She's almost 3!!!

I can't believe our little Fallyn is almost 3! She'll have her birthday here in Iowa! I snapped these pics last Saturday. We were going to a bridal shower, and I put this dress on her. She ran to her room to gather her bonnet, purse, sunglasses, "sprinkle" shoes (sparkly shoes), and baby. She cried when she couldn't find her little white dressy gloves :) It's either all or nothing for this girl--I'm sure you've seen lots of pics on here by now of the kids in just their skivvies! Enjoy the sweet pics!

July Highlights

• July 4th--spent the evening of the 3rd at the home of Rick's coworker, then the 4th at the Moodys.
• First tomato harvest on July 4th! Actually I had a couple big ones on the 1st, but 2 tomatoes don't make a cute picture. I have cherry & grape (red and yellow), roma, and various varieties of "regular" tomatoes.
• I'm also growing red, yellow, and green peppers, okra, and PEANUTS! haha! We'll see how those turn out :)
• This is typical coloring-style for Calvin. I love all the colors!
• My husband and my daughter. Even better together! They look so much alike.
• Calvin and one of his (and ours) best friends--Chuck! You might remember him from our GIANT adoption fundraiser sale.

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June Highlights

• Took the kids to the drive-in for the first time!
• Father's Day cookies for Rick and my dad. We made them at a playgroup. They even had real necktie boxes to put them in!
  
• Fallyn's first drawing (besides "slides" and "round-and-rounds" which are spirals)--a kitty! I think she did great! 2 ears, whiskers, and legs. I just love kids' artwork!
• The kids regularly make kitty whiskers and noses on themselves with a pen or marker when they're playing together or by themselves.
• Tyler & Marie's baby shower--at the hospital since Marie had to stay till Lincoln came. I made a bottle-rocket onesie. Tyler's baby gift for Calvin was a few dozen REAL bottle rockets. Punk.
• My summer cut. My hair had gotten pretty long again (for me). Over the last several years, this cut has been my typical do, though.
• Last 2 pics are of our neighbor kids who came over to play. We have really nice neighbors.

Nothing Says Summer Like Watermelon!

Calvin had tons of fun with the watermelon shell (is that the right word?) I gave him to play with in the pool! We're going to make this a regular thing! So many uses! Here are a few examples, starting with a helmet.

Then he got a bit more creative.....he's a TURTLE! hahaha!

Other uses: a boat for toys, a seat to slide down in, a mixing bowl for the plastic kitchen toys we have outside.

Project Underway

This is what things looked like when the kids and I left town today (Sunday). Oh boy.

The next pic is looking into our little backyard. We've wanted to fix it up better since we have kids and more on the way. Make it more usable and all. You can't really tell from the pics, because our weeds look so lush and green, but the backyard is just....icky...uninviting. The front half is weeds, very unlevel....back half doesn't have a TON of weeds because it's half gravel! I don't know why there was so much gravel dumped back there, but it goes deep. It's also really unlevel. We're looking into turning the back half into a patio.

With our back yard as small as it is (which is painful for us country folk!), we'd like it to be more usable, be able to have a nicer place to host family and friends for outside dinners and play, etc. I have more of a vision that Rick does--I think he's mostly going along with me on this :) But we've talked about it for 3 years probably.
The kids and I are headed to Iowa tomorrow. Right now we're in the KC area with my leetle brother and his wife, to break up the trip. Plus we need to see the new stuff in Austin's shop and eat at the Corner Pharmacy :) Rick is going to be working on our back steps/porch/deck thing.

We had Tyler & Marie (first time in months!), and Justin/Lesley/Jordan/Rylie over on Friday for grilled hot dogs, grilled stuffed jalepenos (drool), and homemade salsa. Rick got the guys outside to play--I mean work. I was nervous to see the steps going away... Lesley was nervous Justin was going to get himself hurt reeeeal bad, and Marie was nervous that Tyler was going to be the one to hurt Justin real bad. The boys had quite a good time.

While the boys helped Rick outside, Fallyn tended to Jordan on the potty. She would pull off long strips of TP, carefully wad it up, and hand it to Jordan who would then stuff it down the toilet.

The next morning (Sat.), Tyler showed up to help Rick break up more concrete. Thanks, Tyler! What's wrong with this picture? :)
The steps are the main problem with the backyard. We've wanted to replace them for awhile with something with a wider platform at the top. This is the door we use 99% of the time, as it's right by the garage. With just one step at the top, it's hazardous getting 2 kids in and out, groceries, standing at the top getting the kids past me so I can lock it behind us, etc. So Rick decided if we're going to widen the steps and make a bigger platform at the top, we might as well make a little deck. So he's working on that until Thursday, when he'll come join us in Iowa (and Lesley, Jordan, & Rylie!) for the CLIO FESTIVAL!!!
Calvin heard the commotion outside and wanted to go out. I told him to get clothes on. Obviously he thought his hat and LED light attachment would do the job.

"Ok, I'll add work gloves...surely I'll pass mom's safety protocol now!"
Fallyn and Calvin playing in the big trash container yesterday. Reminded me of good ol' farm fun, if only for a day.
They said it was their house. Fallyn drove out of their house and down the short, STEEP ramp that had been used for the wheelbarrow. She ended up laid out on the concrete with some roadrash. I told her not to go down, and she had just seen Calvin try and almost bite the concrete.... silly girl :) I'm a farmgirl and don't really care if my kids are clothed or not, but I did make them put on shoes to go in that thing. Are you proud of me? :) Be free, little ones, be free while you're young!!!