She...

Is growing up WAY too fast.

Spent several evenings in the pool this summer - but not enough.

Spent the night in the tent - and stayed by herself in the dark for a couple hours all by herself.  Halfway through the night she decided she wanted to sleep by Papa, which meant Papa ending up "sleeping" not on his mat, but directly on the floor.

Got her first set of Legos, and LOVED them.  I think they are definitely her most favorite toy ever.  We spent at least a month playing Legos as soon as we got home each night.

Is so enthusiastic about the garden.  She loves peas and tomatoes; loves carrying produce from the garden to the house in her special basket.

Loves to paint.  She wears her "painting dress" and is pretty darn good at rolling.

Loves hoods.  And she's so darn cute in them.

 Is so full of energy.  On this day I had taken her outside and just said, "Run!" and she did, laughing; so full of joy.

Loves working on "projects".  Is starting to try to write letters - specifically M for Mama and P for Papa.

 

Loves the beach.  I've been panicking the last couple of weeks, thinking about all the things we DIDN'T do this summer.  Once we heard the cold weather was coming I knew we could not waste the last night of "summer" - so we left work a bit early and took her to the beach.  She had such a great time, asking me to help her build sandcastles over and over, and then walking with Papa along the beach, being so much braver about going in the lake and getting wet.  She went in up to her knees, splashed, bounced, walked out and then in again, went under for the first time when she fell - but didn't panic.  And then we went out for ice cream.

Is such a talker.  We love hearing her tell us about her days; and overhearing the conversations she has with her dolls and animals as she plays.  Lately she has been loving to dress everyone up, do her dolls' hair, and make Andrew lunch.  More than once he has received two plates of watermelon and two pieces of cucumber, all carefully laid out, and only brought to him after he's been buckled in and has his bib on.

Loves to sing.  Especially "Bob and Larry" songs.  Almost every morning and almost every night there's a request for Bob and Larry (VeggieTales) in the car.

Is SO wonderful, and I am so thankful for her every day.

The Busy Days of Summer

First up, a cute summer nightgown, details over at bur oak life.

I spent last week documenting our days for my Week In The Life project. You can read more about this project on Ali Edwards' blog.  Hoping to get my album together in the coming days and will be posting more here.  Anyone else participating?

We've also had some fun family outings recently, and I have some sewing projects I've been meaning to post.

How are you spending these last days of summer?

Quilt Guild Shop Hop

Blogged at bur oak life.

MN Quilt Show

Blogged over at bur oak life.

Sweet Potatoes, Barley...and a New Blog

While I was making a sweet potato and barley salad tonight Ada decided she wanted to work with me in the "real kitchen".  She took a few seconds to watch what I was doing, went over to her play kitchen to get her supplies, then climbed up on her stool and got right to work.  So glad I stopped to take a picture; it's already a favorite.

In other news - I have a new blog!  I'll be using the new blog for more public content (gardening, sewing, etc.) and keeping the family / kid posting here.  I already have a few posts up at my new site, so if you're looking for something to read, head over to check it out.

On the Fourth

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July.  We had a packed day!  Ada and I left the house super early (as in 6 am early) with my sister to go pick strawberries.

Ada was awesome.  She helped me put berries in the tray, picked a bunch on her own (ripe ones!), walked up and down the rows while we continued picking, and only ate 2 strawberries before we paid.  Not bad for a two-year old.

With my sister's help I ended up with around 15 pounds or so of berries.  The season's canning and freezing has begun!

Then we had family over for lunch and general hanging out.

This girl SO loves watermelon.  Pretty sure she ate at least 5 slices.

 After lunch the kids ran through the sprinkler.

Ada liked the sparklers last year, but this year did not like the fireworks in the yard as they are "too loud".  To cap off the afternoon we had root beer floats.  Ada was not interested in the root beer, but demanded to have her ice cream in a cup like everyone else. :)

Hoping to get my pics from Vegas up soon...

Wow

I'm in Las Vegas. All week.

You might be thinking this is going to be a post on all the great sights I'm seeing. Sorry, I'll write that post when I get home.

For now, my thoughts are too jumbled, my brain overloaded. I'm here for work, and the days are intense. I thought I'd spend time in my room each night having some alone time, reading or sewing. Instead I've been staying up way too late essentially doing nothing. Tonight I realized that's because there are so many things I'm thinking about related to work that I just need a lot of time to decompress at night. I really hope my brain is up to the task of staying focused for another nine hours tomorrow.

I brought along a new sewing book to read on the trip. I finally cracked open the cover tonight as a bit of escape from thinking about work. First page, second paragraph, I read the following: "Sewing can be such a balm for the busy soul, as long as you take the time to enjoy the process of creating and don't rush yourself to quickly churn out finished products." I had to stop reading right there. Too close to so many other thoughts that have been churning in my mind recently. Guess it will just have to wait until I'm back home and can re-focus.

For now I think I'll veg out in front of the tv, and then actually try to get eight hours of sleep.