Poo in the Potty :)

He's gone twice! We have not tried to start the potty training process yet, by any means. He always seems to tell us when he needs to go poo poo and on two separate occasions, Katelyn proceeded to ask him if he wanted to sit on the potty. He agreed and went, got out the potty seat, and did his business! What a big boy!! It sure helps to have a big sister like Katelyn! 

Random fun around the house!

Rapunzel is getting ready for her Birthday Party - coming up next weekend! ahh, we are going to have a 4 year old, crazy!

Shaking and a making....homemade ice cream. Ooooo, they LOVED this!

Paris Mountain hiking and net fishing last weekend (not at home, but close to home ;)

Katelyn has really gotten into playing baby dolls lately. Her favorite scenarios are "playing school" and "swim lessons". Here her doll Charlie is learning how to spell her name! Her dolls names are: Charlie, Cluey (sp?), Olivia, Sally, Sofie, & Johnny!

I have yet to post any pictures of our garden this year, but it has done us good. Not an abundance of veggies this year, but plenty to keep us eating (just not our friends/neighbors/co-workers this year). We have been known to discover LARGE cucumbers hiding under the vines that we have overlooked for a few days. Here's one Katelyn found this afternoon. 

My favorite part of the garden, tomato & cucumber salad and tomato sandwiches. 

Levi has started playing some real games on the iPad lately. It's helpful when Mommy's trying to cook and he wants to be up there with me!

Lollipopz Pictures

We had pictures done in June and I just got the CD. They turned out pretty cute, although I was looking for one of the entire family to put in a horizontal frame I have, oh well! Maybe next time. It's almost impossible to get all 4 of us to look at the camera and smile at the same time ;)

4th of July

Our 4th was a pretty low key overall. It rained off and on all day, but we tried to make the best of it. We started the day at the children's museum, a small cookout during the moment of sunshine for lunch, naps, then headed to our favorite BBQ joint for a little fun with our friends the Bogle's. It was a little crowded, but luckily we were able to get a table under the tent because it down poured on us, which made it nice and cool though. They had a live band and after eating the kids did a little rain dancing :)

We then headed home, took some much needed baths and had some fun with sparklers and poppers. We had full intentions of going to see some big fireworks, but with the rain it just wasn't going to happen. 

Tuscany for Two

For Christmas, Lex got me a cooking class at a local kitchen store that offers hands on classes too. I've wanted to do this for years and was so excited, so we finally found a class we wanted to take and had our babysitter come over to handle dinner and bedtime with the kids.  We spent 3+ hours cooking our own gourmet dinner! It was a blast! 

To top it off, Francine, from the current reality show American Baking Competition, was there!! She is from Pickens, SC and apparently is going to be teaching some baking classes at Foxfire in the future and came to learn the ropes from Chef Allen. Lex believes she may have also been told to help push some of their products, because she was definitely recommending a lot of good kitchen gadgets as the class went on, haha! It was fun to listen to her experience on the show. She is currently in the top 3. She was sworn to secrecy and would have to pay 4 million dollars to CBS if she leaked who won, so I guess we'll have to keep watching to find out. 

Whipping up some cream for our mousse!

Shrimp & Scallop Grappa Scampi

Rosemary and Garlic, Baked Polenta

Pan Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Burgundy Mushroom Demi

Chocolate Mousse with Berries and Lavender Cream

YUM!! I would highly recommend this, so fun!

Levi's Surgery & Grammy's Visit

Levi had his ear tube surgery on June 21st. We were there at 6 am and home by 9 am, so fairly quick and easy process, with the procedure itself only taking 7 minutes (from letting the nurse take him away, to the doctor coming to us in the waiting room saying he was done).  We were warned that he would either be dazed and confused as he awoke from the anesthesia or mad....as soon as he opened his eye he screamed and screamed and screamed, for 30 minutes! The little girl in the bed next to him, did not :) Poor guy. The nurse even seemed shocked at how mad he was. But once he got over that, he has been like a new kid. Very few cranky times and when he is, he is much more easily distracted. We have also noticed quite an increase in his communication which could be to the fact that he can actually hear more clearly. We have been very happy with the results so far! 

Sandra was so nice to offer and come watch Katelyn for us while we were at the hospital with Levi, which was so helpful!! They had so much fun doing art projects, etc. while we were gone. And overall we had a great time just playing with Grammy for a few days! They love their Grammy!

Tackling Grammy on Katelyn's bed, giggles all around!

Suckers sent from Pappy, we missed you!

Surgery Prep....Almost 2 hours of waiting/playing until his surgery...

Pretending to sleep, sweet boy! 

A rare family picture Sandra took for us after church while she was here. We are all actually looking at the camera, love it!