Fort Snelling

My cousin's family came to the cities.  We took a day to visit Fort Snelling.  It's a musuem but it's full of live, in-period costumed characters helping make the place come to life.  We took part in a marching drill, watched a cannon fired, had a lesson at a school house, visited a general store, watched food being prepared for the "General Snelling", and got to actually try out the beds that the men used.

Levi and Kade watch the infantry drill.

Aaron, Malia, and Ken (my cousin) are among the spectators.

Our school lesson

 

Dishes displayed in the general's house.  I happen to love blue-and-white dishes!

Mara and Malia play chess at the general store, with DJ and Jonathan looking on.

Yummy in Pink

I went to a baby shower for a little girl...soon to arrive.  This is the hooded towel I made with a bath towel and washcloth.  It was fun picking out the ribbon to sew on the edges, especially because I don't get to see these colors much around our house.  Our girls are too big for lots and lots of pink, and well, my stacks of folded laundry are primarily blues, greens, and browns!  This was fun and easy to make. 

http://www.makeandtakes.com/easy-hooded-bath-towel

This is where I got my directions.  She uses a handtowel instead of a washcloth, but the principle is exactly the same...only you don't cut the washcloth in half.

Posted to the wrong blog

I'm using Tana's computer and somehow managed to write an entire blog post and publish it to her blog.  I haven't figured out how to fix that yet so if you want to read my latest...check out Tana's blog.  She has posted a few neat posts but doesn't get on her blog very often.  I'll have to delete my post eventually because it sounds pretty weird having her blog launch into a description of the final weeks of pregnancy. :)  http://faithsquared.blogspot.com/

Beautiful home

Friends of ours invited us over for my birthday last month.  It was a beautiful May day and I kept noticing the artistic look of things around their home.  Sitting by the water was so peaceful (except for when the boys wanted to throw rocks).  I especially liked this way of storing and displaying their canoe paddles on their nice wide front porch.

We had a lovely grilled dinner outside on their front porch.

And I have to include a picture of strawberries.  They're one of my favorite things about summer!!

Cousins

My sister Esther came to visit with her two children, Kylee (almost 5) and Zane (1).  Our mom came too and bought the children matching t-shirts.  We loved them!!  Here they are after a wonderful outing to the Chutes and Ladders Park.

33 weeks and counting!

I'm feeling less like I'm desperate for an afternoon nap

I'm happy that I don't know the gender

I'm not quite as hungry anymore but am glad it's summer and can eat LOTS of fruit!

I'm growing out of some of my maternity shirts

My legs bother me but have improved with some herbs recommended by my midwife of last pregnancy

I am trying to mentally relax about having a vbac

Kent and I are not any closer to picking names

I'm treasuring the moments of this last pregnancy even though it's uncomfortable sometimes

Levi keeps asking if the baby is still inside me and Kade points to his belly and says, "baby" but he knows it's a joke which makes it even funnier

Looking forward to meeting this new little one and am surprisingly unanxious about how this little person will fit into our already busy family.

Summer SO FAR

We've enjoyed:

1.  A visit from Grandpa Bud and Grandma Vineta

2.  A visit from my mom

3.  Tana's graduation and open house

4.  A trip to Teddy Bear Park

5.  A night of roasting marshmallows and eating dinner outside on our porch

6.  A half-way successful attempt at potty-training Levi

7.  A date out with Kent to Red Lobster and St. Paul Symphony Orchestra (and we only spent $5...love that!)

8.  Watching Kent teach Alyssa and Kalai how to drive

9.  Having flowers planted in my front yard by my mother-in-law!

10.  A trip to camp to help work and enjoy sunshiny hours by the lake with the boys

11.  Reading a book with Malia

12.  A garage sale of our own

13.  Rearranging all the kids' bedrooms and getting used to new sleeping arrangements

14.  Planting my first hanging tomato plant... a gift from my mom

15.  Taking Kent out for Father's Day to Famous Dave's

16.  A bike ride to Caribou with Kent the other night