I am long overdue for an informative and insightful blog post, but don't expect this to be the one.

 

We've been having a fun month!  Miles just finished a swim lesson session with great success.  He started the month reluctant to get in the water, but by the second lesson he was jumping in with no problem.  He increased his confidence in swimming longer distances solo, and is working on strokes.  He loves jumping in the water like this, but he needs to work on belly flop prevention.  Ouch!

The weather has been ups & downs lately (or as the Dude prefers: strikes and gutters).   We have been loving the ups!  Last weekend we spent almost all day out in the yard.  Wayne had fun with a chainsaw and a stump grinder while the kids played in the sandbox and drew with chalk.  We're trying to tame our jungle before it gets too out of control again this summer.   But it is one of my favorite chores: using the saw, axe and shovels to dig out the nasty spreading honeysuckle bushes.   My forsythia have finally bloomed and I have some hydrangea to plant soon.  I'm even considering a raised garden bed, guess I need to decide on that pretty soon!   We'd start small with just tomatoes, peppers, herbs, maybe some spinach & lettuce.  That's the stuff that would get eaten! (Miles just told me broccoli & celery is all he wants).  We're also sprucing up our patio & I can't wait to sit out there all summer long.

Audrey has been a handful lately.  She's really asserting her independence and does NOT like having to sleep in a crib anymore.  She's hit or miss with taking a nap in the big girl bed, and the one night she attempted to sleep there was madness.  So now when she wants us to take her out of her crib she strips from the waist down.  Oh yes.  Some of you on Facebook may have read about the night I went to the movies and Wayne had to deal with her stripping off a poopy diaper.  She's removed a poppy diaper another time and has also taken off her diaper and peed in the bed.  What a stinker.  But it gets her out of the bed and some attention from us, so she keeps doing it.  It's a good thing she's adorable.

free cone day is the best!

strawberry kiwi, yum!

mango mango

after a shot...

VIP: Very Important Phrases:

It's important to track the big milestones with your kids. First roll over, first foods, first words, first steps. And perhaps biggest of all, the first "Go Big Orange." Yay Audrey!!



They are hitting their milestones at the same time... here's Miles just before his 2nd birthday:

Guess whooo is two?

We celebrated Audrey's birthday this weekend with family and friends. Actually, we've been celebrating for days, starting with her real birthday when we had a Munchkin Cake. This was Miles's creation for his birthday... you get munchkins and stack them in squares (4x4, 3x3, 2x2, 1) to make a pyramid. We had one for her birthday dessert and had enough left over to make one for school the next day. She liked it, she was able to grab her donuts before she blew out the candles. And Miles had popped 6 in his mouth before we blinked. Donut fiends, they are.
For the party Saturday I made Smitten Kitchen's Best Birthday Cake and decorated it like an owl. I'd thought about doing Hello, Cupcake!'s owl cupcakes, but I figured one decorating job would be much less stressful than 24. I also made the Southern Living owl Moon Pies and owl hair clippies for treats. It's a good thing there is so much cute owl stuff out there right now!



















The cousins had a blast playing together. Evan & Miles built a GeoTrax megaworld and Kate & Audrey ran around with babydolls. Kate even got to dress Audrey for the party.

She was excited about presents! We got her the PB Anywhere Chair to go with Miles's. She loves it. She had been sad because Chelsea took over the chair she had and now it's too gross to touch. Every time she saw it she would plead "new chair, new chair!" Poor thing. So now she's happy! And she got some cute outfits and a new babydoll.

Speaking of Chelsea, or "Bad Dog Chelsea" as she is known around here. The other day I'd set out all the eggs & butter to make A's birthday cake. After a few errands I came home to find 1 egg & 3 sticks of butter missing. Chelsea had even eaten the evidence. Crazy dog.

Thanks so much to all our family who came to celebrate with us!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

She's TWOOOOOOOOO!

and here she was, two years ago. Happy birthday, sweet pea!