Ready for Grocery Shopping

"Mommy, I'm Singing a Song!"

"More"

This is from September 1. I wasn't positive at the time, but now I am. This is definitely "more." Amazing, considering how seldom I have remembered to show him the sign. He has caught on to this a lot younger than I expected. I wonder if other signs will come easily? Anyhow...it's very cute!

The Weekend of Grandmas

I thought I might have lost my few but faithful readers due to my lack of blogging. I mean, it's September 10 and this is my first post for the month. Gasp! But then Kris checked in to make sure that everything is OK (which it is, just crazy around here) so I am not only inspired to post, but assured that I have at least three readers remaining: Kris, my mom, and Jeff's mom. Hopefully some others haven't given up on us yet. (Aunt Shari, are you still there? :) )

Speaking of moms, this post will feature them a lot. This past Labor Day weekend was the first one since moving here that Jeff has not had to work. We were actually able to get away for the weekend, which was a real treat. Our moms came with us, and we rented a beautiful house near one of the most beautiful lakes we've seen. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend.

Here's Jonathan and my mom after they finished a puzzle together. Jonathan said this was one of his two favorite parts of the weekend. (The other was picnicking by a lighthouse, which I'll explain later.)

Here's our weekend home. It was so beautiful inside. Amazing, really. We didn't want to leave it.

A view of the lake.

Green smoothies! Grace looooves these.

As you can see.

My mom has some amazing french braiding skills, and Grace enjoyed them while we were together. She hasn't learned to sit very still yet, though.

A little outing with my first grader: time for hot chocolate and a muffin.

Here we are as a family, ready to hike. Luckily, we have convinced all the kids that they like the outdoors!

A view of the lake on our hike.

I love how Gracie's hand is on Jeff in this pic.

My sidekick...chewing on the camera case.

Two notes: Cheryl was behind the camera a lot of the time, so you don't see her, but she was there! Also, Jonathan's second favorite thing - picnicking at the lighthouse - is funny, because we just sat down and ate lunch by the water on this hike where we expected to find a lighthouse. We followed a trail to the light house, but what we found was a big street sign with a flashing light attached to it. They called it a lighthouse. Very anticlimactic!

Toes in the water.

Enjoying the waves with my mom.

Jeff's mom and my mom

He's never far away. :)

We with the moms and younger kids.

I loved seeing her running with those little braids sticking out of her hat. By the way, Grace's favorite thing about the weekend, she tells me, was "pock-sipples." There are so few words that she grossly mispronounces that I think the way she says "popsicles" is adorable. And I also find it funny that orange juice popsicles were her favorite part of our trip.

Jeff and me watching mom with the kids. Cheryl obviously took this one!

Toes in the water.

A different trek to the lake. Jeff and Jonathan got in the chilly water and were...um...refreshed. It was cold, but Jonathan said it was awesome.

Married for twelve years now, I can hardly believe it! We often comment that we have a crazy life right now, but we love it.

Jeff got Jonathan a treat first thing in the morning, and he shared it with his little sister. Very sweet, in more ways than one.

The vacationing crew!

The moms and the older kids.

Another view of the beautiful lake.

Here we are at a restaurant on the way home. Both the drive to the lake and the drive home took twice as long as they normally would, due to construction and traffic. With little kids and a nursing baby, things were challenging. We chose this opportunity to break the news to the kids that our van has a DVD player! We hadn't let them know until now, and we won't use it again until we take another very long trip. It came in handy.

Traveling with the kiddos is challenging but totally worth it. Even with the challenge, I got some relaxing in: I read The Help (thanks, Amanda!) and The Shunning, and I got a break from cooking with help from my mom, Jeff's mom, and Jeff. Yay!

My happy boy eating his berries after we got home. Even though he's pretty fussy these days, he's still an easy giggle or smile!

Two in the Tub

Just Us Girls

My girlie.

Our self-portrait. I'm trying hard to give her as much individual attention as I can during Benjamin's naps while Jonathan is at school. I'm not sure whether she notices.

And, my dear son, when he saw this picture, said, "You look sick in that picture. I'm not trying to be rude or anything." So let me assure you, dear readers, as I assured my son...I'm not sick. This is how I really look...

Learning to Pedal

I'm so glad we saved Jonathan's tricycle for Grace. She's a bit shorter than he was at this age, so it's taking her a little longer to reach the pedals.

Being the Big Sister...Again

This time with real baby food.

Being the Big Sister

Grace was feeding her doll, Baby Jenna, and then decided that the real baby needed some bites.

If I Were More Efficient...

I would do this.

Click on the picture to see a simple tutorial for turning a T-shirt into a girl's ruffled skirt.

Hat tip to Money Saving Mom.

Seriously, though, I read posts from friends who have three little kids and work, and they say they are drinking coffee and scrapbooking. How do they do it? OK, that's only one friend who said that, but still. How does she do it? I don't even get the floor clean. :) But, I can imagine what it would be like to sew something...while I am nursing Benjamin.