Our Week.

Despite the heat we've managed to entertain ourselves with a little outside play, messy faces, swimming, and making banana ice cream.  We shall prevail!

Around Here.

I've been trying to find fun things to do locally with Harper.  It's been challenging to say the least, mostly because of her age.  There are plenty of things to do for kids that are about 4 or 5 and up, but for toddlers there's not a whole lot going on.  But I've managed to find a few interesting things to do:

Strawberry Festival (we go to this every year, though)

Family Day at Saint Mary of the Woods College

Alpacas!

In a helicopter.

Learning to compost.

We have things planned just about every week (visiting Dobbs Park and the Native American Museum there, camping at some of the parks, arts and crafts and story time at the library and book store, and some community band concerts).  Plus we have a three week vacation to Vermont and California planned (and we're riding the train to California!) so we have a lot going on!  If you read this and you're local, let me know of anything that's going on!  I know some of you are always out doing things!

Fishing.

Last week a new park opened nearby that has a pond (small lake?) for fishing.  The park itself isn't spectacular right now as they haven't finished the landscaping and whatnot, but Wade is excited.  We went the second day it was open he was so excited.  We had bought Harper a fishing pole a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of going fishing so we seized the moment and went fishing.  Unfortunately, the weather turned a bit chilly and windy and Harper was due for a nap.  I think she lasted roughly 10 minutes before the crankiness won over her and we walked around the park until she passed out.  But I definitely feel we will be back shortly.

Last Week.

:: Say hello to Stanley ::

:: Curious about chickens ::

:: Things are sprouting in the garden ::

:: Playing ::

Memorial Day Weekend (through iPhone pictures)

our weekend included: 

breakfast at Starbucks (yum!):: going to the park with momma and daddy :: momma in her hat :: harper in momma's hat :: spending time with papa :: swimming for the first time this year :: strawberry shortcakes for dessert :: more poolside time

Happy Friday.

It's been pretty quiet around here lately.  We've been spending most of our time outdoors playing, gardening, planting, caring for the chickens, and just enjoying the warm weather. I've been enjoying the break from school (although that's coming to an end soon).  I've caught up on some reading (I'm belated, but I have finally read The Hunger Games and am almost through Catching Fire), laundry, cleaning, and relaxing.  Harper is just growing and developing at an astonishing rate.  Her vocabulary has exploded over the past couple of weeks and she's talking in (almost) complete sentences.  She, as always, absolutely loves being outside as much as possible.  She's in a clingy, shy stage and a "mine" phase that we're working on.  We've had some trying days lately as she's testing her boundaries more and more, but as stressful as those days are, they're still the best days for me.  I've been doing a bit of part-time work at my aunt's business and helping her out by watching my 4 year-old cousin, Laila, so I'm still able to keep Harper with me.  Plus, she's getting some socializing in with someone more her age.  We have plans for camping, visiting the zoo and museums, and swimming as much as possible this summer.  I'm hoping my paper writing goes smoothly so that I am able to get as much out of this warm weather!

"No, you hold it, Momma."

Playing with Macie.

At the park.

Harper's Chickens.

Harper is all about The Ladies.  She wakes us up in the morning begging us to see the chickens.  We can't go two hours without her pleading to "hold kickens," as she calls them.

 Last week we let them out in their tractor for the first time and Harper (like the chickens) was in heaven.  She sat in the tractor with them for a long time.  She fed them and petted them and let them run all run her.  It was free babysitting for me!  Ha!  But seriously, I got to do the dishes quickly and sweep the kitchen floor!  I'd forgotten that those are simple chores that can be completed in less than 10 minutes without a little helper.  Unfortunately, I did these chores instead of taking pictures of her in the tractor, but I'm sure that once the weather stays warm I'll snap some of her in there.

Everyone loves The Ladies.

Spring Time.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I love this girl

Just looking at these pictures makes me want to squeeze her!

Celebrating (almost) Spring

I think it has been a crazy winter for just about everyone no matter where you live, no?  We've had a very warm winter, to say the least, and I know I've mentioned that in previous posts.  Today didn't start out particularly warm and sunny, which was unfortunate for the walk we took.  But it ended up being a very lovely day!  We were in the 70s with sunny, blue skies this afternoon and we took advantage of it!  

I threw open the doors and windows, then we promptly went out of doors for the rest of the day!  Harper has always been an outdoors kind of girl and I'm all about enhancing her love of it.  

We closed our eyes and listened for sounds we could hear.  

We watched the birds fly and the bugs crawl.  

We wandered the yard with bare feet and realized how soft they are (time to start toughening them up, I guess!).  

(Cloth diapers are unflattering when viewed from this angle, apparently.)

We spread a blanket on the ground and relaxed.  

We slid down the slide and swung high on the swings.  

"'moochies" from my love

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Happy (belated) March

So it's finally March.  It's almost spring!  (It's almost Harper's 2nd birthday! YIKES!)  It's been a pretty mild winter.  There have been very few snow showers and almost no accumulation (at least none that lasted very long).  We've had more thunderstorms than we did last summer.  But all we can say is, "Hey, it's Indiana."  If you live here you know that's true.


We usually celebrate the warmer days by going to the park.  And that's just what we did this week, knowing that the days following would be rainy and cold.