Ack! I am in love.

Found an amazing project on Design*Sponge. It's a glorious way to make your own terrarium with recycled glass jars. I will now walk with my nose to the ground in order to find a proper piece of moss.

Backyard visitors

Since hanging my pinecone craft, I have been noticing an increase in birds trying to figure out what the heck is going on. I have been laying down a line of seeds across the back of our backyard bench in hopes that I could attract a few more visitors. This has been the result:
Female cardinal with our usual visitor, a black-capped chickadee:
After a little reasearch, I think I found that this is a tufted titmouse:
Pair of cardinals:
Chickadees are the only ones that will hop onto the pinecones. The squirrels stole one and ripped it apart.
This has been a fun endevor, I really enjoy watching the birds while I feed Remi lunch or while I wash the dishes. A simple pleasure that keeps me smiling.

NO MORE MONKEYS!!!

Ever since I started taking Remi to song and story time at Barnes and Noble in Deerbrook Mall, he has been fascinated with the song "Five Little Monkeys." At first, he was just intrigued by all of the other kids acting crazy, but now he loves to jump with everyone else. This time we took Zach the Frudder with us to see if he might enjoy the revelry...
Just a side note, if you have a toddler and you need a fun activity during the day, check your local Barnes and Noble for story times. Ours has been growing in popularity over the last few months, mostly because Mr. Anthony makes it so fun. When he is gone, nobody shows up to be entertained by his replacement. We look forward to every Wednesday!

Pinecone Craft

The creatures (birds and squirrels) are in hiding because of our drought. So in order to coax them out, I took Remi, Zach, and Ryan around the yard to collect pinecones. I wanted to make a little craft that would hopefully keep the boys attention, but that failed. After they did collecting for me, I continued on with the craft by myself. Simple. Pinecones smothered in peanut butter and rolled in birdseed. Hung them from our patio near a pine tree. So far we have seen squirrels, finches, chickadees and male and female cardinals. I think it's working!
Collection:
Roll:
Voila!

Picnic at the Lake

As a last official summer hurrah, the three humans of the household drove an hour north to the state park at Lake Livingston to explore and have a picnic. We drove around looking for a good spot in the shade. The park was beautiful, the breeze was blowing around the lake, and the sun was shining. We picked our table and got out of the car. The air was...stagnant, humid, sticky, heavy, HOT! With the cool, cool AC blowing in the car we didn't realize that OUTSIDE with the humidity it was feeling like 105 degrees!!! We ate our lunch as quickly as Remi would allow, and took a walk down to the park's swimming pool. Halfway there, Remi gave up and wanted to be carried. We poured as much cool water down his gullet as he would take and continued on to the lake. We got to the water's edge THERE WAS NO BREEZE. It felt like a furnance. We were all sweating bullets and I swear baby #2 was sweating in the womb. We were so disappointed because it is a beautiful place that we would have loved to explored for hours. I guess we'll wait 2-3 months before we go back, when temps are in the 70s. After we gave up, we took Remi to a place I SWORE we would never take him...McDonald's. We got ice cream and french fries and tried to convince him that the playland was fun. He wasn't convinced. So we went home. The End.
Remi's sad little lunch:

Leap of Faith

A couple of weeks ago, when Katie was visiting, we carted the whole household to Galveston to enjoy a hot summer day on the beach.
We set up the gear, Elmo kite included:

He ran in the sand:
He ran from the waves:
He stood guard:
And in a daring leap of faith we threw the dogs in the water to see if they might float...They swam so well that we ended up having multiple puppy races!

Children's Museum of Houston

Took Remi to the Children's Museum yesterday with a friend and her son. It is a pretty cool place. The older kid's area is completely dedicated to learning in exciting ways, and Remi had a blast pushing buttons and pulling levers. Well, at least I THOUGHT he was having a blast until we wandered upstairs to TODDLER WORLD. I have never seen this boy more in his element in his whole life! There were toy cars, and stairs, and doorbells, oh my! Everything there was perfectly geared to his age. His favorite things included a working door just his size with a doorbell, light switch and a security chain, a car with a horn, a toddler obstacle course and a tunnel to crawl through. He didn't care where I was, but I had fun chasing him and keeping him away from other pushy toddlers!

Another attempt at a puppy

I volunteered to make Zach's 3rd birthday cake. It was fun and easy! I know it's nothing like what my sister-in-law Brenna or my dear friend Morgan can make, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Sleepy

Looking for a mustard accented quilt or duvet cover for our freshly painted bedroom. I love these from Pottery Barn but can't seem to find much anywhere else...

Some comfort

My Aunt Vicki sent along this little gem. It basically states that chance of us getting another Ike-like hurricane won't happen for another 25 years! Yay!

Bye, Katie!

We had an awesome time with Katie visiting. We went to the beach on Galveston, the Kemah Boardwalk, a few local malls, a Dynamo game, the movies, and of course we ate a lot of good food.
Unfortunately, Remi showed Katie his nasty side, but he loved having her around!
We miss you already, Katie!

Newsletter Mini: 17 Months

Dearest Rems,

Today you turn 17 months old. You found your inevitable love of french fries and Dada sometimes lets you have a bite of cookie.
The twins have moved out of the house and you are missing them badly. Whenever we see them you 'hoot' for them to come and pick you up so you can play slave with them. During the 5 weeks they were here, they really helped break you into being a more social creature. You will let nearly anyone hold you if they are within close range of a light switch or a telephone.
You are monstrous. Plain and simple. Molars, ENERGY, and an all new trait known as DEFIANCE are very serious contributing factors. Climbing is a new favorite pastime of yours. Nothing is too tall or unstable for you! Gravity is not a principle of physics you have figured out yet, and it has been quite the adventure trying to keep your skull in tact. But somehow, at the end of the day, I want to get you back out of your crib so I can have one more hug.

Officially.

Now that I have seen a little heartbeat I can officially announce that Keith and I are expecting! Due date is March 5, just 5 days before Remi's 2nd birthday and 7 days before Keith big 3-0. Most of you probably already know, but I wanted to post this picture anyway. This little bean's feet are on the left and the head is on the other end :) We can't wait!

Keeping the boy entertained...

Having a kid with four cutting molars is such fun. He requires constant attention and entertainment unless I want him to hurl himself off of the back of the couch. Yesterday he rode his pony:Played in the dog's toy shelf:
Built his first fort:

Hid in the cupboards:

Took a rest:

What I am confronted with about 50 times a day...

His molars breaking through are making him extra needy...

Tricky 1st Sandwich

Okay, so actually this is his second sandwich ever, but Keith was without a camera for the first one. This is a plain old toasted peanut butter and homemade jam sandwich. You've never seen a boy eat so fast!