Frisco Festival

Last night, I picked Gabe up from work and we had dinner at my mom's. Linda and her boyfriend Ethan joined us, and then we all went in to downtown Rogers for the Frisco Festival.
We'd never been to this festival before, but I assumed it would be like Siloam's Dogwood Festival. It was. Just without the "arts & crafts - but really just more imported kitsch- emphasis." My mom and Forest got a good dose of the Arkanas local color... lots of fried foods, lots of smokers, and lots of rednecks dancing to the live classic rock at the main stage.
There was a good turnout. It was tricky getting around with an umbrella stroller, but Liam preferred for Gabe to hold him anyway. At one point a woman tapped me on the shoulder, her face a mask of worry: "You've lost your baby," indicating the empty stroller I was pushing. Really? I reassured her that my baby was safe and sound in my husband's arms behind me.


The fair was small enough that we had seen it all in 15 minutes, but Liam was happy to spend the remainder of our time in the sand pit over by the playground. To say he loves playing in the sand is a huge understatement.

He made a friend, too. He really just wanted her shoes (they are his biggest fascination right now: our shoes, his shoes, a stranger in Wal-Mart's shoes...and his favorite book is, of course, Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book)

He just can't get enough of the sand.

He even snuggles it...

But a fresh funnel cake was incentive enough to move on.

His first taste.

Mmmm...good.

And then we called it a night.

Gardening au naturale

One of Liam's favorite activities...

a busy week

Last week, my mom and brother, Forest, moved out here. To Northwest Arkansas! It has been a blur of a week. We spent an entire day visiting the local high schools so Forest could choose his best fit: Heritage High *Go War Eagles!*. This narrowed down another day of apartment hunting: a cute complex in Rogers. Several more days were spent signing up for utilities, furniture hunting, and finally this last Sunday, moving them in.

It all meant lots of driving. Lots of takeout, and lots of ice cream cones to keep a certain grouchy man a happy traveler.

I didn't take any pictures.

Here are the only ones from the past week, just before we left for the Fayetteville Farmers' Market. He was just too cute with his apple and *thrift store find* Crocs for Fall.

Hop on over to my blog see a chair I recovered for my mom's place. Hopefully I'll take some pictures of their apartment soon, along with some of Liam with his Grammie and Uncle Forest.

slip on something new

My mom and brother moved here, to NWA, last week, and they came without furniture. I had spent the previous few weekends trying to scrounge up some Craigslist freebies, which resulted in a dresser, a rocking recliner, a coffee table, an antique iron bedframe, a microwave, an end table, and one ugly club chair.

-exhibit a-

Thanks to Wal-Mart's fabric liquidation clearance a few months back, I had enough of this great faux-suede upholstery fabric to slip -exhibit a- into something a bit nicer. (See -exhibit b- below)

-exhibit b-

And, yes, I gave myself a pat on the back for a job so well done :-)

But of course, this would not have been possible without the zipper my neighbor Trish, ever the crafting trove, supplied at the last minute, interupting her nap, and requiring a stealthy slip around her door because she was sans pants... Sometimes I just love our neighborhood. Thanks again, Trish.

British?

Liam's vocabulary is increasing every day it seems. Some of his newest words include hot, shoes, hat, that, there, fish, food, and fork.

But the funniest is the way he says more. Like he has a British accent. We didn''t teach him this. Honest. Here's a quick listen.

The dangers of bathing

While Gabriel was giving Liam a bath the other night, the little guy slipped and hit his head on the side of the tub. This happens frequently enough that it is not normally a cause for too much concern, except this time there was a loud bang and crack on contact. Gabriel instantly scooped Liam out of the tub, who grew furious for being taken out of his bath. He was fine. Although he sported a good-sized goose egg on his forehead.

The tub did not weather it so well. It now has a crack in the side. I hope it shows up in this picture...

Who knew bathtime could be hazardous for the tub?

Liam really is fine. By morning, the bump on his head was nonexistent and he seemed perfectly normal.

A kitty-sized dog pillow

I'm working on reupholstering our sofa, and decided that Dahlia needed a pillow to lay on instead of the couch... this may be wishful thinking.

So I scrapped together a simple Log Cabin-ish top, which I quilted together with a layer of batting and sheeting, and then sewed it up into a boxed sham for an old pillow.I just used whatever struck my fancy from the scrap basket. It was fun to get to use the last bits of old-world circus fabric, and to sneak in some fabric I salvaged from a pair of Gabriel's cast-off boxers. My mother-in-law should recognize a lot of the scraps she passed on to me, and Janelle might recognize some of the vintage fabric from her Uncle's chair pillows that I recovered for our porch chairs.

And then I put it on the floor for Dahlia, beckoned her off of her perch on the couch, and suggested she take it for a trial snooze. Suddenly it was ridiculously clear that I had either overestimated the size of a standard pillow or underestimated the girth of our beagle...

So it is now a cat pillow. Hopkins approves.

So for now, Dahlia will be pillow-less and I'll keep chasing her off the couch...

Iowa

Coming to you LIVE from our very own internet connection *cheers and applause*

Last week, Liam and went up to the farm in Iowa while Gabriel was gone on yet another business trip. It was a last minute decision, but it worked out for us to drop him off at the airport on the drive up, and we picked him up on the way back. This meant, though, that I'd be driving with Liam 8 hours in the daytime. It could have been very bad. But it wasn't. We stopped in Kansas City for about an hour, and then we stopped again just north of Des Moines. While we drove, Liam slept, looked at books, ate snacks, threw snacks all over the car, and watched out the window.

We arrived at the farm in the afternoon. Liam was eager to explore.

There were so many things to see and do.
This wagon was a big attraction for him. Every time we went outside, he'd head towards it. He went right up to the huge wheels and patted them affectionately.

He did not like the cows. Maybe next time.

Remember this itty bitty kitten from the spring?

We got to meet him again. This kitty's strong and friendly, thanks to Uncle Jim's special pampering.

Of course, no trip to the farm would be complete without a tractor ride.

Discovering the sand pile.

On Tuesday, Allison and Makenna came up for the day. It was fun to watch Liam and Makenna play together. We took them to the park in Aplington. Liam was cranky and just wanted to throw rocks. Makenna just wanted to eat them.

But they both enjoyed the swings.

And Liam tried a merry-go-round for the first time. He thought it was great, but it made me a little nervous as he walked close to the edge while it was spinning.

But Liam's absolute favorite part of the farm was all of the wind-blown apples beneath the apple trees. They weren't ripe yet, so they weren't good for eating. But Liam thought they were good for putting in and out of buckets and, even better, for throwing...

Nothing says "summer" in Iowa like fresh sweet corn. Liam was unsure about walking through the rows.

But piles of cobs are a different story. They're lots of fun to put in a wagon.

Helping Uncle Jim work on farm equipment.

Liam had a great time with his Uncle Jim. They walked around the farm together to give me and Janelle time to husk corn and prepare meals. Liam loved it.

He also helped Aunt Janelle feed the calves.

It was a great trip. A good break for me. Thanks, Jim and Janelle!

we're still here, but

our computer isn't...

Liam and decided at the last minute to go to the farm in Iowa while Gabriel went on another business trip last week. We had a great time (more on that later...), but when we all got home Thursday evening, our computer was busted. Apparently a storm blew through and took our motherboard along with it. Boo.

So, we bought a new computer over the weekend (and a battery-back-up surge protector), but our wireless antenna is also busted. We finally gave in and signed up for our own internet, which we will actually pay for...

It won't be hooked up until Thursday. We're at the library now, but Liam is not the most patient...

So, until Thursday then :-)

six years

Six years ago today, we promised to love each other forever. I'm so glad we did, even if it it seems crazy now that we were only 18 and 20.

Here we are, a year before we got married, on the junior/senior class trip to the Grand Canyon (yes, this is the entirety of both classes - very small school). We got in huge trouble for holding hands...

So much has changed since then. We've changed. But if anything, our love has grown stronger. More real. More lovely.

And what better way to celebrate our 6th than with the 6th Harry Potter? (It was fantastic, by the way).

A coat for fall

You'd never know it based on this blog, but I have been doing a lot of crafting lately. Maybe I'll do some catch-up posts...

In the meantime, here is my most recent completed project:

A Fall Coat for Liam.

I used the Knit Child's Raglan Sweater pattern from Lion Brand Yarn (I found it through Ravelry). I knit it up with a chunky-weight wool blend I inherited from Gabriel's Aunt Dotha (it didn't have any labels on it...) and I lined it with a thrifted pillow case. I also made covered buttons to match.

Here's a not-so great picture of an un-willing model. It is August. A bit unseasonal for now I suppose.
As a side note, I can't get Blogger to let me copy and paste anything... So, no permalinks either... It is probably something really obvious that I'm overlooking, but I can't seem to figure it out. It used to work no problem. Any ideas?

Little Shopper

Liam loves pushing these little shopping carts at Ozark Natural Foods. Last weekend was his first attempt. It is especially fun because all of the employees there recognize us and know what an exciting thing this is for Liam. And, being the extrovert he is, he walks right up to them to say hi and show them his Co-op Kids Card for his free treat (this month it is animal crackers...).

Here's a bit from today.

Meet Daisy

Current pet tally:

• 1 dog
• 2 cats
• 9 chickens
• 1 guppy

and

• 1 rabbit named Daisy

Gabriel's coworker needed to find a home for her, and a certain someone has a love for rabbits. I really want her, but it's up to you. Please.

So, we now have a bunny that is surprisingly friendly (I'm a bit bunnyphobic - it's those teeth...)

moving day

Today, we helped the Grays move into their new Townhouse. Most of the boxs were already there, and we didn't help with a lot of the unpacking... hardly enough to earn the pizza at lunch. But Liam and Simone had plenty of play time together. They were both kept up past normal nap time. Liam decided to take a break on Simone's lap.

Just look at those sparkly blues.
Yes, he's still pretty attached to the paci during the day...

Congratulations on the new place, guys. I'm sure there will be many fun visits there...