Baby Animal Days - Blogged by JME

 

 

To say our little June Bug is good at making animal sounds would be making an understatement.  This kid can tell you the sound for just about any animal, even throwing in some actions at times (like when doing an elephant, she makes the nose motion with her arm).  When it comes to animals, she is definitely her father's daughter, as they both have a very soft spot reserved in their hearts for them.  Knowing these facts about our little stinker, we knew she would love going to Baby Animal Days this year . . . and we were right.  Go figure!  

 

 

  It was so nice to spend the day as a family, enjoying the beauty of spring and being able to mingle with sweet little farm babies.  Personally, the baby cows were my favorite.  They were surprisingly soft and incredibly affectionate.  It made me sad to think that down the road, those cows were going to be food.  



The worst part was standing in the long line to see the baby bears.  Our little June Bug turns into a little bear when standing in long lines, which made that part hard to enjoy.   Don't get me wrong.  It's fun to see little baby bears but I'm not sure it was worth the wrestle.  If the line was much shorter or moved much faster, it would have been easier.  Also, the baby bears were one animal you couldn't touch, so really, it would have been better to see the baby bears at the zoo where you don't have to wait to see them.

 

June Bug's grandpa (my dad) has a mustache and so now whenever she sees a man with facial hair, he is automatically Bapa.  For example, the mountain man-looking guy in the above right-hand picture . . . yup . . . you guessed it.  Bapa.

 

June Bug was not shy at all when it came to touching the animals.  She was so gentle and soft with each one.  She loved pointing to the ones that were eating and let us know that they were having their breakfast.

 

We decided to be "one of those parents" who keeps their kid on a harness, as our little June Bug is a busy bug and does not like to sit in a stroller for a long period of time and will not let you hold her longer than necessary.  She is very independent and likes to walk by herself.  We found our little monkey pack on amazon.com.  His name is Twinkie (N8's not thrilled with the name, but that is the name it came with.  What do you do?  It's stitched right to him.  Even if we change the name, he's still going to have a tag that says "Twinkie."  First world problems - Sigh!)   It was love at first sight.  June Bug and Twinkie are inseparable and she had no problem wearing him and taking him all over the farm with her. 

 

We also got to meet a baby reindeer.  He has a name but we just called him Sven.  Bet you can't guess where that came from!  (Above-middle right-hand pic)

 





June Bug loved the baby ducks and the baby chicks.  She even gave the baby chick a soft hug (pic on left-hand side).  It was really sweet.  She also loved watching the chickens peck around in their pen.  

Quack . . . Quack! I can't believe how trusting these little birds were.  They just sat in our hands as if we were their mammas. 

 



The choo choo train was also a highlight of our morning.  June Bug has a thing for choo choo trains and had a wonderful time waving at the passengers as they rode by and saying "whooo whooo! Ticka ticka ticka ticka . . . . whooo whooo!"  It's so cute to watch her when she does this.  She has that one down pretty good.  

How can you go to something like this and not enjoy some of the yummy treats there?  We ended up getting some cotton candy.  June Bug was not sure about it at first.  I had to take a few bites of it to convince her it was food.  N8 and I also took a drive up the road a few miles to get some squeaky cheese.  Why go all that way without stopping for some squeaky cheese?

 

Baby Animal Days was such a blast this year.  It was so fun to take our little June Bug up there for the first time and have it be such a great experience.  We'll definitely have to go again!
 

Western Baby Shower

 

Of my four siblings, I was blessed with one sister.  I tell her all the time she is my favorite sister and she kindly reminds me that she is my only sister.  When I found out she was having a little baby, I was so excited.  My mom and I volunteered to throw her a shower.  This past month has kept me very busy planning, creating, and working with the help and support of my mom, my husband, and some of my wonderful friends.  Today, it all came together and it was fun to see the results.  Here is what we came up with:

 

This was my sister's shower invite (with names blotted out for privacy reasons). 

 

We came up with some fun names for the food that we served. 

Here is our menu:

Grub
**Spinach Salad
**Ham Sandwiches

Refreshments
**Smore Pops (Marshmallows on kabob sticks, dipped them in chocolate, then rolled them in graham crackers)
**Bullet Bites (Pkg of Oreo-crushed, mixed with 8 oz of Cream Cheese-softened, and dipped in chocolate)
**Cow Pies (No bake cookies) 
**Trail Mix

Drink
Cowboy Brew (Apple Cider mixed with ginger ale)

Everything turned out delicious!

This was a budget-friendly shower.  A lot of the things we used were borrowed or things we already had.  Some of the decorations I got from my kitchen, as it is decorated with barnyard décor. 

 

The onsies were my little June Bug's old onsies she has grown out of.  They were stained but I was able tea-dye the fabric to give it an old antique look and cover up the stains.  Using my friend's silhouette machine, we were able to cut out a pattern to iron on some fabric to each onsie and put them on a clothes line. 

 

A sweet friend of mine leant me the cowboy boots and they were so much fun to have as part of our centerpiece. 

 

One of my favorite projects was making her this very special sign (left).  I saw it online and fell in love with it right away.  My friend with the silhouette machine came to my rescue and helped me make this.  I loved the way it turned out and feel very sentimental about it. 

 

I also had so much fun making the "Wanted" posters.  I made three to tape in different areas at the party.  We are waiting, little one!  Can't wait for you to get here!!!

We had a lot of wonderful ladies attend this party!  It was so fun to see each one of you, some of you old friends and some new.  Thank you so much to everyone who came for supporting us, celebrating with us, and of course, showering my sister with your kindness.   

I also made a little wish tree for the guests to write a wish and hang it up.  I was really stuck on this project for a while.  I went to some local craft stores, but the trees there were so expensive.  I took matters into my own hands.  We got a tin can, wrapped it in burlap, and put pinto beans in it.  Then I found some twigs on the side of the road that I white washed (a wonderful idea shared by the friend who let me borrow those darling boots).  It turned out so cute and I was so proud of my creation.  Not only was it fun for the shower, but it is cute as a center piece too, and now I have it on my table in my kitchen and it is so fun!

Here is a pic of my sister, my mom, and I.  I love these ladies!  I'm very happy to see my sister start this new adventure in her life with her loving and wonderful husband.  We are so excited to have this new little one be apart of our family. 

Christmas Village 2013 - Blogged by JME

 

We took June Bug to Christmas Village last night and had a great time.  We rode the train and walked around to see all the little homes lit up with elves and Santa Clause, etc.  It was a fun time.  She also got to meet Santa . . .  

 

She got a little star struck and wouldn't sit on Santa's lap at all.  The closest we got was her sitting on mommy's lap who was sitting on Santa's lap.  I guess that works, right? 

 

Last year's version of June Bug's first time meeting Santa Claus went a lot better.  Oh, well!  There's always next year.

 

Picking Out Pumpkins - Blogged by JME

Yesterday, N8 and I both had the day off, which is rare, so we took our little June Bug out to pick out her very own pumpkin and got some fun pictures of her in her Halloween costume she is going to wear this year.  She had a lot of fun and we got some good pictures.

 

She had a great time walking around and pointing at the pumpkins.

Let's see . . . 1, 2, 3 . . . 4 . . .

"Look, Mom!  This one is as big as me!"

She even tasted some of them to make sure they really were good quality pumpkins.

I think I'll taste this one . . .

Mmmmmm . . . . Yup!  That's a good one!

We ended up getting the one she kept tasting.  Apparently, it had all the right qualities a pumpkin should have when you taste it. 

Then we got a picture of her with the "Pumpkin Man."  The owner of the pumpkin stand always makes himself a pumpkin head to wear for the kids when they come to pick out their pumpkins.  He is a really nice man, in fact, he was N8's home teacher when N8 and his mom lived out that way.  Sadly, this was his last year as the pumpkin man and is retiring.  We are glad we were able to make it out there at least once with our little June Bug. 

Fall Project - Blogged by JME

 

 

This year, instead of taking a vacation, we decided to have a "stay-cation," where we stayed home and got some things done around the house.  One of the things we did together was improve our garage space.  What a project that was!

 

This is how our garage looked when we first started.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

We primed and painted the ceiling and all the walls . . .  

 

And then painted the cement with some textured paint (so it won't be slippery when it is wet) and added some paint chips (don't worry - we didn't eat any) for more texture and also because it makes it look neat. 

Here's the finished product!  What do you think???

2013 ComiCon - Blogged by JME

There is a little bit of 'geek' in all of us, and it definitely runs in our family.  N8 more than June Bug and I, but we're catching up.  N8 has definitely widened our 'geek' view.  I remember the first time we went to see the new Star Trek in 2009.  I was surrounded by a bunch of Trekkies that fit the stereotype.  Greasy hair, acne that was out of control, body odor, and braces.  When the movie started, two guys next to me started reciting, "Space:  The final frontier.  These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise."  I just laughed a little inside.  Then, a bit later during the scene introducing Scottie, N8 leaned over to me, pointed out a creature in the background, and said, "Hey, that's a Tribble!  That's on an episode called Trouble with Tribbles."  I kind of looked at him in sheer disbelief.  After five years of marriage, I was just learning that my husband was a Trekkie.  I never would have guessed!  He didn't fit the stereotype.  But . . . not all Trekkies do, and that was something I learned that day.  Throughout the time I've known him, N8 has introduced me to a lot of cool stuff, comic book stuff included, like stuff from DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and stuff that isn't as well known such as the Amory Wars.

 

The 'geek' in us decided to spend the day today at ComiCon.  It was a lot of fun for a trio of 'geeks' like us.  Plus, as people watchers, we were in heaven!  There was so much to see and so many people to watch.  The only thing I probably would have done differently is gone on a weekday when it wasn't so busy.  We waited in a line to get in for about an hour.  Once we were in, it was so hard to get through crowds.  For people like us that almost have a meltdown at Costco on a Saturday, we did pretty good.

 

 

 

First we stopped by and made friends with Gollum.  June Bug wasn't too sure about it, but she definitely wasn't scared.  That was good because our next stop was a little more intense.  

This booth was so fun to visit.  They had weapons displayed that had been used in the Lord of the Rings movies.  June Bug loved the Orc and kept singing and cooing at it.  Weird kid.

It was definitely fun to see the people who dressed up.  Some of the costumes were pretty elaborate.  These were some of our favorites:

 

The Incredible Hulk

Captain America

Iron Man

The Evil Empire

June Bug enjoyed watching everyone too.  With a mom and dad who are avid people watchers, she was bound to be one as well.  

 

It was so hard to get around with all the people.  Luckily, I had my trusty stroller which helped me squeeze in to tight spaces.  One or two people may have lost a toe in the process but we finally were able to see everything.  It was a pretty nice crowd, too.  Everyone seemed to be really patient with everyone else and that was cool.  

 

We went back to the car for about a half hour to give June Bug some time to stretch her legs and for all of us to have some lunch. 

 

Now that the blood sugar is up, we are happy and ready for more!

This guy must have been dying!  He was waiting in the super long line for a wrist band in the heat in that hot costume.  It was definitely a neat costume though and you could tell he spent a lot of time on it.  

 

N8 loved this shirt!  Coexist in superhero symbols.  

Another Captain America

The Black Widow and Thor

This must have taken a long time to make. 

 



 

N8 thought this poster was pretty cool.

 

 We saw a video on YouTube a few weeks ago of a prank in Japan with a dinosaur costume that was pretty cool, and someone had that costume there at ComiCon.  It was fun to see it in real life. 

 

 

N8 listens to these guys on the radio all the time and had some Superman vision because he saw them through a huge crowd waiting to see William Shatner.  We finally made it through so he could get a picture of them. 

 

 

It was a really fun day!  I'm glad we could go.  Hopefully this becomes something we can do every year.