Darn Consonants

Etta got a stick horse from some friends and a rocking horse from one of Bob's coworkers. Today she was doing a compare and contrast.

"Dis is a "woking" [rocking] horse. Dis is a walking horse."

You may have to read it out loud to get the full humor...

Fast Food Friday - Summer Edition

Fridays in the summer are different for teachers. Almost anti-climatic actually. It means another week is coming to a close and we are that much closer to fall.

But then again, they are pretty much like every other day in the summer. So doing something "special" for dinner seems a bit silly. But last night I got the bug and wanted to try something new.

I had found a recipe for home made flour tortillas and decided to give it a shot. Not too bad. I will probably try again though to hopefully have a better outcome.

Rolling out the rounds.



Cooking them up on the griddle.



And since the griddle was already hot...Sauteed fresh veggies and some pork to fill. Pretty yummy.



I think that I could live on sauteed veggie wraps all harvest season.

Being Two

Improvised drum set.



Laying in the sun, "Wike the wittle dogs".

Etta-isms

I guess that we are really getting to that point.

Monday in bed:

Mommy: Etta, what would you like? Bread, Cheerios or a graham cracker?

Etta: No. Cheese!

-------------------

Today in bed:

Mommy: Etta, what would you like with your strawberries? Cheerios?

Etta: Ice cream!

At least she knows what she wants I guess.

Down on the Farm

A visit to Cashmere wouldn't be complete with a trip to Smallwoods.

Many tractors to drive.







Another height check. (Six inches. Really?)



A shared wagon is more fun!



A male peacock. Trying to score. It was incredible to watch him (try) actually. The hen was too smart and quick though.



A goat. Etta fed the sheep and a donkey by hand. No fear in this one.



Time on the trikes. (There is lots to do here!)





Don't forget the horse!



And finally...what I guess will be a yearly thing...

One year ago...

33 Weeks

Time is flying by. But apparently not fast enough for Etta...

Before getting out of bed Monday morning..."Want baby sister come out NOW!"

It will be soon enough Etta, I promise.

Naked Time!

What would a summer playdate be without some good old fashioned naked time? (Mom, you should try to find that pic of Gretchen and I, scan it on to your computer and send it to me...)

Sweet! We're naked! What should we do first?



I know. Let's run!



Pick stuff out of the grass.



And chill with Brooke's dad. (Who Etta is currently calling "Cashmere" but that's another story...)

"My Friend Brooke"

Or it could be better titled, "WHERE my Brooke friend?". Because every time Brooke was in a different room or car this is what Etta asked.

At the beginning of the week (it's great to be on a school vacation schedule!) we headed over to Cashmere, WA to visit our college friends Kent and Annie Chalmers. Brooke is about 3 months younger than Etta and her baby brother Oliver is EXACTLY two years younger.

For toddlers they got along and played amazingly well. It was mostly due to the fact that whenever Etta started to get worked up about a toy Brooke would just go find some other toy to play with. What a great girl!

The trip was very laid back. We didn't even drive anywhere on Monday. There is a playground and swimming pool within a short (trust me, I don't go far these days...) walking distance from their house. We pretty much just let girls be girls and enjoyed ourselves.

Brooke introducing Etta to Dora. I believe that Etta likes Dora!





Collecting rocks. Two baskets - perfect.



Fun with chalk.



Reading to Kent.



Playing in the water. Great idea Annie!



Hmmmmmm, wonder what it tastes like?



Matching trio enjoying a good book. Both of these girls *love* to read.



To see some much higher quality pics click here and here.

To compare to last year's visit click here and here.

Speeder Cars!

Etta is all about trains right now. She loves any train books, listens for the whistle and every. single. time we saw/crossed over railroad tracks on our last trip she would say, "Train tracks! CHOO CHOO!!!"

So I am so glad that we were able to actually *ride* on the speeder cars a couple of weekends ago in Potlatch. I had heard about the day from a FB friend and have been looking forward to it for a couple of months. I didn't worry about getting tickets, well, because, it was in Potlatch, ID. How many people could really be going? Well...I called Friday afternoon to get tickets - just in case. I was informed there were only six tickets left for the 4:15 ride. Yikes. That is not what I had planned.

We decided that we may as well take a day trip and check it out. It was pretty low key. And, of course, as soon as Etta saw the cars she said, "Etta wide it!" Oops...sorry, sweetie. Mommy was a loser and didn't get tickets...We ate our picnic lunch, listened the big band for a bit and decided it was time to go.

We went back to the main platform to use the restrooms. When we got over there I noticed that one of the drivers was sitting in his car. I took my camera (and fighting back tears) was going to ask that since we couldn't ride on the car could we at least get some pics of our daughter sitting on the car. Before I could even ask, one of the organizers (I think) said, "Are you going to ride with us today?" I kind of mumbled, "Well, no. I wasn't quick enough to get tickets..." He responded with, "Well, I just added a car to this ride and have room for three more! And that one [indicating baby Mae] can even ride for free!"

Praise God!! Doesn't He work in mysterious ways? I hustled over, paid for the tickets and we were ready to go. Needless to say, Etta LOVED it and is all ready for "Mo' train!"

The cars lined up and ready to load.



Etta took this pic. Isn't she a toddler genius? JK!



Starting out.



Great scenery.





On our car.



A couple of family shots. Um, Etta was pretty hot and tired at this point...





Can you say, limp noodle?

Some fun singles

In case I don't get a chance to post tomorrow...

Getting back from the pool at Adcope. Isn't that outfit great? She picked all of it out herself. Sometimes she is so girlie that it scares me.



Bob and Etta playing the game that Uncle Jim got for me. She had said, "Watch game on TV." I asked her, "Who do you watch a game with on the TV?" Her response? "Uncle Jim!!"



The shoes she sported for three days straight last week. Even with the very boyish clothes she was picking all week. Nothing quite like a pair of denim shorts, a Montana Mud t-shirt and fancy dress shoes.



And enjoying the sprinkler when we got back from the Speeder Car ride in Potlatch. (Future post to follow.) Once I showed her how to run THROUGH the sprinkler she was unstoppable.)

Most Recent News

I have SO many pics to put up that I don't think I'll ever catch up! But I will start with the most recent news.

Etta is officially moved into her "big girl bed".

A couple of weeks ago she threw a HUGE tantrum and crawled out of her crib. Kind of put a crimp in our plans of keeping her in the crib until Christmas...And I started thinking about the whole "that's MINE!" and didn't want to have to fight over the crib when Mae gets here. And I also realized that I am barely able to get her in and out of the crib now. What would I do for the first couple of weeks of school, when I am the *most* pregnant and Bob isn't around to help?

We were going to wait until after Bob and Etta get back from a trip to Bozeman in early August to make the switch, but then I thought, "Why wait?"

We asked her if she wanted a big girl bed, she got super excited and Thursday evening we got it all set up. She was so excited about the bed that she wanted to "get jammies on and go sweep" at 6:30! She made it to bed at 8:00 - and then proceeded to sing, talk and kick the wall for about an hour. But she didn't get up! We have had two nights and a nap of not getting out of bed at all.

A couple of important things for mommy and daddy to remember. Etta MUST climb in and out of the bed on her own. No lifting or setting. (Works for me!) Even more important, "No mommy. Dis my bed. You go Mommy, Daddy's big bed". But best for me, as she points to the crib, "Dat Baby Mae's bed". For a girl who is definitely not into sharing it is music to my ears.

She is also been reiterating that "My Gramma gave it to me. It's nice". Super cute but...actually Auntie Christine, Uncle Matt and Jonah or Noah gave it to her. A very thoughtful and generous gift for our little girl.



Using a laundry basket to pretend to play "big bed" while waiting for the real "big bed".



After last nap in the crib. This was a hard one for mommy.



[Look at the smile in each of these pics. What a great girl!]

Non-Etta post #2

I LOVE the "Big Sky". I have often tried to capture the feeling through photographs. I am not a photographer, (unlike Nina) but decided to give it a try with mom's camera. Still not great, but getting closer.

Ye Old Homestead.





Close up from the same exact spot.



A bin.



And a couple of flower shots. Just think how great they would be if I actually KNEW how to take pics?





[I know that the bottom pic is NOT a flower. But they still are pretty. In that evil weed kind of way...]