Summer Update

Summers are always so incredibly busy.  This summer has been no exception.  In fact, it's been one of my busiest ever.  I haven't had a single free weekend yet.  We keep trying to get some things done around the house (like cleaning our basement, which has become a dumping ground), but every time we try to find some time on the weekends, it ends up booking up from Friday till Sunday before we know it.  I even wrote "Clean Basement!" in the calendar for this coming up weekend, but it has since been marked up with a child's birthday party, a swimming date with some friends and their kids and a meeting on Sunday with our new sitter who will be watching the munchkin while our current sitter is on maternity leave.  So naturally, blogging has been on the back burner.  Which sucks, because then I get behind and don't even know where to begin.

This past weekend was super crazy with a friend's wedding, in which Joe was a groomsman.  I have some pics to post of that later.   In the meantime, I have some pics I have had accumulating in a folder for posts that I might eventually get around to.  I figured I might as well throw them all together for an update or they may never make it on the blog.

I can't believe I haven't posted much this summer other then a few recipes!  Here's my mom hanging out with the girls on Father's Day.  The were swimming in her little baby pool and playing with the "fishing poles".

This little bikini just cracks me up.

We had some friends over for Joe's birthday party near the end of June.   Usually it's always hot for his birthday.  We got lucky this year.  It was beautiful outside.  In fact, I think it was the last nice weekend we have had.  It's been pretty much scorching hot ever since.  We hung out with some friends, drank some wine and even enjoyed a fire in the fire pit.

Here's me and my oldest and dearest friend Anna chillin in my garage.
Her baby is due in about a month!!

My sis Amy and I.

My  friend Gina breastfeeding her beautiful baby boy.
I just love this shot.

I have had great luck with my herbs this summer!  It's been so nice walking right out to the back deck to grab what I need to toss in with dinner.  I had been waiting until we moved again and could have an actual garden, but who knows when that will be.  Container herbs work just as well!!

Currently, I am growing basil, parsley, thyme, oregano and cilantro.

This little dude has been hanging out on our little deck for weeks now.  He's super cute and tiny (only about 3/4" long).  The munchkin points and yells "Froggy!! Ribbit! Ribbit!!"  She then proceeds to squat down and hop around like a frog.  It was so hard to get a decent pic, but I'll share anyway.

I just really can't believe it's August already.  I have started planning the Munchkin's 2 year birthday party with will be on Sept 10th.  Two Years!  I just can't believe it's been that long already.

She picks up so much new stuff all the time.  She's been talking in sentences now and uses words to describe things instead of only sticking to mostly nouns.  She can point out letters of the alphabet, colors, shapes, and can count to 12 all on her own.  I am sure this is all typical for her age, but to me she's a super genius! Only a year ago, she could barely talk at all!  It's just so crazy.

When she does something she wasn't supposed to, she'll say "sorry guys!",  even if it's only me.  She loves pointing to the food on my plate and saying things like "those are mommy's eggs" or to my seat, "that's mommy's seat".  Some parents count how many words their kids have, but I am too lazy for that.  I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Her vocabulary exploded so fast, I don't know if I could even guess within a decent range at this point.  She's definitely a talker.  She LOVES puzzles.  It's one of her favorite things to do.  She'll ask me to get them down for her and we'll sit at the kitchen table and put them all together.  She likes to hold up her cup and say "cheers" until you clank your drink with hers.  She is still only drinking water and milk and loves them both dearly.  She is a cheese freak, just like her momma.  She also loves her eggs.  Her other faves are, salmon, tacos (which is really just a bowl of seasoned grassfed ground beef, cheese, avocado, tomatoes and some sour cream), avocado, broccoli, pretty much any green vegetable, carrots, mushrooms, any she especially loves berries.  We got pretty lucky with this one actually, she'll eat just about anything I give to her.

I feel like she gets cuter and cuter every day.  How is that even possible?

I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer so far!

A Day at the Park

Spring is finally here! I called up my sister, we grabbed our families and took the girls to the park today. They had a blast!

My New Lens Finally Came In!!

My new lens finally came in the mail today! It's been on back order for what seems like forever. I actually wasn't expecting it for a few more weeks, so getting it earlier was pretty fantastic. Here's some pics I shot with it. Obviously I am a big ametuer, but I gotta say, these didn't turn out half bad!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Sometimes You CAN Get Something Really Cool For Cheap!

I ordered a super cheap wide angle lens that attaches to the end of any lens with a 52mm size filter thread. Basically you just screw it on to your current lens and go. They were mostly advertising it as a wide angle lens, but after reading closer at the description, I was mostly interested in it because it separated into two pieces and could also be used as a macro lens. I was skeptical of the $9.49 price tag thinking it must suck (it says it was originally 129.99, but you know how they like to exaggerate that), but I thought with over 50 reviews and an average rating of 4 out of 5, it might be something fun for a beginner like me. I can't afford to get a really nice macro lens right now, especially since I am still waiting on the other lens I want to get out of back order. The most I would lose is the $9.49 total with my free amazon shipping. I figured it was worth a shot.

The wide angle aspect isn't that impressive, but I was kinda happy with my close up shots after I separated the macro lens and attached it to my camera. I don't have much to compare to, but I thought it was pretty cool. I could only shoot stuff around my house since it was the evening. I can't wait for a nice day to play out in the yard!

So, here we have a close up of my crackberry...

The munchkin's sippy cup...

I attended a wedding two Saturdays ago and was the lucky winner of the centerpiece on our dinner table. Here's a close up of one of the peacock feathers sticking out of it...


So all in all, it was definitely worth it's price tag. If by chance this deal might work for someone else, then you can check it out here.

My New Camera

I am LOVING my new camera. I have alot to learn and it's a bit overwhelming, but so much fun and very exciting. I am not sure when I am going to find the time to master this thing, but I am sure gonna try!

It just came in the mail today and here's some shots of me playing around with it a little.