Summer's Here!

Well, it's hard to believe that it's already June! This weekend we grilled out a couple of days and mulched our flower beds - for the most part. Let me explain - one of our neighbors was mulching their yard and had quite a bit left over. Since I've been "nagging" Eric (my quotes, not his) about needing to mulch our beds (so we aren't the only one's in the 'hood who haven't done something to improve their yard), Eric asked the neighbor what he was going to do with the unused mulch. Our kind neighbor offered us the rest of the mulch! So we had enough to do the bed between the front door and garage and about half the bed on the other side of the porch. I'm keeping my eyes open for someone else in the neighborhood to be mulching so we can finish the rest of our beds :P

Next Wednesday Avery will be 6 months old! She's fully mobile so we purchased a kiddie corral (it sounds so much better than "the pen"). It's pretty big and allows her to pull herself up and crawl around - Yep, you read that right, the prodigy is pulling herself up already. In the mornings we hear her talking and playing in her bed and usually by the time we're ready to get up she's standing in the bed, holding on to the rail and smiling, or crying if we waited too long to get her out. It won't be long before she's taking some steps - oh my word!!! She's also eating pretty well. The pediatrician says feed her fruits and yellow & orange veggies, but I'm also feeding her any other veggies that I can; I already see there's a preference for sweets, so I'm giving the less desirable foods ASAP. Hopefully, she will enjoy them later. She eats green beans and jars of food that are labeled "country vegetables" but she is no fan of peas. When you get ready to give her a bite if you tell her "bite" or "open up" she'll open her mouth and wait (but not for too long) for you to put the spoon in - It's sooo cute!

Katie is enjoying her summer, this week she's going to the Nature Center, Splash Country, the pool and the movies with her summer camp. She really enjoys playing around the neighborhood afterwards and generally comes home soaking wet from someone's wading pool or lawn sprinkler; today it was a water balloon fight. These sunset pictures were taken by Katie.

The boys should be here in a few more weeks; we're waiting to see if they are going to come one at a time. Lucas has been chosen in the first round draft to play in an All-Star baseball league this summer, so we're waiting to hear what the game schedule will be and when he'll be able to come. Jacob just qualified for his All-Star soccer league for the fall. Both boys are excited about their sports and visiting with their Dad.

I Katie Testament am so glad that school is O U T out believe it or not. I miss my friends but I will eventually get over it bedsides I will get enough of them next year. About Avery that is hard to describe loving her is hard when she is screaming her head off. It is easier when she is laughing. when is it not easy to love someone when they are laughing but not at you. I am loving you and missing you every second. I Have new friends in the neighborhood. Their names are Carly and Avery what a coincidence.

New Things

Well, guess what? I've decided to start a blog, I thought this might be an easier way for everyone to keep up with what the Testaments are doing. I guess I'll bring you up to speed to this point.

It's 10:00 pm and Katie is practicing her recorder - if I hear "Old Mac Donald" or "When the Saints Go Marching In" one more time I think I'll lose my mind! Do they make silencers or something for those things? This year her music class had "Recorder Karate" don't worry, it's not as dangerous as it sounds. The idea is that for each song the children learned, they would receive a belt to tie around their recorder. After memorizing and successfully playing the song in front of the class they earned their belt. Katie earned 5 belts, and developed a relationship with the recorder - it's something she does when there's nothing else that interests her. She wasn't able to learn "When the Saints Go Marching In" before school was out, but has been practicing for the past week and now has it down. Her 4th grade report card was wonderful! All A's and B's except for 1 C in PE for behavior; not too shabby in my opinion. She's going to Wallace day camp again this summer and seems to be pretty happy about it.

Avery is sleeping right now. She's been eating with a spoon for about 6 weeks. She does a good job with fruit (applesauce, pears, peaches, banannas) and most vegetables that we've tried (squash, sweet potatos, corn & carrots) although a fit is always thrown when it's carrot time :P. She enjoys blowing raspberrys between bites which makes feeding a challenge for both of us - obvious reasons for me, for Avery, often it lands in her eyes and nose! The last couple of feedings, I would say "bite" or "take a bite" and she opened her mouth and waited for me to put the spoon in. After the bite is swallowed, she blows raspberrys and I try to block it from hitting me, but as you can imagine, it goes everywhere! She is getting up on all 4s and rocking - I've been saying the last few days that she will be crawling any day now. I can see it coming, she just needs to put all the pieces together. She can sit by herself now unsupported for a few minutes, but then gets bored with it and "repositions" herself onto her tummy. From her tummy she gets into an almost sitting position - bottom on the floor, resting on one hand. She is growing so fast, it's hard to believe she's already 5 months old! Last night was her first bath in the kitchen sink, she needed one after dinner - I should've taken a picture of her mess - she was covered head to toe!

Ok, I guess that's enough for now. Keep checking back for more posts!

Love,

K