I forgot the camera last night and ended up taking no pictures. Heath had a take and bake pizza in the oven, a fruit salad in the fridge and was finishing up a regular salad when Izzy and I got home. We tossed everything but the pizza in a cooler, loaded up the van and headed to the park. The first 2 shelters were full of graduation parties but the 3rd was empty.

As we were carrying over all the food and kids my mom saw us and pulled up. We had rushed and the pizza was still warm when we got started. Everything was really good and the weather was perfect. We sat by the lake and tried to keep the kids in their seats and eating. Luckily we had ice cream cake at home as incentive for the kids to eat.

After dinner we walked over to the park and the big kids played and ran and slid and jumped while the little kid ate and napped while we talked and watched. Izzy ran a restaurant for a bit then we all headed home. We broke out the ice cream cake and Izzy ate hers in a sink bath. After dessert we got Izzy dressed and she read Nana K some books on the ipad while Heath and I got the house cleaned up and Grant showered.

Mom left and Izzy went to bed then Heath read Harry Potter 2 and Grant and I folded laundry. Then Grant headed to bed and I finished laundry while Heath fed Lily. Once I was done with laundry I went out back for some exercise and when Lily was asleep Heath joined in. Then we went downstairs to cool off and do some computer support.

It was past bedtime when we were relaxed and ready for bed. Just as I was laying down I got a radio station call and worked from home on it for a bit before going to bed for real.

Yesterday morning I got a roast going in the crockpot. When Izzy and I got home Heath had set the table and was finishing making a salad and we sat down to eat. Grant had a friend over that didn’t eat or stop talking. Izzy stared at him all dinner with a big grin and laughed at everything he said weather there is any way she understood or not. Jon and Alli showed up at the end of dinner and shortly later we headed up the street to begin.

In no time we found a great tree really loaded with good dark berries.

We got permission from the 2 houses it was between and then everyone started picking.

Kids down low and adults high or sometimes pulling down branches for the kids.

The kids ate a bunch but also picked us quite a few even with juice breaks.

Gradually we filled cup after cup.

Eventually it got harder to find good dark ones down low.

We got out a canvas tarp and Jon’s home made “Shaker pole”

We put this pole with a hook up in the trees and shook the high branches and quite a few berries fell on the tarps for us to collect.

Eventually it was time to go and put away our stuff and headed out. Jon and Alli went home and the rest of us took Grant’s friend home then stopped by Stooks house and worked on his trees a bit. We quickly filled one more cup then headed out.

On the way home we got some McDonald breakfast for dinner just because we wanted to support the idea. Then we quickly got the kids ready for bed. I cleaned and put all the berries together. Jon had more then half a gallon with him and we ended up with right at a gallon.

That was about it for the night we cleaned up some and got to bed early.

Yeah I am really behind on things as we had a great weekend and I had Jury Duty yesterday. I’m going to load you with pictures in order of activity. Here we go.

Friday Heath, Lily and I had a picnic lunch and walk at Loose park.We had an amazing salad.

Saturday afternoon we went to a birthday party at Shawnee Mission park.

We took Alli and she and Izzy played with Victoria and other kids.

Last night we played at minor park while Heath and Berry got a trail run in.

Berry and I got a trail run in earlier and ended up cooling off in the river.

Friday after work we blew bubbles and swang on swings and played.

We also grilled dinner and had way too many electronics involved.

Izzy and Lily read books.

Izzy got a sink bath or two with a pink dinosaur.

Grant came home Sunday and hung out with Lily.

Grant got home early Sunday and we went shopping real quick then got everyone else up. Grant made a card with Izzy and I wrapped the presents.

Then it was time for Mothers day.

Heath opened her gifts and then took some pictures with the kiddos.

Then we headed downtown. We got breakfast at City Dinner and some groceries from the Asian Market across the street.

With full happy tummies we wondered all around the market and eventually left with 15lbs potatoes, a flat of strawberries, some bananas, honey and grapes. The kids rode the lawn mower train and then we dropped all our stuff at the car.

We headed down to the river and had a great walk along it. We found some more mulberries.

and everyone ate their fill.

We walked until we were pretty worn out then decided to have a cupcake and beer break at Harry’s Country Club and whatever cupcake store is next door. However once we walked over there we discovered both places closed. Instead we rushed home to hang out on the deck, cutting up strawberries.

We had a nice dinner then decided to try out the ice cream maker. I had lots of help.

It was nearly bedtime so instead of waiting for the ice cream we opened a cake we had saved and put the ice cream in the freezer.

Then last night we got the ice cream.

We made chocolate chocolate chip and it was good but you could tell we used a powder packet thing to make it. I think the next batch will be even better.

The Hallway!

I don’t have any final pictures but I got all the drywall up and the hallway and lots of tools all cleaned up. I’m adding drywall screws all over the house and starting to track down someone to mud things.

Heath got some leftover chili warming up and then fed Lily. I got 2 10ft sheets of drywall and rushed home. Once home I got loud with power tools. I made a mess and a lot of noise but everyone was awake and preoccupied so it was a perfect window for some productivity. I got sheets of drywall covering all the electrical boxes, I got all the electrical boxes cut out and then wired everything and sealed them up. We were able to turn on all the power to the house and the project feels a lot better now.

I took a break in the middle once everyone had eaten dinner and we went for a walk Berry Hunt. On my morning run I had found a tree loaded with ripe mulberries and brought a handful back for Izzy’s breakfast. We knew they were in season now so we took a dish and headed out to fill it. Izzy hopped in the wagon with a drink and at first our dish was in there too.

Lily hopped in the front pack on Heath.

And I pulled the wagon with 1 hand and engulfed a tortilla full of chili and siracha with the other. Off we went

We had not even gone a block before looking up and seeing a prize.

Heath went mid level, I went high and Izzy combed the ground. Anything Heath or I found went in the dish and occasionally Izzy’s mouth was full and she put one in the dish too.

We learned right away though that if the dish was in the wagon when we moved onto the next tree Izzy would get after it.

We hit up a bunch of trees on our 1 mile walk.

There were a lot of ripe one but a lot that were getting close but not quite ready and some still green so we are going to try again next week. We stopped mid way to let Izzy play a bit.

But she seemed just as eager as us to get back to picking.

Once home we had a nice pile and started working on a plan of what to do with them.

Heath got Izzy in bed and I got back to work on the wall.

While Lily took a nap.

Once Heath was done she joined in.

A little past bedtime things were looking really good.

Besides being done with electrical we have all the big areas covered. We still have a lot of narrow areas to fill in. Hopefully over the weekend we can invent some free time and get it done. Regardless I am predicting next week I will begin looking for someone to mud everything. If you know someone that does drywall work and would be interested in mudding all the walls and ceiling let me know. There are some challenging spots and they probably need to be pretty good.

I’d love to learn and help them out but I am guessing no one will want me in their way.

This morning Heath requested muffins so we found a use for the berries. I followed a blueberry recipe but poured in twice the mulberries that it called for, then put one on top of each.

20 minutes later I woofed down a delicious pipping hot mulberry muffin.

It was really really good.

This is a pretty good example of an interaction with our Parents as Teachers lady.

She brought this bunny basket and basket basket and some chop stick like things. Izzy had to use the chopstick to feed the bunny. It’s good for hand eye coordination, finger dexterity and other stuff. Izzy got it figured out then decided to turn the bunny around backwards and you don’t have to go in through the mouth. Then she figured out it is easier to just use your fingers then the chop sticks. Then she found it even easier to just dump one basket to the other.

Instead of us thinking “Hey, you are cheating”, our PAT lady describes Izzy as a problem solver. She was given a task and did it and then started improving on the process. She saw the limitations in the mouth and the chopsticks and found ways around them. So when she breaks out of her tent in the middle of the night and destroys her room it’s not because she is a monkey it is because she is a problem solver.

And yes she is not wearing pants, it’s not because she is a wild child, it is because pants are so limiting and unnecessary.

We talk with the PAT lady about Lily too. She brought little rattles with different sounds for us and we are training her to associates what she sees and what she hears and locate sounds. She is good with our voices but maybe not random new sounds. She is a little nervous about it but I’m sure she will do fine.

Yesterday she was loving laying under this little play thing and kicking her arms and legs into the toys.

So my mom watched both girls yesterday and survived it. The girls were both asleep before Heath got to the highway so I am guessing mom was asleep about twice as exhausted and asleep around the same time.  We had chili for dinner loaded with healthy things venison, spinach, beans, tomatoes, corn, carrots, chia, cuscus, maybe I should call it chili stew. I had made it in the morning and let it cook all day.

So dinner was easy, I just made a big salad and sliced and baked some sweet potatoes. The girls stayed sleeping in the van in the garage and Heath and I cleaned up the house some and got ready for our PAT visit. Lily kept sleeping when we brought her inside but Izzy got angry and wanted to keep sleeping in the van. Our lady helped us try to coax her into eating dinner with us. It took a while but eventually she went from angry grunting to happy giggling and being silly.

It was a good opportunity to talk some about what is going on in her head during this transition and I found it interesting. When she woke up she was all emotion and did not use any words or logic. Slowly she introduced “NO” and other small words into her grunts and cries. Then she started to tell us she wanted milk and to play and the emotions calmed down and the cognitive parts started working.

Okay enough parenting talk.

PAT lady left, I worked on the wall and Heath bathed and put Izzy to bed. I made some progress and ran into some problems. We did actually get some drywall up on the walls.

Heath helped me drive some screws in.

I really think tonight or tomorrow morning we will be able to flip the 3 breakers that have taken the power away to part of the house, like the kids bedrooms and most of the basement.

I got home first to and empty house and got busy cooking stuff for dinner yesterday and today. Once everything was cooking well I got busy on the hallway.

Yeah the hallway looks about the same but I have been working on it. There are tons of nails to remove so I can put the drywall up.

There are some wiring messes I found inside the walls to clean up.

and we are adding some switches and outlets.

Heath and Lily got home and Izzy with Heath mom at about the same time. We had been missing Izzy and gave her lots of hugs and heard about her adventures in “mom-aha” (Omaha).

Heath learned about their trip from her mom and I listened and pulled nails out. Her mom left and I finished getting dinner ready and we sat down to eat spaghetti and veggies. The spaghetti was really good and pretty healthy.

After dinner Heath rushed off to PTA and I was in charge of both girls. So I tossed them in the tub.

Lily always loves the water assuming it is not too cold and Izzy thought it was great to have a big toy sister in the tub. She tried to squeeze into the baby tub with Lily at first and then tried to squeeze beside the little tub in the big tub but eventually got comfortable in her own area.

When it was time to wash Lily Izzy was a big helper, putting soap on the cloth and rubbing her.

Once Lily was clean I wrapped her up in a towel and let her dry while I washed Izzy and wrapped her in a towel. First Lily watched me get Izzy’s pajamas on then Izzy helped me pick out pajamas for Lily and get her dressed. I warmed up a bottle and the fed Lily while Izzy and I told stories.There were stories similar to princess and frog and one about turtle and the 3 frogs that was very similar to Goldilocks and the 3 bears.

When Lily was full we read a book then tucked Izzy in bed. Lily was bathed fed and happy so I let her play on a mat on the floor while I worked on the wall some. As soon as Heath got home I rushed to Home Depot for some supplies. Then I worked some more until bedtime.

Heath and Lily were just about ready to go when I got home. I helped load up in the van and we headed to the Lee Summit Medical Center. When we got close I remembered when I was in the hospital with Lily I could have really used a pizza. I could share meals with Heath and people brought stuff sometimes but I was hungry sometimes when no one was around and sometimes Heath’s food was not enough to share.

So we found a Little Ceasers and picked up a pie. Just before pulling into the hospital we started talking about the hospital and neither of us had any idea if this was the right hospital. All we knew was it was in Lee Summit. We did some searching on the phone and discovered we were at the wrong place.

We headed to St. Luke’s Hospital in Lee Summit and it was actually a quick drive. It was much easier to negotiate for visitors then St. Joe. We got to the room and I think woke up Amanda. Jon was sleeping hard on the couch/bed and Kate was sleeping in the clear baby tub. Heath scooped her up right away and we talked about how she looked like Alli, then Amanda said not so much without her hat so we took it off.

And discovered she had a ton of hair.

Amanda filled us in on the birth and their night/morning. Heath woke up Jon and I got to play with Kate. He decided to play with Lily who now looked like a giant baby.

They will be just short of 2 months apart and really were a lot closer in size then Izzy and Alli were.

Alli’s birthday

Kate’s birthday

We hung out for a while but everyone was getting hungry so we left them to their sleeping baby. We rushed home, turned on the grill and loaded it up with Swai and sweet potatoes.

Swai is this version of catfish.

We also made some giant salads, stuck lemon slices in boulevard wheats and set the table on the deck. In no time dinner was ready and we dug in. I only put lemon, salt and pepper on the fish and it turned out great. After eating all the food we put some stuff away and got ready to go next door.

We got settled in and then watched Episodes 3 and 4 of Season 2 of Game of Thrones.

After both episodes it was pretty much bed time so we went home and crashed immediately. 30 minutes later Lily decided she was not really ready to sleep yet and decided to keep us up for a couple more hours.

We didn’t take any pictures on Friday. Grant headed to his dads and Izzy headed to Omaha with Heath’s mom so we were down to Lily. I did some mowing then Mike and Julie came over and we ate dinner at Chelly’s and hung out on the deck a while.

Saturday we slept in ate some breakfast then I picked Tony up at the Intercontinental hotel on the plaza. We hung out until his mom picked him up then I mowed some more of the yard. Then Heath and I got ready and headed to Lee Summit to get ready for the wedding. Heath’s aunt came over to watch Lily for us.

We helped get things set up a little bit then got pretty.

Shortly later it was on and the wedding started. It was about a 20 minute ceremony outside. Tony didn’t faint, Felicia didn’t trip,  I didn’t loose the ring or cry and everything went great.

   

   

Since we had our fancy pants/dresses on we took a few family pictures. None turned out great, we were really rushed for time and the sun was too bright to open our eyes very much. Also Lily was not loving it.

After getting dressed and capturing the moment on film secure digital media. We loaded up in the van and headed to Les Summit. We met up with Tony and Felicia and some of their family and friends. The minister was late in traffic so we visited a bit and the kids made friends.

Then we did the rehearsal and got everything figured out for the big day. Everyone was pretty hungry so once we had a plan we headed off to dinner at The Peanut.

We were a giant group and it took a while for everyone to get food so we sort of ate in stages. Luckily the kids were first. They both got mac and cheese.

Next I got my buffalo chicken sandwich and split it and the fries with Heath and near the end we got Heath’s nachos and she split them with me. By the time the nachos were gone the kids were really ready for home and bed.

So we headed out and rushed to get everyone home and sleeping. Heath and I headed to bed early too but Lily had other plans and that did not work out.

Since yesterday’s video only got 5 views, I’m guessing nobody noticed it, sorry about that and here you go again.

We have been eating and acting pretty healthy this week so once home we made some pasta stuff loaded with vegetables and wheat noodles. We ate on the deck and everyone did a great job. After dinner we changed and packed up a bit then headed to Swope Park for the

We didn’t go into the nature center but instead hiked the 2 mile trail.

Luckily it was not too muddy, Izzy rode and talked/sang the whole way.

Lilly mostly snoozed but looked around some.

Grant attacked plants, climbed, and looked for treasures.

After the 2 miles we let Izzy run around some and the kids explore.

Grant had to use a tree and Izzy made sure he was doing it right.

Then we headed home and got the kids cleaned and ready for bed. We ate strawberries for dessert before they went to sleep.

Little by little we have been moving forward on the remodel.

Finally the back wall is done and all the outlets, switches, lights, and internet connections are working. The big change is lights on the deck. One by the grill

and one by the table, on separate switches.

The next step is to take down all the wood paneling in the hallway and replace it with drywall. Then we can get someone to come mud all the drywall.