Week in Review 5/18/15-5/24/15

"A birthday is just another day when you go to work and people give you love.  Age is just a state of mind, and you are only as old as you think you are." -Abhishek Bachchan

On Wednesday of this past week, I turned the ripe old age of 34!  We decided to wait and celebrate over the weekend, but on my actual birthday our sweet friends, Brandon, Heather, Grayson, and Addison, stopped by with beautiful flowers for me!  And my sweet husband brought home a slice of chocolate cake for me so that we could have a little celebration ON my actual birthday!  So grateful for these sweet people in my life! 

When David got home from work Friday, we decided to take a walk around the lake to kick off the long weekend.  The weather was beautiful!!!

Saturday morning, we took Joseph to a local park one neighborhood over from ours.  He had lots of fun swinging as always!!!

Before Joseph's nap Saturday afternoon he had some backyard play time that eventually ended in an overly-tired temper-tantrum, an attitude adjustment discussion, and then some comfort from daddy.  Oh, the life of parents of a 2-year-old.

Over the course of the weekend, we celebrated my birthday by going out to eat with my parents, and David had a beautiful cookie cake made for me.  We had to limit the icing because of Joseph's dairy allergy, but my wonderful husband very thoughtfully had the lettering done in our wedding colors - Carolina blue and purple. :-)  We brought the cookie cake back to my grandmother's house after dinner to eat it there.

And here is my random picture from this week - we have been researching these berries growing on these bushes in our yard.  Thanks to the help of a friend and the internet, we have positively identified them as Leatherleaf Mahonia bushes.  The berries are edible and very high in vitamin C, but they also have a very sharp flavor and are best mixed with other fruits.  I see a frugal, healthy smoothie additive in our future!   We also have some wild blackberries growing in our backyard, which will make an excellent ice-cream topping later in the summer. :-)

Hope everyone had a great week!

Week in Review 5/11/15-5/17/15

"Behold the turtle.  He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out." -James Bryant Conant

Early this past week, David went out the door one morning to go to work then came back and got me to show me the rather large-ish turtle that had apparently made it from the lake near our house up to our front walkway.  A little later on he had wandered off somewhere else, but I did take this picture of our little friend...

On Thursday morning, my parents were interviewed by a local TV station, FOX 8, about their neighborhood community watch program. 

Jojo and I watched from nearby, and Joseph played with a stick...

Right after their interview, we got to see the street sweeper coming through their neighborhood.  Joseph, loving any and all types of trucks, enjoyed the show!

Speaking of Joseph, this sweet little cuddle bug took a nap with me on Friday...

Since I always seem to include a totally random, thoroughly useless, completely boring picture on my blog each week, I hated to break the tradition.  So here it is...our attic fan.  It has gone on the blink and needs to be replaced so the heat doesn't heat up our roof and raise our electric bill.  Why did I post a picture of it, you (rightly) ask?  Because apparently it's quite the talk of the attic-fan repair world.  The guy that came to give us an estimate this morning said that not only has he never seen a gable attic fan this large, he's also never seen one rigged up in the particular way this one is.  He was quite happy that he got to see it in person!  LOL.  Anyway, we got a very reasonable estimate and very soon it will be replaced with an equally powerful but MUCH smaller fan!

The albatross.  See, if this doesn't win a "random useless picture" award I don't know what would.

Saturday was beautiful!!!  We spent some time sitting by the lake while Joseph ran around...

And then David and Joseph mowed the back yard (with Joseph in his rash guard shirt and a  swim diaper because, you know, those are just good mowing clothes). 

Sunday afternoon, we went to see our friend Addison's end-of-the year program at her preschool.  Joseph loved the music and we loved watching all the kids!  Addison is growing so fast...she'll be going to Kindergarten in the fall.  It reminds me of how quickly Joseph will be there in just a few years, too!

The weather is REALLY warming up now!!!  Hope everyone is taking advantage of these pretty days!!!  See you next week!

Week in Review 5/4/15-5/10/15

"After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value." ~George Macauley Trevelyan

On Monday we went walking with our friends James and Brooks and their mommies, like we often do on Mondays.  Loving this warm weather!

 
Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo, and Joseph and I went to a children's Cinco de Mayo festival at one of the local libraries that afternoon...

I helped him do some coloring

He got to see some Mexican goods

And the lady at the library also explained to him that many forms of chocolate come from Mexico.  He got a Hershey's kiss from her, too!

Joseph has gotten really into climbing and rolling about and doing different crazy contortions with his body recently.  Here is my little monkey rolling about on the couch on Wednesday afternoon...

 Friday morning, our sweet friends the Locks had us over to play and even fed us lunch!  Joseph and Addison had a great time!!!  They formed a band together, danced together, and even got married! ;-)

And, after our morning play date, Joseph was so tired that he asked me if he could "nap in Tula."  And he did!

So random, but Friday evening when we were grocery shopping I took this picture of my little cutie...

On Saturday morning, our neighborhood was holding our annual neighborhood fishing clinic at Lake Hamilton in which residents can learn fishing tips and invite friends from other neighborhoods to come fish, too!  We walked down to the lake to see the fun...

I sadly didn't get any pictures of our Mother's Day activities, but we had a great time!  Wishing my mom, my mother-in-law, my grandmother, and all the other mothers across the world a Happy Belated Mother's Day!  My sweet hubby and son got me, among other things, the shadow boxes I needed to make memory boxes for our two angel babies, Carson and Jesse.  I cannot wait to get started on this project!  David and Joseph made this the best Mother's Day yet!

See you next week!!!

Week in Review 4/27/15-5/3/15

"What potent blood hath modest May." -Ralph W. Emerson

Library story time happened, as usual, this Wednesday.  This week's theme was "A Rainbow of Colors."  Joseph LOVES naming colors, so he had lots of fun!

On Friday morning we went to our monthly La Leche League meeting at Leonard Recreation Center (I'm sure I've talked about it before, but La Leche is a breastfeeding support group that supports moms on all stages of their breastfeeding journeys).  We love our La Leche group...spending time with these other mommies and their little ones is such a great way to spend a Friday morning!  Joseph loves playing with the other toddlers/preschoolers and watching the babies. :-)

Joseph, although usually very independent now in terms of playing by himself around the house, still has times when he just wants to be held by mama.  Friday around 5pm was one of those times, so into the Tula he went while I made dinner.  Love this cuddly guy!

First thing Saturday morning we took Joseph swinging at our neighborhood park.  He loved getting out bright and early in the cool morning air!

Saturday afternoon, my parent's neighborhood hosted "Homewood de Mayo," a fun Cinco-de-Mayo themed street festival (termed "Homewood" de Mayo because it is held on the 100 block of  Homewood Avenue).  This is the 2nd year they have done it, and it's lost of fun!  We had a great time and the weather was amazing!

Joseph checks out this cool tractor

The band, "Certified Organic," was great!

 After we left Homewood de Mayo, we walked back to my grandmother's house to watch the Kentucky Derby.  A fun time was had by all!!!

On Sunday, our church held our annual Spring Global missions celebration.  They set up an "International Market" in the church gym in which you could buy items that our missionaries need for their ministry.  For example, jars of peanut butter for children in Africa (because of it's high protein content) or sponsorship of a Muslim student in another country to attend a Christian camp.  You could purchase as little or as much as you wanted and we had an amazing time!  They also had reusable shopping bags for sale that had been handmade by girls in a care center in India.  All proceeds go to them.  With my heart for a) India and b) reusable shopping bags, this seemed like a no-brainer for me.  I bought 2 and am sort of in love with them!

The International Market in our church gym

My handmade Indian shopping bags!

Outside, there was also an opportunity to buy lunch from several local "international-themed" food trucks that had come to the event.  We loved eating lunch out in the beautiful weather!  And, finally, there was a mobile petting zoo.  A lot of the items available for purchase were livestock items to help feed families in other countries.  So this gave the kids (and adults) a feel for these creatures. :-)  After eating THREE chicken tacos for lunch from the Mexican food truck, Joseph was apparently still hungry because he ate a handful of goat food (totally serious).  He must have really enjoyed the goat food, because we literally had to pry it from his hands.

I'm loving all the spring activities!  Hope everyone had a wonderful week!