July, where on earth did you go?! We showed Alice the magic of firecrackers, got new windows installed (finally!), finished Alice's big girl room, celebrated her birthday, played with lots of friends and ate lots of great food from our garden. It was a joyous July...
Alice's favorite 4th of July feature - stomping Pop Pop Snappers in her salt water sandals
(find them here)
daddy showing Alice how to pull the Champagn Party Poppers
sugar snap peas
harvested a handful of radish every other day
Alice loves pesto, so we've been making fresh batches with our basil this month. We have so many herbs this year! JD grew them from seeds, so now we have an abundance of basil, sage, and cilantro. Please come take some - there's no way we can use it all.
Well, hello there, Mr. Handsome Dad. You are my kind of man.
I sure love these two. And of course Milo, too :) He's getting so big!
Vintage dress and belt from Scout.
Oh, you know, just eating some donut holes from Jim & Connie's while bird watching on my motorcycle one fine Saturday morning...
I love this kid.
Finally got our new hot tub cover! Our old one was absolutely destroyed in the storm. It was fun to pick out a new color - I'm kind of obsessed with grey.
What did Uncle Jesse used to say on Full House? Have mercy. Indeed.
Made some cookie dough ice cream sandwiches with cookie dough ice cream layered between two sheets of no-egg cookie dough.Thank you, Pinterest.
I used this recipe, but didn't do any of the instructions - too complicated. After making the dough, I rolled it out onto parchment paper, threw it on a baking sheet with another layer of paper on top and put the whole thing into the freezer til it was chilled. After that, cut it in half, slather on the ice cream, and sandwich that thing.
Not complicated. Not pretty, but not complicated.
Finally got to makeover Alice's Big Girl Room.
Before: lavender walls (they were supposed to be grey), dark trim, old/broken windows
After: Light Pewter by Benjamin Moore on walls, new vinyl windows, painted white trim
Full blog post on new room to come!
Swinging Alice | "I hava beard, jus' like daddy."
Someone had a birthday! Can't believe she's 2 already. Made Alice's invites with stationary my sister in law had given me for Christmas and Stabilo markers.
someone REALLY likes to sing "Happy Birthday" - pretty sure she thought it was her birthday for the 4 days after her birthday, too :)
"I can fly, just like Tinker Bell!" Thanks, Aunt Brenda, for making her wings!!
Going fishing with her new rod and wooden/magnetic water friends from Gramma Jo.
After making a delicious peach cake with buttercream peach frosting for Alice's family birthday party, I opted out of baking for her party with friends. Praise God for Jim & Connie's Bakery where I bought a dozen and a half donuts and a couple bags of donut holes the morning of her party and called it good - this mama was grateful not to bake again and make a million dirty dishes :)
And as you can see, Alice helped herself to a donut before we even brought out her "cake." Totally my kid.
Side note: we kept the birthday party simple this year. No decorations or balloons - just brunch (casserole, fruit, donuts, coffee, and milk), gifts, friends, and the bounce house (which we borrowed). I'd say it was still a hit!
rushing to get in the bounce house - thank you, Libby and Jack, for letting us borrow yours!
Anna: "When can I get in?"
bouncing and flouncing | besties, Alice & Zia
Aaron got to stay a little longer and play so their mommies and daddies could catch up. Love this picture of them by the window.
daddy kisses & Alice giggles
have I told you how much I love these two?!!
Guess who came to visit? THESE crazy cross-country kids! Three cheers for Uncle Chris and Aunt Tarah!!
Thanks for spending time with us!
this little girl kind of likes sweet corn...
stretched a new canvas on a frame my dad built me for a mixed media painting commission
blog post tutorial on building your own to come!
priming with gesso
This was such a great day - Alice was at the farm, so I got to get my groove on in my apron while listening to dance music and drinking a carmelicious espresso blender from Scooters. AND I got a new easel! Yep, I'm one spoiled painter.
cherry pits, stems, and stains
We had the most beautiful golden-tangerine twilight after a quick rain shower a couple of weeks ago. THIS is the light that makes you itch to grab your camera and take photos of anything it touches.
Isn't the light aMAZing? It's so warm and saturated and otherworldly. *Sigh* I could write an ode to this light.
And the sun sets on July...