And the rain keeps coming down . . .

It has now been raining for the past 2 weeks -- pretty much continuously. Southern Minnesota has been in flood conditions and even up here in the cities we've gotten about 10 inches of rain in the past couple of weeks. Our lawn is loving it (and you can't even tell the difference between ours and our immaculate neighbors' -- another story for another day). It was a gorgeous weekend and we thought all was well until last night. I got home from work around 1245, had been asleep for about an hour when the rain started, the lighting started and the dreaded sirens went off again. So we got an impromptu pajama party at 2 am in the basement. Ken and I were desperately trying to sleep -- however Evie spent most of the time blowing spit bubbles and saying "dadadadada" and Luke kicked Ken several dozen times. Finally, we got back up to bed (luckily some hail but no damage) and about an hour later there was more -- and Luke spent the night cuddled up to daddy. And I think we're in for it again tonight . . . .

Here are a couple of my recent favorite pics of the kids:

Big brother planting a big wet one on little sis

Yum, prunes!

what, me, make a mess?

dog pile, literally

Daddy's Girl

What a cute bald baby (and cute daddy!)
Ev and daddy chatting

love the drool!

I am anxiously awaiting the day that Evie grows some hair! She's got a little bit -- and it's kind of red and maybe a little curly (okay, that might be a stretch). I can't wait for ponytails, curls, and especially the 2 pigtails sticking straight out to the side. Even bald, she still is pretty cute. And she looks just like her daddy, hairdo and all. Given Ken's look (plus, frankly, both grandpas) I just have more comment: Luke, get your spikey hairdos and teenage grunge/snowboarder looks in while you can.

5 Down . . .

Happy Anniversary to us! We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary last week and this weekend we got our first weekend away without the kids in about 3 1/2 years. It was absolutely fabulous. I highly recommend it! Mindy and Jeremy kept the kids for us (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU) and Ken and I spent the weekend at a bed and breakfast about 2 hours north of here. It was our first experience at one of these places and it really was great. They had about 500 acres of land with groomed trails, golf carts (Ken is quick to point out that I didn't even hit anything while driving them), a GPS you could geo-cache with (ie really nerdy GPS treasure hunt -- though actually kind of fun), a lake with paddle boat and fishing and tons of other neat little details. Mostly, though, it was just a nice (and so needed!) relaxing weekend. And we slept in till 9 every day. Seriously, when was the last time that happened?. I'm so not excited to get back to real life tomorrow!

Kelly making friends with Lucky -- one the 2 black labs who came on our walks with us

Cute, even while chowing down . . .

Chubby Naked Baby (and 6 Month Portraits)

I love these pictures. There's just nothing better than a chubby-thighed naked baby. She's finally getting the sitting up thing figured out and grabbing for toys (and everything else -- no more dangly earrings for me). She thought the little piano was about the coolest thing ever (and it made noise!).

Her 6 month pics are up now on JCPenney website -- go to this link, our log-in name is my name.

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0232114367JCP

Little Pink Shoes

So Evie is a little small for her age (around 25th percentile for her age) which is a new experience since Luke was always a really big kid. Her feet are even smaller -- she can now, just barely, fit into 0-3 month shoes and keep them on. Oh, how excited am I . . . .


A few more pics from my impromptu photo shoot before church this am:

For Behold the Comftor-fer Knoweth . . .

No, that's not a typo, that's 3 year old speak (which I happen to adore). So Luke, who evidently is quite the -- well -- chatterbox in primary volunteered to sub for the kid who was supposed to do the scripture and prayer this week. Seriously, last week he was the first kid to raise his hand and offer to do it (and he is the youngest kid in primary -- since his birthday is January 1st he should technically still be in nursery but they let him go ahead anyway). His teacher describes him as the "most vibrant" of all the kids in the class. I think that's nice talk for "loudest and most obnoxious". But she seems to really like him and he certainly has some of his parents in him with the liking-t0-be-the-center-of-attention bit. Any way, so all week we've been practicing the scripture:

"For behold, the comforter knoweth all things, and beareth record of the Father and the Son." (D&C 42:10)

I was a little nervous because the last time he spoke in Primary (week 3 of being in Primary) he talked so loudly in to the microphone that half of the kids literally fell off of their chairs and he got so scared he fell off the podium and refused to say another word. But he was a total champion -- he said a great prayer, even remembering to say he was thankful for Primary, and remembered his whole scripture. Great job, little man.

Luke in church clothes showing how reverent he can be.

Mommy and Ev pose for a girls-only shot

Definitely the best night to go camping . . . ???

So we decided for the first time all summer to try and go camping (yes, smart, I realize, in a HOT Minnesota summer with a 6 month old and a crazy 3 year old). Our best move of the day was by far picking a spot less than 5 miles away from our house "just in case." Honestly, it's a place called Lebanon Hills with some of the best mountain biking in Minnesota (stop laughing all you Utah folks), great hiking, and beautiful camping. Here's a picture of the visitor's center.



Luke did GREAT -- helped unpack the car, tried to set up the tent, no whining or crying, really a good kid. He learned the beauties of being a boy (LOVED peeing in the woods) and got to try cooking a hot dog over the fire. We had a great time by the campfire and he was just a happy boy. Both kids went to sleep fine and all was going well (other than poor Evie who got rolled on twice - once by Luke who can't sleep in one spot and then by the dog who was trying to take over her blanket). Well, all went well until about 330 am when the lighting started and the severe weather/tornado alarms sounded. We threw the kids in the car and packed up most of the not-so-waterproof stuff and finally decided to drive home in a crazy lighting storm and flooding roads. However, we all made it home, slept in our own beds and ate our camping breakfast on our backyard porch. Then I took the baby shopping! Seriously, my kind of camping trip :)

Yay, camping!

Luke doesn't like toasted marshmallow or marshmallows on chocolate (crazy child) but loved them straight out of the bag

Our Camping Breakfast

Also, I had to throw this in -- some of you likely know about my handbag obsession (yes, it's true) and so I finally got (via birthday presents) this bag I've been lusting after for months -- just had to put in a pic -- Ken is currently shaking his head in amazement. I got in the mail today along the with the pink dansko clogs for work I ordered off of ebay (another slight obsession) and am so excited. I can't wait for work on Monday. :)


oooh, so pretty . . . .