Saturday, July 23, 2011

July Playtime

Summer really is more about playing than blogging, right? :) We've been keeping cool in the a/c on these hot July days.
Each morning we pick out some toys and dump them on the living room floor and play with them. One of our favorite activities is cars and trucks. We fill them up, drive them around- to the farm, to the library to see "Mister Baca" (the children's librarian, Miss Rebecca), to the "conskwucktion site", to the grocery store, and to the lake to see Uncle Doug.

Ezra started crawling over the 4th of July weekend, so we are now on to the next level of babyproofing! For the past two weeks, Zadie has watched her brothers chase each other around the house, hiding around corners, and giggling upon discovery. For the first two weeks, I would say she showed absolutely no interest in crawling, being content to sit in one place and watch. Over the past few days, she has started reaching forward, propping herself up on her arms, and doing some rocking while seated. I'm guessing she'll be on the move within the next two weeks!

More July fun to come on a different day. Happy Weekend!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Fourth of July Weekend

For several years, we have been going up north in MN to celebrate the Fourth of July with Tom's family. Since this past year has been such a big year of changes, we were not able to make the trip this year. Instead, we thought of our family at the lake, missed them, but tried to have a good old time here at home. Lots of lawn watering, car washing, and baby cuddling.

Tom bought as many fireworks as one can buy for $25. Snakes, tanks, sparklers, a few little rockets, and we were happy campers in the front yard. Tom had fun introducing Zeke to the manly world of "watching things blow up". Surprisingly, Zadie and Ezra were not at all bothered by the noises and liked the little light show.


Thursday, July 7, 2011

June... Where did the time go???

So, June is over. How the heck did that happen? Hmmm. It turns out that three kiddos keeps a family pretty busy. Plus, the weather's been warm and our weekends are filled with family fun instead of internet blogging. Enough excuses already. Here are some highlights from June.

Lots of outside kid time. Backyard pool parties, sandbox play. The babies are in the background of this picture doing pretty much what they did all of June. Ezra hangs out on his belly, hands, and knees, rocking without moving anywhere. Zadie lies on her back with her head up, ab-cruncher style. She doesn't care for her stomach, though she did finally start to roll mid-June.


We've been taking a weekly class called Financial Peace University. It's a program by Dave Ramsey that helps people become debt free and work their way to wealth. It's no overnight solution, and requires quite a bit of sacrifice and tough budgeting. Dave teaches us that right now, we need to "Live like no one else, so that later we can Live like no one else! " Currently, we're in the first part of living like no one else. Selling things on Craigslist, spending only cash, cut up all credit cards, very careful budgeting and planning... No huge secrets, but it requires a way of saving and spending that our generation isn't necessarily programmed for. We try to keep it fun though!


We like the small group that we meet with each week. The class involves watching the dynamic money guru, Dave Ramsey do a one hour video and then discussion with our little group and facilitator afterwards. It's been a nice way to get to know some sweet southern folks. Nana and Papa have graciously volunteered to babysit while we go to class, so we've also enjoyed having a grown-up activity to do.

For Father's Day, I took our special guys (Tom and my dad) to the annual Wing Fest in Fayetteville. I won a 4-pack of tickets on a radio giveaway, so it worked out perfectly to celebrate with BBQ sauce all over our faces. Yummy! Of course, I forgot the camera at home. (This was a very lucky weekend in which I got 4 free wingfest tickets, 3 free large smoothies, 2 free cloth diapers, and 1 free art print. Cool!)


In late June, we were so happy to have visitors! My brother, Chris flew in for some quality time, and the Zabell family (3 generations worth!) drove down from MN for the fun. My cousin's little daughter, Hannah, is also 2. She and Zeke had a blast together, however I have hardly any pictures to show for it! We went golfing, swimming, day-tripping to Eureka Springs, and loads of fun visiting.


Here is a cute picture of Hannah dancing with Zadie. Unfortunately, my finger created a little shadow when the flash went off, but I still think it's a cute pic.

On June 23, while the whole crew was still here, we celebrated Tom's 33rd birthday. Tom wanted to celebrate his day in style, so of course we took him to Chuck E. Cheese. There was digger riding and mole whacking. There were tickets, and of course pizza. Super fun.



Other than big family events, our days are filled with the "routine" things. Changing diapers, washing and drying diapers, feeding kids, chasing kids, picking up toys, applying sunscreen, feeding kids again, working, sleeping. Repeat. The days seem to fly by!