Wrapping up August

Wrapping up August. I've been a little behind in my blog posts for this month so I am just going to sum up the rest of August here and be on with September. September...yikes!! It's already State Fair time which storta means the end of Summer. It makes me want to go shopping for Fall attire and go to the Pumpkin Patch. Kids already have their Halloween costumes picked out so we are almost there.
So Ben spent 2 weekends this month working the Famous Anoka Game Fair. Last year he worked and came home,walked in the door to my water breaking 5 minutes later. Off to the hospital we went to have baby boy.  Awwww, memories. Luckily we won't be experiencing that this year.
So the kids and I were home free and spent one of the weekends going to the Amaze N Farm. This place is so cool!! Tayah is having her birthday party this year and I can't wait to go back. The weekend after that we headed to the zoo with my friend Alicia and her little girl Hayden. It was a great day for the zoo and the kids (and moms) had fun.

Amaze N Farm

MN Zoo

Collin had his 1 year checkup last night. As usual things are going great!! We were scheduled to have 3 shots but went for just one. Nervous mom syndrome and is waiting until he is a little older to get the other ones. Who knows??? Anyways Collin is now 20 lbs 11oz. and 30.5 inches. Long and lean. He is finally caught up to Tayah's weight when she was one. She was almost 20 lbs at her 1 year checkup. Collin has always been a couple lbs. lighter than she was at all of his checkups. He is starting to fill out some. He's a pretty good eater so that helps. 

Collin this morning with his band-aid from the little poke.

Now That I am ONE!!

1. I  can brush my teeth because I actually have teeth now. I was a late bloomer in that dept. but I have 3 and a 1/2 teethers and more on their way. 
2. I am climbing on top of things. Fun until I get stuck and can't get down.
3. I eat anything and everything. No more baby food for me.
4. I am starting to pull myself up on things but not quite walking yet. Mom's okay with that at this point.
5. I say Mama, dada, papa, meow, Bella. 
6. I shake my head "No" when you tell me No. 
7. I drink whole milk now.
8. I'm still a mama's boy but really starting to form an attachment to dada. 
9. I LOVE bananas and any fruit in general.
10. Down to just one nap during the day now....most of the time.
11. Still taking a bottle but working on a sippy cup so mom can throw those bottles away. Taking 2-3 bottles a day rather than one every 2-3 hours. 
12. I really like Elmo and Sesame Street. Calms me down during my "crabby time"
13. I love bath time and splashing with my big sister Tayah.
14. I like looking at duck and geese magazines with my dad. 
15. I like going for walks and looking and pointing at everything. 
16. I still love my taggie blankie.
17. I wave bye-bye, Play SO BIG, and Pat-a-cake.
18. I like pizza. 
19. I like to cuddle.
20. I have the best laugh.

Happy Birthday!!

My youngest is ONE today!! Happy Birthday Collin. We love you.  We had a great party with family and friends on Sunday. Yesterday we spent the evening at a fun park. Today we will finish off the rest of the cake and top off the celebrating.

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Rapunzel, Rapunzel Let Down Your Golden Hair

So, a mommy friend (Thanks Tiffany Erdall!!) had posted a picture on Facebook of a Rapunzel wig that she made for her daughter. Tayah caught eye of it and asked if she could have Rapunzel hair. It was easy enough even for myself to put together so I gathered the materials and put it together yesterday afternoon. And, voila we have Rapunzel hair!
Here are some pictures of the final product.

Baked Kale Chips:
So, I am sure many of you have already tried these but this was a first for me. I made some baked Kale chips last week. They are actually really yummy.

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes. 

Even the Tiniest Chiuhahua is Still a Wolf at Heart

The Haunted Palmer House

Ben and I did a little overnight up in Sauk Centre this weekend. We were going to be out late with some friends and far enough from home that we didn't want to drive back home that evening so Ben called to get a hotel before we left. It is a fairly small town with not a lot of places to stay so we ended up staying at the Palmer House downtown. We found out when we arrived that it is a famous hotel that is known to be haunted. This is the trailer to a show that it was featured on. We did not see or hear anything while we stayed. It was kinda fun but I have to admit it did freak me out a bit.

My Two Cents

I just wanted to jot down a few of my thoughts about the Casey Anthony trial because for some reason people have been glued to this case for the last 3 years. I too have been fascinated with this story and following it throughout. I'm so sad for this little girl Caylee. I have a soft spot for this little girl as Tayah was a 2 years old little girl as well, 3 years ago when this all happened and I can't even imagine going through this. As we all know and heard the verdict of "Not Guilty" ringing through our ears on Tuesday and many are upset and angered that justice wasn't done for this little girl. I know many are upset with our justice system but I'm not surprised and feel the justice system did exactly what it was supposed to do. Do I think Casey Anthony showed bad behavior after the disappearance of her daughter? Most definitely. We could go on and on about all the things she did and argue about how no decent mother would do those things. It is true, but with the information presented in this trial we can't accuse someone of murder for bad behavior. Unfortunately. I do think Casey Anthony knows more than she is letting on about the death of her daughter and I am saddened by that because we still don't know HOW or WHO did this to this little girl. Which I think is why people are really upset with this trial. What I really wish is that there was more evidence that could have convicted her mother. Something that would have pointed the finger to who did this would have been nice.
I have a feeling Casey Anthony will be released from jail today after her sentencing this morning and I hope for Caylee's sake justice will be served ONE day.

4th of July

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. It was just a nice long weekend for us. No big special plans. We did some yard work as we are getting ready for someone's 1st birthday coming up soon. We stayed home and had a bonfire and watched fireworks from our house, as the neighbors directly behind our house put out a nice display. Here are a few photos.

Bella and Tayah watching for fireflies.

Sparklers and a bonfire.

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