Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is a beautiful lake just 20 minutes from home and we love going up there and renting a little electric boat for a couple hours and tooling around on the water. It's gorgeous up there. We took a picnic lunch and parked the boat on a little dock and ate on a bench overlooking the water. They are extending the season till mid October if any locals want to head up there, it's so fun. Here are a few pics from our day.

We tried to get a nice family shot, but it didn't really work out. :-)

Livi's First Day of Preschool

Livi was so excited to go to preschool this year. I think she saw how much fun Carson had last year and wanted some of that. She's at the same school as he was, but at a different campus, so it's sort of all new for us. It's such a great school, cute classroom and lots of little girls in her class.

We dropped her off that morning and she was happy, same with Thursday, in fact, she said with a smile and a sweet voice thru the little waving window, "Bye mommy, go away." But this week she has not been as excited to go. Crying during breakfast, saying she wants to stay home and be with me. But once we get her to school, she does great and is happy and is smiley when I pick her up. All afternoon she'll tell me little tidbits about her day, which I love to hear. It's an adjustment for her and us, too! It feels super wierd to be here at the house with just Carson. I've loved the time I've had with him for sure, it's pretty special to have mom all to yourself, even when there's just 2 kids in the family. :-) The first day we dropped her off and left, Carson said, "Yay, Carson and Mommy time!!"

I know Livi's going to learn a lot this year and make some great friends, what an exciting time in her little life!

her sweet teacher, Mrs. Sondreal

My boy

I love the things this boy comes up with:

Fun Stuff!

I enjoy reading the Family Fun magazine. They often have good ideas for crafts & activities to do, and the last two we tried this past week were really fun! I love things that are really simple but have super fun results!

Check out The Foamerater!!

and...I can't find a link to this one, but it's easy.....

1. spread 1/2 inch of shaving cream onto a cookie sheet.
2. Dot the cream w/ drops of food coloring, then swirl it into the cream with popsicle stick or toothpick.
3. Lay a sheet of cardstock on top of the cream and press lightly.
4. Peel off the paper and use a squeegee or spatula to remove the excess shaving cream. Hang or set aside to dry and enjoy your colorful creation!! Love it!

Kindergarten!

We have a kindergartener! How can that be? The first 3 days went really well, I think he's enjoyed it so far, and he thinks his teacher is fun and funny. I think he's really going to enjoy his year. Mr. Kerley seems to be very into the sciences and geography and exploring and learning thru lots of hands-on experiences, which will mesh very well with how Carson learns. :-)

He comes bounding out of his classroom, seeming very happy and very exhausted.

happy

exhausted...and super annoyed that I asked another mom to get a picture of us.

It's an exciting time, this new phase we are entering. It will be neat when he starts to make friends with the kids in his class. I'm excited to see all the things he will learn this year!

Happy Birthday Livi!

We celebrated Livi's 4th birthday in Sonoma with some friends, which made for a really fun weekend. Byranie graciously made 3 ice cream cakes for the 3 birthday kids we celebrated and Livi picked strawberry ice cream with pink frosting. She was delighted.

Reese and Livi are a day apart, aren't they darling?

As much as I want to freeze time and keep her the way she is now, I'm excited to see her grow in the coming year.

Happy 4th Birthday sweet girl.
you are a delight and joy
and we are so thankful that
you are in our family.
we love you dearly.

Friends

My wonderful friend, Byranie, came down for the weekend with her 3 kiddos while our hubbies were away with their college friends for their annual guys getaway. I just love the company of this sweet friend and our kids have such a great time together. I'm so thankful to live close enough to see them every so often. Byranie, you are such an inspiration to me, both as a mom and as a child of God.

Livi adored baby Noelle all weekend, she was so happy to have a baby in the house. Every time we are out shopping, Livi will see a small outfit and say, "Mommy, this would be perfect for baby Noelle!"

Watermelon smiles

Carson and Moose wore their matching outfits all at their own initiative, pretty cute.

Strawberry Picking!

Forts & Kitten

This is the scene I have seen DAILY since school ended. It's gotten more elaborate every week, too, but it's so cool. Carson's got such an imaginitive mind and is so creative and has constructed some pretty amazing forts with our couch cushions, dining room chairs and blankets. I sort of cringe when I see the living room being torn apart every day, but it entertains them so much, so it's okay. These are the things I want them to remember from their childhood, not me being a freak about keeping the house straight. And....we are on week 7 (!) of the kids not watching tv......how can that be? We were in such a habit (and not necessarily a bad one) of watching a couple PBS shows first thing in the morning, but for some reason, and totally of Carson's sole doing....he didn't turn on the tv for the first few days of summer, and I pointed it out and since then, he's quietly been on a mission to not watch tv. It's really funny. He's lost interest in it, and so has Livi. I love that. Although I do miss our little brown friend's morning appearance, Curious George. I sure like that show. :-)
So instead of watching tv....they've begun building forts and playing Kitten.....usually Livi is the kitten and Carson is the Dada (he calls himself that). It's fun to watch them really getting into it and playing so amazingly well together. I love what good buddies they are.

Breakfast on the deck

Dressing up in Daddy's biking gear

...and his CSU garb.

I can't remember what this was....some sort of moon travel/motorcycle/superbaby flying game.

Polenta Tamale Pie

Here's a recipe for a dish we really like around here. It's easy and good for a crowd and super tasty.

Polenta Tamale Pie:

1 lb mild Italian sausage
1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 16 oz. jar salsa
1 15 oz. can black beans
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 small can corn
1 small can olives
2 1lb. rolls polenta, sliced into 1/3 in. thick rounds
3 cups shredded pepperjack cheese (or if you want it less spicy, sub cheddar/jack)

Saute sausage in large pot over medium heat, breaking up. Add chili powder and cumin, stir 1 minute. Add salsa, beans, corn, olives, broth. Simmer until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Mix in 1/4 cup cilantro, season with salt & pepper.

Oil a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place half of polenta in dish. Top with sauce and 1 1/2 cups cheese, then remaining polenta, cheese & cilantro. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover w/ foil, chill.)

Preheat oven to 350*. Bake freshly assembled pie, uncovered until heated and sauce bubbles, about 35 minutes. Or bake refrigerated pie, covered 20 minutes, then uncover & bake until heated thru ~ 35 min.

Enjoy!!

A Boy at the Beach

Origami boxes

These were some end-of-the-school-year presents for the teachers at Carson's preschool. We filled them with mini chocolate chip cookies that we baked (which was such fun....trying to come up with the perfect tiny bite-sized cookies!) I got this tutorial a while back and have used it several times. The boxes are simple to make, and they turn out so cute.

Big Sur Camping Trip

Here's a smorgasbord of pictures from our super fun camping trip a couple weeks ago down at Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground. We live in such an amazingly beautiful place, and it was so fun to go camping as a family for the first time ever! The kids LOVED it and Carson was in his element...dirt, fire, water, s'mores, and a tent with a "pet den" that he slept partway in. :-)

The scenery is unbelievably gorgeous!

Livi waking up in the morning, smiling as usual. She slept the best of all of us.

We went on a beautiful hike to a waterfall, and then up further to a valley view.

Carson found the biggest dandelion we've ever seen....look at that dirty face! I think it was like that most of the weekend. :-)

Morning snuggles.

A powdered sugar donut breakfast. Yum!

It was such a great time. It felt like a good balance of relaxing, hiking, reading, playing, and all around memory-making. We taught Carson how to play Checkers and Battleship which were fun to play in the sunshine at our picnic table. Livi took a nice nap after our hike, so I got to sit and read in the sun while Carson and Jason explored the river for a couple hours. We are looking forward to going camping again this summer.