Sitting Pretty

Alanna continues to amaze me. She can sit on her own (at 4 1/2 months!), though she needs some protection when she wobbles. She occasionally arches her back, which causes her to flop on her back (or the boppy, which is a softer alternative than the floor), and she'll lean too far to the side to get back upright on her own, particularly if she's reaching for something just beyond her grasp. I sat her up (with close supervision) in the bath tonight and she had a blast splashing her hands in the water. I think she likes the new perspective and ways to play with toys. She can still only roll over from her back to her front, and not back onto her back, so she gets very frustrated when she's stuck on her tummy. Sitting gives some nice variety to her play time, I think.

Garden Beautiful

....Our only carrot of the season (yes, it's supposed to be small and round)

and the first ear of red popcorn....

....tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...

...eight foot tall sunflowers....

....more sunflowers (and the unproductive raspberries,
and the blackberry bush)

....and finally, this huge– and I mean pretty darn big– spider and her web.This was taken out front, and I couldn't get the camera to focuson the spider because there was no background close enough.This spider, in the position it's in in the photo, was easily thesize of the top knuckle-to-fingertip of my middle finger. With its legs stretched out, it would probably be and inch and a half in diameter. Its web was about 18 inches in diameter, and was anchored by webby strands that stretched another 18 inches to 2 feet beyond the web. My interest was particularly piqued by the still-wriggling sack of lunch the spider was guarding in the center of the web. I checked on it later and found that it had moved its lunch to a more secluded place to eat. This spider has become a small obsession for me; I looked in on it this morning as I was loading the kids up to take Rhys to preschool. I don't know where it was hidden, but I know I kind of want to keep tabs on it just so it doesn't find its way into the house or something...

"Rusty's not a Big Boy yet."

This morning, as Rhys was getting ready for preschool, he and I had the following serious/hilarious conversation:

Note: Rusty is our 100 lb. chocolate lab

Rhys (in a serious tone): Rusty don't go in the potty, Mommy.

Me (with an amused smile on my face): Nope, Rusty doesn't go peepee in the potty. He goes peepee outside in the weeds.

Rhys (just as seriously as before): Rusty's not a Big Boy yet.

Me: Ha ha ha ha ha!

I love being a mommy!

"Dere My Is!"

We made a tent by draping a blanket over one of Alanna's play mats. That way, Rhys can pretend to camp, which is loads of fun. Also, he's saying the funniest thing: When I ask, "Where are you?" he responds with "Dere my is!" (instead of "Here I am!"). And that's when this picture was snapped this morning...

Bath Mat

I'm slowly able to complete occasional projects (which is better than not completing any at all!), including this bath mat. We needed a mat to fit in the narrow space between the bath and the toilet. It also needed to be quite long in order to catch as many of the splashes and drips that Rhys produces when he's in the tub. This was the solution. It's a towel folded lengthwise in half with squares from my scrap basket appliqued on. I think it works quite well, and it's washable to boot.