Happy (insert holiday here)!

The last week or so has been busy- there was Father's Day on Sunday and then Rex's 3rd birthday on Monday. Rob decided he wanted to smoke some ribs in our smoker for his special dinner so that was what we did. He also wanted iced tea and I made a big pot of beans. My recipe is very similar to this one but I use kidney beans and butter beans instead of lima and black. I made a festive little banner for the day too that Rob didn't realize for a few days that I had made. I guess it looked so good he thought I bought it- ha! I got the idea for it here.



Wyatt unhappily modeling his special Father's Day shirt-



And a special Father's Day treat I ordered from California-



It was a really good day. Looks like I'm missing any pictures of Rob from Father's Day though. Oops. I will do better next year! I thought we would just get a pizza for dinner on Rex's birthday but we decided to go out to eat instead. Rex got a cheeseburger and had 3 or 4 young waitresses sing happy birthday to him and give him ice cream so I am sure he was pleased with the decision.



He had lots of presents, including this Sheriff Woody toy-



The whole time Rex was opening his gifts, Wyatt just sat off to the side and played with his toys. I don't know why I thought that was so funny but I did. Here's Wyatt playing with his toy puppy.



Finally, we had some birthday cake. I made a dinosaur cake again this year because I vowed to make one every year forever on his birthday. Even when he is 42, I will make a dinosaur cake for him.



Nobody spent much time with the cake though because it was time to get back to the toys! Seriously, I don't think Rex took even one bite of the cake. He was too excited about all the new toys and ran right out of the kitchen to go play again after he blew the candle out. Since it was his birthday, I let him. He definitely was asking for the cake the next day though. Good thing for him I saved a piece!

Gotta play-



Wyatt is doing good. He is more and more mobile all the time and has stepped off like he was going to walk but just fell. Poor guy. He holds on to the couch or my hands and walks but he still needs that little bit of help. He's not quite there yet but it can't be too much longer. I am doing good too. I started a bootcamp fitness class last week and I have never been so sore in my life. I am more of a cardio girl than a strength training girl so this is a big change for me. I enjoy the class and getting some time just for me- it is unfortunate though that the class is at 6:00 a.m. everyday (Mon-Fri) and I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. Yikes. I thought it was bad that I used to have to get up at 7:00. I signed up for 14 weeks so that means only 13 more weeks until I can sleep in again!

If a Tree Falls in The Forest...

Last Monday we had a dying spruce tree removed from our backyard. I also decided once they got here to have them trim up the two trees out front. Rob wasn't thrilled with my little add-on project but he did say that it looked nice once they were done. He was at work while they were here and I didn't want him to miss the excitement of taking out the big tree so I recorded it. I didn't mean to narrate the clip, I just happened to be talking to someone on the phone at the same time and I was telling them what was going on.



Here is how the corner looks now-



Now we have to figure out what to do with our empty corner. Our plan was to put in a small-ish swingset but I'm not sure there is enough room and we kind of blew the budget on tree removal and pruning. We definitely need to do some screening along the fence to get some privacy and block the view of the neighbor's house for everyone's benefit. I am thinking it is a perfect spot for a little fenced-in vegetable garden like this.



It was ridiculously hot earlier in the week and then by the end of last week, and still by today, it has been cool and rainy with lots of hunderflash (that's Rex-speak for thunder and lightning), much to Rex's dismay. I took the boys out for a walk on Saturday morning when we had a little break in the weather and we went to the Farmer's Market. Apparently all there is in Iowa at this point is cilantro and I think I saw some onions too. I bought some baked goods and jams at one stand from people I have purchased tasty treats from before but that was it for us. I decided I better just plant my own stuff if I want some homegrown produce so Rex and I went to Lowe's on Sunday and bought 2 tomato plants, 1 cherry tomato plant and a cantaloupe plant. I have never grown cantaloupes before so I have no idea what to expect from that but it was only $3 so I thought it was worth a try.

I bought 2 delphinium and 2 foxgloves too because I love them and planted them in the bed along with the tomato and cantaloupe plants.



The boys are doing good. No real big excitement for them this past week except Rex can finally say his name! Yay Rex!!! He has always just said "Reh" or maybe "Rek" but couldn't quite get that x sound until this past week. Here is what they are looking like on Monday, June 13th.

Wyatt playing with Rex's blocks-



Rex in our front yard, just as it was starting to rain this morning-

DIY Weekend

I took the boys out on a walk Saturday morning- it is something we do every day, weather permitting- and found an awesome retro stereo console for sale at a yard sale. I had to cross the street and get a better look at it because it just looked so cool and I was thinking it would be perfect for under our tv. I was right, it is!



And it was only $35- woohoo! I don't know what Rob was planning on doing this weekend but I know what he ended up doing. He gutted the old stereo and record player parts from the cabinet and put our cable box and dvd player in there.



He also put his nice amp in there and hooked it up to the speakers so we could put the big speakers (that used to be hooked up to the tv) away. Rex loved to unhook the wires and he can't do that anymore which is awesome. Rob bought a remote relay thingamajiggie so that the remote still works even with everything all closed up inside. We still need to attach something to the wall to hide the cords and then put a latch on top of the console so Rex can't get in there and then it will be perfect.

I had my own little DIY project I have been working on, trying to recreate a Pottery Barn trellis that I love. I got it all put together but it was a while before we had a non-windy day so that I could spray paint the thing. I finally got that done on Saturday and here it is in my garden.



I would still like to get some solar string lights to go on it but it looks good for now. That was my prototype and since I am happy with the way it turned out, I'm going to make two more. I think I'll end up spending about $30 for four of them instead of $99 for one. AND mine doesn't have any lame hearts on it. Holly Hobby I am not.

Rob and I discovered we may have hit the jackpot with Rex. He loves to play with his teeball set in the backyard which he and I do a lot during the week. I knew he batted opposite of me but I didn't know that was a big deal that he hit it left-handed. So when Rob saw him do it, he was pretty interested. We tried to get him to bat right-handed and that was not happening. He hits (naturally!) way better left-handed. So then we did a little test with his throwing and discovered that he throws right-handed. Rob tells me that a player who hits left and throws right is desirable and rare. I just want him to have fun and as long as he likes to play, I will encourage it. I would never be a parent who forces my kid to play a sport they don't like or ruin something they like to do and have fun with. But if he turned out to be a baseball superstar, that would be pretty awesome.



Rex got his first skinned knee this week. Poor baby. He looks just like his mommy though.



Wyatt is getting closer and closer to walking all the time. He is figuring so much out every day and you can tell he just can't wait to walk like his big brother does. Part of his development is pulling himself up onto things- AND out of things it seems. I put him in his walker the other day, walked in the kitchen and came back seconds later to find him like this:



It is possible that Rex helped him but I really doubt it. I am certain Wyatt did this all on his own. See that cheshire cat grin? That's the face of a boy who is awfully proud of himself.

We had a good weekend working on projects but Rob and I actually got to go out to dinner on a little date Friday night which was the best part of the weekend, without a doubt. We left both boys with a sitter for the first time ever and went to a work dinner Rob had which was a lot of fun. They had a raffle for prizes and we both left with stuff. Lucky us!