Beefy's Ball

I've been meaning to post about this for a long time now, so this is kind of random, but I need to get it in. For his birthday, Beefy received a set of "Nerf" balls. There was a soccer ball, a football, and a basketball. Now, Beefy is definitely all boy, and therefore loves balls of all shapes and sizes, but in this particular case he developed an unreal attachment to the basketball in the set. For about 3 weeks after his birthday he went nowhere without that ball. It slept with him, and bathed with him, and it definitely was in his arm while he was playing and eating. We had to be very careful to keep an eye on the ball, because if it got forgotten for even a minute, it would soon be remembered and then must be found immediately. It was a short stage, only lasting about that 3 weeks, but definitely one of those things that I want to remember. Thank goodness for Boyhood obsessions to break up the monotony of life.

A New Look

So, I get bored easily. It is a good thing and a bad. In this case though it is good. I really like the look of my new blog layout, I would love feedback from others as well. Also, as you may notice, I have new family photos, courtesy of my "on-hand" photographer. Thanks "AM"! Here are a few more pictures from our family photo shoot, and a separate session with just the boys. I am still having a problem getting my photos loaded correctly while I am editing my posts, so I apologize for the long line of pictures with nothing to break it up.

Strawberry Picking

Last Saturday we went and picked strawberries with our friends "AM" and "GM". There is a cute little farm north of us that lets people come and pick their own strawberries and raspberries, it was really fun. Of course, "AM" came in full gear with her camera, I've included a few here, and once again, if you would like to see the full collection, let me know.













Not bad for a Days Work.

Unfortunately something funky is going on with my blogger, so that my pictures are added in HTML, therefore I can't add comments between them. It is super annoying, so if anyone knows what I might have done to mess that up (and how to fix it) please let me know. Thanks.

Tagged by Leanne - "Two's"

Two Names I Go By: Mom, Kimmi (only my husband calls me that though)
Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: pajamas, and a kid on my lap
Two Of Your Favorite Things To Do: craft projects, read
Two Things You Want Very Badly At This Moment: loose weight, and have a baby (i know, its totally counter intuitive)
Two Favorite Pets: I'm honestly not really a pet person. Maybe I'd like one that wasn't messy, like a fish (that cleaned its own bowl). I also really like my son's stuffed dog, that he treats like a real pet. He named it "Spike", and he even has a toy bone and a leash for it.
Two People Who Will Fill This Out: Lisa, Mel
Two Things You Did Last Night: Watched the kids play outside, went out to dinner
Two Things You Ate Today: Pancakes, a glass of skim milk
Two Last People You Talked To: My kids, and my Husband,
Two Longest Car Rides: Niagara Falls, Ohio
Two Favorite Vacations: Disneyland, Niagara Falls
Two Favorite Drinks: Raspberry Lemonade, Milkshakes (almost any kind)

People to Tag: Lisa, Alycia, Chari, Heidi, Mel, Cheronne

Forest Park

When we moved here (almost two years ago) the ward we were in had a really great playgroup which we became accustomed to attending regularly. Since moving to our house a year ago, and as a result, into a different ward, we still will occasionally go to the old playgroup, to catch up with friends and for an excuse to get out of the house. This week the playgroup was at a local animal farm and playground. I've mentioned my photographer friend on here before, hereafter referred to as "AM" (she took the playground pictures back in April, as well as Beefy's birthday party). Anyway, she wasn't working that day, and asked to tag along to get more practice on her new camera, (she is childless, and always in need of cute subjects) which I am only too happy to give her. So off we went to the animal farm. It was a good experience for the boys. Buggy has a huge irrational fear of all things animal, and this was a good chance for him to start to get over it. It seemed to work, by the end of our time with the animals, the boys were both (rather timidly in Beefy's case) petting the goats and calves.

Buggy particularly loved this little fat gray goat, and spent alot of time chasing it around trying to pet it, before I could persuade him to try the much softer, and much more still brown goat.

He was also especially proud of himself when he figured out that this was a baby cow, and that "Cows give us milk."
The white goat was the only animal that Beefy would touch, and it took us being there for 45 minutes before he would even do that.

Buggy on the other hand got very adventurous and followed one of the goats on to the picnic table.
After we had our fill of the animals, and washed our hands, we headed out for the playground where the boys played, and played, and played.



Beefy loved the swings. Buggy did too at that age, but now, they just take time away that could be used running around.

He was totally in his element, and more than happy to be photographed.


Beefy on the merry-go-round with his friend "E" who is two months younger. Her sister "J" is Buggy's age, and they are also good friends.

Boys will be boys....

But at the end of the day, they still love their brother.

There were many, many, many more pictures where these came from. If anyone wants to see them, just let me know and I will send you the link to "AM's" online album. This park also has a really great water-park feature that we were hoping to be able to use. Alas, the weather was not cooperating. Hopefully we will be able to get back before the summer ends. If so I will be sure to share my water pictures.

Back From Vacation

It has been a while since I posted here. I'm always amazed at how time gets away from me. Well, we are back from our impromptu vacation. It was very fun, the boys loved seeing their grandparents and cousins, I enjoyed having some sunshine, though not the heat so much, and now we are all home and settled in again. Unfortunately, while we were on vacation, my camera started to frizz-out, and therefore I have a total of 6 pictures of our trip (go figure, right?). If I can get them to load, I will post them at some point. Although, I must warn that there isn't anything too terribly exciting there. For those of you who want details about my trip, feel free to ask me, otherwise I will spare you. Yes, I know that I gave a lot of hype over something that turned out to be just another trip to visit family, but isn't that how it usually goes? I hope to be adding more posts soon, (as soon as I can get some photos organized) so stay tuned for that.

Happy Fathers Day

I am not a terribly open sentimental person, so if you are expecting a tribute to fathers that tugs at the heartstrings you will be sorely disappointed. My dad, my father-in-law, and my husband are all wonderful men, and wonderful fathers, and their righteous posterity is a fine tribute to them. With that said, I will proceed to write about today. I usually let my husband sleep in on Sundays. Today, being Fathers Day, was no exception. Plus I was feeling exceptionally nice, so I volunteered to make cookies for him to take to the Sunday School class he was teaching today. That is how I found myself in my kitchen making cookies at 8:30 this morning. I'm glad I was though. My cell phone often ends up in my purse, and therefore can't be heard from anywhere in the house but the kitchen. As I was making cookies it rang and thankfully I heard it. It was my older sister calling, which was kind of unusual for 8:30 on a Sunday. She was calling to tell me that my dad was in the hospital with a ruptured gallbladder, awaiting surgery. Now normally, I know that this is not a serious surgery, but almost 4 years ago (right after Buggy was born), he was unexpectedly hospitalized for a much more serious surgery, that has badly shaken both he and my mom ever since. After checking in with my Mom at the hospital to make sure all was still well, I went to tell my husband. As we got talking we made the decision to take an impromptu trip to be with the family. We are not going because of the surgery, it is just a good excuse to take a vacation, that I have needed for a while now. My husband has to work though, and it is a very long drive, so we are using some flight vouchers to bring my 16 year-old niece here, to drive with me and the boys, and to fly my husband there at the end of the week to drive back with us. I am really looking forward to it actually. I think I do better at fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants things, as opposed to planning and stressing forever about stuff. So be on the lookout for future posts about our crazy fun vacation.

Another One

After I posted the comic earlier, I realized I had another one that I really wanted to add on here.


So I found this one last week, and thought it described my family very well. Anyone that knows my husband and boys (or my 3 children as it sometimes feels) will understand.

Funny

A friend of mine (who grew up in Florida, but now lives here) sent this to me the other day. Very appropriate.

Cards for June

Here are my June card class creations. I have gone and gotten myself involved in yet another card exchange so this month there are 3 cards. I apologize that the photos are not fantastic. My camera is acting to be on its way out, but unfortunately the money for a new one is not being found, so I have to make do. Anyway, on the the cards:
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Card 1: Wedding Card (the girl and the words are embossed in black-its kind of hard to tell)

Card 2: Birthday Card. I love this stamp set and am making a point to use it (alot).


Card 3: This card was kind of an experiment taken from a card that I found at one of my favorite stamping websites . It is a little crazy, but it was fun to make. All the little tags and things come out, but that picture is when my camera finally decided it was done for the day, so all you get to see is the put together project.


Anyway, they were lots of fun to make, even if their "cuteness" doesn't translate to photo well. Maybe by the time my July cards come around we will have become millionaires and I will have a new, better camera. Doubtful, but I can dream can't I?