Stella

One of my best friends in all the world had her first baby five weeks ago. I love babies. Their soft skin. Their unpredictability. Their smell. Their complete dependance. I love it all.

This little lady is Stella. She is beautiful. Oh so healthy. She has just about the best baby hair I have ever seen. Not too long. Not too short. Just the right amount of curl. Seriously beautiful hair!

She was so good for my visit. She listened very intently while her mama and I talked and laughed. She was a little restless in the early evening. But hey, she had been passed around quite a bit that day.

 Look at that single little curl popping up. Loving it!

 Her mama mentioned the cuteness of the back of her head. I hadn't gotten around to looking at it earlier in the day. I was entirely too focused on her face, hands, feet, ears..........etc.

It swirls perfectly. 

Perfectly.

 Oh, baby Stella. You are heavenly. 

Just heavenly.

I cannot wait to visit Stella and her mama again. Soon. Very soon.

Peanut Butter

Well, this all started with letting the girls pick out a recipe that they would like to try. Ainzli chose a pita pizza recipe. Lillie chose homemade peanut butter. If you should know, she could live on peanut butter. Loves it is an understatement.
For a couple of years now I have been buying peanut butter that only has peanuts in it. It has to be stirred and refrigerated. It can take a little getting used too, but worth it.  All I can say it read your labels! Unidentifiable words are not very far down on the label.
So it was easy. Super easy. My kind of easy. Dry roasted peanuts, EVOO, and a little salt.
I put it all in the food processor. Processed the holy bejeeses out of it (or till it was smooth). Transferred it to the jar. Refrigerate. It will keep for up to two weeks. I don't have to worry about that, it will be gone long before then.:)


Autumn

6

She is Six. She can no longer show people her age on one hand. She is funny. Very, very witty. Sometimes a little hard to handle and predict. She is the most beautiful sleeper you will ever see. She is my baby.

Yesterday we did a little running around early. So when we got home I persuaded her (this is where the little hard to handle comes in, I do believe a lot of people state it as "strong willed".) that before we got in the pool pleeeeaaaaassseee let me take a few 6 year pictures. She did. Thank you Ms. Blue. It is so very warm out and we had to do it in a hurry. So we did and here she is. All 6 years of her.

Now we can get in the pool. And we did. Had a blast. Family visited. She requested steaks on the grill for supper. She opened presents. She played soccer with her new ball and goal. Wore her cousins old cleats and bathing suit (cute!).
She was wore out and it was fabulous. Today I think she may want to go spend some of that birthday money. Woohoo:)

Autumn

Playing Pleasantly

 Ainzli downloaded Instagram on her iPod. So we had a photo frenzy. This is not from her camera roll, but it is similar. She named it "Lookin Nerdy"

 I was practicing with my bounce screen. I have one room in my house with good light and I have been thinking of some ways to make it better. I am pleased with the fill light on the left side.

As a mom of school aged kids, you can always tell when summer is starting to wind down. There is a little more than bickering on the horizon. Ainzli is starting to really gain some independence this summer. She is now officially really good at doing her own pigtails. She can get the part relatively straight from front to back! I still don't think I can do that on my own head!
Lillie is now crying at least twice a day on one subject: I want Ainzli to play with me. She wants to be Ainzli's center of attention the entire day or at least when it suits her fancy. Ah, the wonders of little girls.

So, I am doing my best to ward off the bickering monster. I was just thinking the other day, it really has been a great summer. I love it, because, again this is the summer before Ms. Blue goes to kindergarten.
:(

Autumn

A Visit and A Varmint

It is true. After the Fourth of July, it just goes oh so quickly. Summer that is.
The little women went to stay with Grammy and D in Tennessee the week of the Fourth of July. This years visit was a little shorter for the girls than last years.

They look forward to it. They look forward to it in a major way. Grammy and D have a very fun property with a little creek running through it. They live right in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. It is awesome. I love visiting. Maybe someday residing somewhere close.:) (Maybe that was just in a dream I had. What do you have if you don't have dreams? Right?).

This years visit was special because of Rocky. Who is Rocky, you may ask? Well, he is a baby raccoon D rescued from a crate at work. Somehow this little guy ended up in a crate of parts that was delivered to his work. He is so cute and D has rescued raccoons before, so this was not his first varmint rodeo!

Ainzli loves Rocky! Oh my, even if he didn't like her, he still would have had to put up with her. She loves animals. She wants to be a veterinarian someday. 

Shannon and I made the trip down after he got off of work on Friday. I so enjoy that time with him. We talk, dream and definitely sing way too loud. This year he even had a few choice words for a young man driving a bit erratically. These were censored words, so I can't repeat them!

Shannon purchasing some coffee in the wee hours of the morning. Yes, I am standing right outside the lovely Kentucky gas station. Yes, there are passers by wondering what the heck the crazy woman with the camera is doing. And yes, I will be doing this again someday. 

BTW, who can afford cigarettes?! $4.12 is a deal! Crazy!

So on Saturday we wanted to do something fun. So I suggested we rent a boat and go boating. D and Shannon took my suggestion and ran with it.
We loaded up coolers, fishing poles, sunscreens and headed to Lake Ocoee. We boarded a pontoon and away we sailed! Oh my goodness. It is a beautiful lake. The mountains in the background. It was not crowded at all. We swam, fished and cruised. We swung on a rope swing. It was fun until Ainzli got her leg caught in it. Talk about a rope burn from you know where! OUCH!
Other than the rope mishap, honestly, I cannot think of anything I would rather do.

Everywhere you looked you could see the mountains in the background. 

The pontoon was perfect for perfecting our tricks! (Look at those suits riding up those little bums. These girls have no hope. I think I live this way 24/7!) Sorry if that too much info!

"Yes. I like fishing with you D. But the stillness, I just cannot stand it!" Needless to say, D did not catch anything but smiles. 

Just thought this was a cool shot!

So we headed home the next day. Back to good ole' Indiana. Look forward to the next Tennessee visit in October. Definitely!

Autumn:)