and Jump-a game that Broseph came up with.

Burl sits on the bed and giggles and laughs as I run towards him, yelling, then jump/slide on the bed, knocking him down.  I didn't/couldn't get pictures of that scene.  And it is quite a scene.

But, I grabbed sthese pictures of him waiting and anticipating the great leap.  By the 3rd picture, he was done waiting and wanted the commotion.  Giddy up.  Here comes your pregnant mama. Airborne. 

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Today, we had absolutely nothing planned.  There were several "what next?" moments.  Burl wasn't answering me, and I was at a loss.

Then, the light bulb went off and I remembered hearing that I could make my own play-do.  I used the first recipe I found by google and went with that.  

For the record, I'm buying all my play-do from now on.  Even though it was a lot of fun, the clean up was a bit more involved than I wanted it to be.

Overall, it was really fun to watch him be so interested and fascinated by having his hands fixed in goop.  Picture lots of rolling, squeezing, and slinging play-do...all with high concentration and heavy breathing.

He even got so excited he wanted to climb on the table, 

to which I used my mom voice and said, "Down. DOWN. Good boy."  "Oh, DOWN {again}." Then he wanted to get the stuff that he slung on the floor.  That's when I knew our time was over and bath time was about to start.  Bath time played a close 2nd to play-do time.

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Later in the day, I took him to the duck pond that my mom took me when I was little.

Things have changed a bit since I went there as a preschooler.  First off, there are pigeons.  Pigeons are kind of like the birds' version of homeless people.  Nothing against homeless people, but they have some similar traits.  Hanging in parks...asking people for food...sometimes they get it, sometimes they don't.

Ducks on the other hand, they're like Burl.  They like their bread.  As children, we always took bread to feed the ducks.  Ducks will fight for some bread, and I respect them more for it.  They'll swim over each other, race around without shame just for a piece.  Until a toddler chases them for it.

No lie.  I don't think he noticed the animals once I got the bread out.  I tried to throw the bread around Burl so the ducks would run and get it, and it never worked.  Burl got the bread first.  

Another thing that has changed is the ambiance.  There is a Walmart and a gas station across the street.  Take that, serenity and peace. 

There was a little table there, so I made good use of the self timer option on my camera.  I was going for a cool "from behind" shot, only to realize I look like I have a wedgie.  Klassy.

We faced forward for the next picture and things got a little better.  My hair was still a mess, but I'll take what I can get.

He enjoyed himself.  And man, did he take good naps today.  Play hard. Sleep hard.  That's our plan.

If you know of any blogs/websites/books that offer suggestions of fun, FREE activities to do with a 15 month old, then please send them my way.  I'm almost out of cool ideas, and Burl needs to think I'm the coolest there is.

Some Things That I Love Right Now

Sometimes I just have to blog about cute little things that I love.  Thank you to A Beach Cottage and Lollipops for the encouragement to do so.  

First, I like little pitchers.  I used to collect creamer pitchers from restaurants when I was in elementary school.  I was way ahead of my time.  Way.  This one I bought.  For $4 from World Market.  I saw it when I was there with a friend, and thought about her for days until I had to go back and get it.  She has some little ones still at the store for $2, and I think she might be missing them.  Dare I go for more?

Second, I like fresh mint.  Especially when I find it at a small farmers' market two blocks from my house.  I never thought I'd see the day when my hood got a farmers' market. 

Movin' On Up.

Third, I love John's iced green tea.  Perfect for summer:

Boil 6 cups water.  Remove from heat.

Add 6 green tea bags.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Pour in pitcher with a couple of spoons of sugar.

Add fresh mint if you're down with that.

And there is a little afternoon treat that is basically calorie free.  A little tip: it feels quite fancy to drink this and sometimes it feels good to be fancy.  It doesn't take much.