26 months.

Oh this boy. I have a hard time keeping up with him!

this is what my living room looks like multiple times a day. 

 

so in love with cars, trucks and trains

 last weekend we went to my friend Hayley's birthday BBQ and she had a pinata. Emmett was having so much fun with it. He thought it was the funniest thing! Hayley took these pictures.

 

Emmett loves to splash. A little too much. I am constantly trying to get him to stop splashing others when we are at a public pool. He also loves his little sprinkler. Just the other day he played with it off and on all day! 

I love having a boy. It is so different though! It's really fun to experience the differences. 

love you, wild man!

latest lit #5.

 

I was in the mood for a Twilight-like story and didn't feel like rereading that saga, so I came upon this one. Dead Until Dark is vampire/human love story. What I didn't know when I got it was that the HBO show True Blood is based off of this series. As I was reading the book, I watched the first two episodes of True Blood. Wow. They were a bit too much for me. I didn't know the show is rated TVMA, which I was not comfortable with. There was a lot of violence, bad language and sex scenes. 

The book, on the other hand, is MUCH cleaner. It's very comparable to Twilight, which I liked. I got sucked in pretty early into it and I will probably continue reading the series. It's interesting to me how this author depicts vampires compared to how Stephanie Meyer does. That alone kept me very interested! There are a lot of similarities with other characteristics added. I definitely recommend the book; I do not recommend True Blood though!

friends.

Ethnie and Emmett have been playing very well together this summer. I've noticed it even more so in the past month. They play together at home; mostly ball or crawling around pretending to be dogs. They also giggle and talk to each other at night when they go to bed. Emmett has recently gotten interested in coloring so Ethnie has been teaching him how to draw. Emmett loves copying everything his big sister does and wants to be around her all the time. That means he follows her around constantly, which bugs Ethnie most of the time.  I think deep down she likes it. :)

 

checking out the new splash pad in east St. Paul (not sure if we'll go back; sketchy neighborhood). 

 Taking a walk around Calhoun. Emmett does a pretty good job of keeping up with her!

playing 'fairies' together (I actually had a pair of wings on too when I took this).

The sweetest sight I've ever seen is my kids laughing and playing together. I can honestly say that seeing my kids happy together brings me a true feeling of joy. There's nothing better than that!

visiting the peace garden.

We went over to Ethnie's school to play on the playground the other day. She goes to J.J. Hill Montessori. She is getting so excited to start first grade! Playing at her school only magnified that feeling. 

On one side of the school students and families keep a peace garden planted and maintained with herbs, vegetables and different kinds of flowers. It is so cute! Ethnie wanted to walk over there and check on the carrots she helped plant.   

entrance to the peace garden and some of the veggies.

engravings made on the entrance to the garden.

friends.

Ethnie was showing Emmett around the garden and telling him the names of different plants. I'm really glad she has something like this at her school to learn about and experience hands on. It has helped her to appreciate and respect nature.

sunday sweetness.

 Ethnie had her first legitimate talk on Sunday at church during Primary. She was asked to speak for 3-5 minutes and her topic was "I can feel the Holy Ghost in my life". While working on her talk, she came up with everything she wanted to say and I helped her compose it into simple sentences that she could read on her own. She was so excited to read her talk. I went up front with her just in case she needed help with a word and she read the whole thing without any help! She was so confident and excited to do it and I was so proud of her! I almost started crying because her words were so sweet and touching. 

My favorite parts of her talk were:

"When I help a friend when they fall down or when I help my whole family I feel the Spirit. When I read my ballerina book or look at the scriptures I can feel the Spirit." 

Ethnie is growing up to be such a sweet and caring little girl. I am grateful that Emmett has a good example and role model to follow. I think he gets a lot of his nurturing and affectionate characteristics from Ethnie. She has a kind heart and a lot of love to give. It makes me very happy to know that she knows that God is real and she can feel his love through the Holy Ghost in her every-day life.   

irish fair.

We enjoyed the Irish fair on Saturday. The weather was beautiful. We went in the evening after dinner. It was fun to see all the kilts and bagpipes. Mine and Ethnie's favorite is the Celtic dancing and music. There were also some cute kids activities like coloring, face painting, and a playground.

I love St. Paul!

national night out.

On Tuesday, our street had a block party for national night out. I think in general, St. Paul is a big participant of the tradition. I personally love driving around on national night out and seeing the community get together and celebrate summer. It's so nice to see the neighborhood all blocked off with grills blazing and kids playing together. And in the street too! So fun. Our kids had a pretty great time this year. Emmett had fun drawing with chalk and blowing bubbles and Ethnie had a blast playing with her friends. And the food is always yummy. :)

washington county fair.

Matt took the kids to the Washington County Fair with his dad on Saturday. I was gone shooting a wedding with my cousin all day. They had a really great time. Matt said the kids had a blast and the weather was perfect. He took some cute pictures I'd like to share!  

 Ethnie is in love with horses. She looks a lot like me when I was little in this picture.

having a snack with papa.

blissfully watching the horse show. 

nom, nom, nom.

 sweet boy

I remember loving the fair when I was little. So many fun things to do! I love sharing those fun feelings and events with my kids. We have made it a tradition in our family to go to the fair every year. :) Next stop: the great MN get-together! Only 15 more days to wait!  

look, mom!

Last Thursday, there were a few construction vehicles and trailers parked in front of our house. The trailers were parked there because the city was creating a parking lot on Selby Ave. for Pizza Luce a block away. Emmett was in heaven watching them go back and forth. He loves anything construction!

wow!

 mom, truck.

 mom, look.
he looks so little next to the truck

such a boy!