The Beach

There are benefits to living 20 minutes from a gorgeous beach- especially when your baby finally stops eating sand! We had a great time at the shore with some friends on Thursday and even braved a three minute shower while we were there. Nora absolutely loves the water in any form, so she was in heaven from the minute we pulled up. She wouldn't even stop for a picture! (but I did manage to snap one of the back of her as she ran away...)I got a little nervous when I saw her wade out so far that the waves actually lapped over her face- but she wasn't fazed a bit! Now to get Wells in...

Camping in Vermont 3

Camping in Vermont 2

Camping in Vermont

What a great weekend! We went on a camping trip with some friends to Vermont for the hot air balloon festival- betcha never heard of it! Well, it's truly something to see. We also made sure to visit a apple cider mill and glass blowing demonstration as well as playing in the river by our campsite. Besides the last hour of the drive home- which nearly made me decide that two kids is just plenty- we had a fabulous time!

Wells' Trick

My last post included some of Nora's tricks- a beautiful singing voice and dance moves- so as to be fair I felt that this one should showcase Wells' latest. Besides saying "da da" everytime he looks in the mirror (not sure why) and standing on the baseboard heater to yell at the neighbor kids out the window, this pretty much it so far. I have tried to get him to sign "more" so that I know when to continue feeding him, but he claps instead and I'm not sure he knows what it means.

Book of Mormon Stories

Nora has been learning a new song in her nursery class at church. The music leader, Sister Terry, has been doing a GREAT job teaching the kids. I love to hear Nora learning the songs that I enjoyed as a child. This one is about the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ that teaches about His visit to America after His resurrection and includes a history of the people who lived here in ancient times. Check it out!

Here are the words to the first verse that Nora sings:

"Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me,
All about the Lamanites in ancient history,
Long ago their fathers came from far across the sea,
Given this land, if they lived, righteously!"

For more information about the Book of Mormon, or to request a free copy of this, or other reference materials offered by our church, go to:
http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/free-media/free-media

Happy Independance Day!

Nora asked for fireworks all day long... and finally got them. We had a great 4th of July thanks to Josh clearing a couple of trees in our yard, putting in the new patio, some friends who hosted a very fun celebration barbeque, and watching fireworks in the breeze on the shore of a beautiful lake. Cheers to the pursuit of happiness!

Eleven Months Old

Wells has this really distinctive army crawl that he started around the age that normal babies start to crawl (7 months or so) He pulls himself along with both arms and his tummy and legs dragging. We always assumed that he couldn't crawl normally and that's why he did it. The other day he made a terrible mess eating and I pulled off his shirt before getting him out of his high chair. He got down on his tummy, decided that it was too cold, and crawled away LIKE A NORMAL BABY. We were totally amazed. "He can do it!" I called to Josh. As soon as I got his new shirt on him, it was right back to the comando form. I can't believe it. His army crawl is chosen by preference, not necessity.

Pony Ride

We had Josh all to ourselves on Saturday- I think he later regretted not going into school, but I loved it! We had to decide between two activities that both looked interesting, and in the end thought that maybe we should have chosen the other, but oh well. Nora got to ride a pony. It was the quickest ride ever, but she loved it. I think she may turn out to be a horse lover like I was. Of course I never got to do anything with it (except read the saddle club books), but horses were my passion for several years of my childhood. The pony that Nora rode was so cute and little. I wish I could remember its name. Nora would remember because she has this amazing memory, but she's out with Josh so I'll have to leave it at that.

Firehouse

We toured a firehouse on Friday. Nora was not as thrilled with the opportunity as I had hoped. I guess it just wasn't her thing. She did like the coloring book and crayons that they passed out though.

More Party Pics

I know I already posted pictures from the Victorian birthday tea party, but I stole these from my photographer friend, Liz, and they're gorgeous! I absolutely love when she photographs my kids. She always captures the photos that I tried to get, but couldn't.

Sunshiny afternoon

Amidst five straight days of rain, Saturday afternoon was sunny. It was fun to get outside, work on our garden, and enjoy the sun. I never want to forget how fun it has been to have two kids- ages 3 and almost 1. These two have become quite a team, just like I hoped they would. Here is the real reason to have kids close in age!

Garden

We have been talking about planting a garden for YEARS. Yesterday, we finally did it. It all started with a trip to our local garden center. $40 later, we were headed home with strawberry, tomato, broccoli, beans, and pepper starts and cantaloupe and pumpkin seeds. Josh had made our garden boxes with scrap wood from the deck that was removed to build our addition and filled them with garden soil that he got for free from a craigslist post. Talk about resourceful! We spent most of the afternoon positioning the boxes and planting, then watering the plants. It's a little late in the season, but we're excited to see what happens in our garden over the next few months!

In other news... Shrinky Dinks!

I have fond memories of making these as a child. Now I get to share the magic with my own! Nora and I had great fun today with shrinky dinks- who knew these were still around? My favorite was the little self portrait that she did in blue. We strung the shapes on a necklace when they were done baking and my little princess wore it for about 1 minute. She's not much into jewelry yet- but loves crafts!

Dapper Wells

Fancy Nora

Tea Party

Yesterday Nora's friend had a birthday tea party that involved dressing up to the hilt. All I can say about that is "How Cute!" All the little girls (and little boys, for that matter) looked so fancy and adorable out on the sunny porch of their new house. I got so many cute pictures of the kids that I'm going to devote one blog post to each of them (remember my blog doesn't allow for more than 4 pictures per post.) It has been so fun watching Nora's friends grow from babies into perfectly delightful little boys and girls.

Playing

My kids continue to play together in adorable ways (most of the time...) One of Wells' new favorite activities is pushing Nora around in his wagon. It's great because the added weight of her insures that the wagon will not roll too fast or fall on him when he goes over backwards. He is getting surer on his feet and has also learned to get himself down from the precarious positions that he gets himself into. As a result, we have had far fewer accidents, screaming, tears and blood in the past couple of weeks!