Stuck Indoors

As mentioned in the previous post, the heat here is pretty unbearable during the day. We play on the porch every evening (after 6) for about 30-40 minutes so that Logan can have some time outdoors, but that's about all we can bear. I learned my lesson when I took her out earlier one afternoon and after 20 minutes brought in a different child who then did not want to do anything but sit on my lap for the rest of the day (and consequently did NOT want to go to bed that night as she had restored energy at about 8pm). So, we've been doing a lot indoors.

We've been getting up and making breakfast together in the mornings to help pass the time. Here's Logan eating her alphabet pancakes from yesterday:

Logan has been taking a great interest in coloring but when I caught her doing it on the door the other day, I went out and picked up a color wonder book for her. She can color all she wants, but the color only shows up on the coloring pages. It's magical. And wonderful. And mess free.

Would you check out this ponytail?

I love that her hair is getting long enough to really have fun with, now!

And of course, when we do go out for walks (or anything, really), we make sure to put up our hair and are armed with two (sometimes three) sippy cups filled to the brim with water.

Happy summer!

(and I posted twice today, so don't forget to read the post below this one for more pictures!)

HOT HOT HOT

I know, I've got standards to uphold here and I've taken way too long to post something new about this sweet girl. Unfortunately, with temperatures reaching the high 90's and a heat index over 100 every day...we are working fervently to find indoor activities, and many of them involve me stepping from behind the camera and being a one (w0)man circus. So, there's just not a whole lot to take pictures of. I'll work a little harder for you all.

Today, though, we slathered on the sunscreen and braved the high temps so we could make it to the pool with the rest of our playgroup. I'd like to make mention that it was 91 degrees when we left the house this morning at 8:45am...my sentiments, exactly.

Logan had so much fun with playmates her size to run around with in the splash park. Here she is with "tate" (she can't pronounce that hard K sound yet)

This next picture is classic Kate and Logan.

Logan is getting quite fearless in the water now, she likes to be dunked and to jump in and you pretty much have to watch her nonstop. I'm just glad that with heat like this she's not afraid of the water, or we'd be in big trouble.

Summer is so much sweeter because I can do fun things like this with Logan.

Little Climber

Well, she can climb just about any piece of furniture now. Oh boy.

Happy Father's Day #2!

Father's Day 2009

Father's Day 2010. I love looking at the comparison photos from a year ago because she has changed SO much! (and Mike looks more tired...and a year ago we were still waking up 2-3 times a night. hmmm.)

Mike worked until midnight last night so we let him "sleep in" this morning while L and I got up and made pancakes and bacon for him and then got him up after an extra hour. After church we headed to the seminary and ran around a bit. Logan loves it when Mike has Sundays off because she gets so much undivided attention from him.

We had the hardest time getting Logan to look at the camera. She gave us a lot of this smug look ("I'm not going to do what you want me to do. What do you think I am? A trained monkey?"):

She loved the fountain we found, though, and was really, really upset when we had to leave it.

Mike went and played volleyball this afternoon and while he was gone Logan and I worked on a little treat for him. It's so fun that Logan can "help" me now!

Stir, stir, stir.

I'd love to say that Logan actually helped me frost the cupcakes:

But she spent more time eating the frosting.

And diving head first into the cupcake I gave her to work on. She kept her hands firmly by her side, though, to avoid getting icing on them and having them be dirty. I cringe when she gets anything on her hands that's sticky or messy because I know that I will soon get the "I cannot stand this gunk on me" screech.

Oh, well.

This was the finished product, anyway:

And we made him a dinner fit for a king:

It was such a treat because we haven't had steak in a long, long time! Happy father's day, Mike, Logan loves you!!

Hats Off

Logan does not like hats. Bows she can handle, though, I do believe that's because I won in the battle of wills-- but hats, forget about it. I've even gone so far as to sew straps into a hat so that they were long enough that when tied, she had a hard time getting it off. That being said, when I found this hat in a bag of hand me downs, I thought it'd go in the give away bag because there's no sense in collecting junk that'll just sit around and not be used.

Now, I'm not so sure:

She spent the better part of the evening last night putting it on and pulling it off and then when she woke up this morning, she went right to it and began the same process. Though, she still won't keep it on so it may still end up gone by the end of the week. :)
This morning, I had to get the two kids out of the house so we took a drive to our neighborhood Sonic. When I was driving away I noticed a woman walking from store to store in a full on, black wetsuit. Are you kidding me? Did I mention she was also carrying a big ol' gold sparkly purse, too? Now, when I see people who look that ridiculously inappropriate, I like to think about how their morning went...this is what I see this woman doing when she looks in her closet (picture a lone wetsuit hanging in the back and all of the other hangers empty),

"Well, all of my clothes are in the wash and I don't have time to wait for them so I guess the wetsuit will have to do for today. Too bad my colored wetsuits aren't around, the black one is going to make for one hot 95+ degree day." (mind you, we're 2 hours away from the closest ocean and I'm pretty sure that there isn't a pool around that offers diving classes)

Seriously wish I had gotten a picture. Wow.

Photo Trios

A few things I love today. (click images to enlarge)

I love it when I open a bag of hand me downs and find an outfit like this one:

I love what stickers can do for a less than stellar morning (overcast and yucky):

I love, love, love it that Logan opens her peanut butter sandwiches and licks the peanut butter out before eating the bread:

What A Year

As father's day approaches, I wanted to take an entry to truly thank the father of my sweet little girl for allowing me to stay at home and play the mommy role full time.

I know it's been an incredibly difficult year for him as he deals with the school/work/family balance, but I want him to know that he does it well, and that we are forever grateful for this sacrifice that he's making.

It's also allowed for a faith building experience that I've never experienced before and am glad that I get to have. To see God appear in the way he has so many times over the last year in our finances is an incredible thing, and I think everyone should be able to experience God like this many times in their lives. There's no way to deny our God when we see him in the magnificent ways that we do every month.

Thank you, Mike, for allowing me to spend my afternoons hanging out on the porch drinking juice and talking to our little girl instead of spending them holed up in a classroom waiting for the final bell to ring. This has been one of the best years of my life and I know it wouldn't be the same if I was working out of the home.

I think Logan is pretty happy with the decision, too!

Uncle John and Aunt Lindsey

Logan's Uncle John and Aunt Lindsey stopped through this weekend while they were on their way up to Ft. Lee, VA, where John will be doing some Army training. Logan definitely made a new best friend, she followed John around the house like a little puppy and they left this afternoon during her nap--when she woke up, she was less than thrilled and pitched a royal fit after looking all over for him.

Last night, Uncle John taught Logan the art of clinking their cups together. It had her in stitches for a l-o-n-g time.

We also went on a walk and let him try out our sweet double stroller.

Here they are this morning after church. Logan is wearing the dress that J&L got her when they were on their honeymoon in Mexico almost a year ago!

Logan took quite an interest in Uncle John's dog tags:

"Eat them!"

She also had a lot of fun with her Aunt Lindsey.

Lindsey helped Logan in her efforts to clean up something that she got on our ottoman.

We're so excited that they'll only be an hour and a half away from us for a few months. We're already planning another visit in a couple of weeks!

Logan Vs. The Corn

Corn on the cob has been so dirt cheap lately that we have it a LOT! I had been cutting the kernels off for Logan to munch on but then she showed interest in eating it straight off the cob and has been an unstoppable force ever since. She goes through them the way her great-grandaddy did, and as you'll see in the video gets quite the game face when she's eating it. Don't mess with this girl.