VBS

Although many of Baby B's "firsts" were left behind in 2011, this week we've had another "first," not just for Baby B but for our whole family - Vacation Bible School!!  For those of you who don't know, Vacation Bible School is a week-long "camp" that many churches hold every summer for children of the church and its surroundings neighborhoods.  It frequently involves learning lots of songs and even more hand motions for the songs, skits, snacks, games, and, of course, some lessons about God.  Our church's theme this year was Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity.  I wish I could tell you something about what the kids learned.  But I know nothing.  Because I spent all week watching kids in the nursery with my own cutie patootie.

The thought of crying babies and dirty diapers probably turns many people off of working in a church nursery but personally I think those people are just missing out.  These little ones are hilarious and we had a blast, as well as an innumerable amount of animal crackers.  I know in future years I will be directly in the trenches leading the kids around from activity to activity and learning all those crazy songs and hand motions, but this for this year I was happy to just sit in our little air conditioned nursery and play.

 I also feel the need to offer some kudos to Hubby T for his work this week.  I actually think he worked harder than I did.  Since most dads work during the week, VBS is mainly staffed and run by the moms and ladies of the church, high school/college students, and retirees.  From my perspective, that makes Hubby T and the couple dads who were able to participate that much more special.  Hubby T did have to take one day off to go into work this week, but the other 4 days he was there every morning, serving as the "MC" in the opening and closing assembly each day, getting the kids excited about what they were doing and learning.  Way to be an active part of our church honey! 

As members of a church, we promise during every child's baptism to help raise them to know God and I think participating in VBS is an awesome part of fulfilling that promise.  I'm looking forward to many future summers where our family can continue to participate in this awesome ministry together. We're off to a great start...good job family!!

The Beach & Grilled Pizza

In case you haven't figured it out yet, two of my most favorite things in life are my son and great food.  Lucky for me, I scored on both of these this week, starting with a morning at the beach!

We were joined by a good friend from college, who we had a great time catching up with.  I find it very refreshing to get together with old friends who love and encourage us in the life we've created but also loved and knew us in the carefree lives we all used to share.  Ahh college....anyway, back to present day:) 

It felt like this was the first time Baby B actually played at the beach!  He had fun splashing in the water in his bucket and digging in the sand with his shovel.  He did not enjoy discovering that hot sand can really hurt your feet, nor did he quite know what to do but stand there and cry.  Hopefully he will learn quickly that if something is burning, move away from it!  He was pretty skeptical of the water for awhile, but after we figured out how to make it a game and he warmed up he was all smiles.

Here comes a wave...

Jump and splash into the water!!

Hopefully this is just the first of many fun beach outings for our little guy...

And last night our pizza-loving palate was reborn when we had grilled pizza for dinner!  Wow, I may never cook pizza in the oven again, even in January when I wouldn't mind having a 450 degree oven on in my house.  I followed the directions from Simply Recipe and it turned out awesome.  The author is completely right that the grill adds a smokiness to the pizza that really enhances the flavor.  I also was able to finally get a somewhat crispy crust, which is my favorite kind and which I can never ever get in the oven.  If you like making homemade pizza this is no harder than cooking it inside but has a much tastier outcome.  And if you've never made homemade pizza before, what are you waiting for?!  Go buy a pre-made fresh pizza crust for 99 cents from Trader Joe's then layer with your favorite toppings.  If your kids or hubby are anything like mine, they will gobble it up:)  And then lament the next day that you didn't make more for lunch leftovers.  Maybe next week boys, we have plenty of hot days in front of us in which I will be more than happy to leave the oven off!   

Summer

Summer is here!  As I write this Hubby T is finishing the last couple hours of his last day of work for the 2011-2012 school year.  (Congrats on another year well done babe!!)  While we had a lovely, extremely temperate weekend, we anticipate humidity and 90 degree days kicking in later this week.  And Baby B and I are going through our second day without Baby D.  I'm so glad for the family time he will have spending the summer at home with his mom and I'm excited for all the one-on-one time I will get with my own little munchkin.  But I'm also very glad that I'll get him back next school year.  He's too cute and too fun to let go of just yet...

 We spent our Father's Day weekend hanging out with Hubby T's parents who came down to fill up their Baby B love tanks.  Oh yea, and see their son and daughter-in-law too.  We're okay being afterthoughts...Baby B is pretty all-consuming:)  And what better way to spend a Father's Day weekend than doing construction! 

 
I realize that not every father would enjoy spending his weekend constructing a patio, but Hubby T and his dad sure do!  There was a lot of digging to lay the border stones and then sand dumping and pushing around and leveling before finally dropping a patio stone in place.

The patio is about half done so I'll post more pictures when Hubby T gets around to finishing it.  Which will hopefully be soon, I'm itching to finally use the outdoor furniture that was handed down to us several years ago which we've never really used!

Oh, and in case you're a lover of chai like me, check out this recipe for Iced Chai Latte.  I try to use less ice cream than it calls for so that I can have this as an afternoon treat and not feel so guilty about the calories.  I also use brown sugar as my sweetener, which blends really well with the deep earthy chai flavors.  So yummy and so refreshing.  The only downside is that I'll have to start sharing now that Hubby T will be home in the afternoons.  Oh well, I guess if that's the price I pay for having my husband home all summer, I'll still take it.  Happy summer vacation!

Fads

Fad: a fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period of time, a craze.

Normally you think about teenagers getting caught up in "fads."  In my day these included boy bands, Titanic, the macarena, and any WB teenage drama show.  (And before you ask, no, I won't comment on how much I may or may not have taken up these fads...)  I will, however, comment on how 17 month olds experience fads too!  Who knew?!  Some of these I hope will stick around, others not so much...I bet you can guess which fads belong in which category!!

"No!"  That's right.  It's started already.  My sweet little angel has discovered the power and allure of the word "no!"  Several mornings last week I woke up to the sound of his little voice saying "no, no, no, no" to himself in his crib.  If you ask him if he wants to eat anything other than banana bread or animal crackers his answer is no (although half the time if you just give him the food he will eat it regardless of what he says.) I'm reading in parenting books that this is completely normal.  *Deep sigh.*  At least he sounds really cute saying it:)

The pool.  I wish I could say that playing in the pool is Baby B's fad right now but alas, it's the opposite.  He has no interest in getting in the water!  I'm hoping this is just an aversion to the cold water, which will warm up as our weather warms up in the coming weeks.  On Friday when I took him to the pool we discovered that he can stand on the bottom of the shallowest part of the kid end all by himself.  He got so excited splashing and laughing and standing on his own that he lost his balance and went under:(  Poor guy.  I scooped him up immediately and he wasn't that upset, so I'm hoping that didn't scar him.  Hubby T and I are going to keep at it though...we didn't join the pool just to have him walk around on the hot concrete all summer!

Banana bread.  As I indicated above, this is one thing that is most definitely "no" proof right now.  Baby B would probably have eaten half the loaf in one sitting if I let him.  At meal times he kept pointing to the counter where I was keeping the bread so I moved it out of sight into the pantry.  Then he started pointing at the pantry.  Smart little guy.  I'm going to have to be more selective about when I make this in the future...like when we have company so that there's not a huge loaf leftover to tempt him day after day.

I love banana bread!!!

Hallmark Recordable Books.  Hallmark sells books that enable the giver to record his or her voice reading the story.  Baby B has received 4 such books from his grandparents and great-grandparents in recent months and all the sudden lately they have become his favorite books!  All he has to do is open the page and the voice starts reading!  I'm still trying to teach him that he doesn't need me to do this:)  I love seeing his face light up when he recognizes who is reading to him, what wonderful gifts.

Mad Men.  Okay, this one has nothing to do with Baby B except that we only watch it after he's gone to bed at night.  Hubby T and I decided to get Netflix for the summer since all our normal shows are on hiatus till the fall.  This is the first time either of us have watched the show and although we are completely appalled by the lack of morals and chauvinism portrayed in by the characters, we're still enjoying it.  I'm curious to know what people who lived through that generation think of it.

That's all for now.  I realize I haven't been writing here as frequently lately.  But I don't like posting when I don't have something worthwhile to share, so hopefully inspiration will start striking more frequently again soon.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with this little gem of a picture.  Baby B has (finally) started learning to give kisses on the cheek.  Now this is a "fad" that I will never tire of:)

Glimpses of summer

Only two more weeks of school...I went shopping for my sister's birthday present today...strawberries are permanently in stock at the grocery store....all of these things indicate that summer is almost here!

On Friday Auntie A spent the day with us so with a ratio of two adults to two babies we headed to the beach!  This local beach is on a river, so there were plenty of trees to provide shade and no crazy waves to worry about. 

Baby D had a grand old time, especially playing in the sand. 

Baby B was still fighting his double ear infection and wasn't quite so happy.  He had no interest in going in the water and kept pointing back to the parking lot as if to say, "Come on Mom, time to go already!"  Poor guy, hopefully he'll have more fun next time!

On Saturday morning Auntie A and I took Baby B over to the Yankee Candle store to discover that "Real Men Love Candles!"  There was a whole Father's Day display of candles with scents such as First Down, 2 X 4, Fresh Cut Grass, and Fireside.  If they sold a beer scent, I may have considered buying one.  Oh well, guess Hubby T will have to live without.  I'm sure he's going to be really sad about it;)

Saturday afternoon we took Baby B to our neighborhood pool for the first time this year!  (Left the camera at home, sorry folks.)  Last summer he wasn't able to do much other than float in his floatie.  So far this year he is far more interested in walking around the pool deck, touching all the chairs and tables and loungers.  It also wasn't super hot on Saturday, so that may be part of why he wasn't too keen on staying in the pool for very long.  We did discover however than when he's in his floatie his feet can reach the bottom of the pool in the most shallow part of the kid's end.  My boy is a'growing!!

Speaking of growing, check out my crazy out of control cilantro...guess I need to cook some Mexican food soon!!