Two year old for you ...

Me: Declan, say truck!

Declan: Car

Me: Declan, say cat!

Declan: Zelda (our cat's name)

This two year old marches to his own drum.

Pool time!

We got to go to the pool with Daddy tonight!  We had a lot of fun and it felt great.  Declan LOVED getting tossed up in the air by Daddy!

Two years old!

Our dinosaur obsessed, book loving, adventurous, silly, Daddy's shadow is two years old!  How is that possible?  Everyday my baby is looking less like a baby and more like a little boy.  It's bittersweet.  But Declan is such a fun little guy and totally completed our family.  And for his birthday he got his new "big boy bed" - with dinosaur blankets of course!

Those days ....

I worked on organizing the basement today.  Which means my living room looks like I haven't cleaned it in 3 weeks.

And dinner was delayed due to Fiona and Declan throwing some of it down the stairs.

Yes, you read that right.

Mama was NOT happy.

I had a cup of millet on the counter waiting for the water to boil.  I came back in the kitchen to find an empty measuring cup and a very messy staircase. 

I know that Fiona was the ringleader because Declan would have just thrown the whole thing down the stairs. 

Even after sweeping and vacuuming we will be finding millet down there for years! 

I told Fiona that that was supposed to be our dinner and she said in a small voice, "Uh oh." 

Yeah, uh oh. 

Grrrr.

Clean Eating Win!

For the last 10 days I have been doing MoveMore Fitness' Cleaning Eating Kickstart Challenge. I had my official post weigh in this morning and have lost 7 lbs! In 10 days! It was all about adjusting what I ate, not deprivation. No sugar, no dairy, no alcohol, and only whole grains.  I was blown away by how much carbs I normally eat. Even while purposely keeping carbs down and only eating whole grains, etc I still ended up with 50% of my nutrition in carbs a day! How much was I eating before?!  The challenge may be over, but I think this is something I need to keep doing.

Foxfire Museum

Yesterday we went on a field trip with our homeschool group to the Foxfire Museum in Mountain City, GA.  It was fascinating!  It's all outside with original cabins set up that you can walk through.  So much interesting information!

Family Day!

We had a lovely family today up at a little mountain lake near us.  I love these days - it's what life is all about! 

Now we are finishing our day with delivery pizza and Zootopia in the living room.  Perfect day!

It Goes Too Quickly

I love these people more then I can say.  They are all getting so big.  Declan is losing his "babyness" and looking like a little boy.  Fiona is such a little lady (spunky - the lady who can keep up with you!).  Chandler is growing and maturing.  Claire is only a few inches shorter then me and such a little mother!

We are so blessed to have created these beautiful people. 

Splash Pad Fun

Fun at the Splash Pad!  When did Declan get so big?

The Scottish Festival

Yesterday was the Scottish Festival!  It's my husband's favorite town festival.

We saw the parade ...

 

We also stopped by the Franklin Gem Museum.  Claire got to cut open a geode and Fiona found a special seat!

Then we headed down the street and the older three got their face painted - for free!  (Best part for Mom! lol)

Cardinal

Dinosaur

Butterfly

It was a great family day. 

Wedding Cake Entirely Made of Fruit

This has been an insane few weeks, but as of Saturday evening my baby sister is married!

The wedding was stunning and genuine and full of love.  My mom and I made all the food (for 120 guests!) and we worked our butts off, but it was so worth it and came out so well.  We had many willing helpers - my sister and her new husband have a wonderful, sweet group of friends - and even with some last minute snafus it all came together beautifully.

The bride and groom during their first dance.  Isn't my sister gorgeous?

But I do have to say that of everything we made I was the most proud of the cake.  My sister has multiple food allergies that include (among many other things) most grains and sugar. So Mom and I created - using her cutting skills and my design - a wedding cake entirely made out of fresh fruit.
 

The Aiken Wedding "Cake"!

 
A cake the bride could actually eat! The base is 4 watermelons shaped very carefully. (Two on the bottom layer and one on each other layer.)  It is covered in blueberries, pineapple rings, and strawberries and topped with a pile of raspberries. We surrounded it with a bed of grapes.  I had a picture in my head as soon as they announced their engagement and it happily came out just as I envisioned.  It was a labor of love and my sister is so worth it!

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I know their marriage will be even better.  Congratulations you two!