This and That

• Yesterday I signed the boys up for the summer reading program at the library.  I felt a little silly signing up a 9 month old, but the library worker said I might as well enter both their names and Carter's points could go to Jacob.  More free ice cream coupons?  Why not!

• We had a crazy storm on Tuesday night.  It is not unusual to have our patio chairs blow around during a storm, but this is the first I can remember that the patio table blew over.  

And the way this chair landed on top of the other one in the bush almost certainly means it had to have been in the air at some point.  Yikes.  Fortunately, nothing hit the house.  

• Carter's new game is to dump the cat's water bowl.  He flips the bowl and sits in the middle of the puddle just beaming proudly.  So I moved the bowl onto the dresser where we keep our keys.  It is literally in the same spot-- just off the floor-- and do you think the cat can find her water?  She howls and howls until I put the water on the floor... and Carter watches and waits.  If I don't immediately put the bowl back up when she's finished, he dumps it over and the game begins again. 

• I am rocking a new color on my toes called Mermaid's Tale by Sally Hansen.  It's kind of a blue-green glitter.  Anna gave it to me and warned that it's really hard to remove because of the glitter, but I'm taking my chances because it's different and I kinda like it. This picture doesn't do it justice.  

• Why does warm weather make me want to make Jello jigglers?  I am convinced that Jacob would love them.  I bought some Jello this morning, so we'll see. 

• I cannot believe May is almost over!  

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

We spent a fun and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend in Southern IL this year.  Frank left work a few hours early on Friday, so we actually made it a 3.5 day weekend!

On Saturday, we went to Brett's baseball game.  I was really hoping that Jacob would watch Brett and get excited about baseball, but there were other things to do, like hang out with Jenna (who has candy in her mouth in the picture below, by the way) and play with Jenna's phone.

(I think this might be the first picture I've put on the blog of my pup-niece Gabby.  Meet Gabby, my pup-niece...)

Later that evening, we went to a cookout at Garett and Rachael's.  Their house and yard are so nice, and there are so many things for the kids to do.  

What, you don't have a caboose in your yard?  Rachael's parents, who just live a few hundred yards away, are restoring a caboose for their grandkids to use as a clubhouse.

We took a quick peek at the inside, too.

I've never seen the inside of a caboose, but I can definitely see how it can be turned into a really cool hang-out space for the kids.

What, you don't have an airplane in your yard, either?!

After playing in the clubhouse, and on the swings, trampoline, scooters, and playing football, I was pretty sure Jacob was never coming home.

The icing on the cake-- pun intended-- was celebrating Frank's birthday with a delicious ice cream cake!

(I spy a cake-shark lurking in the background...!)

Sidenote:  Grandma may or may not have given my 9 month old his first taste of ice cream... :) :) 

The next day we went to Herrinfesta Italiana, which is a festival held every year in the neighboring town.  Of course, my little dudes were decked out in their Italia shirts!

Grandpa J and Brett wore their shirts, too.  (Frank forgot his shirt, but he and Jenna kind of look like they planned to match in this picture as they're both in light blue!)

The rides were a hit!  Jacob is a daredevil and honestly prefers the "older kid" rides to the ones made for kids his age.  Jenna was his riding buddy, since Brett isn't big on rides, and the two of them had a blast.

 Brett won a little stuffed turtle for Carter at this fishing game.

Frank even got in on the action and took Jenna on a ride!

The weekend always goes too quickly, but we will remember Memorial Day Weekend 2013 for great weather, good food, and lots of fun!

Snips and Snails

Before church on Sunday, I thought Carter looked especially cute, so I sat him in the grass for a quick photo shoot.

Not sure if it's the shirt or the hat, but that outfit makes me want to eat him.  I loved it on Jacob, too, and I'm sad that Carter outgrew it almost before he had a chance to wear it.

Tuesday was Frank's birthday.  We got him some new swim trunks, which he's wearing in this picture, although you can't see it.  He also requested a cookie-cake...

... I'm not sure who was happier about the cookie-cake, him or Jacob!

A Mobile Baby and A Beef Pasta Dish

Carter is officially on the move!  It isn't a pretty crawl, but he scoots, rolls, and pushes himself until he gets where he wants to go.

And where does he want to go?

To Jacob's toys, of course!

To say Jacob hates this would be an understatement.  I can't even think of a word to describe how Jacob feels about Carter touching his things.  Livid, maybe? Enraged?

Sharing is not going well.

I've kept the windows closed most afternoons, even though the temps have been warm, just because it is so LOUD at our house!  Jacob screams because Carter is touching his toys; Carter screams because Jacob screams; then Carter bumps into something (see yoga pose below) and screams again.  Seriously.  The neighbors don't even know they are being spared our drama.

In between all the yelling, I've made a few good, easy dishes recently. This one is adapted from the April/May issue of Taste of Home.  It's a cardinal sin in the blogging world to post about food without posting a picture, but we ate it before I thought to get my camera!  You'll just have to trust me that this one is good.

Beef and Tomatoes with Pasta.

1 lb ground beef
16 oz pkg of bow tie pasta
(2) 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes with roasted garlic (undrained)
15 oz can white kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
10 oz pkg of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
salt to taste

Heat ground beef, drain and return to pan
Stir in undrained tomatoes, beans, and spinach.
Season with salt to taste
Serve over cooked pasta

Super easy!

Call Her Mommy

Happy Mother's Day

Ready for Summer

Let's hear it for warm weather!  Finally!  This last week has been our first shorts-and-a-t-shirt kind of week, and it has been wonderful!

We had a little t-ball practice.

and watched a little t-ball practice.

(Best surprised face EVER!)

Jacob did some mowing.

and Carter ate some grass.

Bring on Summer!!

Burlap and Blue Baby Shower

My cousin Heather and her husband will be welcoming their first little boy at the end of June, and last weekend, we held a family baby shower for her at my mom's house.

Of course, our favorite part of hosting was planning the decorations!  We finally decided to go with burlap and blue, sort of a "shabby chic" feel.

I made the pennant garland out of burlap, hot glued chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby, and then hot glued  them to a wide blue ribbon.  (I already had the ribbon-- the advantages of having two boys!).  Mom made the bows on either side and then made little burlap rosettes inside the bows.

We are pom pom freaks.  I love them.  Nothing says "Party" like fluffy tissue papers pom poms!  Mom put these together from a Hobby Lobby kit.  They were meant to be hung so each of them had a little string, and she hot glued the string to a branch to get the look of flowers.

This little wreath was my pride and joy.  :)  The top pennants spell out, "Baby," and the bottom pennants spell that baby's last name, which is edited out in this picture for privacy.

For lunch, we served chicken salad sandwiches and everyone brought a dish.  My other cousin Chelise sewed the burlap runner on the table, and I used a printable for the picture by the silverware.

My sister-in-law Sarah made the cupcakes.  If the teaching thing doesn't work out, she could always open a bakery!

As favors, we gave little Pocket Bac hand sanitizers with a tag attached that read, "Thank you for coming today and touching Heather's life.  Now you can touch her baby!"  I like favors that people actually use, and who doesn't need hand sanitizer?!

Most of my family is oddly freaky about having their pictures taken, so I'm purposely not posting any of the "people" pictures.  We did have a great time at the shower, though.  Getting all the aunts and cousins together is always a recipe for a fun time!

We are so excited for Heather and looking forward to welcoming her new little guy into the world in just a few short weeks!