::good bye diapers::

It is time.  

Time to potty train the boy.  

Wish me luck.

Pray for my strength and my rugs.

My plan is to go cold turkey. 

But now I have to find the day to start.

Tomorrow keeps looking good -

every day tomorrow looks good.

Maybe tomorrow...

::farmers market-take one::

How is it that I have never been to a farmers market?  It seems like it would be right down my ally.   

First, (while still spoiled) I was not going to wake up early to go buy food.

Second, (post spoiled) I am too cheap.

But I loaded up the little shorties and off we went.  This was on my summer fun list, and I have been looking forward to trying it out.  

We had to take Lizzie.  I assumed it was a dog friendly event, and I was correct.  I think every person there had a dog with them.  Lizzie and her underbite were a big hit.  Really, she is a cute little thing.  But I know that the teeth are something else.  She just has the personality of a lab trapped in a little dog body.  (Loving and forgiving of the children with out be snappy/barky.)  

Max was stroller bound for this event.  I needed him under control, at least a little.  He got a cookie from one of the bakery's so he was doing just fine.  And he kept pointing and yelling "Go dis way!"

Lily knows what a lily looks like and she always points them out.  She liked these yellow ones, but I could not be talked into them.  I am usually very strict with my budget, but I let my self get a little crazy. Instead of the $20 I had set aside, we did break the $30 mark.  $32 to be exact.  I decided to cut myself a little slack on that one, but I did have some guilt.  

Our treasures.   

Corn, french bread (eaten in one day), tomatoes, blueberry's, raspberry's, two cookies and drinks, apple cider, parsley plants (mine never really got going), and fresh meat bones for the dogs. 

Overall, I loved market.  But I think this one was pretty small.  I am going to go to a few different ones to figure out which one I like best.  Next time I want to try some of the  fresh made pasta.  

My wonderful neighbors sell baked goods at a market downtown, so I have to check that out.

  Next year I want to grow sunflowers for them to sell at market if I can talk them in to it.  Less lawn for me and wonderful flowers in my world.  Win-win.    

::flowers gone wild::

My flowers are out of control this year.  We have had more rain than usual, and they are loving it.  I let Lily pick some (why is that a kids favorite thing to do?).  She was so excited about it all.  

Even Max got one.

Seriously, look at the size of the hydrangeas!

I love that kid.  

Next year I have plan for a kids picking garden.  Anything in that area will be kids free game.

I am thinking shasta daisies, zinnia's, and ????.  

The Hydrangeas are so super blue this year.  I am not sure why.  I totally ignored them last year.  But they are going insane.  I think I will ignore them more often.  

Phlox

Lily carefully placed the dragon in the center of the Clemantis.  It's his house.  Don't mess with the logic.

You can even see the weeds coming up around the hydrangea bush.  They must be its friend.  

::bubble painting::

I found this craft online, but I can not figure out were! I love how easy/cheap it was. 

You pour some bubbles in a bowl and add food coloring to get what ever colors you want.

Then use straws to blow bubbles into the mixture till it is bubbling out of the bowl.

Do not get the food coloring in your mouth.  It stains.  (For a day or so)

Then you take card stock and press it down on the top of the bowl.

Since we used heart shaped bowls we got heart shaped prints.

A little extra food coloring adds to the page.  

Or so I have been told.

::peacock::

I am super pumped up about this one.  Lily and I were doing a Max-nap-time craft and we found a paper cone wreath project on the Family Fun Magazine website.  We had fun putting it together, but in the middle of it Lily said, “This would make an awesome peacock!”  So, of course, we had to give that a try too.

You start with your base.  Approximately a ten inch circle for the wreath and a 10 inch half circle for the peacock.  

Cut your paper into 4inch by 5inch rectangles.  Run two sided tape along one short end of the paper and orient that to be the top.  Start the cone by rolling up the bottom left hand corner.  After you have your cones, run two sided tape along the back and bottom two thirds of the cone.  Then just place them on the cardboard base.  Next we cut out a bowling pin shape to be the peacock body.  Lily glued on the eyes and the beak to finish it off.  

 I was really proud of her to see her stretch her imagination and come up with this idea.  She wants to do it again at Thanksgiving and make a turkey. 

::puppies -why not::

My neighbors has a little dog that they didn't get spayed in time.  She got pregnant by a neighborhood dog that is a large black lab.  She was only about 25 pound and small to medium sized.  Poor little thing died two days after delivering her puppies.  

My neighbors have 13 children.  They are the most wonderful people that I know.  One of their older daughters in married and lives with them.  She has always been the animal lover and is who was taking care of these puppies.  She is also 37 weeks pregnant with her second daughter.

Too pregnant to be up all night with these puppies.  She will get enough of that soon.  Plus the family has a huge wedding coming up on Saturday.  (which I get to photograph!!!!)  So I offered to split the raising of them with her.  They eat every three hours.  Last night was a long night but they are not on this schedule for long.  

So far Max is following the rules well.

Lily is a huge help.  HUGE!

::stepping stones::

In the bribery trip to the craft store last week I pick up some cement stepping stones for the kids to do.  I don't usually like to do craft kits, they are too structured, but I felt like the kids would take these and run with them.  Which I was right about.  They went and dug out a ziplock of shells and some old Disney pins that had the backs broke off.  (Were they were hiding these I would like to know, cause that is exactly the kind of stuff I throw away.)
  

When Emma went to put them in the garden I got too nervous about them actually being stepped on, so we put them in with the cucumbers.  Who started growing over them as fast as possible.  

I just love looking at the size differences.  Maybe next year there will be a little tiny hand print in the group.  (Not the dog.)

::baby plants::

I love this little garden.  (Just incase you hadn't figured that out already.)  I have lots of little baby plants coming in right now.  

Little baby cucumber.

They way they grow is almost spooky.  They want to take over the whole place.  I have been cutting them back, but don't tell Josh because it would break his heart.  We will have more than we know what to do with anyway.

Baby cherry tomatoes

The zinnia's just started blooming

TONS of pears this year.  

I am excited for all the apples we will have this fall.

::flip flops::

I was driving around with the kids the other day and I needed a bribe to keep them in line.  Yes, great parenting, but sometimes you have to do whatever it takes.  I don't bride with candy (but sometimes with ice cream).  So I told them that if they were good for the boring errands than I would give them each a ten dollar limit and take them to the craft store.  Then they could pick out what every they wanted within their budget.  They loved that!  I will do it again.

Emma picked out two dollar flip flops and three dollars worth of ribbon.  She is so cute, because she thought it was hot stuff that she was under budget.  How come some kids just have an awareness of money?  

She sat down on the couch that night and worked on putting them together.  She did it all herself. 

::the ingle family::

I work with an amazing woman named Erika.  She is so encouraging and wise and gifted and pretty and gracious and I love her.  She has six children and she asked me to shoot a family portrait.  I was scared to death.  She has everything from preteen, to wheel chair, to toddlers, to new baby.  I thought I might be in over my skill set but if you don't stretch you don't grow, right?  So I gave it a shot.

Bree - the oldest

A future photographer

Dylan

VERY funny and cute

Asha

Very sweet and loving

Gavin

So photogenic

Colby

Entertaining little guy

 

Little Reece

LOVED the blue flower!