Thanks G'ma S & Mrs. Linda!!

Here are a couple cute gifts we wanted to show off!



The bib from G'ma S (Rosemarie's mom) is too cute! It makes Zoe look like a big flower :) What could be cuter!!! AND, she can't pull it off! What's not to love. Thank you!!!Here's the sweetest dress from Linda! I was so excited when we opened it & could hardly wait a whole year for Zoe to grow into it!! I can't believe it went by so quickly! She was the belle of the ball at church this morning.

Loving the yard!

Here's how the deck/yard is looking these days. We love it! I'm having fun in the gardens, just experimenting and trying to learn how to grow stuff b/c I've never done it before. I love to go to Lowe's and 'rescue' plants for 50 cents or $1, bring them home, and see them get big and beautiful with some TLC (& lots of water). I had a dream last night that my eggplant plant was covered with little baby eggplants. I have no idea what I will do if that happens, since the only thing I even know of containing eggplant are eggplant parm and baba ganoush (sp?). So, if anyone has some great eggplant recipes, let me know!!

Here's the very colorful front bed, surrounded by lots of monkey grass veggie garden

Zoe swingin'

The veggie gardens are on either side of the magnolia bushes, and there are a few blueberry plants under the magnolia bushes which will be fun for the kiddos if they do well! We have 3 more over by the deck too.

The front is nothing if not colorful! Craig and the across the street neighbor both say they like it. I'm not as sure. The gladiolus (gladioli?) are beautiful & huge! The petunias & marigolds in the pots are pretty too, when I remember to water them :)

It looks pretty empty back here because I planted lots of monkey grass (liriope) so as to fill most of it out with low maintenance foliage that can stand the heat and sun. As we've noticed in our front yard, it is hard to kill this stuff... and easy to divide and plant it elsewhere in the spring. The beds in front of the deck (left, in the picture) also have carpet phlox that will be pink next spring, and I'm about to plant lantana there, since the other plants I've gotten from a nursery all keep dying. Here's the huge river birch that we can't prune until 'sap season' is over. Underneath it are marigolds & dianthus that would like lots more sun. There are day lilies, vibernum & rose of sharon on either side of the tree also. My window boxes & hanging baskets are overflowing with flowers (impatients, petunias, verbena & vinca vine) - I love them!

And over here, we have a HUGE chaste tree, a butterfly bush & vibernum in dire need of pruning, a rose of sharon, a couple boxwoods hidden in the back for some unknown reason, daylilies, vinca, and several spirea. I planted a baby weigela bush & baby hydrangea here too

A baby butterfly bush in the planter Craig built, along with some petunias and bacopa (which looks scraggly so I think it's about to get replaced)

More splish splashing and nak*d Joshua

Here's miss pretty blue eyes. Maybe I'm biased, but I think she's such a cutie with her blue eyes and blonde hair. She's sporting a yellow bow w/ white polka dots made with love by Aunt Emily. I love that I can do her hair (until she pulls them out and tries to eat them). Stay tuned for pictures of her first piggy tails!! ok, so at least he has underpants on in this one. Every time I dress him, he protests with "but I hap to be naykid"

She was doing this tongue thing all last week. It's hilarious!

and walking while holding on one handed!!!

funny face :)

Splish Splash

Here are the pictures of her first experience in the big pool with Joshua. After a brief bout of screaming (probably due to the cold water) she got busy splashing, dumping water, and playing with Joshua. She's wearing her little UV suit too, which I think is the cutest!
oops, she climbed out when she was done. This was her first time sitting in grass too. Before, whenever I tried to set her down, she got all panicky and started screaming.

Joshua was showing her how to play in the pool.

I love it when he plays with her, so cute. He does have a bathing suit, he took it off.

practicing her waving

As promised, here is the video of her pushing the bus around for the first time. I also have videos of her crawling and pulling up for the first time, but by now that all seems like old hat. So does the bus thing for that matter; I'm sure she'll be walking, driving, and off to college before we know it!

Happy Fathers Day!!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Love Zoe

and Joshua

and Happy Father's Day Grandpa
and Great Grandpa
and Pa!


(and all those wonderful brothers & uncles out there too!)

more pictures

Zoe practicing her pushing/walking


Hey Leslie & fam, we found a freaky carrot too.

Joshua flexing his muscles

after a grueling set of push ups. Look at his perfect form!

He was "running errands" with my iPod on. He sees me go running with it, and thinks that running and running errands are the same thing. He says "I'm going to run some errands" and starts running around the house (or backyard). Lately, he's been asking for my iPod so he can run some errands (as pictured). This is also confusing because our neighbor is named Erin, so sometimes I say I'm going to run errands and he asks to go to Erin's with me. So complicated.

Yes, Joshua does have pants. It's just easier to roll with the big boy underpants until he has the potty thing down. The more layers he has on, the more likely he is to forget.

just pictures

Zoe enjoying her swing Miss Cherry Bottom

Joshua eating a carrot out of the garden. I can't get him to eat one from the store, but he's willing to eat anything he can pull out of the garden himself (including lettuce, beans, carrots, strawberries, and even a radish!)

Joshua enjoying some smores with the pretty neighbors (and mommy) one night when Craig was flying. Who says girls can't grill :)

Zoe's first pool experience