Happiness

Mr. Jed got to sit in the shopping cart like a big boy last week.  He loved it.  It's great when they reach this stage.  There is so much more room to put things in the shopping cart and the baby is much more entertained.  I remember taking a little cell phone picture of Evangeline during her first time in the front of the cart, so I guessed I'd better do the same thing with Jed.  

While Evangeline and Kyle were at Wriggly Field last week, Mom and I decided to do a jam day.  We did things a little differently this year because of the Jed factor and bought strawberries from the strawberry field that were pre-picked.  Even by cutting out that phase of the process it still took us all day to make all of our jam.  I think we dilly dally too much, but that's what makes it fun.  We tried a new method for processing the jars this year and it was amazing.  I don't think I'll ever do it the old way again.  We processed them in the stove rather than in boiling water.  It was a jam making life-changer. 
One batch we made was our jalapeno strawberry jam.  Here's a picture I snapped of mom chopping the jalapenos.  This just cracks me up. 

 

My dear friend, Amy gave me these beautiful labels for my birthday.  They had been her grandmother's which makes them so very special.  

VBS was all last week.  It was such an awesome week for me and both of my kiddos for sure.  Vacation Bible School is a blessing in so many ways.  There are so many fantastic volunteers that work so hard to make this a special and meaningful week for the children.  It is also a blessing to my life as well.  I really enjoy VBS week.  I was a pre-school leader this year.  Jed was watched in the nursery by Peggy and she took him around to several of the pre/K centers so I got to be with him too.  Evangeline had an absolute blast as well. She had a speaking part in the program and we've been singing the songs all week. 

 

VBS week concluded with a pool party.  Kyle came with us and we watched Jed enjoy a pool for the first time.  Oh, he loved it! 

 

Evangeline told me that she did not want to take swim lessons this year.  I told her that I would only agree to it if she could prove to me that she was not scared of the water and that she could still swim confidently.  She not only proved to me that she was not scared, but drove the point even further home by jumping off the diving board over and over and even winning the "silliest jump" contest!  Her prize...a ginormous pixie stick. 

 

We've finally transitioned Jed to his crib.  He's done a great job this past week.  The biggest news is that he slept through the night for the first time last night.  I put him to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and he slept until around 7:00am!  Evangeline has also slept in her bed the past three nights without getting up in the middle of the night and coming into our room, which is her regular routine.  In a small way I'm kind of sad about that one and happy at the same time.  

 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Kyle took Evangeline to Chicago this past weekend to see a Cubs game.  They left on Saturday and stayed overnight.  On Saturday, they drove down the Magnificent Mile, stopped by the United Center, had dinner at Harry Carey's restaurant and swam at the hotel pool.  They got to Wriggly Field early on Saturday so Evangeline could be sure to get the Cubs hamper they were handing out that day and most importantly, so Evangeline could be one of the kids to get to run the bases at Wriggly Field!!  They had such a great time.  The weather was just perfect.  Evangeline picked out a Clark Cubbie bear for her souvenir.  They had hotdogs, peanuts and Crackerjacks.  Jake Arrieta was the pitcher, which was really cool.  The Cubs lost 2-3 against the Diamondbacks, but that certainly won't be what she remembers.  She was so excited to tell me all about it when she got home on Saturday night.  What a special time with her Daddy. 

Birds

Although it's grainy, I was able to use my stealthy, sneaking skills that I've managed to fine-tune while living in this house to snap a picture of one of our owl friends that live in our woods.  They are absolutely everywhere, or maybe there is only two, but they are loud and they swoop all around our house.  It's so cool.  

 

Then the other day we went to Deming Park with my mom and we spotted this tree with three or more big woodpeckers.  There was a nest and there looked to be one male and two females.  I'm guessing their gender based upon their head color.  The one I would guess to be the male had a bright red head, while the other two had heads that were more of an orangey color.  It was a real treat to watch them.  The one pictured here is one I'm guessing to be a female. 

 

We went to the library last week to sign up for the summer reading program and to take Jed to Toddler Time.  Jed's mind was blown by Toddler Time.  He seemed to have a great time watching all of the kids, getting to knock Humpty Dumpty off of a felt wall, shaking a scarf and shaker egg and hearing lots of songs and finger plays.  Evangeline got right down to the business of reading for 20 minutes a day for her summer reading log.  She set her chicken timer, spread a blanket and got straight to work reading until her timer went off.  

 

Ammie had us over for a cook-out on Memorial Day.  We had so much fun.  Her yard are just beautiful.  We ate lots of yummy food and took a nice walk around the neighborhood.  

Blooms

Things are already getting checked off the summer bucket list.  I've started going through a folder of recipes I've clipped over the years.  I've decided that it's high time I start doing something with those.  I pulled out a few I am going to try this week.  The first up were flautas.  They turned out great.  I was very excited about this because it was one of those intimidating looking recipes that I forced myself to try out.  I think it's a keeper.

 

That gapped-tooth baby grin gets me every time. 

 

We are going to miss walking around our "big O".  We are looking forward to our new neighborhood though. 

 

Peonies always remind me of Memorial Day's I spent in my youth visiting the graves of my ancestors.  We would picnic there at the Embarrass cemetery with my Grandma and Grandpa, mom and brother.  Maybe my aunt was there too.  Anyway, there were peonies at their graves.  I thought they were so beautiful, but also remember how the ants liked them.  

 

Happy 9th wedding anniversary, Kyle.  We celebrated at our favorite restaurant, Umi Grill.  We went all out with shrimp tempura, fried rice, Dr. Singh's special and plum wine.  Over the years lots of things have changed, but we still do the same thing...move houses and change jobs... It's been fun though and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else!  Mr. Hutson, I love you. 

Little Gymnast

Evangeline has been taking gymnastics for the past year and last Saturday she participated in her first meet.  It was just a small meet, held at her studio for all the students that attend there.  I was so proud of Evangeline.  She had a floor routine, bar and balance beam routine.  She had a lot to remember and not a lot of practice on her routines during class time.  It was cute because she did quite a bit of her floor routine and then forgot a chunk in the middle.  Every time she would forget something she would stand there and wiggle her front tooth.  She ended up doing a great job.  She even placed 2nd in her age division which was the highlight of the day.  She got to stand up on the winners pedestal and everything.  As we were getting in the car she told me that she couldn't believe she got 2nd place because she thought she messed up.  I told her that the judges must that been impressed anyway.  I told her that I was proud of her and she told me that she was proud of herself.  

 

The meet was long.  The kids had to wait forever for all of the girls and boys to perform.  They were getting squirrely.  I had to laugh when I looked down and saw this...I'm not sure that's the best way to win over the judges....

 

She also told me that she was happy that she won 2nd place because the 3rd place trophy was too small and the 1st place trophy was too big, but the 2nd place trophy was just right.  

 

I told Evangeline I wanted to take a picture of her and her trophy as we were leaving the meet.  She wanted to strike her podium pose one last time.... 

 

We think she's going to have fun watching the Olympics this year.