dogs

 My children have been OBSESSED with dogs as of late. I mean insanely obsessed!! We have so many stuffed dogs around our house it sometimes is hilarious. Isabelle will tuck them in at night and they are the first things she grabs in the morning-like even before she really is conscious. But, on a lovely note...the kids have been playing so well together. I love love love it. I just sit back and watch them entertain one another and play for hours at a time. There is fighting to be sure-but man or man is there love!

this was their Pirate Ship-so I was told

love

5 months

toenails

I have been on Nate for about 2 weeks to cut his big toe's toenail. It is not insanely long (do not be too grossed out) but long enough that it bothers me. Daily. He has since cut it-but before he had done so Isabelle was drawing a picture of daddy. I asked her what the long lines were coming from his feet, she replied, "his toenails". I died laughing and quickly found Nate to recount the story. He was equally amused.....and ended up cutting his nails recently after:) Below is the said picture by the beautiful and talented miss Belle.

Vacation....at last!

We finally went on vacation this past week and it was heavenly!! We stayed up at my uncle's house right on Glen Lake in Glen Arbor, Michigan. His little cottage backs right up to the water and he graciously let us use his many boats, fishing equipment and jet skis. It was my dream vacation-water, boats, fishing, family, and amazing food. My mom and dad (and sister ruth for two days only:( ) came too-which only added to the greatness!! Here are just a few shots from the trip. The only slight downer was that being 5 months pregnant I could not participate in some of the activities (ie: water skiing and tubing) but I certainly survived;)

Isabelle did not enjoy tubing

can you guess if he did??

my little love boy

my daring little Belle going out in the water

busy throwing every single rock he found into the lake

buds

jumping on the water trampoline with the little ones

fishing...and pregnant:)

riding the "nay-nay"

one of our many coloring sessions

sweetness

big girl

exploring

my man and babes

me and the littles

she loved going fishing!!

snuggles on the boat ride back home

I love vacation....but I love my home even more and am glad to be back:)

what up

this is what has been up lately:

pretend swimming indoors

horse rides

learning to write

that sums up what we have been doing.....vacation is coming and we cannot wait!!!

Homemade Pasta and Fresh Tomatoes:)

We broke out our pasta maker the other night-and let me just tell you that will soon be a regular practice here. Homemade pasta is so good-just so different in all the right ways!! It is quite the mess-but the kids have so much fun with it I might just have to bite the bullet and be ready to clean a great deal. Also, my sweet little garden is giving up tomatoes:) lots and lots of tomatoes. I snapped a few pictures of my recent picks-huge, red, delicious!! Today's lunch will be tomatoes roasted soft with oil, garlic, salt and pepper and tossed all over pasta-one of my personal favorites! Yum!! PS: why did no one tell me you have to use a cage thing for tomatoes or they grow insanely all over??!! Live and learn I guess.