the first weekend

Right after James and I got engaged, the Eldridges started building their family cabin.  They spent three years driving back and forth doing practically all the work themselves.  And this weekend, we FINALLY got to enjoy the cabin for the first time!

The inside is absolutely beautiful!  I hadn't been there in over a year so I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into.  I kept thinking, will there be electricity?  Plumbing?  Comfortable beds?  There was all that and more!

Two of our nephews came with James's parents and I'm so glad!  They literally entertained Porter all weekend.  He followed them around, doing everything they did.

I spent the weekend chatting with my mother in law, eating, and watching TV.  Awesome.  There are still some odds and ends left to finish so the men did work on those.  They built this fort for the boys!  And then the boys "worked" on it.

 It was such a fun weekend and I have this terrible pride that I NOW HAVE A CABIN to go play at too. 

for porter

 This handsome little guy is TWO years old today.  He is my absolute favorite.  

He is in love with both of his parents and for the most part his baby sister.  He is helpful and loves to help me make anything in the kitchen and is very frustrated when he doesn't get to stir.  He loves to copy everything Paige does.  He crawls after her and loves to bring her toys to play with.  He also copies everything we do, which isn't always a good thing.  Every time he drops something he says,"shoot!" or "dangit!"

He loves chocolate chip cookies and M&M's.  He has a new obsession with pears and I just can't seem to keep enough in the house.  This morning he woke up and said, "I need a pear."  Yup those exact words.  He is an awesome talker.  3-4 word phrases all the time, but full sentences are starting to take over.

He could watch...wait, he does watch Toy Story daily. Whenever we're at a friends house and he discovers they own a Woody or Buzz doll, he carries it around until we leave.  He loves animals.  When he sees them he gets so excited, especially puppies.  His grandparents have puppies, which he knows by name, and if he sees a dog in our neighborhood he calls them by those names.

He talks in his sleep.  If he could, he'd play outside all day.  He loves bikes, motorcycles, and balls.  Can you tell he's a boy?  Oh and he has to do everything himself!  Walk down the stairs by himself, climb into the car and his carseat by himself, even wash his body in the tub by himself.  He's just so big.  

for james

Happy Birthday, James! 

Oh my gosh we love you.

Thanks for being so great.

it's entertaining

This couch here has a bed inside.  We pull it out so Porter can jump all over it.

 And this couch here, when the cushions are removed, is easy for Paige to climb on and off.

Both couches provide endless hours of entertainment for my children...and me.

a hard day

(watching Toy Story after eating 3 popsicles)

We went to the park yesterday.  Porter took a nasty fall.  Thank goodness James was there.  I would have completely lost it on my own.  We took Porter to an instacare and then I watched as they put 4 stitches in his lips.  I sang all of his favorite songs to try and calm him down.  It actually worked.  Point for Mom :)  Later that day we went to talk to the dentist.  Some of his teeth were pushed back.  We're waiting to see if they die.  Please don't die.

this is what i do

I know people with amazing talents! 
They can decorate, design, sew, scrapbook, make amazing crafts out of tissues and a pencil (ha!)  I've tried.  I've tried to do many of these things.  I just can't figure them out.  At least not yet.  But one thing I am dang good at is cooking/baking.  It must be my absolute obsession with food?

Last Thursday at 5 PM, I had an insane craving for homemade cinnamon rolls.  Out loud I said, "If I start them now, I could have warm rolls by 10."  And that's exactly what I did :)

This week I made 4 patches of strawberry jam.  And I just filled a crock pot with vegetables and meat so it can simmer all day.

So the decorations in my house might not match yet, the sewing machine I got from my cousin is still sitting untouched in the basement, and I have a thousand pins on Pinterest waiting for me to create...
but I CAN BAKE.