Happy Birthday Sweek Cakes!

Kate turned one this past month. Wow, hard to believe time has flown by so quickly. I took her into her well-child check. She weighs in at the 85th percentile, and her height is at the 87th percentile. No "little" girl by any means.

But what made me laugh out loud was when her head was measured. Totally OFF the charts, big time. If there were charts, her head circumference would fall somewhere around the 130th percentile. I remember thinking her head, compared to the rest of her body, was pretty big at birth. Then at her 6 month check-up, it was off the charts. But I thought for sure, she would grow into it and become more proportionate. Still hoping. . . Maybe when she turns two.

We got Kate a few fun baby toys, then set her in front of a giant piece of strawberry short cake. She dug in and ended up eating about every crumb. It was fun to watch!

For journal purposes: Kate has four teeth on top and bottom, weighs almost 25 lbs, and is getting some nice thick brown hair. She is still quite chubby but is starting to loose those massive rolls on her thighs. She says "uh oh" whenever she drops something (sometimes on purpose) and is starting to say "mamma" a lot--melts my heart. As long as she gets her naps, she's very happy and content, although sitting through the first hour of church is turning into an absolute disaster.

Her nicknames are "sweet cakes", "Mrs. Potamus" and "Chubs". Tonight around the dinner table, the kids laughed because after trying to get Kate's attention by calling her by her name a few times, I called her "Chubs" and she turned right around. Quick response to that one.

This past year with her in our family has been an absolute joy. We love our baby Kate.

Summer Garden

I'm pretty sure that growing zucchini is fool proof. Because nothing else has survived in our box gardens, but the squash is growing out of our ears. Just today, I picked this:

We have had zucchini pancakes, zucchini bread, zucchini pizza, fried zucchini, zucchini muffins, steamed zucchini, omelets with zucchini, stir-fry zucchini over rice, zucchini in pasta dishes, etc. . . The list goes on. And the kids are getting a little tired of it.

So today, I turned that (above) into this:

I shredded most of it and filled 23 quart zip lock bags full. Now it's in our freezer for later use, when the kids aren't tired of it. Works great with bread, muffins, pancakes, and casseroles.

I've collected some great recipes and am happy to share upon request!

Buster

If you can't tell, it's a picture of my NEW cell phone in Andersen's water bottle. Completely ruined. And too expensive to replace too, so I'm back to the ole' flip phone.

When I asked him why he drowned my new phone, he said with a sincere face, "but mom, I was just washing it because it was really dirty". True, and great intentions too.

It's hard to get upset at those big three-year-old eyes. Darn it Buster!

The Wallow Fire

The area of my dad's cabin has been on "pre-evacuation" status for the past 4 or so days. Because of this, my husband and brother drove up a few days ago and removed some of our most meaningful "unreplaceables" and some furniture out of the cabin and into a storage unit away from the fire, just in case.

We're hopeful and prayerful. The cabin is tied to a lot of family feelings, experiences, and memories. And to see all that beautiful forest burned black makes me sick. But at the same time, the cabin is just worldly "stuff", and having it burn down would only simplify our lives. (I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't make me feel any better).

Now all we can do is watch the news and wait it out. And pray for mild wind and lots of early summer rains.

Here's a few pictures John took while there. What might look like nice big clouds is actually smoke rising from the burning forest. (not sure why the sizes are different).

Summer is HERE!

And I am loving it. I love that we don't have to rush, rush, rush every morning to get the kids out the door on time. I love that we can have more visiting time around the breakfast table, spend more time answering questions that come up during family scripture study without feeling pinched for time.

I love watching EmmaClaire try her hardest at swim team, even though the first practice ended up in lots of tears. I love that jobs, piano practicing, homework, reading, and yard work are mostly finished by lunch time. I love having the rest of the day to do whatever we want to do. I love not following anyone elses schedule but my own.

I love not dealing with a crazy mad rush at 3:10 PM every day with a whirlwind of snacks and crumbs, paper dumping from backpacks, homework and piano help needed from all at once, and feeling spread so thin while trying to give each one individual attention but fulfilling all of their needs collectively at the same time. . .

I love not worrying about what time the kids go to bed, love staying up late and playing games, watching movies, and visiting with my kids. And then letting everyone sleep to their hearts content in the morning, including me.

I love Summer!

And, amazingly enough--chances are that in about 7 weeks, I'll be ready for the structure and consistency of school to start back up. All in good time, I guess. But for now, I'm loving the lazy days of summer.