We're Still Here

I'd like to use the excuse that we've had a REALLY busy summer as to why I haven't blogged in forever, but that's not really the case. I thoroughly enjoy reading other peoples blogs, but I am terrible at updating my own.

Vinnie and I did take a vacation to Jamaica in July, but other than that we've just been hanging around having fun at home. Connor is growing up way to fast. He gets smarter, funnier, and sassier every day. He had a blast with Mimi and Papa and Grandma Cathy while we were in Jamaica. He was very well behaved and everyone enjoyed their time with him and and he loved spending time with his grandparents.

Vinnie got a new job! The job he had before required him to work lots of hours and left very little time for us to spend together as a family. He started his new job August 1st and we are still pinching ourselves from having him home on the weekends and in the evenings. It's been great!

I am looking forward to Fall. It is my favorite season. This summer has been way too hot. Countless days of triple degree temperatures! I can't wait to take Connor to the apple orchard again and the pumpkin patch, and maybe a trip to the zoo. Maybe I can talk Vinnie into another mini vacation for the fam. Last September, we took a weekend trip to Omaha, and went to the zoo. That was a lot of fun!

Since I didn't update a whole lot, or at all really throughout the summer, I will leave you with a few pictures.



I've got more to share, but pictures are not uploading right now unless I do one at a time, which takes forever. So I will come back later and try to upload more.

Bunny Whispers

Tonight, I stepped out on the back deck at dusk to water the flowers, when I saw a couple of bunny rabbits hanging out in our yard. Connor was just inside the door, drawing on his magna doodle, so I whispered to him to come outside to see the bunnies. I told him to be quiet so they don't hop off.

He came outside with his magna doodle and sat down in his little chair and watched the rabbits. All the while, doing a very good job of whispering, talking about the bunnies and still drawing away. I sat down next to him and we whispered about the bunnies and what they were doing.

Then he whispered about what he was drawing. "I'm drawing a little boy. His name is Connor Vincent. There are his legs, and his eyes and his nose." He was saying all of this in a perfect whisper. I was impressed because usually it's hard to get a kid to whisper. He was being so cute, being quiet so he wouldn't scare the bunnies.

We were pretty impressed with the drawing too, so I took a picture of it. While I was inside taking a picture, Vinnie was out with Connor talking about the bunnies. Vinnie told him to tell the bunnies to hop. So Connor said in the littlest whisper, "hop." Vinnie said, "you can say it louder than that." So Connor said in a louder whisper, "hop!" Vinnie still urging him to say it louder, "HOP!" in an even louder whisper. Finally Vinnie told him he didn't have to whisper anymore, and Connor yelled hop. The bunnies hopped off after that.

In Front of the Camera

I'm pretty much always behind the camera. Occasionally I'll pass the camera off to Vinnie to take a picture of Connor and I, but Connor ends up stubbornly squirming away. I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs about getting in the shot, so you are sure to have pictures of yourself with your kids. So, here is my attempt at getting in front of the camera...

I set the camera on the opposite arm of the couch and focused on Connor.

Then, set the timer and stepped in. Focus is off, but still a cute photo.

Take 2. Changed the position of the camera.

and cut my head off

try again

Even though they are not the best photos, quality wise, I think they turned out pretty cute. They capture the love and the fun that I share with my son. I should make it a point to get in front of the camera more often.

A new blog, a new recipe

I like blogs and I like trying new recipes, so when I came across this blog, you can imagine how excited I was. There are so many enticing recipes on there, even ones that I feel confident that I can make, and have the time to make. Tonight we tried the spicy honey chicken, and it was delicious! It's definitely a keeper!

While we made dinner, Connor watered the yard.


Yep, we are back to wearing winter coats today. Told you our weather is fickle. After sweating in our sleep a few nights ago, I decided that Connor needed some new spring/summer pajamas. He's outgrown most of the ones from last year, so we headed to Kohl's and he must have been in a Toy Story mood that day because he chose 2 pajama sets that were both Toy Story. One set came with Buzz and Woody pajamas that look more like costumes. Here he is sporting the Woody ones.
Tonight we are back to wearing long sleeved fleece pajamas though. Everyone stay warm and cozy tonight. Good night!

Hello Spring

Wasn't it just a week ago that I had to clear snow off my car, before leaving for my Monday drive? Today we were blessed with a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day. Sure beats last years first day of spring, when it snowed several inches. Missouri's weather can be so unpredictable. This is my favorite kind of weather. Spring and fall are by far my favorite seasons. I don't enjoy the extremes we get during winter and summer. Yesterday was a gorgeous day too, and we took full advantage of it. If we were home, we were outside. Connor got to play outside all day yesterday, and he even got to skip his nap. You can imagine how hard it was to wake him up this morning. He was definitely feeling the effects of playing hard with no nap. I'm sure if you ask him though, it was worth it. Here are a few cute videos that I shot yesterday.

I'm having trouble uploading them directly to my blog, so here are the links:

Sand Pizza

Meatballs Spaghetti

Connor's First Camping Trip

Another great idea from No time for Flashcards; this one was a craft and pretend play all rolled into one. We crafted our own campfire from a wrapping paper roll and some tissue paper.

Connor also played rocket with our craft

Connor packed the snacks. It's no surprise he picked Goldfish.

Taste test

We hit the road

with the backseat packed

This looks like a good place to set up camp

Getting settled in

Enjoying our fire

Bedtime Story

Bedtime reading has been pretty entertaining the past few nights. We've been reading, Scooby Doo: The Case of the Missing Scooby Snacks. In the book, the gang is touring the Scooby Snack Factory and Scooby Snacks keep disappearing. On each page, Connor gets to count the Scooby Snacks. He's been wearing these cool sunglasses while we read.

He flips them down while I am reading, then flips them up to count. It's the cutest thing ever! He cracks me up. I hope to get it on video, but that would require Vinnie to be home from work early enough and Connor to allow us to tape him. I hope we can be successful, because it's so cute!