I'm not going to look at you

We were outside playing yesterday and I suggested to Will that we go in the back to take photos of him in the beautiful evening light play in the sand box. I grabbed my camera on the way and I started shooting him playing in the sand. I asked him to look up at me and he immediately hid his face saying he was not going to look at me (as I have said before he may be over photographed) I am always trying to find ways to make him think that taking photos is fun and not to dread my pulling out the camera, although sometime I know they do. So I started asking him where the moon way,thinking he might look at the sky and I could at least see his face. It worked briefly but not well because the moon wasn't out yet! So I started to make him laugh by saying there was a monkey on my head. He told me that there wasn't a monkey on my head and that he wasn't going to look! But he couldn't help himself and had to take a peek- Gotcha! It was a fun game that we played for a while, it is nice that he is getting to the age that we can joke around and laugh with him!

Making a List. . .

I really don't like going grocery shopping, I like to plan the menu and make the list of items we need, I just don't like to do the actual shopping. It is such a hassle to pile the boys in the car, drive to the store (usually Wal-mart) pile them out of the store and then shop for all of the items we need all the while explaining what this is and what that is and reminding that we don't take things off of the shelf and telling Jake, for the 25th time that no he cannot walk like Will because he is just not big enough yet, not to mention the fact that I am very overprotective in the store and don't want either of them more than two feet from me and the idea of having a 2 and a 3 year old running lose makes my anxiety level rise to tremendous amounts! By the time we get home and unpack all of the groceries it is lunch time and Jake is following me around crying and asking if we can have lunch and I feel like I need a nap! The weekly grocery shopping is very stressful for me, as I am writing about it I realize how silly it sounds and wonder why I let all of these things get to me I need to learn to relax more and just go with the flow. Well I guess I will have a chance to practice my patience tomorrow, as I decided this morning to plan out the menu for two weeks instead of my usual one. So I got out the recipe box and planned out 12 dishes (Saturday is usually left-over day for us) and made a list of all of the things that we will need for each dish. The plan is not to have to go the store next week! Good plan right? I know it will probably take a bit more time at the store but planning ahead is always worth it in the long run. So would you like to take a peak at what I will be picking up tomorrow on our trek to the store?

Bananas
Apples
Oranges
Grapes
Watermelon (We are loving the fresh fruits right now)
White Onions (3)
Yellow Onion
Cilantro
Parsley
Bell pepper
Sandwich rolls
Hamburger Buns
12 inch Pizza crust ( We are going to try out a Mexican pizza recipe~ we usually make our own crust for pizza but I like to follow a new recipe exactly the first time around)
Hamburger 2lb
Frozen Chicken Breast
1 lb beef top
OJ (4) (we go through so much orange juice, if we lived in a warmer climate it would be worth it to have a orange tree)
Chicken Broth (2)
Canned Corn
Green beans French style
1-14 oz can chopped tomatoes
1-14 oz can sliced carrots
Enchiladas sauce (3)
Refried beans (2)
Black Olives
Colby Jack Cheese
Mexican Cheese Blend (2) (I am trying a new enchiladas dish along with the Mexican pizza~ we love Mexican dishes)
Sour Cream
Milk
Tortilla chips
Baked Cheddar Chips
Prunes (Jake loves prunes I always joke that he eats them like candy)
Saran wrap
Aluminum foil heavy
Diapers size 4 (hopefully we will be upgrading to pull-ups soon I can't wait to have both boys out of diapers)

I have some yummy dishes planned and because I typed my list for you I was able to group things together for efficiency, thus saving me from running all the way back to the produce section when I have already made it to the milk cooler. Yea! So what about you do you love to shop or are you like me and dread it?

Willow River State Park

Yesterday Jonah and I spent the day at Willow River State park the boys were at a county fair with Grandma and Grandpa, so it was just the two of us. We had parked a ways from the falls and got to do some walking before we got there, it felt good to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. I told Jonah that I think my battery is solar powered, because it seems like being out in nature, not just the back yard, really energizes me. Jonah found this guy on the trail, he wasn't too thrilled about being picked up our how long it took me to get his picture.

We made it to the Falls and it was well worth the walk. I need to go back again to try and perfect my Waterfall shots, but you can still see a bit of their beauty- mom this is on our list of to-do's when you visit :) This is the view on the other side of the bridge, the calm side. We climbed all the stairs to get to the observation platform (see previous blog post) and after looking at the waterfall from above for a while we found even more stairs! They led to a path, I don't know where the path went, I think it may have gone down or maybe to a nearby parking lot. . . we didn't follow the path but went back down all the stairs ~with extremely shaky legs. The view was worth it though. We have lived here for over a year now and I am still amazed at how green the grass and trees get, I always think they look like someone adjusted the colors in Photoshop to make the green pop more (hmmm maybe I spend too much time working in Photoshop!) I was really wishing that I had brought my Macro lens along when I saw this guy, I love these technicolor bugs. After spending the morning hiking we were ready to have our picnic lunch. So went in search for a table by the swimming beach and watched the geese while we ate and I took a few more shots.

It was a lovely but tiring day, always nice to have some time to spend alone with Jonah.

Three photos. . .or four actually

Get it Scrapped is hosting blog challenges during the month of August, this seems like a fun way to add a bit of interest to my blogging ;) The first one, from the lovely Katrina (a wonderful photographer and teacher) is to take a photo of :

1. Something you love

I do love this guy my best friend and DH

2. Something yellow

a pretty yellow flower from our hike to Willow Falls today (I will post some photos of the falls later)

3. Something from above

The seemingly hundreds of stairs we had to climb to get to the above the falls lookout platformand the people that looked so small from that height.

7 Months down. . .

Here are snapshots of our life in July. Have I said before that I love this project? At first I found it difficult but now it has just become something that I do every day. It is photo journal of my life. I know I will cherish the photos I have taken one day, because I cherish them now :) I hope that you enjoy a glimpse into our lives as well!

Making Millie the Monkey

There is nothing better than starting with a bunch of fabric and ending up with something wonderful, at least for me ;). I love sewing and I do love making dolls especially. Since I have boys I haven't really made them too many dolls but I did come accross an adorable pattern for a monkey so I spent some time yesterday and part of today making these little monkeys. I have made a few dolls before and these have to be one of the easiest that I have ever made. They went together so easily and they are so cute. If you would like to make your own Millie the Monkey you can find the pattern here, she also has other really cute patterns I will probably be getting soon. I made Will's from a small piece of his "blue blankie" I had left over and accented it with some more fleece. Needless to say he is very happy with his monkey and hasn't put it down since I gave it too him this morning. Jake's is made from Corduroy and a blue and white striped fabric which I got last night. He seems pretty please as well. I finished it while he was napping and put it in his crib, I went to check on him later and I could him talking to the monkey, saying "Hi monkey, Hi, what are you doing here!" Then when I went into get him he said, "Mommy, Look this monkey is in here!" "Did you make this for me!" A few dollars and a just a few hours for two happy boys it totally worth it!

Just one of those days

Yesterday was one of those days when you just feel the blessings of God and everything seems glorious. Do you ever have days like that? I will admit that I often get caught up in the stress of having two preschool boys and don't stop to really be grateful for what I have. Yesterday was one of those days that make all the other days more than worth it. It was not really an overally special day I was home in the morning with boys, had a nice conversation with my mom, did a little sewing at nap time, and then we went into Woodbury for dinner a trip to Jo~Ann Fabric. Just ordinary moments in my beautiful life. Then on the way home we saw this beautiful rainbow. Will was the first the point it out as Jonah and I were probably discussing some point of Theology, as we often do in the car, of course I requested that Jonah pull over so I could snap a few photos. It was nice to stop a recognize God's promise and it is a good reminder for all of the promises that we have in Jesus. It was just one of those days where no matter what happened I knew that "God is in His Heaven and I am walking in the light" I love days like that!