While we were out

Sorry for the lack of posts, we have been out of town on our fun family vacation (more to come on that next week).
Before we left we picked our first ever vegetable from our garden. It was a delicious zucchini and I was very proud of it. There is something so cool about going out to the garden and getting what you are going to eat. I am cooking a spaghetti squash that I picked this afternoon as we speak.

One thing I totally forgot about, being the newbie that I am, was that things would still grown while we were gone. I didn't think about having anyone come check on our garden and pick what was growing.

So when we got back we had these gigantic zucchinis growing. They are pretty out of control. I am not quite sure what to do with them.

Olive thought they were great and loved trying to carry it around. It is almost as big as her.

Photo Friday

Scott taught me a whole bunch about my camera this week. I feel like now I actually have a reason to shoot in manual. We also talked a lot about composition. So that is what I was working on in all of these photos. I have a lot to work on but I think there is a big improvement with just a little practice.






I think these next two are my favorites but it is probably because I really like my baby.


I can't wait to practice more. It is kinda surprising how much the "rule of thirds" can make your photos more interesting. What do you think?

Porch Monkeys

We have loved our porch. It is so relaxing to go out there and just sit and talk about our day in the evenings.

These are the cute charming houses we get to look at. It's a great view. Our neighborhood is so friendly and people always stop to talk to us.

I like having a porch even more than I thought I would. Sometimes Olive and I go sit there in the mornings while she drinks her milk and it is so peaceful.

P.S. I have big plans for our porch like removing that green carpet and the (broken) storm door. Then it will really be perfect!

Can't get enough BABIES!!!

Olive has become OBSESSED with babies. Seriously, she is obsessed. Whenever she see a baby that is all she can talk about. "There a baby. It's a baby an a mama. Where a baby, where?"
In all of her books she points out the babies and the mamas. She goes up to stranger's strollers to talk to the baby (seriously Disneyland was a nightmare because there were babies and strollers everywhere). In church she is yelling across the rows at the babies and gets worried if they cry and have to be taken out. Babies are all she thinks about.

She has always loved playing with her dolls. For quite a few months now she has been toting them with her to the store, or pool, bringing them on walks, and everywhere else. But she recently inherited a new doll that actually cries. When it cries she picks it up, pats it's back, and says "It's okay baby" in the sweetest little voice you've ever heard. It's like she knows what to do (mind you , it cries because it gets dropped or bonked). She is always on the move and rambunctious that this brief moment of ease, even with a pretend crying baby, really warms my heart.

I love her concentration as she feeds her baby and takes care of it.

Sometimes she gets frustrated about being a baby and says so. I guarantee that she thinks of herself as a big kid. But other times, if it works to her advantage, she loves acting like a baby. She tells us "No big girl, me baby"

Randomly, she decided that this was the perfect pose. She kept saying "CHEESE" so that I would know to take a picture. She was having Belle be the mama to this baby. It might only be funny to me, but I find her hilarious. I *heart* this girl so much.

You win some and you lose some

One of the problems with knitting is, what do you make to wear in the summer? So I decided that headbands were the way to go. Here is my first creation. I just made it up myself and I think it turned out pretty cute.

I also knit these booties to go with it. Can you tell what is wrong with them?

Well first off, they are both left foot booties. But I thought I might be able to solve that by just sewing them closed and adding a button on each side. That is when I realized that are not only the different sizes (see how the one on the left is bigger? Oops!) but they are also much to small to fit on any baby. I asked Scott if they were too small and he said "They might fit a premie. But aren't they different sizes?" Dang it! The last problem is that this headband fits Olive and she is almost 2. There is no way the booties and the headband could be worn at the same time so it is pointless to have them as a set. That is the problem with knitting, sometimes things just don't turn out.

180 degrees

Do you remember when I was thinking about getting rid of our clothesline? Well, I have decided that I must have been crazy!! I have done a total 180 and I am now in love with having a clothes line. I can get my laundry done super fast. It is so fresh and crisp. On top of the energy and money savings (which who knows how much that actually is but at least I feel good about it)

I think it is so charming to go into our back yard and see our clothes swaying in the breeze. I just love it! It wasn't laundry day, and I thought that you wouldn't necessarily like to see our underwear, so I thought this cute dress that I made Olive would work to show off our clothesline.

I made this little bag to hold all of my clothespins. I just noticed that I made it with some scraps that I used for Olive's dress. I made Olive a little clothespin bag also to match. One of my favorite things is Olive walking around the yard "helping" with the laundry as we have our little matching bags on.

Independence Day (more like weekend!)

Can you believe it is still the 4th of July? It seems like it has been 4 days of celebrating the 4th! We have had a busy, fun, tiring weekend. Sadly this is the only family picture we got from all the activities:

Here we are after running the 5K. We almost were not allowed to run the 5K due to a mean lady who said we didn't register when we did, but we rushed and got it worked out. Olive rode along in the jogger and had a fabulous time relaxing and enjoying the ride. I think it was the perfect way to start the day!

Then the parade. This was by far Olive's favorite part of the day. She was so excited. Her flag was waving frantically as she was yelling "HI!" to everyone that passed. That was probably my favorite part of the day also.

It looks like she is standing at attention or something in this picture.

Even while her cousins were holding her she wouldn't stop waving at the parade. She was in heaven.

Next we headed to the park for all the "Fun Days" activities they had going on. Olive got quite a bit of attention on her bike. Murray has the funnest traditions. I love living here.

Then off to the grandparents for a BBQ. Olive has discovered how fun trampolines are. We have discovered how frustrating toddlers are around trampolines.

Playing in water was the one thing that could have made the day more perfect. What can I say? We spoil her.

Critique

Recently I have been getting really inspired to try and take better pictures and understand what makes a good picture. Having a good camera is one thing, but to know how to use it to create interesting pictures is another. Sometimes I will have photo Friday to get opinions on what I am doing. Here is the first one.

I like it but I am not sure that I love it. What do you think? I want feedback!