Visit from Lydia & Julia

So much fun this past weekend with my good friend, Lydia, who came to visit with her daughter, Julia. They have really similar temperaments and played together so adorably. When she left Simon kept saying, "But she didn't stan a wong wong time! This is only the beginning!" I was 12 hours post-3rd-car-accident-of-the-year and wasn't the most wonderful of hosts, but we managed to have a really great time and it felt like Lydia was taking care of us since Dan's back was out and couldn't really do much. Thanks Lydia!! We were able to play with lots of toys, visit the Wonder Place, the Racquet Club pool, the Farmer's Market, the Cooper Family blow-up-slide, and even make pancakes. And, we got to meet THE cutest cowboy and cowgirl ever!

He's Standing!!

I can't believe it! My little precious has been eyeing the possibility of standing for a while now and today he just popped up all on his own and I think I actually caught the first time on camera!! Look how proud he is :)

The Blue Blankie

So wee Wesley has found himself a blanket that he seemingly cannot live without. It was a gift from Alan and Olive. He was screaming his head off last night after being awake for 5 hours and had another blanket over him that did not have a binding on it...I decided to switch blankets (this one I usually put over had been in the wash) and within 10 seconds he was quiet and on his way to dreamland. Tonight, same thing, crying and crying after getting a shot at the doctor, awake for 4 hours, has a blue blanket over him with a binding, but not THE blue blanket. I switch blue blankets and he's impressively more quiet and calm, although not yet asleep. Wow. Pretty cute, Mr. Particular :)

NOT my fault Car Accident #3 this year

It happened yet again. For the third time in 12 months, I've been involved in a car accident that was not my fault and has required a body shop and a rental car. So fortunately, I was not hurt and my boys were not with me. I can't tell you how often I think over that...I am SO GRATEFUL they were not with me. So he was a drunk-driver, ran a red light on the off-ramp to an expressway and hit me....then proceeded to exit his vehicle and flee the scene...but the cops were able to catch him and take him to jail and give him a bunch of tickets. He didn't even have a license. I felt kind of bad for his wife...can you imagine? So in a month or so I'll get my car back. So far all's working out okay for a situation that could have been far far more devastating. Also, I've learned through all this that photos aren't very able to capture the severity of the damage...this is a snapped axel and strut (are those the same?) I need an entirely new front end.

Meet Minnie Cooper

Well over the weekend this little kitty made her way into the Cooper household...actually, to our front porch as our new outdoor cat. She just wouldn't leave and kept meowing and purring and didn't care when Simon threw her over his shoulder or made her walk on her hind legs or even walk on her front paws; we figured that she'd found us and that she was a keeper. We won't bring her in though because we know so many people with allergies and we wouldn't want them to not be able to come over. Welcome Minnie!

4th of July

All American 4th of July. I am not quite sure how Dan got out of having his photo taken with a red fluffy boa and face paint, but apparently, he did. We had a neighborhood parade with all the kiddos and dogs and even a fire truck and treats. That was followed by an incredible carnival with the Carpenters, our dear friends who invited us along to their country club party....lots of food, blow up jumping things, skydivers, petting zoo, bucking bronco ride, pony/horse rides and fireworks. Thanks so much for inviting to such a special event! (no camera :( )

Simon's first purchase

So we were at Target and Simon saw something very important from his seat in the cart (the big part) and he directed me to STOP! TURN AROUND! BACK UP! PULL ME OVER TO THAT SIDE! A knight helmet and sword that was essential to his happiness. (Yes, I do love how imaginative he is and I was secretly so glad that he wanted dress-up toys rather than a dumb battery-operated something) but I just couldn't justify such a random-no-reason-because-I-want-it-purchase. Lately we've been giving him coins for doing jobs around the house and he's really into his piggy bank. So I told him we could count the money in his piggy bank and see if he had enough money and if he did, he could go back to target and buy it himself. So yesterday afternoon we learned about sorting pennies, dimes, nickles and quarters and lo and behold he had enough money, so Dan took him over there to bring it home (He gets all the fun stuff :) ). Now if I could just it together to have a consistent "coin system" and job chart we'd be in business!

Canoe Trip on the Caddo

Another fun adventure for Dan & Simon...a REAL canoe trip! I sure can't wait for Wesley to only need one nap a day so that we can join in on all the fun :( They took a drive into the Oachita State Park and floated the Caddo River. Yes, it was easily 100 degrees and sunny but then it quickly turned into a thunder storm just as they were pulling out of the river. Simon was a real trooper for such a long hot day and he was THRILLED.

Enjoying the Blues

Several of my friends here in Little Rock have 3-year olds and had babies around the time I did last fall. One of these families is the Blues and they have Oliver, 3, and Simon, 10 months. I happened to have my camera that day, and we were able to capture such a fun morning where we realized that we had hit the threshold of getting together frequently enough for the boys to know each other, like each other, not feel threatened by one another and they actually played and had fun the whole time without any "sharing" issues. What a fun fun morning.

Blueberries for Simon

So I got nostalgic at the library and we got "Blueberries for Sal," a book I TOTALLY remember reading as a child. The next day, I decided we should go blueberry picking, so we did. We found this amazing farm, "Hidden Valley Farm," and that's just what it was...absolutely gorgeous. We picked our berries, err, just like the book, mom picked the berries and Simon ate them, and we even got an ATV ride and were able to look at ducks and geese and horses and ponies. Then we went home, cleaned our berries and made and ate incredible blueberry muffins :) So fun...mostly for me.

Visit from the Burgesses

Uncle Jack, Auntie SooSoo and cousin Abi came to visit us for a week and it was SO wonderful to have such a big chunk of time to at least pretend that we were still "doing life" together. Simon and Abi had so much fun playing, cuddling, fighting like siblings, swimming, painting, making forts, having pillow fights, playing with Juni and Sydney, being naked, pretending together, dancing, farmers' marketing, listening to and making music together...So precious to see them. And we adults got a babysitter twice to have wonderful evenings OUT filled with good times and refreshing, life-giving conversations. We also had other fun outings looking at art galleries, the sights and sounds of Little Rock, pedicures, shopping at good fun stores with great sales, Starbucks of course. It was just so nice to be with family, so comfortable and so good. Did I mention it was literally, no exaggeration, 107 degrees the whole time they were here? Worst heat wave in 10 years? 104 degrees at 8pm? No rain and high humidity? The Burgesses definitely love us the most :)

Gieser Family Reunion

Also in June we headed to Pennyrile State Park in Kentucky for the pent-annual (?) Gieser Family Reunion, hosted by Dan's parents. Again, it was a great opportunity to be with cousins. There are lots of musicians in the family, so Simon was able to have a few much-desired music lessons and even a blue-grass concert. Lots and lots and lots of time in the pool because it was incredibly hot and humid. Such a great clan of people and a fabulous time enjoying one another. Thanks everyone!!

Garage Sale

In early June we had our first garage sale. I calculated that this was our 6th move (7th if you count my move from Cambodia) in our 10 years together. Moving is actually quite healthy because it always ignites a major purge of unused stuff, usually to Goodwill. But this time, we had so much stuff that I knew I just had to have a sale. Dan made incredible signs that you could see from miles away, Simon and our neighbor Rich had a lemonade stand, our good friend Judi Dawson helped manage the kids while we managed hagglers, we sold almost everything and in the process met several new neighbors. We took all the leftovers to Goodwill that afternoon and all our stuff that had previously rendered our garage unusable was now totally gone and it felt SO GOOD!!

Visit from the Penningtons

Way back over Memorial Day, we had a fantastic visit from cousins, Eliot & Auden and Auntie Melanie and Uncle Jeremy. It was definitely the beginning the summer as it was HOT (99-100, little did we know what was to come) and muggy. For the occasion (and for all the neighborhood kids during the summer), we got a huge blow-up water slide and it was pretty much in use the whole weekend. It's always so great to be with people we love so much and with whom we are so comfortable, we even got a babysitter for an evening out. Auden (especially) and Eliot loved baby Wesselley so much. Simon and Eliot make my heart sing because they are so cute together and it is just so interesting how strong "the cousin bond" is...they just know they are family and they had such a fun time together. Thanks so much for making the trek down and suffering the HOT HOT HOT Arkansas summer, Penningtons!

Simon's Play

So so precious. Simon's little class had a play at the end of the year way back in May. He was a frog and an apple picker and a twinkle twinkle little star. He had fun and was so proud of himself!

Mountain View Camping

While Wesley and I were in Phoenix, Simon, Daniel and Sydney went camping up in Mountain View, and it happened to be the annual Folk Festival....what could be better than throwing rocks into a river with your dog?

Random Spring Photos

Just some cuties...a visit from Grammy & Grampy