harvest time

we have loved the yummies in our garden. with a freezer full of peas and beans, it is time to prep the tomatoes and peppers. we canned two batches of tomatoes so far and have devoured bowls of fresh salsa.
the kids have loved playing in the garden. they take mini adventures to hunt for grape tomatoes, bayli's fave. chase just likes to give them a little nibble, squish them, and then throw them. they love when it is picking time, what great little helpers we have.
jed and i had the pleasure of enjoying our one and only plum, so juicy!!! we hope that our peaches decide to ripen soon.

and the winners are...

pepper infatuation? or does he just think that they are balls?

truck. trailer. boat.

when we went camping to whitney reservoir, bayli discovered a funny thing on our drive...triple rigging. something that has always scared the tar out of us, and we swore that we would never do. she found it funny to spot the trios speeding down the highways. she would shout out (in her little singing tone) truck, trailer, boat. which would then be followed by a series of giggles.
last week, we planned a trip to invade our good friends the haight's family reunion (they need more siblings anyways-seven just isn't enough). location, bear lake. which means, saling!
now we had a dilemma. do we take the trailer or the tent? we muddled over this question for days. jed made the ultimate decision; thus, we were triple rigging (glad he is the one that gets to drive).
tripling is scary! even if the caboose can be towed by a man.
we safely made it to evanston, wyoming. but then, jed noticed that something was wrong. we stopped in the median and discovered that the catamaran trailer was not secured, rather, it was dragging on the ground (this could have been way bad for us, or other drivers). jed discovered that the nut to the ball was missing (i hope this makes sense). he carefully placed the ball, with still attached trailer, into the hole and we even more carefully pulled into an empty parking lot. auto zone was only about a 1/2 a block away (even more lucky).
after we counted our blessings and again thanked bayli for saying such a nice prayer when we had left home, we were off.
we had a blast at the lake. the light winds were perfect for chase's first time out on the boat. jed spent the first day taking reunion goers for excursions on the catamaran. i am sure that he was glad that he didn't have to ferry bayli and chase all day, and so were they. the kids played on the beach for much of the afternoon.
in the evening, we had some fun with the locals (aka skunks). we also had some smore demonstrations from an expert, let me tell you it was intense. we were scared to make any for fear that we would be ridiculed. what happened to the good old roast your marshmallow and slap it on some grahms with a chunk of chocolate?
the following day we spent playing on the beach before the long haul home.
thanks haight's!

puddle jumping

what do you get from a little cloud burst?

two happy kiddos and neato lighting.chase loved running back and forth
through the tiny puddles on the concrete.

bayli loved catching drops on her tongue.

tank even got in on a little of the fun,
with bayli's help.

the bell has rung

bayli started preschool this week.
time for a busy schedule again, the breaks are never long enough.
she was so excited to begin a new year of learning.
mostly, she was excited to see her classmates and meet her teacher.

she loved getting to pick out a new backpack and folder.
of course she had to have a tinkerbell folder.
we were lucky to leave the store without a tinkerbell backpack.
she opted for this lovely number (i am sure that it was because the frog comes off).

school prep has been pretty fun. when we went shopping for clothes, we had to get dresses (or at least shirts that looked like dresses-leggings are wonderful). it just isn't bayli if she isn't dolled up and girly. she opted for very bright colors this season.
she picked bright pink maryjanes. which, when you have to get a size bigger, look like clown shoes. she also picked dark purple ballet flats (with a butterfly on the toe) that have the clown effect as well-she more or less has to drag her feet to keep them on. at least she has good taste, throw practicality out the window.

let me just say, slims here we come. i have despised getting bayli jeans for as long as i can remember. they are always too big in the waist. and when the waist finally fits, they are floods. she is finally just tall enough to get slims. they still are a little long, but at least they fit around her waist (the length can hide the clown shoes).
hopefully her little crack, cute as it is, will appear less often this year (crossing of fingers).

the days working up to the first day of school have been...long (at least for bay). she would pace the house and ask about every 30 minutes, "when do i go to school?" keeping a head strong 4 yr old entertained is very difficult. mom was sad for school to start so soon, but bayli is in heaven.

we hope to have a wonderful school season. time needs to slow down, next year is KINDERGARTEN-AHHHHH!!!!

a squeaky good time

chase has been expanding his vocabulary.
not only that, he has started using different tones.
this is one of his funniest, his squeaky voice.



i love how he talks to the rubber duck, priceless.

once upon a dream...

every little girls dream,
to become a princess.

this little princess of mine,
is still...becoming.

transforming a flirt

after five years, we finally decided to brighten up the place.

don't get me wrong, our intentions have always been good. but we were so "painted out" having sprayed our entire house when we built. time for our bland walls to get a little life (well at least the main bath).

i think that jed was a little nervous at first when he realized what i had picked, as far as the linens.

not to mention, he was worried about such a dark/bright green.

these cute stripes and dots had caught my eye about 5 months ago. where else, target (my downfall).
i just didn't have the gusto in me to make a decision, not to mention that i am cheap. i was nervous about the bright colors and if it would make the kids bathroom too girly.
but i loved loved loved them. every time i would go to target, i would make a pass at them. flirting with the thought of them gracing my home with their fun but welcoming brightness.
i just couldn't make the decision, not to mention that i don't get very motivated when it comes to painting. purchasing these fab threads would be the easy part, but painting, i despise.
so i would continue my flirting and dreaming.
until last saturday, on a whim, while we were at jed's mistress' (lowe's) i got a sparkle of craftiness in me. i headed for the paint aisle.
i had been imagining dark apple green for a long time. i tickled my fancy and snatched up a handful of color cards in various green tones. jed shook his head exclaiming "you won't do it, you get big ideas but never follow through."

we next headed to my beloved target for kitty litter and sensodyne. i told jed, lets go look at towels (i knew exactly what i wanted to look at, and he had never been graced with their lovliness). then i pretty much told him that those were what i was going to get, i wasn't waiting and dreaming any longer. i snatched up one bath towel, i still had to make sure that the lovelys were going to be happy in my home.

i compared my paint swatches and decided on laura ashley 1011 moss 5. i had been dreaming of this for a long time, so it only took about 5 minutes to pick the right color. and yes, the towel looked impressive in the little bland room. i began my prep.
let me just say, the prep is why i hate painting. all of the anxiety of painting our entire home 5 years ago came back to me like a tidal wave. i have no idea how the pros can stand to do that day in and day out-just nonsense.
jed stepped in to help with the prep, taken a back by the shock that i was really going to do this thing.
then i raced back to lowe's to get the paint and supplies.

with the first stroke, i knew that i was going to love this room.
we basked in the lovliness of it as we watched our bland walls transform. we found ourselves transforming as well as we painted and cussed (only a little) loving the color even more.

what a funny thing a little paint and some accessories can do.
if that's what i get for $150, i will gladly do it again.

(just for the record, these pics don't do it justice)

the name game...

done in complete bayliness.
i am sure that is a word that everyone who knows her has come to understand.

imagine this on a 2 hour drive...fun huh.
of course it does get mingled in with i spy..., knock knock jokes, & the twisted songs that kids sing
(or that we teach her).

oh, the fun of a 4 year old.