Watermelon!

 Can you believe we grew watermelon?!?!  I'm not even a fan of it, but I had some.  Just because I grew it.  (and no mom-that won't work with squash or zucchini)
Toby said we picked it just a bit too early, but that it was still good.  They boys loved it and I spent the next two days picking up seeds EVERYHWERE.  Guess that's better than them not eating it!

Blackberry Jam

 While on the Oregon Coast, I noticed that we had come at the perfect time for blackberries!!!  Last year, we were too early.  This year, it was great timing. 
So, on our way home, we stopped and picked some.  I didn't get nearly as many as I wanted too, but what are you going to do with little kids?  Luckily, I got enough to do 8 jars of jam.  Yum!  This was the first year of making jam all by myself.  I felt so housemaking like. 

And it was yummy.  As soon as they all set, I put one in the fridge to get cold!

WES-A-MESS

 This is why his nickname is WES-A-MESS.  I leave him alone for two seconds and he's into something.  Today it was dumping a whole water bottle and then dumping a bottle of baby powder.  I don't even use baby powder!!!  Where did he find it???  Who knows.

 And then he smiles at me.  :)

Marble Nail Art

 So I am now totally hooked on Pinterest.  It is crazy and there are way tooooooo many cool things that people have "pinned" that I want to do/try/create/copy.  Anyways, here is one of them!  It is called Marble Nail Art.  I found a video and watched the tutorial and then tried it out on my own nails.
 Loved.it.

 peeling the tape off of Katie's nail. 

 He does this squinting thing now when we smiles.  Drives me nuts.

 Megan and Wes.  Both middle children, both messy and nuts.

 Dallas playing legos.  It's pretty exciting to know that my family is moving here.  They are renting a house until theirs is done being built.  Glad we will have more family in town.

The finished product.  We still needed to wipe away some of the polish, but you can get a pretty good idea of what it looks like.  So excited to try different colors for the holidays.  Pretty cool!

Crayon Art

Saw this craft on Nap Time = Craft Time and fell in love with it!  What a fun project!  This craft has caught on like wildfire throughout the blogging world.  She found it on Etsy where it was going for $60-70.  Crazy!  I followed her example and here's how mine turned out.  This one will be framed (without the glass) and put in the boys' room.  I will be making more of these....thinking of doing a Steelers one.  :)

Such a fun craft!

Garden updates

 We got strawberries!!!  I finally outsmarted the birds/beasts that were teasing me and making me crazy by eating my garden.

 Cute, perfect little berry.  Yummy too.

 Cherry tomatoes!!  This is from Dallas' plant.  He is so proud of himself for helping with the garden.  He'll weed and water whenever we ask.  Too bad he isn't so nice when it comes to sharing.  After I took this photo, they were all in his mouth.  I have to sneak one if I want any to eat.

 Blurry, but this is as good as it gets.  This kid won't stop moving for anything.  And he needs a haircut.

 TADA!!!!  I am so proud.  This is our contraption that Toby and I created.  It is so easy and light, but keeps ALL major pests away and still lets in the bees, water and sun.

 Check out our watermelon!  We have a total of 12 growing strong.  Some of them are almost done since we planted ones that won't get too big. 

 The D man by "his" watermelon.
If you were to ask him-everything in the garden is "his"

 Basil anyone???  I had the smaller plant and almost killed it (by not planting it quick enough) so I bought another one and now I have a TON of basil.  I've cut off a bunch to give away and I still have all this left!  Think I will cut a bunch and dry it for the winter.  I love basil.

 Our cantaloupe!  We have about 7 of these.  I sure hope they taste good.  I love a sweet slice of cantaloupe with a sprinkle of salt.  yum!

 Our pumpkins are already turning orange!  We have 5 large ones and two little ones.  Enough for my family.  I was hoping to get one and now I have 7! 

 Even when I threaten them, they still play in the dirt.  Even in their cute church clothes.  BOYS!

 I've managed to get 3 peppers off this plant.  We made lime soup with them and it was so dang good.  Think it was my best since I used the onions and peppers from my garden.  :)
I felt so cool.

My lone green pepper.  I had grand plans of making stuffed green peppers......but this is the only one we're getting.  Think I'll be eating it raw instead.  I have two other ones waiting to turn red.  We didn't get any orange or yellow ones.  Lots of flowers, but no peppers.  I've asked around and heard that others had problems with peppers this year too.  I'll try again next year.

I have LOVED having a garden.  What a great experience to share with my little family.  We have worked hard out there and I have really enjoyed it.  How awesome it is to cook with things that I have grown. 

We call this bad boy....

Summer Delight

yum.

1st-layer ice cream sandwiches
2nd-thin layer of whip cream followed by crushed oreos, fudge and carmel
3rd-another layer of ice cream sandwiches
4th-another thin layer of whip cream, oreos, fudge, carmel and heath bits.

freeze till ready to eat. 

Shapes!

Dallas has shown interest in "School" type things so I've been coming up with stuff for us to do.  He likes to play school when Wes takes a nap and we have a quiet moment together.  We decided to work on shapes today.  I made a quick worksheet on Word and then we had fun with buttons and glue and coloring.

Hard at work.

Great job Dallas!!!

And Blue slept through it all. :)

Happy to be busy and learning. 

The D Man

 LOVE this kid.  Here are a few shots that I took when we were out taking Tory and Elizabeth's photos.  He was such a ham.  I am amazed at how much he has grown.  He made me a Mother and I am forever grateful for him.

 Such a sweet little boy.  So thankful that he is quick to forgive and always there to give me hug.

 Yes, he is totally awesome.  Love his Cars watch from his cousins.

Love you Dallas Cade!  So glad I captured you at the wonderful age of 3!

The Thornton's

 Tory and Elizabeth asked me to snap a few photos of them so they could have an updated family photo.  I always get so nervous to take photos, but I do love it.  I think we did a pretty good job.

 Which one doesn't belong?!?!  Dallas didn't understand that he couldn't be IN.EVERY.PHOTO!!!!  He was in tears everytime I'd pull him out.  Silly boy.  He loves his cousins.