Reincarnation and other goodies.

It seems that since the rain is steadily falling and I have already reheated my cup of coffee at least 8 times this morning that a blog post is in order.

August has been absolutely gorgeous. The sunny and 85 type of gorgeous. It makes my heart so happy. But the grass is getting a little crunchy and the black eyed Susan's have been screaming for a drink of water. (Moms stingy and doesn't find it necessary to water the flowers.) So for today, we will let it rain.

After battling pneumonia for a good solid week and a half, I missed my little nugget and so off to the zoo we went.



^^ This "little" nugget I speak of is now a whopping 17 lbs so when his mom obliged to carrying him I did not object.




^^How national geographic of me to catch a giraffe in its natural element ((Hint Hint: look at its tongue))
And what's more natural than a zoo? Ugh. Those poor animals.







^^Cousins


^^ I hope to be reincarnated as a tortoise. They are slow, steady and live to be 150. What's not to like about that?

I think I'm happy to be back on this little blog.
For my next trick I will put my hair in a messy bun and wander aimlessly around Target for the next few hours.

Just enough but not too much.

It's officially summer now.
Meaning its officially time for the weather to get its act together. Sunny and 85 is all this girl is asking for.



Thursdays and fridays lately. Just me and this guy.
You will often find us dancing around the living room listening to Evan Murdock and the Imperfect Strangers. Coo coo cockatoo, look at me baby look at you.
Sneaking fig newtons from the cookie jar above the fridge. Drinking diet coke from a mason jar. Extra ice of course. Listening to the sound of light traffic pass by as we lie on a thrifted quilt in the backyard. Under a shade tree of course. Mom says no sunscreen for a few more months. Maybe we will meet a friend for lunch. Lets take the stroller and walk the bike path to a quaint little place on Willy street. You will cry in the stroller on the way home but the car ride will put you right back to sleep. I will catch up on reading or shut my eyes for a few quiet minutes as you continue your nap in the car seat.


I tell you how much I love your little toes and how proud your great grandparents would be of you. We giggle when you smile just as your great grandpa used to when he didn't have his bottom dentures in. I am tempted to give you licks of my chocolate ice cream cone but Ben, I know your mom would kill me.

At the end of the day, your mom picks you up and I tell her of all of our adventures.

Its just enough but not too much.

two green thumbs up

I really want to start a garden this year. One that I can make fresh salsa from. One that I can decorate the house with beautiful bushels of hydrangea.

Truth is, Ive never really had a garden before. Ive dreamed of lush pumpkin patches and fields of sunflowers. Suburbia doesn't really allow for those sorts of things though.
My mom gave me a copy of farm anatomy for christmas. It makes an adorable coffee table book but is also full of beautiful illustrations and some really good gardening advice.




Im hoping to start planting this weekend. We have not had the early spring that Jimmy the groundhog predicted. I dont want to plant a whole lot of stuff just to have the ground freeze and have all that work go to waste. Hopefully the ground wont freeze anymore after this week. I mean come on.



you can find farm anatomy by Julia Rothman here.

P.s. any green thumbs that have any practical advice for a first time gardener please feel free to comment!

I want one.

I would like to introduce you to Baby Benjamin Asa. My cousin popped him out after an exhausting 13 hour labor that ended with a C-section. That big ol' baby just wouldn't come out. We wanted to meet him so bad and his poor mama was exhausted. So at 3:00am they finally decided that C-section was the best option.


I honestly cant get enough of him.


Pretty sure my mom wanted me at the birth to scare me from having a kid anytime soon. I may be slightly scarred but holding that little man in my arms made all the screaming and pain and agony that I saw my cousin experience seemed to slip my mind. I squeezed him tight and everything in the world disappeared.

Dont worry. Im still not planning kids anytime soon.


My mom wants to quit her job and stay with little ben forever. I didn't think that sounded all that bad. Im thinking about doing the same. Nah, but maybe for the summer.

Cant wait to tell you more about this little guy. I sure am in love with him...

Our Weekend.

We warmed our souls with Moonshine and Jager Bombs

This sequence of pictures reminds me of one of those flip books where when you flip through the pictures they make a moving picture. I held the button down on my camera and captured the boys creating a polar plunge of their own. doesn't quite seem like an spring break activity but in Wisconsin, you never know what weather to expect over spring break. Snow some years, sunny and 80 some years. we deal. Taylor and I held the towels and cameras while the boys jumped in one by one and one by one they jumped back out. (Not without a picture for bragging rights, of course.)