One Candle

A first birthday in pictures:

Happy birthday little sis!

Tadpoles

Piper and I just finished up a mommy and me swim class and she loved it. I wish I had more pictures of her playing in the water. She was the center of attention at the pool every time we went. I mean, look at her, how can anyone resist a roly poly bikini-clad redhead?

Island Park

My in-laws are awesome for so many reasons.
The most recent reason they rock?
They rented a cabin on the river in Island Park for the summer.

So if we aren't home we will probably be doing the following:

Making "Salt and Pepper Soup" out of river water, flowers, leaves, grass, pine cones, and rocks

Exploring

Fishing until dark

Snuggling in bed while devouring Cheerios

Enjoying fireworks

Four Candles

Dear SweetPea,
Can it really be possible that you have four candles on your cake this year?
I'm glad you had a great time at your party even though you got a high fever just minutes before it started. You were gracious and grateful and excited and full of smiles. I love that you asked for chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and star candles. I love that you wanted a purple birthday hat with a star on top. But I love YOU most of all. I can still remember the day you made me a mother. I am so happy to have you as my daughter. You are a running, jumping, giggling ray of sunshine. Happy birthday my love!

Swimming Lessons

Ellie started swimming lessons last week and she loves it even though it has rained 3 out of the 5 days so far during her lessons. When she started she wouldn't even put her face in the water and now she will dunk her whole head under water! I love watching her progress after just a few short lessons. It helps that her teachers are super patient and really really fun. It also helps when there are three kids (one of them being Ellie's cousin) and two teachers so it's like she got semi-private lessons without having to pay for semi-private lessons. She loves it so much I signed her up for the next round of lessons.

Bountiful Baskets

This morning I volunteered for a produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets. It was my first time participating and I will definitely be coming back for more. Check out all this produce I hauled home in my basket for only $15. Yum!


You can get a basket every Saturday or you can just get one once or whatever you want to do - it's up to you. The produce is different each week so you'll never get bored of the same stuff. Each week they also have different add-ons for a little more money so like this week they had 9-grain bread, 20 lbs of tomatoes, or a salsa pack which had green onions, cilantro, limes, tomatillos, and avocados. Check out their website if you're interested. And be forewarned, the website isn't the best but it gets the job done. This is a completely volunteer-run co-op and they have several pick-up locations in seven states so check to see if your town has one. I don't know everything about it yet but I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. :)

Just a Little Bit Funny

The latest and greatest quotes from Elliett

Ellie: Ow! I bit my tongue!

Me: Oh man! How did you bite your tongue?
Ellie: With my teeth!

~~~~~

Rob: Ellie you're cool.
Ellie: No I'm pretty.
Rob: You're pretty cool.
Ellie: No, I'm pretty.
Rob: You're cool too.
Ellie (rolling her eyes): Okay, I'm cool.

~~~~~

Ellie (bending a magazine): Mom, look at this. Look how it can do this. It's funny. Not really really funny, just a little bit funny.

~~~~~

Rivers - Ellie's cousin (holding up a picture of a grizzly about to catch a salmon in his mouth): You should borrow a bear from the zoo so he can fish for you like this.

~~~~~

Ellie: Rivers had a great idea. It wasn't going to bed, it was seeing frogs in the night.

~~~~~

Ellie: Mom! 'S' and 'H' make the sound 'sh' like sh-sh-sharp and sh-sh-shark and sh-sh-quiet!

~~~~~

Me: I don't think Piper meant to hit you, it was an accident. She doesn't know any better yet.
Ellie: It was a accident, not a purpose. Babies don't do purposes.

~~~~~

Ellie: I'm tired of holding things, it makes me have a beard.

~~~~~

Ellie (to Rob after running together for a while): Hey dad, let's run some more!
Rob: I can't run anymore, I'm a big wimp.
Ellie: I'm not a big wimp...(long pause) I'm a little wimp.