Fruits of our Labor

We've been enjoying the fruits of our garden this week. Dan made jalapeno jelly (although I have no idea what to do with it...) and some fantastic pasta sauce with our tomatoes, basil and carrots. Tonight I made stuffed squash! (Ok, we bought the squash from the farmers market, but it was still tasty!)

In case you have heard, we'll be back in STL next week. Work related for me, but Dan and Kendra will be around to have some fun with!

Everything Comes Early Here...

Here is our darling daughter posing with our Halloween pumpkins and Christmas tree. We grew these pumpkins from seed in our very own garden! As Halloween gets closer we'll carve one, and leave one whole for Thanksgiving decorations.

With Baby Destructo on the loose, I decided not to put a Christmas tree in the house this year. When Home Depot put their cypress trees on sale earlier this year, I bought one. Come Christmas it will be decorated with lights and put on our deck so we can enjoy it, and not worry about Kendra getting into it.

Kendra Begins Geography Lessons

I also bought a very cute kids art table off craigslist. It has 2 chairs, a bench and an oblong table. There's a hanger for a roll of butcher paper underneath, a small plastic bin to hold paints and paintbrushes, and three holders for paint. It also came with paints and paint brushes. It had never been opened - and is really cool!

Kendra likes to sit in the chairs, but otherwise it's still a bit beyond her. She prefers to eat the crayons rather than draw with them. It will come thought, and when it does, I'm ready!!

Doing Our Part. . .

to keep the economy going. We decided to take advantage of Obama's stimulus package and ordered some new windows for our house. We are only replacing five for now - the ones that need it the worst, and those that should match those for aesthetic reasons.

We are replacing both windows in Kendra's room, and the casement windows from our office and bedroom. We're also doing the one at the top of the stairs because it currently isn't designed to open, and we'd like it to to help with air flow in the house.

We went to the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival this past weekend. The festival wasn't bad, but the transportation issues were so bad we won't go back. There was no parking at the festival, so they had shuttles to run you from designated parking areas. We waited for about an hour to catch it the first time, and we had arrived in time to catch the first one of the day. It took over 30 minutes to get back. In the sun, with no shade and no water. And the shuttle was a school bus - which made getting our stroller on rather interesting. It definitely put a damper on the day.

Otherwise things have been fairly quiet here. We're working on household stuff - boring things that come with owning a home. Hopefully we can make some real progress on the wall this weekend...

St. Louis Visit

We are back home, safe and sound. We had a wonderful trip, although we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with everyone. I am so glad we were able to see as many of you as we did! It certainly wasn't a relaxing vacation, but it was productive...and we did have a bit of fun, as Kendra clearly demonstrates.

We were able to get a tremendous amount of work done at dad's new place. There is still a ton more to do, but we did what we could and I think it helped. Dan built a retaining wall and re-routed some of the rain drainage away from the house. I redid the landscaping in the front with various bushes that will need little to no maintenance (per dad's request) and will hopefully look great once they fill out. Dan got the computer and TV working, and I digitized the insurance paperwork to make it all searchable. Searching through 300 pages to match the lamp he just bought to the line item for a lamp on the insurance document was...painfully tedious to say the least.

Dad's new furniture is beautiful, and the house is shaping up nicely. He has a guest room and two sleeper sofas if anyone wants to visit...

Of course the star of the show was Kendra - she learned to walk!! By the end of the trip she was toddling around dad's place like a champ! His house is much more baby-proofed than ours - he has less stuff! There's no stopping that kid now! She is walking everywhere, and gains confidence (and stamina!) each day.

The three of us also made a day trip to Springfield to visit Marilyn. It was so good to see her. She was still in the hospital, but looked great. Weak and tired, but walking around. She even kept Kendra entertained as we ate dinner. She was released to go home last Thursday. However, I talked to my uncle tonight, and she's been re-admitted. I think she's just getting lazy - likes being waited on :)

Kendra and I also made a quick day-trip to Springfield, IL to visit with my bestest friends. We had lunch then wandered through a mall and let the kids play in the play area before heading home. Annie bought Kendra an adorable Build-a-Bear stuffed bunny, complete with a voice box that says "I love you, Kendra!" Kendra breaks out into a smile every time she hears it. It is so cute to see.

Here are a few pics from our trip...