Photos at the farm...

This is as close to being posed as it gets for this little guy. By that I mean that I start clicking away with my camera whenever he slows down for a moment. ;o) I'm sure y'all know what I mean!

Is it just me or do those mums look almost as big as he is?

The Hubs was desperate to get out of the house for a while so we all -Poppi, too- piled into the car and drove out to a farm. That's where these pics were taken.

This farm used to be a Christmas tree farm with a small, but lovely, gift shop. Now it's grown into a place where you can take hayrides, get a sweet treat from their bakery, eat the best macaroni and cheese ever in the restaurant, pick out a pumpkin or take home a freshly cut Christmas tree depending on the season. On occasion, they have live music in the barn and host school field trips. In short, it's one of our favorite places to go when we need to have some family fun.

I have plenty of photos to share from our most recent trip out there...but since the laundry and an active/hungry toddler are waiting for some attention, I'll have to share those later.


You understand, right?

18 months

Our E-man.

There he is.

A little blurry from being in near constant motion with food bits around that sweet smile.

Very shortly he will be 18 months old.

Wow.

Right now his favorite activities are climbing, exploring and running around after his big bro'. The climbing and exploring have given his daddy and me some hair raising moments while the sounds of good-natured shouting and laughter as he and the Bubs play keep smiles on our faces.

Yo Gabba Gabba and any music with a beat keep him shimmying and shakin'. It's so stinkin' cute!

He jabbers away in a language that only he can completely understand but we all "uh-huh" and "oh, tell me about it" as if we're all having a conversation with him. He loves that.

His favorite item, by far, is his "binky". His binky is a blue, cable-knit baby blanket that I bought extremely reduced at a local Ross store before he was born. It's very soft and we have to sneak it away from him to throw it in the wash.

His newest skill is, by far, our favorite. He's learned to give hugs.

Oh, how those hugs smooth out the rough edges of our days!

Big brother moment~

The boys weren't surprised when I came rushing around the corner with my camera. I just HAD to get a few pics before we took the Bubs to his first day of second grade!

Bubs wasn't so enthused about having his photo made and kept giving me weird faces....and then he had the wonderful idea to have his little bro' in the picture. This was my favorite result. The lighting, among other things, isn't great but it so perfectly captures the Bubs in his big brother mode. Melts my heart everytime I look at it...

Time flies and boys grow...

So sorry for my bloggy absence...it's been an interesting time at my house, lately. The Hubs is still recovering from his shoulder surgery. He has okay days....and then he has pretty rough days. Today was one of them. He's resting now and I'm prayerful that his season of painful days will be coming to an end soon.

When my Dad reminded the Bubs earlier that tomorrow would be his last vacation day before the school year started, he was both excited and shocked. I think it snuck up on him....I know the feeling!

E-man gets taller everyday. He's able to get his hands on things that I'd previously thought were out of his reach. We all have to take extra care not to leave our drinks around or any of the t.v. remotes as he has a distinct fondness for snatching both!

My how time flies...and how little boys grow!

Sweet Shot Tuesday~

This Summer, for me, will always be known as "The Museum Summer". With the heat being so intense the last few weeks, we've made frequent use of museums of all kinds. Of course, the local (and not so local) children's museums were the boys' faves. Everything was interactive and geared towards kids of all ages and development levels. The boys loved playing and we loved that we very rarely had to say no. It was a freeing experience for the Hubs and me (Poppi, too)!

I absolutely loved the studio area in the latest children's museum. Lots of beautiful sunshine streamed in the windows, children's creations were hanging everywhere and art supplies were stuffed in every nook and cranny just waiting for little hands to use them. Very old exposed brick made up one wall...I just ran my hand across it, fascinated with the texture.

As enthralled as I was with that inspiring space our little E-man captured my full attention when he grabbed a crayon and, after his Daddy gave him a piece of paper, started to draw. For the first time. Most definitely a sweet moment...

Thanks for stopping by!

Cutting teeth and Chicken Noodle Soup

Little E-man wasn't feeling too perky last weekend and earlier this week. He had a low-grade fever, lots of pain and wasn't very interested in solid foods. Bless his heart, he was so miserable he would just sit in our laps with his favorite blanket (his "binky") and want to be snuggled. Of course, there were plenty of times when he would just scream......

Turns out, after a quick visit with a doc, he agreed that he was cutting A LOT of teeth at one time and that was making him miserable. No kidding! Thankfully, he's feeling much better.....shout out to the makers of Orajel.

I know it's a cliche, but every time someone in the house is under the weather I get the urge to make a pot of chicken noodle soup. In our house, there's just something about smelling the wholesome aroma as it wafts up from a pot of simmering goodness that signals comfort and well-being for us. It doesn't hurt that it tastes good, too!

What's your go-to meal or drink when you or the fam aren't feelin' so perky?

Sweet Shot Tuesday~

Okay, I know I haven't been able to link up with Sweet Shot Tuesday in a few weeks...and I've really missed it! I did try and swing by and take a look at what people had been submitting. Y'all are so very talented!

The picture below is so precious to me. We don't have very many days where the Hubs feels like he can do something like this. Yes, he's been having more "better" days. On those days he's able to do very basic tasks around the house and with the boys. We've come to cherish the days that he feels functional. The day we did this, I know he wasn't 100% but he was determined to have some fun with the fam. And we did.

We caught the go-kart area of a local arcade/mini-golf at a great time...no lines! The Bubs and Hubby were the only two on the course and their laughter and joking around could be heard over the rumble of the karts. I was couldn't help but laugh along while I caught these snapshots.

The Bubs now says that he can take our car out for a spin now that he drove his first go-kart. "I drive good, Mommy! I can drive the car now!"

Poppi and E-man hung out on the sidelines, taking in the sight of Hubby and Bubs whizzing around the track.

While these photos aren't specimens of photographic genius, they're pretty special to me and I'm more than happy to share them. Thanks for stopping by! Have a sweet Tuesday...

Our trip in pictures...LOTS of pictures.