Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday.  I'm thankful that for today we live right down the street and could spend the day with him.  He is pretty much the coolest guy ever.  Really.  If you don't believe me just ask Spencer.  I feel so lucky that I have such a wonderful man to call Dad in this life, and so lucky that my kids have such a wonderful Grandpa too.
I had in mind a few photos of my dad in the 40's and 50's for this post, and a particular one from recently but the external hard drive wasn't cooperating so here is this one.  New Years 2010, its a pretty great picture too, I think.
Happy 66th birthday dad!

First baby gifts!

In the mail a while back I received this package of 9 diaper cupcakes.  I kind of didn't want to take them apart yet but the suspense finally got to me and I took them apart to see what everything was.  What fun!  Cute stuff for baby and for mommy too! 
I am loving the little hat with the brim and buttons.  I may try to hunt down a knit pattern similar and make a couple more.  (Because both of my sister-in-laws babies will need one too!)

Thanks to the girls at the Wellness Center for these fun cupcakes!

This is what all the surfaces of the kitchen look like lately

I

 I feel like anytime anyone is over to visit I put them to work either watching or helping with this whole canning project going on.  And as 'practice' for next year I canned a couple of batches of peaches while holding my baby nephew, Gavin, most of the time.  The canning was already in mid-progress when Gavin's mommy called needing a babysitter for him and his siblings so they all joined the fun!  My hands evidently were too full of baby and canning stuff to hold a camera that day though.

Peaches, mangoes, tomatoes, strawberry jam, plum jam, peach jam and salsa, Done.  Pears and pear butter to be in the works later in the week.  Then maybe I'm done for the season.  Unless by some chance I run into great late, affordable raspberries.

Blogging and summer don't mix

Between not having the much access to a computer and just being to busy out 'summering', blogging fell off the priority list this summer.  We're back now though!  We'll just have to see if anything exciting enough to blog about happens.

These pictures are from a couple of days before school started, I took the boy and his dog out to run and  play in the MUD and water at palisades.  My car has seen happier days but that boy and his dog were plenty happy to make up for it. The next day the dog got a much needed bath and haircut and is now waiting patiently to come live in the house again.

~A little update on baby: He's a He!  We're having a boy! Spencer really wants to name him Lloyd, the chance of that happening are very very doubtful, even though in utero we've started referring to him as Lloyd more than once.  Maybe it'll just be a very odd nickname?
He's moving so much now!  I love it, these wonderful few months when I can feel him and don't yet have to share him.  Last night Spencer was able to feel him ("just kind of" he said) for the first time.  It was a good birthday gift to me!