Trip to Iowa

I am only a month behind on posting...sorry about the slow blog this summer! We are outside having too much fun!

Brady and I took a trip to Atlantic to visit my family. We had a great time with the whole family, minus Daddy of course. We even went to a family wedding and got to see my Grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins! Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from the wedding since Brady decided to show his two-year-old colors two weeks early!

We spent many afternoons cooling off in the pool - both at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and the country club. Brady loves the water!

Addie is a little fish, too!

Reese is always patient to play with the little kids!

Uncle Jeff Jeff is excellent at the art of intimidation

Shannon and Addie - 2 peas in a pod!

Can't get enough of Reese's blue blue eyes!

Addie took this picture - not bad for a 6 year old!

Brady and Gracie get along great!

They are even content to share Grandma's lap

Cheeto boy

Snuggling down for bed with Grandma - the best part of Brady's vacation!

Summer Marches On...

Just a few pics from the last month...more to come!

Exploring our local parks and trails

Somebody got a little tired after insisting on walking most of the trail himself...At the Haven of Rest's Annual Community Picnic

With Rev. Thomas, but more interested in his popsicle

Smiles

and cheesy grins!

OCD strikes again...I caught him lining up his cars while brushing his teeth...that takes talent!

Daddy relaxing after a taxing game of Frisbee

I'll be back soon with Iowa pictures and a birthday celebrated SpongeBob-style!

Little Helper

Brady noticed some water drops on the floor. He pointed to the paper towels and said the word that is universal in toddler language, "uh, UH!"...I gave him a paper towel, and he cleaned up the mess. He even threw away the towel when he was done and wiped his hands on his shirt. GOOD BOY! Now his chores include putting away the silverware from the dishwasher and cleaning the water off the floor. I wonder if it is too soon to teach him how to clean the bathroom?

The View from my Kitchen Window

I wonder who is having more fun?

Green Thumbs...and Fingers...and Occasionally Toes, too

I literally have a green thumb today...in fact every finger on my right hand is green. I guess it was a waste of money to buy those cute gardening gloves if I'm not going to wear them! Our garden is growing...almost excessively! Lately I've been doing a lot of pruning. I enjoy working in the garden while Brady "helps"...such as today when he helped by sitting on the onions and pulling a couple of green tomatoes.

This is what our garden looked like mid-May - Jason built me two raised beds and filled them with soil and fertilizer from a friend's farm. Every single plant and seed is an experiment. We have NO idea what we are doing. Our pepper plants, two tomato plants, onions, zucchini, cucumber, eggplant, peas, beans, spinach, and lettuce (yes, it's all there!)

And here we have six tomato plants and several herbs, plus a strawberry plant in there somewhere...(photo still from mid-May)And here we are about two weeks ago. You can see the zucchini and peas are having a turf war, the tomatoes are turning to bushes, and nobody should ever attempt to eat that much lettuce.

I wish I had photos ready of the garden today - each tomato plant has easily grown another foot (the tomato plant in back has grown about six inches past the window!) and the zucchini has decided to take over everything. I pruned quite a bit today to clean it all up and should have done it sooner. So far we have only been able to sample the lettuce and the peas. I can't wait for everything else to be ready! The sore back, sunburn, green phalanges, etc has all been worth it - gardening is FUN! :)

Visit to Iowa

Brady and I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Iowa for the Iron Sharpens Iron Conference at Emmaus Bible College. This was our second year "just the two of us" and for the most part we did great. Brady played at Carson's house and with Amanda while I worked, and then my parents arrived during the conference to take over Brady care. Jason also came for the conference and taught an excellent class on Addictions. The nine hour road trip out was not to bad for us, because we broke up the trip by staying with the Murrays in Chicago. On the way back, my parents drove with us and stayed for a visit once we made it back to Ohio. I couldn't have done it all without them, and without excellent care and help for Brady. Now it is officially summer around here...I am working less hours and enjoying the extra time to relax with Brady! Here are a few pictures from our stay!

My little conference attendee...nametag and everything!

Most mornings Brady patiently watched a movie in the Pack n' Play while I got ready for work. He normally sleeps in until 8:00, but was up at 6 with me every day. He took monster naps (4 hours!) every day to make up for it. This kid loves his sleep!

We also took an extra 4 hour road trip to see my family over the weekend...it was a blast. Brady loved playing with his cousins! Here's beautiful little Gracie...spitting image of her Daddy and her sister, Addie.Shannon took us for a ride on the golf cart. Every time it stopped Brady tried to get off!Me and my DadMy mom and my brother JeffBrady learned to ride a tricycle...a pink and purple one!Brady and Uncle "Jeff Jeff" playing tag :)Grandpa is a great ladderBrady spent most of his time on the slideReese gave Brady a few rides on the swingsetHe also loved this little horsey, which he thinks says "hee haw" (thanks to Grandma!)Addie and I enjoyed manicure timeSweet sisters...and best friends!We played a few rounds of wiffleball to end a great day!After the conference, we were so happy to be back home even though our time in Iowa was so much fun. Brady liked being back in his own bed and especially liked having Grandma and Grandpa for a visit.