Sizzlin' Summer

 Much has been going on in the Maglinger house this month.  For the most exciting part, see this blog: http://going-fom.blogspot.com/

While our dad was away, we counted the days until his return.  Hope missed him terribly.  So did all of us, but being 3 you realize that 10 days is a long time, but you are just not sure how long...and it seems like forever.  So, we kept the little gal busy.  Two trips to Holiday World, the spray park here, Grammy and Pappy sleepover twice, and a trip to Bobbi's house made for a fun but exhausting 10 days!

Will has also turned 7 months since my last post.  Since my pictures are many, I'll try to keep my words few this post.

A summary:  He has 3 teeth, spits up much less, sleeps slightly better, loves food, loves to play, sits up very well and is a generally happy baby with tons of energy.

In between our excitement, we played in our own backyard.  Swinging the afternoon away.

Will is swinging, too.  But, to the 3 year old who is pushing him, he has just been strapped into his ride at Holiday World and she is the operator of the "machine."

 After spending the better part of the day in Aunt Bobbi's infamous "upper room," Hope (and mom) were inspired to create some art of our own.  More on that during a later post.

Ahh... our happy place: Jingo

Near the end of our wait for dad, Hope grew a little...cranky.  Partly tired and partly emotional with no idea of how to express that emotion.  So, we took her out to her happy place in Hartford otherwise known as Grammy and Pappy's house.

Will is happy too.

Here, you can ride a horse.

John, this one is for you: White legs, tilly hat, cut offs, boots, and a blood shirt. Your dad in all his glory.

You can swing

Even babies can swing.

In her mind, she is swinging all the way to the clouds.

Pure contentment.  As I type, Hope is in my lap and says "I love that picture."

Hang out with our best buddy Grammy

Play hide and seek.  You think she is counting, but actually she is hiding.  She still kind of believes that if she can't see you, you can't see her either.

Hope is a cute little thing, ain't she?

And s'mores.  Will you believe that Hope does not like s'mores? Not even melted marshmallows.  She prefers hers straight out of the bag. What a waste!

Ta Da!

Still got it.  As a kid, I went to Camp Crestridge.  Supposedly a Christian camp. If you are looking for Christian camps, don't send your daughter there.  If you want her to learn outdoor skills and have a great time, send her there.  My take away from the thousands of dollars my parents invested there: I can build a fire anytime, anywhere.

Well, our dad is safely home now and we are so glad.  Speaking of Safely Home: If you are looking for a great summer read, read that: it's by Randy Alcorn.  You won't regret it.  It's fiction, but it's still a worth while read. 

Jammin' with Grammy

It's May. You know that already.  May means strawberry pickin' time in KY!  We went to Reid's where we almost missed the UPick season due to the early spring making all the strawberries come in earlier than I had expected.  The kids and I picked and picked.  Okay, Hope ate strawberries right off the vine, Will slept in the shady stroller and I picked and picked.  The reward was worth it!

This is Hope's first time making strawberry jam.  I'm always impressed with her attention span for things.  She saw several batches through to the very end.  Our job at first was smashing.  Just FYI, the potato masher does better than the meat mallet for mashing.

Grammy's job was to remove the stems.  She is also the captain of the operation.  Another FYI, if you jam with Gram, she will not tolerate any guess work. Everything must be measured.  No "eyeballin' it."

We'd love to share some of our jam with you, but none the jars would come without a little Hope lovin' in it.  She tasted every step along the way.

See, we are supposed to be stirring constantly for 3 minutes, but there she goes tastin' again.  Captain Grammy does tolerate tasting, but no eyeballin'. Remember that, okay?

Sugar high. Big sugar high.

Will, he thinks we are all silly, but just wait... he'll do some jammin' of his own soon enough.

Preschooler X-games

Okay Dunn's: Are you happy now?

Our dad is always fun, but he is not always safe.  Lately, I feel like he has been just trying to scare me just to...well just to scare me.

Here we have the "water slide."  We have had lots of warm spring days here.  This was not one of them, yet my kiddo was in her swimsuit going down the slide into a pool of water.  I'm pretty sure he used the hose to make the slide wet enough that she slid faster down that, too.

On to bike riding.  See those training wheels?  Those are just for show.  They don't actually touch the ground when she rides.  We have a helmet...where are the knee and elbow pads?  Oh, and side note: when Hope, Will and Mom go for walks, Hope rides her big wheel (aka a 3 year old sized vehicle that is low to the ground with 3 wheels that actually touch the ground.) and she is perfectly satisfied with the thrill of that.  Except that time I refused to give her directions to Legion Park.

But, ride she did.  Oh boy is she proud.  (but see, check out that training wheel...)

Water sports.  This is Will's first bath outside of his baby tub.  See how deep that water is?!  Come on now!  Was this the day I'd been out on an errand and came home to find all 3 of them in the tub together? (woody in swim trunks) 

Will has a buddy. 

They are going to wrestle for us. 

The head butt

Will's friend is 1 year old.  Will is 6 months.  At this age Hope didn't care a bit to have a toy taken away from her.  Will...he may not be mobile enough to catch you if you are quick to get away, but if the toy thief stays around with his toys, he is going to grab them right back...even if you are twice his age!

casualties: Actually this has nothing to do with playing around:  Woody had an eye infection, and always one to have non conventional remedies, decided a post it note over his bad eye was the way to prevent a headache from only being able to see out of one eye.  Don't you think he'd have looked great in a pirate's style eye patch?

okay, done with the x games.  On to just playing catch up with our pictures we have to post.  Art projects are still how we fill our free time.  Thank you pinterest creators. You have richly blessed our days.  This was not a pinterest project.  This was just a $1 deal from JoAnn's.  I made Hope smile for this picture.  She really does like painting- a lot.

But painting is serious business.  This is Hope's painting face.  Her cheeks slightly sucked in, eyes focused and absolutely no smiling or goofing off. 

Bobbi... you always want to see the finished product, so here you go!  The birdhouse. 

And this is a pinterest idea.  I love flip flops.  Just do. Don't know why.  A wreath of flip flops? I must try it. So, I did and here it is.  It's a back door kind of wreath, but it makes me happy. 

Still catching up.

I told you there would be a whirlwind blog update.  I'm getting further and further behind!  So, here's some goings on at our house.

I told you Will is an eater now.  He eats rice cereal and barley cereal. He tried oatmeal and liked the taste, but we all paid for it later with gas pains.  Here's a tip: I know folks say give cereal at night so they will sleep better, but don't do that unless you know they will tolerate it well.  Try the new things in the morning hours, okay?  This is Will trying his first food other than cereal: avocado. He makes that face with every new food he tries but learns to like it all quickly.  Avocado is one of his favorites now.

I am a bit...obsessive... over homemade baby food.  I made all of Hope's baby food and that whole guilt thing I struggle with about not being able to do for Will everything I did for Hope...well this thing I can control and I WILL MAKE THE FOOD.  So there.  Plus, there's just something nice about seeing the food, cutting it up and making it natural with no preservatives or additives. 

Looks tasty, eh?  I tinkered with the idea of getting one of those baby food makers, but this is just as easy and since my mom let me borrow her steamer, it is also just as fast.

Okay, off the food:  Hopi is taking swim lessons at the Y!  She has the most fun getting ready for swim lessons and deciding how she's going to wear her hair.  She likes lessons as long as it is a lady who is helping her. No men, please. As in, "I'll sit on the side of the pool and refuse to get in if there is a man trying to touch me."

And spring has sprung.  We have our little planters filled with precious flowers and so begins the journey of daily watering and pruning, etc.  My thumb is anything but green, but this year I have not bit off more than I can chew and I so hope to keep these little pretties alive!

Pinterest has also invaded my garden.  These are little herb planters that we painted the names of the herbs on.  Turned out very cute.  Well, that's it for now.  There's more to share, but this is enough for now.  Talk to ya later!