New News

Alright, so many things have happened in the last week and I wanted to give an update for everyone!

We refinanced our house for a lower interest rate AND to get cash to replace all the windows, roof, trim the trees and repair the fence, EEK! So exciting. Also....Jared is on the mortgage now, so we officially TOGETHER own our home! This is a big deal for us, and to top it off we'll have new roof and windows, a tax right off, and better energy efficiency all for less than the price of a one bedroom apartment! We certainly wouldn't be here without the help of family, so to all our family, especially the graciousness of my father THANK YOU!

In other, less exciting news....

1. I FINALLY finished Emilie's invitations and sent them out....minus four as I'm awaiting addresses. They are really cute, and it took me FOREVER to finalize the style, print, and add the embellishment, but what a fun project it was! Pictures to come soon!

2. I've started really working hard on losing the rest of this baby weight. I've heard that the last 10 lbs are the most difficult, for whatever reason. I ran my first, FIRST ever 1.5 miles! I know that's not a lot, but for me, someone who's never enjoyed running and has never run more than 1 mile, and that was a couple years ago, I was soooo excited! I've really gotten into the Couch to 5k program, mostly just to condition me to get into running, not really to run a 5k, but who knows!

3. I'm going to be trying a new remedy for my skin from LaurenElizabeth and see how that goes. I have a lot of trouble with my skin, and after having Emilie it's turned into combination skin...how lovely.

4. I went back to the classroom recently and put together lots of great ideas, to be posted under the "teacher" tab soon! I'm really excited about themes, and plans for the year AND for a bunch of new kids on my caseload...although I still haven't officially received my contract, which is frustrating, I am hopeful!

5. I am going to try this thing called Birch Box, which is only $10 a month (I'm paying monthly in case it doesn't turn out to be worth it) and they send a little box of goodies geared towards women, although there's a man's box too! I can't wait to get mine this month and share the contents!

A week in the life!

Our first week of summer vacation went something like this~

We played outside and watched Daddy power wash the picket fence.

Walked downtown during the Festival of Arts and walked through the Art Museum.

I baked some Snickerdoodles that were delicious and shared at Jared's work.

Emilie came to the doctor with me to get my shoulder checked out again. She was a little angel.

Mommy made pop bottle toys that sparkle and swish when tossed around.

Emilie played with her baby doll as Mommy talked on the phone.

We attempted artwork for Father's Day. We named the art piece "Disaster."

Emilie hated the paint, and it was like pulling teeth to get her to put her hands on the canvas. Instead, she wanted to paint her face, which meant a quick splash in the kiddy pool...except it was ice cold and Emilie was angry, cold, and had goose bumps. She got a warm bath afterwards, but when I came back out a bird had pooped on my phone in the meantime. 

Standing and pulling herself up!

Books, books! She loves tearing her room apart each day and going through all the books as she reads to herself. This gives me time in the morning to put my face on!

Mommy went to a meeting in Holland and Emilie got to see Auntie Amy again!

Sun room fun!

The taste of sweet cherries is just so yummy!

We visited a book store, hoping they'd have story hour, but they didn't. Instead we picked out a book for Daddy to read Emilie for Father's Day. She claimed the book by chewing off a few bits of fiber :).

My little kitchen helper.

I made some fresh raspberry scones, all they needed was some clotted cream!

Pretending to be a 50's housewife, I guess?

Spaghetti dinner for the win!

Cutting teeth. This was a horrifying site to come into, but the bleeding stopped and Emilie was all smiles. 

And lastly, a trip to the farm to visit Grandma again!