Camping with Friends

Two summers ago we went camping with our good friends, the Herrings. We had so much fun and wanted to make it a tradition! Not sure why we didn't do it last summer, but we managed to revive the trip this year and invited our other friends, the Snyders, to come too!

The kids had a blast! And the grownups had a lot of fun too!

Air mattress + bouncing = Bloody nose for John =(

Loving the smores!

Home, sweet home!

Flying a kite for the first time!

Huckleberry Picking 2011

Picking Crew 2011

A few weeks ago, we went on our annual family huckleberry picking trip. As always, it was a lot of fun! Every year has been a different experience because of John's age. My first year going, was right after our wedding (so if John was there he was very small!). John was only about 3 months old when I went the second time. Last year he was 15 months old and this year he was a little over 2 years old. I think this year he had the most fun because he was able to play with his second cousins and knew that camping was something special.

I did alright being about 7 months pregnant. I definitely took it easy though! We had an air mattress so that helped but it was still hard to get good-quality sleep.

We came away with four "pies-worth" of berries. I was not expecting to pick that many! I guess Andrew worked really hard because I think John and I only picked about a half a pie!

I love being part of Andrew's family and this long-standing tradition. It is always a highlight of the year!

Aunt Ruthie and Mom

Ready to pick

Look at all those berries!

John played with this car while I picked berries

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John's picking cup became my caddy for the camera and walkie-talkie

John and his second cousins

Fun in the dirt!

Can't wait till next year!!! =)

"Blue Airplane" By John

Inspired by Actual Events...

John loves the story of Humpty Dumpty. He will talk about it a lot and act it out with his stuffed animals. He asks me to sing it about 30 times a day!

Today John fell down and hit his head on a chair. He cried and said he was "just like Humpty Dumpty." I kissed him and he felt better. Thus we made an adaption to the story:

Humpty Dumpty: The Toddler Version

By John and Mommy

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Then his mommy kissed him and he was all better!

Engagment Pictures 2008

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What happens when a 2-year-old snatches your camera...

Family Trip to the Zoo

On Sunday we took a much-needed family adventure to the zoo! I try to do fun things with John with our friends. We usually have weekly play dates with other moms and kids. But there is just something special about doing fun things as a whole family! I know Andrew wishes he could do more fun things with us, but he works very hard to support our family - and we appreciate it! =)

John had a great time looking at all the animals. He is at the perfect age for enjoying the zoo! Here are some pictures from our wonderful family day:

Loved the slide! =)

Baby #2 Update

Baby belly pictures haven't been a common occurrence with Baby #2... oops! Today marks week 29, which means we only have *about* 11 weeks left. If he is anything like his older brother, we might have 12 weeks left.

Baby #2 - 28 weeks

We have been taking classes for the Bradley birthing method. It is a twelve week course - one night a week for two hours. Now we only have two classes left! I am shooting for a natural birth this time and I think this class has given us some good tools for getting through labor without drugs. We shall see! ;)

Thanks to those of you who have been keeping me and Baby in your prayers. All our doctor appointments and ultrasounds have gone well. So your prayers are working! Keep 'em coming!

2011 Garden

We planted this garden several weeks ago. We were a little lazy this year and just used starter plants. Hopefully they will take off soon! We planted tomatoes, pumpkins, yellow squash, red onions, artichokes, spinach, snap peas, lettuce, and potatoes. John and I have fun watering it every morning. Here is what it looks like now. I will post more pictures as the plants grow.

Pre-school: Learning Letters

I have been keeping an eye out for ways to integrate more formal learning for John during the day. I do realize that he is learning all.the.time and soaking up everything we say and do together. However, I want to make sure I am giving him some tools to begin a foundation for formal schooling - especially since he is interested in it.

For Christmas, Uncle Aaron bought John the Letter Factory from Leap Frog. I put it on John's wish list because it was mentioned in this great post I read on learning to read written by a homeschooling mother. John has been watching it probably once every other week, on average, and loves it! He also has learned most of his letter sounds by watching it and being quizzed with flash cards. He knows we are proud of him and so he is very proud of himself.

Several weeks ago I began reading a book called Mommy, Teach Me to Read. It is loaded with good ideas and I highly recommend it!  I've already implemented some of the author's recommendations for teaching letters. I bought some magnetic letters and I let John just play with them when he wants. However, we do put them away after he is done with them because I want them to be a special toy and I don't want to lose any of them!! In a little while, I will use them for more formal teaching, but for now, he loves playing with them and making "words" with them. He lines them up on the fridge and makes the letter sounds. It's an especially great activity for him while I'm making dinner! ;) I started taking pictures of his words and telling him how proud I am of him. In the pictures below, you can see the progression of his own pride. At first he was uneasy about me taking a picture, but now he runs to me and asks me to take his picture with his words. Very cute!