My Favs

So, we just had our family portraits done... and I L.oOVE them!!! Usually it is so easy to choose the one I like best b/c there are blinks or frowns or wardrobe malfunctions... something wrong in each photo. Not the case with these... I guess I just have beautiful kids!

12 Month Checkup

Adalie had her 12 month check-up yesterday. She's healthy as can be! She was 19 pounds and 29.5 inches tall. She's a tall and slender one (15th and 60th percentiles). She had to get 3 shots and really let the nurse know just how she felt about that.... not too happy about that at all.
Her gums are pretty swollen up front so I think we've got tooth #4 on its way soon. It's amazing how much she has grown and changed in the last few weeks... there's really been a transformation. It's so fun to watch, but at the same time I wish she'd just SLOW DOWN! She's just the sweetest!

We went the the park a few nights ago. It was so hot and muggy out... not really the best day for it. The kiddos enjoyed playing on the toys for a few minutes and then began wandering as usual. They found a really great bush that was completely hollowed out... the perfect little fort! As you can see, Sam sent his little brothers in as the guinea pigs to make sure it was alright to venture in. Well, it wasn't! They woke up about a bazillion mosquitoes so we packed up and left the park within seconds. It was awful!!! Oh well..... another time :)

Breakfast Pizzas for Dinner!

I made these for dinner a couple nights ago and they were YUMMY!

I used:

1 can Grands Buttermilk Biscuits
A few spoonfuls of Tomato Sauce
Grated Cheese
Cooked Sausage
Eggs

I flattened out the biscuits to a 5-6" circle, leaving the edge a little thicker to contain the runny egg. Then, I layered on the ingredients and baked it at 350* for about 20 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the eggs (like I did!). Even though they look soft and runny, they are pretty hard, almost too hard.

Next time, I'll definitely make them with my own biscuit recipe or pizza dough... we are not big Grands fans around here, just had them on hand for Monkey Bread. I'm thinking we might throw in some veggies too... broccoli might be tasty.

Our 4th Fun!

We had a great 4th of July. First thing on the schedule was a quick trip to the Tosa Parade... which turned out to be a 3 hour long adventure. That was the loooooongest parade I've ever been to, but it was fun. That night we went to the Butler fireworks show. Butler is a tiny village that we pass through rather quickly on our way to church, but man do they have good fireworks. The grand finally was amazing! It was Aaron and Adalie's first time and they both did amazingly well... I was expecting them to freak out. The boys got a little frisbee time in while I chased Addie around trying to keep her off all the neighbors blankets... such a friendly little child.

Project Runway

Here's my own version of Project Runway...

I have had a hankerin' to make some summer dresses for Addie. I bought several Simplicity patterns a few months ago (during a $1 sale) but chickened out as soon as I looked at the back of the envelope. Oh well... so I traced a jumper that fits Addie pretty well, made a few modifications (the shoulder ties, ruffle bottom, and front thingy with the buttons), and Ta Da!!! I love this cute little dress! It's almost as cute as the girlie inside it :)

But then...... Patty came! She mentioned the possibility of working on a few patterns that she had brought with her. So I ran to my room and grabbed the ones I had bought months ago, and we got right to work. This is the cutest dress EVER! I love the simplicity of it, while still having a little girly ruffle... and the button is just.... "cute as a button." (that saying makes so much more sense to me now. lol) This one is just a little big for Addie right now, but I couldn't resist a little photo shoot... she's just so stinkin' cute!

Here's the 3rd one completed so far. This is the one we call the "blue marshmallow." This one's not nearly as cute as the previous one, but this little girl can wear just about anything and look like a doll. It's a little big for her as well. She couldn't quite climb the stairs because her little legs kept disappearing into the marshmallow... a serious dilemma for this little one whose favorite activity is stair climbing... and talking on the phone (or truck in this case... whatever's handy!). This was a great learning project, however, because I learned how to work with snap tape and button holes.

I just finished cutting out the next project... another tiered dress, in knit fabric. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Vacation's Over!

We had such a great visit with Gene and Patty. I can't believe all the things we fit in to those few short weeks. Our days were packed full of activity. Here is a little photo journal for you of just a few of the things we were able to do:::

Bowling... not once, but TWICE! I wasn't sure we'd get them to go after the first time, but after a few days of resting (and avoiding the stairs if at all possible) they were ready for another try. I am in awe of Patty... she has mean bowling skills. She wooped us all, every time! I am lucky to get 1 strike or spare per game (I really like those gutter balls)... she gets them every frame! It's insane!

Painting the fence... Patty and I went on a Joann's run and came back to find the boys painting away. It looks so nice!

Tie Dye Party... I loved the vibrant colors! Unfortunately, they didn't really stay too vibrant after washing. We learned the trick for future reference... cotton (the more the better). All of the t-shirts that were 50% cotton faded a ton when washed. Addie's ruffly t-shirt and shorts were 95% cotton and they stayed pretty vibrant after the washing. This was totally fun. Patty and I really enjoyed unwrapping them all later that night to see just what each one looked like... so exciting!

Strawberry Picking... this was my first time ever berry picking. We came home with TONS of yummy strawberries (and several not-so-yummy ones too). They were so good on our ice cream that night... and we have lots more in the freezer.

Campfires... the guys found this awesome firepit on one of their excursions to the hardware store. We are loving it. We've roasted many marshmallows and hot dogs on it already. I know it will be well used over the next few months.

Milwaukee Art Museum... I finally got to see the wings open and close. It wasn't really all that exciting, but it's something I can mark off my list of things to see and do :) I love the art museum and could really spend hours and hours there.... HOWEVER, just moments into our visit Seth was asking to leave. HMMM! Oh well! It was fun despite the all the shhhhshing and dragging we had to do.

Our days really were packed...
Adam and Gene ran a heater/air conditioning vent from the basement all the way up to the boys room, Patty (hopefully) taught me how to read a pattern (we'll see how I do on my next solo one), we had a garage sale for 2 days, Gene spent a night on-call with Adam at the hospital, we had a birthday party, rode bikes, read hundreds of stories, built tents, made art projects, and just totally exhausted ourselves.

Thank you G & P for coming to visit us! We loved every minute!