Is it Summer Yet?

So we have had a few hot days so far speckled with days of cool and rain.  On the nice days Ryan has finished putting in the bushes in the front and putting in the rock edging around the front and partially on the left side of the house.  We also bought our first tree, a red maple!  It is about 18-20 ft tall and is not perched in our front yard.  Ryan built it up out of the ground a bit and we will surround the bottom with rock and flowers with a large circular edging around everything.  We will be getting 3 more trees of a smaller size to put in soon.  Our fencing for the front yards comes in today!!  Ryan will probably be busy starting on that this weekend if the weather permits.   We have also paid the contractor to start on his shop.  We will just be getting the foundation cement and driveway poured for it for now.

Next Wednesday is our anniversary.  We have planned to go out to dinner that evening just the two of us.  This is 9 years for us!  It amazes me every time I say that.  That seems like such a long time.  When I look back it just astounds me that we were married 6 years before we had children, since now it is hard to remember a time when we did not have children.  It seems when I look back on it that that 6 years was just a blink!

Jack has 9 teeth now and is cutting his first molar.  He is chewing things better now and even attempts apples with the core still on or grapes with skins and does pretty well with them most of the time.  He has gotten very good at feeding him self with utensils and actually prefers to use them.  He is CLIMBING EVERYTHING.  He and Lydia were playing in her room last week and when I went to check on them he had climbed onto her toddler bed, then onto her foot board and up to her desk and was standing on top of it! Yikes!  He loves to dance to music and play with his sister.  He is saying a few more words every once in awhile but nothing consistent.  He picked up a ball and said 'ball' today.  :)

Lydia loves to draw and play dress up.  She also loves playing games and learning activities on the computer.  I recently got an Iphone4 and she can't get enough of the little talking hippo app.  I think she could carry that around with her all day if she could.  She is a great big sister and a good helper to mommy.  She loves to help cook and clean and to help daddy any way she can with the yard or in the garage.  She just loves to feel like she is a part of what we are doing and helping us.  It's so sweet.

We are getting our 1/4 organic grass fed beef next week.  It was suppose to be ready this week but we haven't gotten a call yet so maybe it will be this weekend or next week.  Ryan's parent's are taking 1/2 and my parents are taking the other 1/4 to make a whole beef.  Our big standing freezer is not expected to arrive until the week after next so we may have to borrow some freezer space from someone for just a bit.

Both my job and Ryan's are keeping us busy.  There is a lot of growth projected for Ryan's company which is a great thing.  Work is going great for me, it has been a little slower for the guys with all the rain but as soon as it warms up and stays dry they will be super busy through the summer.  I know they are all looking forward to that.   I am looking forward to getting my office moved to the new one in the basement.  It will be great to have all the office stuff in its own organized space!

Here are a few park pictures of the kids, Lydia was making a wish and blowing the dandelion.  She got so upset because the little fuzzies wouldn't blow off.. lol

Belated Easter 2011

This scrapbook generated with Smilebox

Photos & Updates

It has been awhile since I have posted any updates! Unfortunately we did not get any nice Easter photo's this year since the kids were sick.  I would still like to take some outdoor photos with them dressed in their Easter outfits the next time we have a really nice day.

As most of you know Jack is officially walking. Walking is his main way of getting around now and rarely crawls anymore.  As the weeks go by he just gets quicker and quicker now.

He is really growing like a weed! He is in 12-18 month clothes now, and practically skipped size 3 in shoes. I just bought them for him but they now barely fit.

We all enjoyed a beautiful mothers day yesterday! They weather could not have been any nicer.  We spent the afternoon barbecuing with my family and the evening with Ryan's family.  I brought over a strawberry pretzel salad, potato salad, bacon broccoli salad and a strawberry spinach salad along with some marinated chicken breasts.  My brother Ryan brought the steaks and brats and Sean brought some drinks and buns.  Everything was delicious!

My brother's and I went in together and bought mom a new patio swing.  All the boys pitched in together and put it up for her, I thinks he really likes it.  :)  Her are some fun pictures of our afternoon in the sun..  I could not believe how hot it got!  I at the last minute grabbed the sunscreen for the kids before I left the house and I am glad I did, Ryan got a nice burn on both his arms!

Ryan has gotten a few more walls up in the basement, and we are now getting the ball rolling for the landscaping.  Ryan worked on it some this weekend and put in a divider for the rock/bush area we will have next to the drive way.  We should be getting the cement pad and driveway laid for Ryan's new garage in the next 2 weeks, and Ryan is ordering the fence.  Then Ryan will put in the sprinkler system, and we will get the sod put in.  Ryan's Dad told us about a rancher he knows from work that has literally tons of really old manure that we could use for our top soil/fertilizer.  Ryan's Dad got a trailer load from him for his garden. I was very happy to hear about that!  I did not want to have to use chemical fertilizers for our yard and that should work perfectly.

My mother in law called me this morning and spoke with me about starting our own natural/organic food co-op.  I have been looking into joining one so I really liked the idea.  I think we will probably end up going through UNFI since they have the largest variety of food available.  The only criteria is a minimum order of $500 each month, which would be very easy to do between the 3-5 of us that will be in on it.  I have been buying bulk from the health store here but am looking forward to saving some more money and also having more options for organic foods.  I want to have my own organic garden, but I think that will need to wait until next year.  I will take this year to learn everything I can about it and make a plan. I'd like to do a green house.  I love the thought of growing our own produce and having the children help and learn to garden as well.  I think it will be an excellent learning experience for them and it would be so rewarding.

I will be sure to post pictures as we get our landscaping done.  We are all very excited to get it done and have a fun, beautiful and safe place to hang out, garden and play.

I'm sorry there aren't a lot of photos of Lydia this time, she has been boycotting the camera lately and not wanting to look at the camera or sit still long enough to get a good photo!