Fat lip, Dr Appointment, Kensington & Kayaking

Poor Penelope got a major fat lip this past Sunday. Steven put her in a little swing we have and then he walked away. Of course she wasn't buckled in and her balance is not super so she face planted it. It was a sad story until we gave her a Popsicle. Popsicle's make everything better:

Then Monday there was this sad moment when the fruit pouch ran dry and I didn't have more of that same flavor. Seriously the end of the world:

And to add salt in the wound, I took her to her one year check up after this sad moment. At the doctor's office Penny suffered from some major PTSD and pretty much cried any time the Nurse or Doctor got near her. The whole appointment was an epic disaster. We had to wait for 40 minutes for the nurse to come back in and give Penny her shots. Penny was already fussy, Steven was in a super whiny mood, Benny kept messing up the blinds and Lucy was just plain trouble. It was horrible but at least next time I go, both boys will be in school.

And the stats from her appointment: Weight: 18.1 lbs (Lucy weighed 17 lbs at her 6 month check up- crazy how different they are) Height: 29.5 in and Head Circ: 18 in

On Tuesday the temps were cool, 60's all day, so we decided to take a walk in Kensington. To be honest I regretted not wearing a jacket- apparently I am not as adapt to cool Michigan weather as I think I am- but despite being chilly it was a nice walk.Even Steven who had whined that he didn't want to go had a good time and I couldn't resist taking lots of cute scenic pictures:

 The rest of our week was pretty uneventful. Laci & Wesley came over one morning, we did some grocery shopping another (and while shopping the boys pretended they had an invisible friend the entire time "my invisible friend is going to buy this" "well mine is going to get that"), the kids all got new tennis shoes (Tyler picked out Twinkle Toe Sketchers for Lucy, they're pretty fun), we went to our Ward play date at a park on Friday morning (the park had this new swing that was basically a connected regular swing and baby swing- it was awesome) and Friday afternoon Lucy helped me make some cookies: 

The boys then fought over cookie dough, more like Steven fought over it. He yelled at Ben for scraping cookie dough off with a spoon that he had licked and told him he needed to use his finger instead. As if that's more sanitary. 

Friday night we went to the Ormond's house for a movie party in their backyard. Their were s'mores and popcorn and we watched the movie "Home." I wish I had taken some pictures, it was a good time. Well, except for both Benny and Lucy falling off the steps while waiting to jump on the trampoline. And besides me getting eaten alive by mosquito's. But seriously, a good time :).

Also this week I went to Olive Garden with my friend Carina and then we did some window shopping at the mall. She is a busy med student and mommy and so she desperately needed a break. I was glad to give her a reason to take one.

And I used my brand spanking new sewing machine to sew some pillow covers for our throw pillows we have on our couch. These were just my trial run with some cheap-o fabric and they may look ok in the picture but they definitely have many faults (like holes...). However I think I'm figuring things out and am hoping to make the real ones soon!

Today we took my kayak out for a trial run since my paddle came in the mail this week. My kayak is much more tipsy then the one I borrowed and since we don't have life jackets yet and I am not the bestest paddler, I let Tyler take the kids out in it (after taking my own turn of course). Lucy, Benny and Steven each got a turn and then the rain came tumbling down. What is it about me kayaking that brings out the rain!?

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Penny Pant's First Birthday

This beautiful girl turned 1 this week! I can't believe she's been in our family for a year already, yet I can't imagine her not in our family. She is a child of many highs and lows. When she's sick or teething she will make sure you know it. She will fuss, and shriek (boy can she shriek) and she will make sure you give her lots of attention. But when she is happy, she also makes sure you know it. She gives the sweetest, crooked smiles and the cutest belly laughs. I love her cuddles when she first wakes up from a nap, I love how she'll stick her hand over part of her face to play peek-a-boo with you, I love it when she says "hi" with a cute wave and I love it when she gets all the kids to go "ahhhhhh" with her in the van. She is the perfect addition to our crazy family.

Since Tyler affectionately calls her Penny Pants and the name has stuck Tyler made her a Groovy Pants Cake. It turned out perfectly:

We invited 4 families over to celebrate Penny's special day but apparently sickness is in the air and only 2 of the families could make it- our next door neighbor's family and my friend Tina and her family came. Penny was unsure of the whole cake and singing thing but she didn't cry (not like her brothers have in times past). She did try to touch the candle once and was a little put out that Tyler stopped her. Steven blew out the candle for her.

When it came time to eat the cake she was not too into it.

Tyler tried to get her to lick some frosting off his finger but she knew how unsanitary that was and gave a pretty good pout instead:

I did the proper thing and fed her some with a fork and then she was hooked. It didn't take her long until her face was blue and her fingers too but somehow her shirt remained unscathed. She's a proper lady this one is:

Cake coma:

The kids were pretty big fans of the cake too:

Party friends, Tina & Maizie: 

Our next door neighbor's The Farquharson Family, minus Eva who was off with the boys somewhere:

Penny had no interest in unwrapping her presents so of course her brothers helped her out but she was pretty thrilled by the contents of them. She seemed to especially love the car that her Grandma& Grandpa Brady got her:

Tina and family got Penny a box of tissues (brilliant idea really!) and though she didn't play with it much her birthday night, she had a blast with it the next day:

Lucy, however, does not believe in playing with tissues. She only uses them for their actual purpose, boogers!

Summer

Last week Steven went to summer camp at Oakland Yard Athletics. It was a 25 minute drive there which made for lots of driving but the camp lasted for 3 hours each day so it wasn't like we got home and just had to leave again to pick him up. It was a camp that basically introduced Steven to different sports and games. The camp also provided him with a daily supply of freezy pops, lunch and a super long slip and slide to play on. It was no wonder that Steven enjoyed the camp. 

This week, it was Ben's turn to go to the same camp (just this one was for "rookies" not "veterans"). I was a bit nervous because he hasn't done preschool or anything and sometimes he can be kind of chicken liver about doing new things. Thankfully this was not one of those times. He did so good with me leaving him and he had so much fun. He even went on the slip and slide which had originally been a reason he didn't want to go to camp (he was SO scared of it). I was proud of how brave he was and I am feeling much better about him starting Kindergarten next month!

Penny turns one next week- I still feel in denial that she can be THAT old! She is still not crawling or walking but she gets along just fine by rolling and she still manages to get into plenty of trouble. This week she got into the diapers and made a super fun mess: 

And this week she also made folding laundry pretty darn impossible. She loves to grab the things that I just folded and throw them everywhere. Not so helpful:

A big achievement this week was that Penny and Lucy officially began sharing a room and they did great! All this time I was so stressed that they would wake each other up and room sharing would be a total nightmare but it totally wasn't. It is so nice to not be sharing my room with Penny anymore!

Thursday we also took our typical trip to the Farmer's Market with our friend Tina and her daughter Maizie. I had to get some apple pie for Laci (she has been dying for it and had super bad luck with it always being out when she went to get some) and I also ended up getting a yummy coconut pie for me. As per tradition the kids had to stop at the craft table. This week they made a coffee filter butterfly. They turned out super cute:

Thursday night Tyler had a Young Men's meeting. Since Laci's husband is in Young Men's she came over and we watched "A Knight's Tale" and ate pie while the boys had their boring meeting. I forgot how silly that movie was but it made for a good time.

Friday night we watched Laci's little boy, Wesley. That kid is the cutest and super easy to watch. And even though he's a year younger than Lucy, they get along really well. They had fun playing in dirt, and taking turns watering our plants:

And I must end the post with the good news that I got a kayak this week!!! Not the best picture thanks to terrible lighting but I am super happy with my lime green kayak:

I hadn't gotten anything for my 30th birthday and there was a super good sale that just couldn't be resisted so now I have my very own kayak. Too bad I am still in need of a paddle and a life vest. Hopefully by next summer I will have all the things I need to make it completely usable :)

I Make 30's Look Good...

So I woke up on my 30th birthday to the sweet sound of rain. Only it wasn't so sweet because I had plans to go kayaking that morning with Laci. I was not happy with the rain but when it came time for us to launch the kayaks we had borrowed, it had disappeared and things were looking good. Although, maybe not so good because the first thing I did once in my kayak was to paddle myself right into the bank. It was my first time in a kayak and I didn't know what I was doing! It was super embarrassing and Tyler was still there to witness it (he had helped us transport the kayaks) but thankfully Tyler and Laci didn't mock me TOO bad. 

After that beginning embarrassment, my skills improved and there was no more crashing. Just chatting and paddling and enjoying the serenity of it all:

And just moments after I took the picture above, it started to rain again. We got pretty wet but we decided that was ok because a little rain never hurt anyone. Here's what I looked like after the drenching: 

I must confess that after we were done kayaking, I realized just how drenched and cold I was. It was not a sunny day and the temps were in the high 60's. But it was so worth it. I had a great time with this sweet lady:

After returning the kayaks, I came home and put the girls down for a nap and then took the boys out to Milford Memories. It's a super fun arts and crafts festival that our town has and it is literally only a couple blocks away from our home (which is a blessing and a curse because the traffic it brings is incredibly not fun). The boys had a blast pretending to put out fires with this super nerdy firefighter (seriously, he gave Ben bunny ears in the picture- look closely):

Then the boys played some carnival games, got tattoo's and did some crafts:

And then it was time for me to get some lunch. I got 2 amazing soft pretzels (one original and one topped with pepperoni's) that I had to begrudgingly share with my boys. And then for dessert I had black cherry flavored shaved ice with cream- it was super delicious:

 We had a little bit of down time after our festival fun and then it was time to go celebrate my birthday with some friends at the beach at Spring Mill Pond. The weather was still not ideal for playing at a beach but thankfully the rain at least stayed away this time. The kids didn't mind the cold and seemed to have a good time regardless. So there was beach playing, sandwich eating and cake munching fun with the Hess's the Connell's and the Brandley's. 

Tina Connel, sweet as can be:

Wesley, Laci and Penny

Mandi & David Hess

Tyler and Mark both put on their "cool" faces for the camera:

A picture taken at home that shows you just how rude my cake maker husband is:

Blowing out the candles, always a super flattering picture:

Posing with the cake and my cute kids:

Mazie Connell

The Hess girls, Abby & Kelhanie

It was definitely a good 30th birthday and I ended the day feeling very loved...and kind of old ;)