Diaper drama

Claire's latest trick has been to somehow crawl halfway out of her diaper. Before you spend too much time trying to figure out how a diaper can be only halfway on, let me explain. The little sticky tabs are stuck together in the front, but the diaper itself, is hanging down kind of like a tuxedo with tails. Since she's still mostly crawling, she ends up dragging her sometimes wet diaper around until I notice and fix it. Luckily we haven't had any "serious" accidents yet. Finger's crossed.

A Little R & R

Once I found out that all my sisters were going to be in the same place at the same time, it took all of about two minutes for me to decide and book a flight. With everyone scattered around in different places, it is a rare thing to get us all together. Even more rare is the opportunity for me to fly, or for that matter, to go anywhere ALONE! (Special thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law Shirley for helping with the kids--& here's hoping we haven't scared Kelli off from motherhood altogether.)

We spent the weekend catching up, playing games, and doing a whole lot of nothing. In fact, we were so busy doing nothing that we forgot to take a picture--this is one from our last reunion. The weekend was perfection. I even got to be there when my new little nephew, Simon was born. (Congrats again JT and Mejkin.) Needless to say, it was a fabulous time. Even the not so fabulous parts (ie: sitting on the runway at Dulles for an extra 4 hours before the flight took off due to weather, missing my connection & spending the night in Phoenix with nothing but a toothbrush) had a silver lining--I WAS ALONE!

It was a much needed break, and I got home just in time to pack and get ready for a trip to the beach. Yeah, that's how I roll.

Happy Birthday Claire

What is the recipe for a perfect first birthday party?

Well, let me tell ya!
First, take one beautiful birthday girl, and add plenty of messy cake.
Make sure to have lots of fun presents...

...And plenty of crazy cousins.

Nana and Grandpa are a must!

Be sure to have gymnastics...

(I know what you're all thinking...Gymnastics! That's what all other birthday parties were missing!! :) For more of the gymnastics half time report, check out the video, coming soon. I still don't know how to put a video in the middle of a post. If anyone knows, please fill me in! :) )

And what would any first birthday be, without a mascot.

(To book Toady, the Toad for your own birthday extravaganza, please contact Diego.)

Mix everything together, and you are in for one wild party.

Happy First Birthday Claire!

Strawberry Fields Forever

This year we took the "Pepsi Challenge" approach to strawberry picking, with two separate excursions, trying out two different fields. And, as Jackson was still in school for both trips, we'll probably be going again soon. The kids loved picking and tasting the delicious berries. I actually didn't realize exactly how much "quality control" had been going on until we got to the check-out. The lady said, "I guess you like strawberries!" I thought she meant that we had picked a lot--then I looked at the kids. Pink, sticky mouths and fingers gave us away! Luckily we still made it out with enough berries to make our favorite strawberry freezer jam.

We were lucky this year to go picking with our good friends--first with Tonya and Collin, and then with Quita and Sydney.

The hay ride at Orr's made it the kid's choice for best strawberry patch.

Claire was our main taste-tester, eating the berries almost as fast as we could pick them.

And, the aftermath.

I'm not sure this picture does justice to this sticky kid. She was a mess!