Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Fun w/ Friends {Vacation 2014}

We kicked off our vacation with a trip to Watertown, WI to visit some of our favorite people! The kids played really well together and the adults actually had a few conversations. I won't do too much explaining as the pictures speak for themselves, but we did a lot of playing, went to the park, did a little shopping, went swimming, went to the Madison zoo and visited a unique restaurant (Ella's Deli). And a momentous occasion occurred…Sawyer rode a bike with no training wheels for the first time!

While we may live many miles apart we LOVE visiting the Peterson's!

the big kids picnicking in the backyard

the girls watching a movie

someone got a new bike

freshly bathed and eating in their jambes
the whole gang…we've grown a bit in number since we 1st met







our little chickens









Monday, July 28, 2014

A Day in the Life {Looking Back}

I was looking through my drafts and ran across this post from several years ago (I'm thinking about 4 years ago). It was meant to be pictures of my normal day. At the time I was watching my niece Gracie was around 2 and Sawyer was 8 months(?). What a blast from the past! It was fun to think back to those days and to marvel at how big both these kiddos are now!

Saying good morning to each other
playing together

Someone was not always happy

Lots of play time




Eating lunch

Naps of course
Always a smile after nap
While I love nap time, one of my favorite parts of the day is getting them after nap
Not happy about being stuck behind the gate


I think I never finished this post from 2010 because I forgot to take pictures of the remainder of the day, but this is a pretty good snapshot of life back then. Oh, how simple it was… :)

Friday, July 25, 2014

5 on Friday

1) House projects
Since Kyle is home more in July we've been working on our house projects for the year. Everything from painting vents to putting trim on the stairs (for the floor laid 4 years ago) to a new chimney. It's a good mix of big and small projects. There are always improvements to be made, but the house is getting close to a finished status :)


2) Swim Lessons
We just wrapped up Sawyer's 2nd session of swim lessons from the summer. The 1st day of the first session he ran away from the teacher (just like last year), but thankfully he has gotten progressively better. Some days he didn't listen well and there was a significant amount of bribery involved but by the end he was listening and performing all the tasks the instructor required. But to be honest he doesn't love it :( And he still struggles with being cold. When he is wet he shivers and his lips turn purple. He literally has no insulation. Even after being in the water for the whole lesson he is still shaking like a leaf (it's an indoor heated pool). It's hard for him to overcome and I'm not really sure I can help him. Hopefully with age and added pounds he will outgrow it.



3) Spit-Up
Kolter spits up like it's his job. He is guaranteed to spit up at least twice after every feeding, but he will also spit-up hours after eating. Often if he moves positions (laying to sitting and vice versa) he lets it flow. In fact in his new nickname is Chuck… Thankfully his reflux doesn't seem to bother him. His typical reaction after throwing up is giving a great big smile. While I'm happy it doesn't hurt him he is ruining many of his clothes (and mine :) and he constantly stinks (no nice baby smell here). Anyone have any advice for reducing reflux? I don't want to put him on any medicine and our pediatrician believes if it doesn't hurt him there is no reason to medicate, so I'm looking for natural remedies. Any suggestions?

4) Jury Duty
I was called for jury duty last week. I've only been requested for jury duty 1 other time and it was in OH, but we had just moved back to KS so I didn't have to serve. This time around the judge must have been on vacation, but no juror was called all week. I'm so thankful because we left Thursday of that week for vacation and I would have been very disappointed if we had to cut our vacation short.

5) Food Truck
I forgot to post about our 2nd annual food truck date. We went to Walnut Wednesday in Cleveland in June (while Sawyer and Nora were in KS). We had tons of fun picking food from the 15 food trucks. My 1st option was from the Hodge Podge truck. Hodge Podge has participated in the Great Food Truck Race on Food Network and it's owner has been on The Next Food Network Star. And while waiting in line the owner (Chris Hodge) came out to greet people. When I got to the front of the line they were sold out of the meal I wanted so I moved on in search of another culinary delight. I landed on Off the Griddle. All of their "sandwich" selections used a belgian waffle as the bun. I chose a belgian waffle with pulled adobo chicken, black beans, salsa, queso and cilantro lime dressing. Kyle selected a Korean burrito. And of course I finished it off with a caramel cupcake. Kolter came along on our date, but he didn't get to partake in the goodness. Date selfie to round out our fun food truck experience.

Hodge Podge and it's owner in the red gingham


my yummy dinner





Wednesday, July 23, 2014

So happy together!

Sawyer and Nora rarely want their picture taken, but when the camera comes out for Kolter they MUST be included in the photo shoot :) Here is their photo intrusion from Kolter's 3 month pictures.



They are wiggly and crazy, but cute!