Goin' 'sploring

Little Red Schoolhouse just opened their new building (which Cooper quickly pointed out is not red, or a schoolhouse, but just a grey building) so we took the boys to see it. It's really nice & Cooper loved the new kids play area with puzzles, sticks (his current obsession), and other activities. We did some 'sploring outside too.

Celebrating the Fourth

We spent out Fourth of July with Grandma & Grandpa.

There was swimming...

and playing at the park.

Dexter was a little confused. He crawled into the room with the dogs when my mom called them for dinner, & even crawled over to my dad for his "turn" to be petted like the dogs. Weirdo.

We went to a nearby lake for the fireworks display, but the bugs were so bad we had to move into the van to watch it.

(P.S. There are more photos of Dexter, but I promise I haven't forgotten about Cooper. He's just become much more difficult to photograph & even runs from the camera now. Unless it's a modeling job, & then he's a complete ham.)

Millenium Park

This week we took the train downtown to Millenium Park.

John & the boys at the "Bean"

Me & Cooper at the "Bean"
(*see the P.S. post!)

Not sure what Dexter's doing here. Avoiding the sun maybe? Or maybe it's time for a nap.

Cooper got accidentally knocked down. We didn't realize 'til we got home that John somehow took a picture of it.

Catching up on life

Okay, so in between having a sick dog, finding out my brother is leaving for Afghanistan, starting my new Avon business, and having a new niece, some other stuff has happened that I haven't posted about. I keep meaning too, but the pictures keep piling up.

Update on Dora: Thanks everyone for all your comments & everything. I really appreciate it. Dora had a single dose of chemo & is on steroids. Her lymph nodes have gotten back to normal & she seems to be perfectly healthy. She's in remission & you'd never know there's anything wrong with her. She has a huge appetite & drinks water by the gallon (side effects of the steroids), but otherwise she's her normal self. She visits the oncologist again next week for a check up. We're hoping her remission lasts as long as possible.

So, here's our life recently - in pictures.

John showing Cooper a chick at the Iroquis County Fair
(where, by the way, my mom won 2nd place for her Around the World quilt, and was totally cheated on her map quilt)

Geez, Mom, let the kids have a turn!

Caycee's birthday!

Children of the corn!

Cooper found heaven - and climbed in.

Yeah, Coop, I agree.

The mailman must love me

I got two more swap packages! Goodies for me!
First was the "Once You Pop" swap.. yep, it's the Pringles jingle. The idea is you decorate a Pringles can & fill it. It's not easy to craft things small enough to fit in a Pringles can! This is what I received:

A watermelon Pringles can

And tons of goodies! A popcicle wristlet, keychain, & pin, an ice cream pouch (perfect for holding money, for ice cream, of course), a little jewelry box, some lip gloss, gummi lifesavers, 3 headbands, *eight* anklets, and an adorable monster pouch. So cute! I love it all! :)

This package is from the "100 Facts About Me" swap (you write a list of 100 facts about you & the other person uses those to craft items for you). I forgot to take a picture of it all together, but here it is:

A book for writing my favorite quotes in (I love orange, Gerber daisies, & quotes)

A nursing bracelet for me to help keep track of the new baby's feedings

Dr. Seuss book labels for Cooper's books

A "veggie tales" set.. to be used to decorate fruit or veggies when picnicking or playing with Cooper

Of course, I have stuff that I sent for both of these swaps too, but I can't show you yet since they have not yet been received.

And now for something completely different..

I lied. It's another swap, so same old thing.

Since I know you're all sick of reading about my swaps I'll ask this while I still have your attention: Any ideas for summer meals that don't require the stove or oven? It's about to be in the 90s (summer is finally here!) & I'm anticipating spending most of my days camping my huge pregnant self in Cooper's kiddie pool. The thought of cooking on the stove or with the oven is nauseating & eating hot food doesn't sound all that appealing either.

For the one person who's still reading (hi Mom!), here's a package I sent for a "Virtual Vacation" swap. The idea is everyone chooses their dream vacation spot & then you craft a bag of some type & items to put in it for their vacation or "vacation" (for people like me who aren't taking one, but want to pretend they are). I had to craft for a tropical spot.

I adore this bag. I love the fabric & it came out (far from perfect but) so much better than I expected. It's got a pocket on the front & back (a little hard to see, but it's there between the straps) & it's completely reversible! The inside is the opposite - pink with flowered straps. And it's huge!

Here's everything: the tote bag, a beach bag made from a towel, a sarong (upcycled or repurposed from a thrift store skirt), flip flops with super-soft yarn crocheted on, umbrella picks (for tropical drinks), a mini brag book & mini travel scrapbooking kit, a camera cozy that matches the tote bag, a journal, a scrapbooked recipe book with tropical drinks, appetizers, food, & desserts, a beach towel (found for next to nothing at Target!), & a lei, of course.

Cooper's work is never done..

We even put him to work on the weekends. He was the ring bearer for my friend Joslyn's wedding, although he didn't bear any rings (not even the fake ones) 'cause someone (okay, it was me) forgot the ring pillow in the bridal dressing room. Oops. No one seemed to notice. He helped escort Joslyn's daughter, Althea, down the aisle.






Congratulations to Joslyn & Dave!

My blogiversary

I just noticed I've been blogging over a year! I started on June 12 & this was Cooper then:

Weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's

We enjoyed a weekend with Grandma & Grandpa last week. Cooper spent lots of time outside & loved helping Grandma garden, riding in the wagon, & riding on the scooter with Grandpa.

Posicles!

Not a typo - that's how Cooper says it.

No Cooper, grape juice Popsicles are not stinky.

Reminiscing

I'm really missing summer.

Beautiful day

Cooper & I met John in Geneva for lunch today. It was great seeing John in the middle of the day, & I think it surprised Cooper. We enjoyed our time with him & when he had to go back to work we went for a walk by the river. It was a gorgeous day with gorgeous weather, & the people in Geneva are so friendly. A biker even stopped & offered to take a picture of us together. Geneva was also celebrating the high school's spirit week so a lot of businesses had their windows painted with the theme - Dr. Seuss! So cool! We looked at the windows & hung around for the parade on Main Street. Cooper absolutely LOVED the marching band. He rocked back & forth in his stroller, danced with his arms (it's kind of a twist dance), and waved his arms around. He looked like he was conducting the marching band! He was way more rhythm than me, but I've been saying that since he was in the womb and kicking me to the beat of music. We've gotta get that kid some drums or musical instruments or something.
Anyway, we got back to the van & discovered that I left the back door of the van wide open! Nothing was missing. I love Geneva! It just makes me want to move more. We can't really afford Geneva, especially not where we were, but it'd be so nice to be in the area! Oh, well. At least we had a great day.

Picnicing

A few weeks ago John, Cooper, & I went for a picnic at the forest preserve in Willow Springs. It was about 80 degrees - absolutely perfect in the shade. Cooper loved crawling around on the blanket, nibbling at food, exploring our food & bags, and eating the occasional piece of grass or leaf when we couldn't wrestle it out of his mouth in time.