The Dimgus Archives

Thank You!

2012-02-14T07:50:00.001-05:00

Thank you Granna, Granpa, Gran and Pop for all the Valentines goodies!

Happy Valentines Day!!

2012-02-14T07:48:00.000-05:00

Playing

2012-02-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

She's 3!

2012-02-09T02:39:00.001-05:00

On Jo's birthday unfortunately Josh and I were quite sick,

so on that day we weren't able to do much.

For dinner we ordered pide and I found some candles around the house for her to blow out.

Later with the help of some friends we had a party.

Cupcakes included.

'Cause that's the only thing she wanted for her birthday.

Some "coopcakes".

The party (thanks to a friend for the pics, I forgot my camera)

3 year old Rapunzel Joanna.

Things I want to remember about this age:

She love to learn. We are working on "her letters". Most every day we look at a letter,

what it looks like, and what sound it makes. She is pretty good at remembering them.

She has lots of energy (what 3 year old doesn't?).

She loves to jump, and we ask her not to in the house (we live in an apartment),

so when we get outside she jumps down the sidewalk.

She's very social, and generally has no fear.

She makes friends quickly on the playground and loves running and giggling with them.

She amazes us with her language learning, both english and our local language.

Her english is definitely a lot better than her local language,

but she can converse on a basic level in both.

She is also getting a lot better at talking on the phone.

Lately she has been more into pretend play with dress up and taking care of her

"real" baby Lucy and her pretend babies with various crazy made-up names.

We let her try out a ballet class

(which we learned later was for 4&5 year olds), and she LOVED it.

We didn't continue with it because she wasn't able to follow everything for the hour

class between the language barrier and her attention span,

but I think we will try again sometime soon.

She is finally starting to tell us when she has to go to the potty.

She has been potty trained for a while, but we just took her every so often.

She never told us when she needed to go before.

If we forgot she would have an accident.

She loves her sister.

Some of my favorite times are when I grab Leyla and go wake Jo up from nap.

Leyla gets so excited to see Jo and Jo will roll over and cuddle Leyla,

which sometime is more like tackling, but is a loving act.

There is plenty more I am sure, but those are the first things that come to mind.

We love our little (getting bigger) Jo and thank God for her!

ABC Dance Times 2

2012-02-07T14:01:00.001-05:00

Don't be alarmed. All Leyla ate was a pea left over from dinner :).

What's for dinner?

2012-02-06T09:06:00.003-05:00

Any guesses?

Little Painter

2012-02-03T04:14:00.002-05:00

One brush for each color

Holding the tongue just right

Two handed painting

My view as I was working on Jo's b-day present

I'm not the only one...

2012-02-01T05:13:00.004-05:00

Who makes faces when feeding Leyla :).

It's Cold Outside

2012-01-30T07:44:00.000-05:00

Breakfast with Bear in the Birthday Shirt

2012-01-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

Friends

2012-01-24T10:04:00.002-05:00

These pictures are not of friends, but this post is appropriately titled friends.

Let me explain.

We did a lot of driving together with friends after Christmas in a big 10 passenger van.

The drives through the countryside are just gorgeous,

and one of the things I love about one of the drives is all of the

spindly trees filled with mistletoe in the middle of huge fields with

snow-capped mountains in the background.

I had this great idea that we should stop and do a photo shoot.

After some coaxing, we loaded all 4 kids out of their car seats and started heading towards a tree.

Well, it turns out that these beautiful fields are mostly just mud,

and the brush was full of prickles.

Needless to say it took us a good while to get all the mud off of our shoes and our kids shoes.

It wasn't one of my brightest ideas, but Josh and our friends were quite the troopers.

Thank you guys!!

Post Christmas Vacation Picture Dump

2012-01-23T04:55:00.000-05:00

No explanations, but enjoy!

This Kid

2012-01-17T16:53:00.001-05:00

I just love her.

Christmas Evening

2012-01-15T13:25:00.000-05:00

Christmas Food Traditions

2012-01-15T13:22:00.002-05:00

Sugar coated peanuts, a norm in the Sawyer household

Painted sugar cookies, a norm in the Hinton household

(we only had neon food coloring, hence the not so Christmas colors)

Monkey bread, a Hinton tradition, sausage balls, a Sawyer tradition,

and breakfast casserole, a Sawyer and Hinton tradition.

Christmas Morning

2012-01-15T13:16:00.001-05:00

Stockings

The girls new table.

If you notice the legs are a little crooked.

We went to put it together christmas eve and realized we needed a wrench.

Woops.

The girls didn't really care.

Opening Christmas packages

Josh modeling his new coat

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

2012-01-10T09:08:00.002-05:00

Silly Girls

2012-01-07T02:35:00.001-05:00

Oh Internet...

2012-01-02T03:37:00.001-05:00

We have had some major internet issues these past few weeks.

I'll leave it at that.

Anyhow, I picked just a very few pics from Christmas to share.

Hopefully internet will come back soon and I can share more.

We had a dusting of snow on the ground when we woke up Christmas morning,

which is very unusual.

All the advent candles were lit over our breakfast of monkey bread, egg casserole, and sausage balls.

Joanna enjoyed it in her new princess dress.

Joanna decided that her favorite present this year was Leyla.

Leyla didn't appreciate it so much.

5 Years

2012-01-01T01:58:00.000-05:00

A lot has changed in 5 years...

Praise the Lord, what a blessing.

Last Minute Homemade Gift Idea

2011-12-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

A bag of course!

This one was super quick to whip up,

and can be made any size you want.

I just put two pieces of fabric together,

right sides facing each other,

pinned the straps inside,

sewed around the outside leaving a little hole,

flipped it right side out and sewed up the sides.

I added a closure and two lines of stitches at the top for fun.

Jo put her books in hers.

Who would have known?

2011-12-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

That when Josh bought this jacket in college it would eventually

be used to stash diapers in?

I love that man.

Studio Pics

2011-12-13T09:07:00.000-05:00

Tis the Season

2011-12-09T08:10:00.000-05:00

The first mountain snow of the season,

Spiced Apple Toddy scenting up the house,

sweet music ticking our ears,

the decorations all up,

And baby Jesus tight in Mary's arms.

Jo's Tree

2011-12-09T08:05:00.003-05:00

If you ask Jo, the Christmas tree is hers.

She decorated it all. by. her. self.

And did a great job I might add.

Lazy Morning with Daddy

2011-12-07T04:41:00.001-05:00

Friends

2011-12-05T08:23:00.001-05:00

Cousins

2011-12-05T08:22:00.001-05:00

Aunt Nell's

2011-12-05T08:21:00.003-05:00

These are some of the last pics from the states.

Golf Tournament

2011-12-05T08:21:00.001-05:00

Friends

2011-12-01T15:55:00.001-05:00

Leyla met her 2nd cousin James while we were in the states.

They were quite the pair.

New Traditions

2011-11-29T10:05:00.000-05:00

As you may remember from last year,

the day after Thanksgiving we went and hung out at some local ruins with friends

for a picnic and some fun.

We continued the tradition this year and had a blast!

This year we trekked to the stadium.

And the fun began...

Over here! I'm open!

Up the hill...

And back down.

Picnic time!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T08:19:00.001-05:00

We had thanksgiving at our house this year, which was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed decorating a bit.

I got to break out the tablecloth my mom sent for my birthday.

The pretty pomegranate made it's appearance.

As well as the HUGE turkey that our friends so kindly cooked.

The kids made turkeys out of apples, toothpicks, and various other supplies.

Here's the kid's table.

They also all made place-mats beforehand and we put them under a clear tablecloth at their places.

Here's the adult table.

Look at Josh's plate of food.

Yummy.

Here is my wonderful hubby where he spent a lot of time thanksgiving day.

He was so kind to clean dishes and let me do the fun things like decorate

or do activities with the kids.

This one is self-explanatory.

The day ended with pumpkin pie, pecan pie, ginger cookies with cream, apple cider, hot tea...

and Settlers of Catan.

We put all the kids down at our house and played into the night.

We are addicted.

We are such party animals.

The Ranch

2011-11-22T04:12:00.000-05:00

We visited Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, and had a blast.

They have Zebras, Giraffes, Water Buffalo, Pot Belly Pigs, and on and on.

We took a hay ride through the ranch and the animals come up and eat the food

from your hand.

Then afterwards we went to the petting zoo area.

It's a really cool place.

We would highly recommend it.

Here's Josh, Pop, Janna and Jo looking at the giraffes.

Feeding the Water Buffalo? Look at that tongue. Gross.

We didn't miss the horses, I mean camels.

Petting the sheep.

Feeding the goats.

Notice the progression.

Yerim Seni

2011-11-18T06:01:00.001-05:00

We hear this phrase a lot around here.

It southern English it loosely means,

"I could just eat you up!"

Yesterday while Jo was asleep and I was supposed to be

studying language I had a little photo shoot with Leyla.

I mean who can study with cuteness like this around?

Cookies

2011-11-16T04:14:00.000-05:00

Pomegranate - The Pretty Fruit

2011-11-14T05:02:00.001-05:00

Before moving overseas I feel like pomegranate was really getting to be an "in" fruit.

I never really ate it fresh in the states, only in things like drinks.

I was also intimidated by the way it looked.

However, here in our country pomegranate is everywhere.

We drive past groves all the time and our neighbors have trees in their gardens.

I tasted it once or twice but I couldn't get past the seeds.

I don't like blackberries or raspberries either.

Recently, our babysitter gave us some from her garden,

and I didn't want to waste them so I bit the bullet and shelled them.

This helped.

Isn't that red gorgeous?

Aaannnnddd... I found a way I LOVE it.

In cereal.

We are big cereal eaters around here.

There isn't much variety to choose from,

so I always go with Nesfit and add raisins.

It tastes just like raisin bran.

But pomegranate, WOW.

I don't notice the seeds because the cereal is crunchy,

and it gives such a pop of flavor in every bite.

And it's pretty.

Jo wanted some in her cereal too.

And then decided she didn't like it.

Just for fun I also made these cookies that I saw on a blog.

I liked the cookies.

Not the pomegranate in them.

Who wants things stuck in their teeth after eating chocolate cookies?

Jo liked the dough, despite her despondent facial expression.

There we go.

Cousins

2011-11-11T04:13:00.000-05:00

Uncle Josh

2011-11-10T04:14:00.001-05:00

Grandmother and Grandaddy's House

2011-11-08T06:23:00.001-05:00

We spent a little time at my grandparent's house.

Jo took a ride down to the creek in the wagon behind the tractor.

She was pretty excited about it.

She also fed the goats.

She wasn't sure if she was excited about that or not.

Us with Grandmother and Granddaddy.

A Few Shorts

2011-11-07T03:32:00.001-05:00

Jo Soccer - Improvement from Sarah H on Vimeo.

Lake Again

2011-11-06T13:47:00.000-05:00

Speaking of Pumpkins

2011-11-03T08:23:00.002-05:00

It's that season around here.

Yes, we are back and for the most part recovered from jet lag

and our rotten refrigerator and freezer (for the most part).

I still have plenty of pictures from our trip that I am going to post.

We haven't even made it to the Hinton family yet.

Anyhow, since it is pumpkin season I picked some up from the pazar to make puree and babyfood.

It helps that they are one in the same :).

I laid it on a cooking sheet and baked it in the oven on 350 F.

I baked it for as long as it took me to peel about 25 tomatoes.

I feel so much like a local when I say I don't know how long I cooked something.

The answer I always get when I ask is "until it's done".

That's helpful.

The pumpkin was done when I poked it with a fork and it was soft.

I tried some green beans too in the hopes they might get soft, but they just got hard.

Then I used my handy dandy stick blender to puree it.

Done!

For my future reference, 1 kilogram (2.2 Pounds) of pumpkin makes just over 3 cups of puree.

This is a little trick I learned from the yogurt guys for getting things in freezer bags without the mess.

You put your hand under the bottom of the bag and pull the bag down around your hand.

Then add your stuff.

And pull the top up.

Tada! No more messy top of bags.

Then tie it off and you are freezer ready.

I didn't forget about Leyla.

She got her share of the love too.

Or Joanna.

When she saw I had the camera out she wanted me to take a picture of her booboos.

So there ya go.

*And yes, my vinyl, sparkly tablecloth in all the pictures also makes me feel like a local.
I've come to love the ease of cleaning it.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-02T13:42:00.004-05:00

Can you find my little pumpkins?

and/or my big pumpkin?

In Between

2011-10-24T15:14:00.001-05:00

Jo is trying to fill Aunt Suzanne's shoes.

My whole extended family (mom's side and dad's side) was sweet to come

and hang out one afternoon and evening.

Sorry the picture is a little dark.

Again, trying to follow in Aunt Suz's footsteps.

Jo made some fall cookies with Granna and Suz.

Go Wolfpack!

2011-10-21T16:30:00.000-05:00

We got to go to a football game with both our wonderful sets of parents.

Jo LOVED it.

She now periodically looks at us and throws up her wolfpack sign and says "Go Wolfpack!"

She talks about all the kids (football players) that were playing and how we say, "get him",

and they knock them down.

She's quite animated.

We were at Josh's church and as the choir director was directing the choir Jo looked

at the directors hands, turned to me and said,

"Look mommy! She's saying go Wolfpack!"

She was right.

Lake Trip (1st week of Vaca in the US of A)

2011-10-13T21:56:00.000-05:00

*Disclaimer: This post has a LOT of pictures, but I just couldn't choose.

I also couldn't choose which pictures to make big.

If there are any that are smaller that you would like to see bigger you can just click on the pic.

Jo and Granpa checked out the flying squirrel in the birdhouse.

I don't know who she got this look from.

Granna, granpa and Aunt Suz gave us a synchronized swimming show.

Then Jo joined in.

Jo liked going fast.

Josh got some rest.

Things to Remember

2011-10-04T14:09:00.001-05:00

Joanna definitely has a little personality and we love it.

Some quotables lately are:

When we were going through customs in the US Jo heard a lady talking and looked at us

and said: That lady is speaking english.

Josh: Yes, in america everyone speaks english.

As we were sitting in baggage claim Joanna yells at the top of her lungs

(which thankfully isn't very loud)

"Everybody speaks English! Everybody speaks English!!"

In the bathroom at the same airport a nice older lady says, "Aren't you cute. Where are you going?"

Jo looks back and says earnestly, "To America"

The other day at a seat yourself burrito place we walked in and Jo promptly walked up to

the lady behind the counter and says, "Do you have a playground?"

I guess we have frequented Chick-fil-a too much.

Josh and granpa took Jo and Leyla through the car wash. Leyla started crying,

and Jo looked at Josh and with increasing volume said, "I think this makes me cry too!!"

and ended with a wail.

And lastly, Jo and granpa were playing hide and go seek, and this was Jo's first hiding place:

She came up with that one all by herself :).

We're here!

2011-10-01T22:51:00.001-05:00

Lots going on, so not much time to blog.

Not to worry though, there are lots of pictures being taken.

They will make their way to the blog soon :).

PB&J

2011-09-16T05:38:00.000-05:00

Go Fish

2011-09-16T05:24:00.004-05:00

No Pictures

2011-09-04T14:00:00.002-05:00

Sorry guys, no pictures on this post. Our computer that does pictures is out of commission right now.
But we are here, and we're doing well for the most part.

A couple notes about this past week, and life in general:

-Leyla is trying to crawl (up on all fours rocking). I told her she's not allowed. The house is not baby-proofed yet.

-Joanna may have trouble with motion sickness. We took a 2.5 hour bus ride and she may have lost her breakfast during it. Twice. Fortunately on the ride back we didn't have any more mishaps.

-Speaking of the bus ride, Leyla is a ham. She was cheesing it up and had most of the bus entertained for the trip back home.

-Our family loves fresh green beans. I'll have to post a recipe soon. It uses pepper paste (kind of like tomato paste but with pieces of red peppers.) Is that sold in the states?

-Our friends think we are crazy for the "little" amount of bread that we consume each day. People here eat bread with pretty much every meal. Our doorman jokes with us about it a lot. If we don't buy it from him in the morning he asks, "Why? Are you not going to eat today?"

-We have been out strolling around most evenings this past week and it's felt great. Everyone is outside in the evenings with the nice weather. It's a lot of fun.

-Joanna loves to excersise. There is excersise equipment at the park across the street and when we walk into the park she goes straight for it. Not the swings. Not the slides. The excersise equipment.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

Sigh

2011-08-30T15:23:00.002-05:00

There has been a lot going on in the life of our big girl as of late.

This past weekend she went for a sleepover at R, one of her bestie's houses.

(which since she has been back she has been talking NONSTOP about anything and everything)

Lucy (her doll) came with.

When she got home the next night,

we asked her if she wanted to sleep without her beloved paci,

like her friends R and V sleep without a paci.

She said yes and made it the whole night without it, and hasn't had it since.

She has asked for it once or twice and we have told her she is a big girl and doesn't need it.

She then says, "No, I'm little".

Melts my heart.

If you ask her what she now sleeps without she will say R (her friend) and her paci.

True.

We have also had trouble with out balance the past few days.

She fell in the hallway into a doorpost on sunday and got this shiner.

A little ice and a few songs made it better.

Then on Monday she fell in the living room onto the edge of a wooden chair and got a parallel shiner.

Today we were at the playground and she fell going up the stairs and bumped her forehead again.

This time no shiner.

At least not one that showed up over the others.

Maybe her feet are growing?

And finally yesterday we were passing by the hair salon I go to and she got a impromptu haircut.

The lady asked if we wanted anything done and I initially said no,

but then looked at Jo and asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut.

Her eyes got really big and she said, "Yes!"

She hopped into the chair and sat fairly still as the lady cut her hair.

The only time she spoke during it all was to ask me if they could use, "that thing too",

referring to the hair dryer.

They did.

She was quite happy.

I'll try to get a picture of the new 'do soon.

Sigh. Time flies.

Happy Monday Morning

2011-08-29T05:26:00.000-05:00

Leyla Laughing from Sarah H on Vimeo.

Can you take our picture?

2011-08-22T15:20:00.001-05:00

As we were playing the other day Jo asked if I could take her picture with Leyla.

I happily agreed.

Quite the pose huh?

Look Mommy! A Camel!

2011-08-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

We had a picknic at a horse farm tonight

and as we walked up Joanna ran to the fence and said,

"Look mommy! A camel!"

Oh dear.

She did get to ride one of those "camels" by the end of the evening and quite enjoyed herself.

Sorry for no pictures.

We brought the camera and and extra battery but both batteries were dead.

To give you a visual picture she was wearing jeans,

brown boots and a white t-shirt with a pink headband.

She was led around a ring on a grey horse and had a huge smile on her face.

Spin Spin Spin SPIN!

2011-08-18T06:21:00.000-05:00

The windup

And start spinning

The Pour

2011-08-17T08:22:00.001-05:00

Who is Who?

2011-08-15T16:12:00.001-05:00

One is Jo.

One is Leyla.

Same age (ish).

Same outfit.

Which is which?

Leyla Beach

2011-08-13T14:53:00.001-05:00

Not loving the water so much

And still not

Daddy to the rescue

Day 3 & 4 - Beach

2011-08-13T14:45:00.000-05:00

Day 3 & 4 - Pool Fun

2011-08-13T14:39:00.004-05:00

Splish splash

Konked

Awake again

Dimples

Days 3 & 4 - Food

2011-08-13T09:47:00.001-05:00

As I said, the food being included was big for me,

and we weren't disappointed.

Each morning we had a nice, outdoor breakfast with a view of the ocean.

Lunch wasn't included so we went out.

Can you tell it was good?

Meatballs with cheese, onions and tomatoes.

At the restaurant

And dessert, a pastry type thing with hot cheese in the middle and a syrup over top.

I know it sounds horrible,

but it was scrumptious.

Leyla wanted some too.

I didn't get any pictures of the dinners, but they were good too.

Chicken and veggies one night and meatballs with veggies the other.

Vacation Days 1 & 2

2011-08-13T08:22:00.001-05:00

The first day of vacation out of our city we went and visited some friends that just got in country.

We last minute decided to stay overnight.

Good friends for hosting us so last minute huh?

Day two we headed out towards the sea.

We didn't have a hotel booked or really much of a plan,

we just went.

We ended up going to a beach some other friends were staying at and

settled on a little hotel with my two must haves:

a kiddie pool and food included.

We promptly hopped into the pool.

Jo promptly made a little friend.

Who happened to be named Leyla.

Classic Jo smile

Leyla's not sure if she likes what her sister is doing or not.

Progress

2011-08-11T16:13:00.001-05:00

We had a fleeting wish that we might have concrete on our street when we got back from the beach.

The pavers on one side of the sidewalk were new.

Back from the Beach

2011-08-11T14:34:00.000-05:00

We took our first real family vacation with just our fam this past week and had a blast.

More pictures later...

This one is for mom

2011-08-09T04:10:00.000-05:00

Don't think I have posted a picture since Leyla's name has been up on the wall.

Cherry Pie - Just for Looks?

2011-08-04T17:26:00.002-05:00

I made a cherry pie last week because I had a bowl of beautiful cherries that were sitting in my fridge.

In the states I didn't like cherries very much,

probably because most of the ones I had were from a can and covered in sugary syrup.

But here I love them.

In the states I didn't like cherry pie that much,

so I thought I would try making one here in hopes that I might love it.

I wanted to love it.

Cherry pies are just so pretty, and there is something nostalgic about them.

But I didn't.

It was good, but I think hot fruit just doesn't do it for me in the summer time.

Maybe it's because it's hot outside.

I don't need to be hot inside too.

I love a good apple pie in the fall though.

Anyhow, I made one and it was pretty and I felt a nice sense of accomplishment,

but I don't think I will make one again.

Instead I will make one of these again.

Soooooo Yummy.

Summer Days

2011-08-03T16:17:00.001-05:00

Hanging out

Here is one of our good friends of late.

The air conditioners in our room and the living room are our closer friends.

Two Chances

2011-08-02T06:43:00.000-05:00

We had two chances at a family pic before the camera battery died.

Not too bad if you ask me.

Sweet Girls

2011-07-28T14:19:00.001-05:00

I took a few pics of the girls the other day in their room.

The majority of these pics are of Leyla because most of the ones of Jo were blurry :).

Seasons

2011-07-21T08:51:00.001-05:00

One of the things I love about living here is the seasonal fruits and veggies.

Every week at the produce bazar I can look forward to seeing

something newly coming into season,

something else coming into prime season,

and other things moving out of season and subsequently really cheap.

It's fun to have fruit and veggie recipes to pull out once a year.

Today I made a peach cobbler.

Sorry, no picture. It was gone too fast.

Right now cherries are pushing out of season.

These are some from last week.

We love them and have been eating them more since getting a handy dandy cherry pitter.

Late Birthday

2011-07-21T08:08:00.001-05:00

My husband is wonderful.

For my birthday (the day after his) he planned a fun picnic with some friends.

He made the boogers, I mean burgers, and homemade onion straws.

One sweet friend made some yummy pasta salad and another

made some kebabs and a delish cheesecake to top it all off.

You can see the pictures here.

It was also fun to have Aunt Suzanne here to celebrate with us.

The kids decorated sugar cookies.

Leyla made a friend.

(Sort of, I had to pick her up right after this picture was taken to save her from pinches)

Josh made a friend.

K, don't look!

The food table.

The kids table.

And Jo stuffing her favorite food in her mouth, pasta!

Picnic

2011-07-18T03:04:00.003-05:00

Jo: Daddy, let's go on a picnic.

Josh: OK, what should we eat?

Jo: Some boogers.

Josh: Really? What kind of boogers?

Jo: Some hand boogers.

Josh: Oooh. What's in the hand boogers?

Jo: Some haaand. And some cheese.

I feel very trusted as a parent if that's really what Joanna thinks a hamburger is and she is still willing to eat it when we give it to her :).

And Jo with a Hat

2011-07-18T01:25:00.001-05:00

This is Jo at the same age with a little hat.

I had a closer up picture but I can't seem to find it.

I think they resemble each other,

but are definitely not the same.

Pretty Girl

2011-07-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

Meet Fish.

2011-07-02T05:10:00.001-05:00

A friend at a pet store down the street gave Joanna Fish.

We asked her what she wanted to name it numerous times and all we got

was fish (in english and in the local language).

I don't think I realized how dirty fish can be.

I am not a fan of pets, especially when you have a two year old and 4 month old

human that need a lot of cleaning and attention,

but what am I to do?

I was having vary conflicting feelings (freaked out, hopeful, sad, freaked out)

the other day when I was cleaning his bowl and he (or she) flipped out into the sink.

Josh had to come to the rescue.

Recently I moved him to a bigger bowl in hopes I will have to clean it less often.

I also mentioned to Josh that putting little rocks in the bottom might help.

Then he came home with some.

Evidently when they stopped by the pet store on the way home the other day

Jo saw some pretty pebbles and asked our friend if she could have some in the local language,

they were so impressed they gave them to her.

Convenient.

If you live close and are looking for a family pet let me know.

Friends

2011-06-29T12:55:00.001-05:00

The 24th

2011-06-29T12:49:00.000-05:00

On the 24th (Josh's big day) we celebrated with

"sausage" egg and cheese biscuits and gifts.

We followed that up with a pedicure for me,

class, and accountability for Josh :).

After that we headed out to dinner at a new place we hadn't tried before.

Birthday Preview

2011-06-27T16:24:00.000-05:00

Let's just say it was a good day :)

Look Mommy!

2011-06-27T04:15:00.002-05:00

Eyes!

Uh oh.

There we go.

Yummy!

Under Construction

2011-06-22T14:07:00.002-05:00

Our house is more dusty than normal as of late,

because our road (and sidewalks) are completely gone.

Hopefully before too long we will be back to normal.

Hide and Seek

2011-06-21T02:51:00.004-05:00

I was talking with Josh the other day about how it will be fun

when Jo is a little older can play games.

Well, that night he and Jo started with hide and seek

and we haven't stopped since.

Jo still has a little to learn as you will see in the videos,

but we are having a blast!

Jo hiding.

Note for Take 1: The rug is rolled up because we have started potty training.

She's doing pretty well, but we are still learning.

Note for Take 2: We generally do tend to Leyla when she cries.

Note for Take 3: Evidently this take did not fall into the generally category. In our defense I think both of these videos were taken within a 1 minute span.

Cheesing for the Camera

2011-06-20T14:15:00.003-05:00

Friends

2011-06-16T00:57:00.000-05:00

We got to hang out with some old friends a few weekends ago.

It was fun to see little friendships renewed/developed.

If you'll notice, none of these pictures are super clear.

These girls have a bunch of energy!

Numbers

2011-06-15T13:01:00.000-05:00

Jo loves her numbers.

She got them as a gift and carries them around in her little yellow bag.

She even asks if she can take them to the park when we go.

I'm Married

2011-06-15T01:54:00.002-05:00

Me: Joanna you need to finish eating your cereal before you get any bread with strawberry butter.

Joanna: But I am married. Can I have some now?

Me: Who are you married to?

Joanna: to you.

Me: When you are married do you get to eat whatever you want?

Joanna: No. But I am married. Can I have some now?

Oh the logic of a 2 year old :).

Little Miss

2011-06-09T06:27:00.002-05:00

A friend gave Joanna this dress and she has loved to put it on here and there.

Waffle Iron - Not just for Waffles

2011-06-07T09:00:00.004-05:00

We recently got a waffle iron,

and have been putting it to good use.

I saw somewhere that you could make french toast on a waffle iron and it got me thinking.

One day I made a "grilled cheese" for lunch and french toast for dinner on it.

The grilled cheese was pretty good, but the french toast was a bit lacking.

It was pretty though!

Summer's Here (We think)

2011-06-06T05:16:00.005-05:00

Here the weather can change a good bit from day to day,

but I think summer is here.

This week the forcast puts us in the high 80's for most of the week.

This is why I let Joanna "wash her hands" in the kitchen sink recently.

She always ends up soaked from head to toe.

Maybe we will even get the kiddie pool out soon!

When did my big one get so big?

2011-06-03T06:39:00.003-05:00

Joanna loves "playing the letters" on the computer.

When I watch her on the computer I realize how big she is getting,

and how quickly she is learning.

I've often found myself thinking about how I would like for them both to stay little.

I guess I don't really want that, but I am enjoying these sweet ages!

Tiered Skirt

2011-05-31T06:36:00.004-05:00

I made a skirt for Jo one night before we headed to the beach.

I was planning on making a two layered simple skirt,

but ended up with three fabrics that I really liked.

I then went for the peasant-style skirt. I used tutorials found here and here.

It took me longer than I would have liked (who wants to do algebra when sewing??),

but I am happy with the result!

A few more from the beach

2011-05-31T05:59:00.002-05:00

Little Strawberry

2011-05-26T08:40:00.002-05:00

Fun with Daddy

2011-05-25T05:29:00.002-05:00

Sweet Legs

2011-05-22T15:02:00.003-05:00

We're at the beach, and Jo got a lot of mosquito bites on her

sweet little legs, ankles and arms.

You can be lifting her up that they would heal quickly and not bother her.

She was pitiful tonight as we put her to sleep.

I guess the mosquitos know sweet when they see it.

Slide

2011-05-20T13:31:00.000-05:00

Tomato Chicken Salad

2011-05-17T15:35:00.003-05:00

My mom shared a recipe with me for a yummy spin on chicken salad.

It doesn't have any mayo in it, which is a major plus for me,

and all the ingredients are readily available here.

Tomato-Chicken-Salad

1 lemon
2 lb. Tomatoes halved or chopped
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 large cucumber sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tblsp. Olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup crumbed feta cheese

Grate zest from lemon to equal 2 tsp., squeeze juice from lemon to equal 2 tbsp. Combine lemon zest, juice, tomatoes, and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Toss with crumbled feta just before serving.

Buttons

2011-05-16T08:21:00.002-05:00

The Bakery

2011-05-13T15:02:00.002-05:00

We have a friend that owns a bakery here in town,

and Joanna loves going to visit him. I can't imagine why, can you?

We always leave with a doggie bag full of cookies, cakes and baklava.

And a juice box for Joanna.

This is him with Josh and Leyla.