TWO

 

Mister turned 2 this past weekend!!

Still not talking much--he has a few words but communicates quite well without them.

We had a small, joint birthday celebration for the August birthday boys!

We are so thankful that it is raining today after being Sooooo dry

(as you can see from the ground in the picture)

Special present--mostly due to his bigger brother, but I'll elaborate on that more in the next birthday post.  

Happy Birthday, big boy!

2ND ANNUAL BAKE-OFF

 This past week, we hosted the 2nd Annual Bake-off!!

This year 5 of the kids entered..and my kitchen was tied up for two days in the making of their creations!

The theme was "literature."  Contestants had to choose something from their favorite book and create it!

There were two categories--appearance and taste--with small prizes for first and second place in each category. 

Here are some shots from the baking process:

The set-up

The entries:

2nd place in appearance

1st place in appearance and 2nd place in taste

1st place in taste

Some of the contestants:

Each contestant gave us a brief explanation of why they chose what they did etc.

It was a nice day, so they all enjoyed some swimming and playing games.

Cousin bonding time:

It was a nice time and I love to see the creativity!

Can't wait for next year.

THREE MONTHS

 

Three months with this "little" stinker!

He is far from little for his age.  In fact, he is huge!!

He is wearing 9 month clothing size and it fits! Size 2 diapers are getting waaaay to snug, so once we finish up what we have he will definitely be moving up.

He sleeps through the night, he eats like a champ, he giggles and coos.

He is overall a pretty happy baby and rarely fusses. 

He is not currently rolling at all, but I have to admit he does not get a whole ton of tummy time on the floor.  For his safety, as you can imagine.  I will have to weigh him today-but I imagine that he is 16 or 17 lbs at least. 

(edited to add: he is 17.5lbs as of 8/23)

We love you, little squish!!

NEW ENDEAVORS

 

The firefighting continues to the next generation!

(Dad is thrilled)

Congratulations and be safe.

TOOTIN'

 

There are definitely dangers to social media.  However, there are also some awesome benefits!

This guy asked to learn French Horn beginning this coming school year.  

You may or may not know that this particular instrument has a pretty hefty price tag-I put out some feelers in our local marketplace website to see if anyone had one stashed away somewhere.  A couple of months went by and no one responded, except to point me to various music stores.  So, we found a place we could rent one beginning in August.  

A few weeks ago, someone in town ran across my post and said they had an old one in their attic!

We were super excited and picked it up, free of charge!!

Amazing how the Lord provides!!

It may need a bit of work, but even so! 

We have some musicians taking a look at it as we speak and hopefully it still has a long and fruitful career of making music ahead of it!!

BARRACUDAS!

This is the second year the kids have been a part of swim team.

Last year, the two eldest also swam, but decided not to this year.  So, I had four swimmers this year and they all made the team!  Last year I had two on the Competition team and 4 on the Developmental team.  It is a huge commitment--they practice 5 mornings a week and then had two meets a week in the evenings.  

It is such great exercise though!

This guy (down below) qualified for the Champs Meet this year and did really, really well!

All the kids did well, I'll have to get a picture of them with all of their ribbons. 

Just a few shots from various meets and practices.

As time consuming as it is, I'm looking forward to next swim season!

Great job, kiddos!

 

11 WEEKS

 

My sweet, little one is 11 weeks old already!

He is a pretty happy guy-eats well, sleeps well and is full of smiles and coos.

Last time I weighed him (a couple of weeks ago), he was just shy of 15 lbs at 2 MONTHS OLD!!

He is growing well and we are so very thankful for him!

 💙💙💙

SEASONS

 

This summer has really brought us into a new season.  

I have only just begun my chaufferring career and I'm already kinda over it!

Our oldest has a job--last summer he mowed lawns and helped out a couple from church around their house with various chores, but this year he started a more regular job.  It's great--just not local, so I'm spending quite a bit of time on the road.  THEN, he went away for a whole week to another state for youth camp and NOW--we have a driver's permit!  After taking a Driver's Ed course, we went through a driving school for the 6 hours of behind-the-wheel and he got his permit on Saturday.  (Congrats!!)

He also joined the fire department as a Junior Volunteer.

Like I said, a new season...the wings are spreading!

It's exciting and different.

I can't wait for him to get his license so he can chauffer, at least part-time!

First time driving with Dad.