4th Fireworks

Last night we saw the fireworks at Rosenblatt for the first time since we've been in Omaha, and it will be the last time, as Rosenblatt will be no more after this baseball season. We had some of the best free seats thanks to Sara, sitting up by the botanical gardens at Kenefick Park with her, Marlena, and Noah.

Before it got dark (and even when it was dark) Ian was obsessed with the two trains that were up there. All he cared about was walking over there and looking at them, even when the sky was lighting up with fireworks.


The fireworks didn't disappoint. Annaliese woke from her nap to stare at them in awe. Ian, however, through a fit on my lap because he wanted to look at the trains instead of watch them, and then when they were over, he cried because he wanted to see more- go figure?!


Everyone got to sleep by midnight, and thankfully the kids slept in this morning: Ian until almost nine, and we woke Annaliese a little past noon (that's TWELVE hours!).

MMMMMM... Food

We started off the 4th of July weekend with some great All-American food for supper- so good I had to share.Baby backs on the grill with cornbread and watermelon. D-lish

But, the best part was dessert.
Homemade Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream: Oh. My. Goodness!
This was the most delicious homemade ice cream I have ever eaten, and I'd like to think I know a little bit about ice cream. This was so unlike any other homemade ice cream. And the flavor is so fabulous. It tasted so much like ice cream from an ice cream shop. I could go on and on, mmmmm. The only bad thing is that it's going to be gone too soon. If you own a homemade ice cream maker go and make this- NOW!

That's about all I have to blog about for now, because for the most part this week, our kids looked like this:

Weekend Wedding

Here are some highlights of my cousin's wedding this weekend in Davenport:

The young couple in love

After the groom kissed the bride, Ian kissed his sister.

The 3 ring bearers carried these signs out when the ceremony ended.
The other sides said, "Here comes the bride," which they showed when they escorted her.

All the kids had loads of fun on the dance floor waiting for the wedding party to arrive.
Ian loved it when the Cha Cha slide came on. At one point he was in the middle of the crowd trying to copy what they were doing. He eventually discovered being on the end worked better. It was so cute because they'd say stomp, the crowd would, then Ian would; or they'd all hop, and then he would.

It's a little hard to tell in this photo, but to remove the garter, the groom laid down on one of those boards you lay on when working under a car. He stopped on his way as he was walking up to the bride, asked if anyone knew a tool man, because he needed the right tools to get the g off, and his now father-in-law brought it out for him. Cutest garter removal I've ever seen.

It was a blast. We all left the party at 11:00 exhausted. Annaliese got passed around from one person to the next, and slept maybe a total of 30 min the 6 hours we were there, but was never fussy (so glad our happy baby is back!). And that night was so full of energy she took forever to wind down and sleep.

Scrappy Time

As far as my hobbies go, I have felt like scrapbooking a lot more lately than quilting. I hauled my machine out yesterday for the first time in at least a month and sewed a bit. I'm working on a little something I like to call SBG.

But I have found myself sitting at my scrapbooking table quite a bit lately.

Ian's first time frosting and decorating sugar cookies for Easter 2009.

Ian helping us replace our fence May 2009

Playing in the snow with a new sled Dec. 2009

Events from Thanksgiving weekend 2009

I made this page for Marlena's baby shower. Marlena and Noah aren't finding out the sex until birth, so I had the guests there guess what the sex was, when it was coming, and write some bits of wisdom for her.

HE DID IT!!!!

Today at swimming lessons was deep end day, and Ian did GREAT!! We had talked about it last night and he was mad when lessons first started because he wanted to go sit by the deep end, not the shallow (though still over his head) end where they usually sit. In the deep end, he jumped off the side of the pool into the water with no inhibitions. On the board, Jill said, "One, two, three, JUMP!" and Ian just stood there with a look on his face like, "You want me to do what?" But the second time she helped him in and he popped up with a smile on his face.

He's come so far from the first days of swimming lessons when we had tantrums at home about not wanting to go and I had to carry him kicking and screaming to the side of the pool. He refused to get his face wet and spent most of the class crying. Now he spends it splashing, talking to the other kids, and SMILING!

In the Pool

Between rain storms yesterday, I finally got Ian's pool blown up. He helped me fill it, and after his nap, he made a bee-line for it. He is so comfortable in his pool, which is a huge change from summers past. I can totally tell swimming lessons these past two weeks are paying off as well. We could splash, and he didn't immediately scream or want a towel; he just went with it. He got down on his stomach, laid on his back, and blew bubbles- all things I don't think he would have done before taking swimming lessons. As soon as breakfast was over this morning, he asked to go swimming again- I think he likes it :)

Happy Father's Day

We spent Father's Day the way I hope Darrin would have wanted: at home enjoying the day with our kids.

Today was a clothes-optional day for the kids.
Actually, Ian would prefer just to run around in his undies every day.

Ian cannot stay away from Annaliese when she's awake.
So today, he had to play on her floor gym with him.

For dessert we had some Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Pretzel cookies that Ian helped me make. They're very tasty (as in I've had 4 already today, and will probably eat one more before bed). I think the next time I'll double the dough and add some peanut butter chips and caramel bits.

Ian had fun helping me put them on the cookie sheet.

I scooped it into the "end loader" and he pushed it off with the "bulldozer".

So, Happy Father's Day to...

Darrin- I couldn't ask for a better daddy for Ian and Annaliese.
To my dad, who spoils his grandkids rotten.
To my father-in-law, who also loves to spoil his grandkids.

To my grandpa.
To Shawn and Noah, the soon-to-be fathers


And to my brother-in-law and all the other fathers out there. Hope your day was great!