Be creative @ your library

This was the theme for the Summer reading program at the library. It gives me an incentive to see how many books I can read to the boys in 5 weeks. Later on when they are bigger they will have to read their own books. There were a few books that Parker didn't want to finish, but I made him sit threw it so we could be in the running for the prize for the person who reads the most books. Little did I know that 89 books was just a drop in the bucket. The winner had 300 books read to them.

In my new attempt to get my house in order, we took a picture of their certificates so that we could um, discard them. Gasp.

Preston is holding his out for you to see. We took the boys to story time during the school year and they are nice enough to let Preston tag along, even though you are supposed to be 3. Well when it came time to singing time he loved to run up and be a part of the flannel board. When they called his name he giggled and ran up to get his own certificate for reading 60 books with 1706 pages. That is a lot of sitting still for a little guy.

Parker is studying his. Like I mentioned he had 89 books with 2924 pages read to him.

My kitchen

One of Jim's friends from New York is a professional organizer. These types of people love to organize and they get paid to help others who feel lost and don't know where to start. I chatted with her when we last visited New York last summer. This planted a little seed in my mind.

I have really struggled to keep my house in order after having babies. Housework seemed to go out the window. I would much rather spend some free time on the computer than tending to housework chores. I finally realized that I was in over my head and decided that I would call an organizer for help. I went to a web site that lists professional organizers by area and found Kelly.

Kelly came to my house in June and I showed her everything, all the rooms in the in house and the basement too. I am tired of not being able to find things. When I go to clean I am intimidated by all the stuff that I have accumulated. I know how to organize. In fact in my pre mommy days people would often compliment me on my organizational skills. I just needed to make it a priority and be accountable to someone.

I started with my kitchen. I pulled everything out and then decided what to keep and then put it back neatly. I was able to even make space for some of my Pampered Chef that had been sitting in the computer room. I didn't take before pictures, I was too embarrassed. But here are some after shots.
My next assignment, the master bathroom.

A Double trip to the Dr

I had overlooked setting up an appointment for Parker for his 4 year old well visit until May. They didn't have any openings until July, so I got the bright idea that I could take both boys to the doctor for well visits since Preston was due for his as well in July. I want to share with you a recap of our day.

Dr Coggins enters the room

Dr Coggins: Hi, we are here to do both boys, double the trouble.

Later on when it comes to Parker's turn, I saw a different side of Dr. Coggins. He is goofy with the little guys, but talks to the patient in a funny way.

Dr Coggins: Let's do Parker now.
What is your favorite food?

Parker: Cottage cheese and apple butter.

Dr Coggins: That's a central PA trait.

Parker: And apples.

Dr Coggins: I am going to look in your ears. How many ears do you have?

Parker (giggling): 2

Dr Coggins: Do you have any animals that live in your ears?

Dr Coggins: I am going to look at your belly. How many belly buttons do you have?

Parker: 1

Dr Coggins: How many belly buttons does Mommy have?

Parker: 1, too.

Dr Coggins: Mommy has 2 belly buttons?

Parker: No 1.

Dr Coggins: Now I need you to do some exercises.

Parker: I can do jumping jacks (does jumping jacks and goes in circles.)

Dr. Coggins: Well ok, that is good. I have some different exercises, they are kind of boring compared to jumping jacks. Can you stand on your tippy toes? Can you stand on one leg? Can you jump on one leg?

Parker does his best to do Dr Coggin's exercises. I then mention about checking his hearing. He says that age 4 is when they do that. He will send the nurse back in to check his hearing. His job was to say "beep" each time he heard a beep. He did a good job. He cooperated real good.

Then came the vision test.

Nurse: Cover your eye like a pirate.

Parker covers his eye and did real well. The picture of a boat he even called a ship. Until he got down to the small line then he started cheating, removing his hand. He even said it was too little to see. All and all they were not concerned and said they would check again next year.

Preston is 34 inches tall and can now be turned around forward facing in the other car seat. This was instructions for this particular car seat that you have to be over age 1 and taller than 34 inches before facing forward. We had already turned him around in the other one a few months ago.

We go back in 6 months to check up on Preston's vocabulary. He will point to an object and tell you what it is, but doesn't really communicate a whole lot.

We were there for an hour and half. Maybe doing a double appointment wasn't such a good idea after all.

My Garden

When people ask me what I doing this summer I tell them we are growing a garden. I really enjoy growing my garden. I wanted to show you some pictures of what I have growing this season.

It seems to be an ongoing process keeping up with watering, weeding and mulching, but it is really enjoyable. Our biggest challenge is keeping the boys out of it and their big trucks too.

My flowers

This spot is with the back patio. There is a little section of dirt amoung the patio. These are petunias. Parker picked out the colors.


This is in the front of my house. I have found that Geraniums seem to thrive in this spot. I like the pink ones. Although somehow we got some red ones too.

My Vegetables


I plant my vegetables in the front yard, because that is where I have sunshine. You can see my dirt plots. I made mulch pathways so that I knew where to walk.

My garden is just for munching. I don't have near the space for growing what I would need for canning. I found this out last year when I only had 3 tomatoes ripe at a time. We have planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zuchini, brocoli, and watermelon.
I planted a bush variety of cucumbers, since I am limited on space. I planted marigolds in between for their asethic properties and also they are supposed to help with bugs.

The tomatoes have really taken off. We bought some plants, a friend gave me some and I even started some from seed.

Landscaping
The final thing I have been working on is adding perienals around the trees and mulching. I still need to do more mulching.

I am kind of picky about my plants. I wanted plants that were a little different than what all the neighbors had, because I have to express my own sense of style. I have only found a few that I really liked. Hopefully each year I can add a little more to fill out my beds.
Things have slowed down with the gardening for now. There seems to be more work in the beginning with pulling weeds. The weeds have slowed down now. I just need to remember to water so that things do well.
We got a rain barrel this year, so now we have access to some free water. We are on town water so any water that we don't have to pay for is nice. the only downside is the outflow of water is really slow. I have 2 watering cans that I fill up. While one is filling I am watering with the other, pulling weeds or staking tomatoes.

Preston's 2nd birthday

Preston celebrated his 2nd birthday recently. We like to celebrate with family and have a nice meal followed by cake and ice cream. His birthday falls close to July 4th, so his celebration got tied in the with the wrap up of the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Both Gary and Dwain Plessinger and families were in attendance. We had leftovers from the camp out. Preston was napping while the eating was going on, but woke up in time to get some of his birthday dinner.

I insisted on decorating a cake a little more than just a 9 X 13 with frosting. I feel this is my duty as mom to make a fun cake. I decided on a round cake decorated like a baseball, since Preston likes balls. I had found a recipe for a white buttermilk cake and wanted to try it. I put raspberry jam between the layers and a combination of buttercream and white frosting with almond flavoring. The cake was delicious and was a big hit with the crowd.



We got to also have home made ice cream this time around. What a treat!

Some things about Preston.

He is a laid back guy.
He likes to be included in what his big brother is doing.
He still likes Mom or Dad to pick him up and carry him and he weighs 28 pounds, all solid too.
He has a hearty appetite, although is more of a meat and rice guy than fresh vegetables or fruit.
He likes to have shoes on all the time.
He is a quiet guy.
He loves to play in the sand box and with cars and trucks.

Happy Birthday Preston! We love you and can't believe how fast the time has passed since you entered our family 2 years ago.