Hours of entertainment.

I can't believe how much fun Stella is getting to be. She changes everyday and it's such a blessing to get to be a part of it! She's having a great day with her Dad today They went for a walk at the park, looked at plants, and watched the big kids play soccer. Right now, they're playing in their fort and telling each other stories. I love listening to them!

Here's a video that's about a month and a half old now, but still provides endless entertainment for Jim and I. (I laugh myself to tears!)

Cereal and frozen pizzas

If we have to eat cereal and frozen pizza for dinner every night because Stella wants me to hold her and snuggle her - so be it! I'm tired of trying to "teach" her that she can play on her own while I fix dinner after school. I told Jim that I'm just going to enjoy it and not worry about what I'm not getting done. He said, "yes, because someday you'd kill for this." He's right - it brings me to tears thinking that there will come a day when I can't hold her! So for now, dinners are going to be pretty pitiful and I'm ok with that. (She does get progressively better throughout the week. Mondays are ROUGH, Tuesdays better, and yesterday she was pretty happy running around for a while.)

How can I resist this face?
♥

My little Hot Tamale!

and my OCD buddy! It will be great when her organizational skills mature and it's helpful!

I wait all year for this!

We've been SO busy - it's tough to post with school and trying to get lots of quality time in with Stella. I really do love fall even if it means going back to school. I love the cool, crisp, foggy mornings, wearing sweaters, and baking. (pumpkin drop cookies are my ABSOLUTE favs although I made chocolate chip for Jim this morning.) Stella's new favorite fall thing is "hot cocoa". Hearing her say it is the cutest thing ever! It's also darling when she says, "thanks Mama" without prompting!

One thing I love about fall that I wait ALL YEAR for is my little pumpkin. I get smallish pumpkins from the store and carve it. I never used to bother with a face, I would just carve random shapes in it. This year I carved a happy little face for Stella. I rub the top with spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg,...) and burn it on my kitchen counter. It's the most amazing smell throughout the entire house. They don't last terribly long, but I have 2 more here waiting when this one gets mushy!

I've been trying to do a little bit of decorating. I saw a blog post about using frosted glass spray-paint and knew it would be perfect for a cabinet in my bathroom but also thought it would be fun to try on other random things around the house. I haven't tried it yet, but on a similar note check out my Ross find! A darling apothecary jar with an "S" already etched in it! I found the pinecones with little pumpkins and gourds in it at Michaels and we had instant fall. I'd still like to do more, but at least I have a little bit of fall going for now.

As for my mood - things are getting better. We're finding our school groove (I still wish I had an extra day or two off a week though!)

Here she is with her "hot" cocoa. Too bad I can't get her to turn away from the movie to face the camera!

One

One week left to:

* snuggle after naps

* go to the park

* watch Yo Gabba Gabba while eating breakfast

* read to her for HOURS on end

* Toddler Gym and swimming at the YMCA

* running errands together while everyone else is at work

* go on field trips

* try to find something nutritious that may also be considered edible for lunch

* hang out in our pjs until 10

* call Daddy at work to check in

* get a lemonberry slush at Sonic

* sew/knit/read/clean during naptime

* sprinkler fun

* movies

* watch my girl talk, play, learn, and grow all day long

* just pal around

* did I mention snuggling after naps? I did? Can you tell that's one of my FAVORITE things?

I've been SO loving being a stay at home mom all summer. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. I really do enjoy working, I just always have bouts of anxiety before going back after a break. It's so hard to leave her after spending so much time together. I know that I have a GREAT job for a mom. I get to be home with her about 1/2 time if you count weekends/holidays/vacations - still... I miss her.

I know how much she loves all of the kids at Sheri's, and I know how good it is for her. It will be fine. It's always the anticipation that's the worst. I'd better end this before I wind up in full-blown tears!

"Baby baby you're the world to me."

My Loot!

I've been wanting to join a CSA for several years now, I've just never pulled the trigger. They only run from about June - October, you have to drive down to pick up the box, and it seemed pricey. I'd thought about trying to find someone to split with but then you have to coordinate that each week as well.

Last week a friend told me about Terra Organics and suggested I check to see if they deliver (yes, DELIVER) to my house. I didn't get my hopes up - nobody delivers anything except luke warm pizza to my house. I was pleasantly surprised when I was wrong! My interest was peaked and I looked into it further. We decided to have a small box delivered every other week. I'm not sure the 2 1/2 of us could get through more and I wanted to try it out before we got more. Our first delivery was today and I'm thrilled! Check out the fresh, organic produce that was left on my doorstep:

Our first box contained:

* pluots

* blueberries

* corn

* cherry tomatoes

* donut peaches

* cantaloupe

* celery

* green cabbage

* yellow beans

Can you believe that??? I cut up the cantaloupe while Stella was napping so we'd have it for dinner... not quite half of it made it to the table and I must say it was the sweetest/best cantaloupe I've had in as long as I can remember. I can't wait to see what the next box brings!

A couple of other things I really like about them: you can substitute items (although there isn't a lot that I think I'd choose not to get), you can put it on hold if you aren't going to be around or just don't want it for some reason, you can stop at any time (as opposed to buying in for an entire season), it's year-round, and you can add on to your order. And... it's all done online. These people are geniuses!!

She might look like Daddy but she's a lot like Mama! (and what we've been up to)

When I arrange things Jim says I have mild OCD. (I may... how many other people eat colored candy in pairs arranged by color?) When his darling girl lined up all of the cones he was trying to use for soccer he said she's "linear". Funny how the title is different for different people.
After putting them in a line she paired them up carefully around the yard. This took a while and a LOT of concentration - what could be going through that little mind?

And just goofing off...

She now knows where popsicles are kept and goes to the freezer saying "sicle" many times a day.

We made playdough,

met cousins at the wading pool,

practiced guitar with Daddy,

and helped Mama make homemade lemonade.

The girls liked strawberry best, Dad liked blueberry. (We picked blueberries from a local farm that morning - YUM!) I wish you could have seen how beautiful the colors were. I tried to capture it, but this is the best picture I could get.

Look at her DEVOUR that burger... Oh wait, nope it's a Gardenburger. That's my girl!

And totally unrelated, I've been making belts! This one is probably my favorite. Jim got a navy one and an olive one, I got this one, chocolate, charcoal, and olive. I got the webbing and hardware from an Etsy site (I just searched for "belt buckles"). No tools required, just cut the webbing and crimp the ends of the hardware. I think they cost about 5-6 bucks a piece. MUCH better than the price in the stores!

There are only a few weeks left of vacation so I'm trying to enjoy the time with Stella as much as possible. She actually napped on my chest the other day - AH HEAVEN!!!!

I guess she didn't like it

Our girl LOVES music. She dances to all of our stuff, Taylor Swift always makes her smile, and when the kiddy tunes (the obnoxious ones that get stuck in my head for the rest of the day) come on in the car her arms are sure to be waving. We really haven't found much she doesn't like... other than one Beyonce song that was on the Ellen show.

Yesterday, Jim's niece was over trying to escape the heat in her apartment. She was playing his electric guitar trying to figure out Cat Power's version of "Sea of Love". I was holding Stella and when I looked down this is what I saw:

I can only assume she isn't a fan!