lifegroup cookout

we had a year end lifegroup cookout on saturday. it was a lot of fun and there were a lot of hot and sweaty kids. isaac was a busy fellow.

trampoline:

 

loading the wheelbarrel with rocks with josiah:

 

relaxing (only for a minute):

 

chillin' with the boyzzzz:

 

The "No Throw" Crackdown

So, recently, Sir Isaac T. has taken to throwing anything he can get his little paws on. Toys, food, remotes, phones, pots and pans, shoes, etcetera. After a very frustrating day, yesterday, I'm cracking down on this today.

Whenever he throws a toy, I've been taking it, and putting it in our room, where it's "all gone". So far, there's legos, some cars, some other random small toys, and some blocks. He seems to already be catching on.

The food, on the other hand, has been a little bit difficult. He ate a few bites of breakfast, before throwing a handful of Kix onto the floor. I took him out of his chair and we played for a little while. About a half an hour later, I let him try again, but he threw food right away. We waited a half hour and tried one more time. He ate a couple of bites, but then started the throwing. We went to the store (to distract him from his hunger a bit), and when we got home, I let him have a banana, which he immediately threw. So, now, he's very hungry and crabby, which makes him likely to throw toys, and the cycle goes on...

It's not been a particularly great day, and I don't think it will be much better for a couple of days, but I'm definitely tired of flying toys and so is Lucy! And I'm FOR SURE tired of having to sweep after every meal...

treasure map cake

lorena and i made this cake today for lincoln's birthday. it was a lot of fun to make. looking back, the decision to use mounds of graham cracker crumbs for the islands probably wasn't the best plan, as it made it hard to get the frosting to stay put, but it looks cool...

 

wilton course 2 grand finale cake

i finished the wilton course 2 class tonight. we've been working on all sorts of royal icing flowers for the last month and tonight we put it all together. i didn't use all the flowers we made, partially because i liked the way this one looked and partially because my icing was a little soft and my flowers were flattish.

anyhow, here's the cake:

 

 

 

 

garden update

the garden has been quite a hassle this summer, but i think it is finally in a manageable state. last summer, due to the boy, we decided not to have a garden, and instead opted to let the garden get overgrown with crabgrass and other weeds. so, we had our work cut out for us from the start. then, there was the saga with my seedlings and the late spring overnight frosts. the seeds that did make it to mini-plant status quickly died after being planted, forcing me to splurge on new (and more established) plants at the farmers market. these took off, and that's where we are now:

tomatoes:

 

little yellow squashes:

 

if you look carefully, you'll see some tomatoes:

 

all the squashie type stuff (zuchini, yellow, cukes, butternut, watermelon, cantelope...):

 

rocky

here's a shot highlighting isaac's black eye, bruised nose and good spirits:

 

tough day

isaac had a playdate with some friends today.
within minutes of our arrival, he walked into the corner of a table and obtained this sweet black eye.
he was better after a minute or two of snuggling with me and his favorite blanket and playing resumed.
later in the day, he obtained another small facial injury as a result of a flying thomas the train track. the details of the incident may never be uncovered.

to be fair, isaac also dished out his share of flying toys and facial injuries to the entire clan of our gracious playdate host. :)

tuesday pool fun with the boones

kristen boone invited us to the pool today so we spent all morning getting ready and off we went. at first, isaac wasn't a fan, but after a ball was introduced into the picture, he was all in. we had a great day.

lunchtime:

the partial boone clan (and calvin):

a delicious cookie to end the day:

the past 7 days...

...have been sort of busy, i guess.

derek and i did a lot of work in the garden over the weekend. hopefully, we've created a system that will help us ward off the crabgrass for long enough to yield some tasty vegetables.

isaac and i trekked to raleigh on sunday for an overnight trip with the always fun "aunt" sarahpowers. we watched a little softball (but mostly played in the water fountain), had a delicious buffalo style dinner, attempted to watch a movie, visited trader joe's and had a semi-shady lunch at the hibernian, followed by a tasty custard from goodberrys. while on our own for a bit, isaac and i went to visit my old place of employment to see the remnant of coworkers that are still making the place tick. for both the trip there and back, i drove during isaac's naptime and he slept really well and it made for a delightful trip.

last friday, we went to derek's work for bring your dog to work day. derek brought lucy in the morning and we went out for lunch and brought her home with us. isaac just mostly ran around the halls ignoring all the dogs.

so, that's how it's gone down around here.

dinosaur with teeth

i recieved a special request for a birthday cake to be eaten tomorrow by a 1 year and 364 day old boy i know. he wants a dinosaur cake with teeth. here's what i came up with. the cake had a little fender bender during delivery, but we were able to perform quick cosmetic surgery at the destination....

 

 

 

 

"feed me!"

here's a video of isaac climbing into his booster seat like a big boy:

forts

derek's mom gave us this nifty toy that is supposed to be like a mini ball pit. our boy likes to throw all the balls out and just hang out inside like it's a fort. so, we adapted and it's now a fort. good times...

 

 

 

 

linus

so, for whatever reason, isaac has taken to this blanket. it's just a plain blue blanket and he's decided it's the best. he won't go to sleep without it and he likes to bring it downstairs in the morning and carry it around everywhere. when you hand it to him, his thumb immediately plunges into his mouth and it instantly turns a crying monster boy into a snuggly sweet boy. it's great....

 

 

 

belly button

isaac has discovered his belly button and will gladly give you a demonstration, if you ask him nicely.

 

 

first nerds

isaac had his first nerds today.

he painstakingly ate about 20 of them and then deposited the nearly full box of nerds into the fountain at kernelkustard/brewnerds.

which reminds me that i never blogged about the other day when isaac put my "purse" into the pool. luckily, my phone was not in it. the reason for the quotes is, it's more of a little wallet type thing on a string. i think it's called a travel wallet or some such nifty title.

in other "firsts" news, isaac climbed onto the kitchen table for the first (and second) time today. so, that's no longer a safehaven.

latest cake escapade

i helped lorena with this cake for a belated wedding reception for one of her friends. it was a lot of fun and a good learning experiencce...

 

 

 

bin 'o water

a few weeks back, we bought a big inflatable pool for the backyard. it's strategically located in the shade and derek works hard to maintain the appropriate chemical balance. and all isaac does is find various items in the yard and deposit them into the pool. he has no interest in getting into the pool, and screams furiously when we even attempt to put him in.

so, with a full, chemically balanced, shaded pool in the backyard, we filled up a tub of water and put it on the deck with some miscellaneous play items. isaac had a great time and i got some good pictures (and videos!)...

 

 

 

 

weekend shots

here are a few shots taken over the weekend.

i get the best shots during meals, because the boy is forced to sit still.

 

getting ready to go in the pool in the purple swimming diapers...

 

isaac LOVES this car!

 

 

lloyd christmas

 

i've been loading up lots of pictures of the boy on our picasa page.

haircut

before:

 

after:

 

in between:
there was a lot of screaming and flailing about. he couldn't even be bribed with m&m's and suckers.
it was miserable.