What I'm Craving

John and I discovered this popcorn recently, and we can not get enough. I think that I could eat an entire bag in one sitting, and not even feel too bad about it. The regular Kettlecorn flavor is good, but the

Cinnamon Sugar Kettlecorn is divine!

If you ever see this delicious bag of sweet, cinnamony goodness staring at you from the grocery store shelf, do yourself a favor, and pick up a half dozen bags. You won't regret it!

(And no worries for all of you non-Hoosiers, it is not just sold in Indiana, despite the name.)

New Tricks

Hudson is almost 10 1/2 months old, and has been doing some fun new things. He has been eating all kinds of yummy foods; his favorites are hot dogs, diced pears, and baby popsicles. He has also learned how to stack blocks, which he thinks is the greatest thing ever. He is always so proud of himself afterward. He has also mastered the art of "cleaning up" by throwing toys and play food into their proper baskets.

Most notably however, is taking his first steps, which he started doing last week. Makenna started "walking" at the exact same age. I love this age/stage. It is so fun for me to watch Hudson learn to do new things. It is also a bit of a dangerous stage. Hudson has the bruises on his forehead to attest to that.

Summer Wrap-up

Well, we are back in Bloomington, and John is getting ready to head back to school tomorrow for what will be his 2nd and final year of business school. Makenna keeps telling us that "Daddy has one more year of school, and then it will be my turn". (Since she'll be in Preschool next year we tell her that she is right.) Before I say good-bye to our summer, there are just a few more items worth noting and remembering (at least for my own sake) from our final week or so in Omaha.

My t-shirt quilt

My project this summer was to make the top of what will be my t-shirt quilt from all of my old dance t-shirts. Some of these t-shirts have been sitting in a bin at my mom's house since I graduated from High School 8 years ago, so this quilt was long over-due. My mom and her quilt group started quilting on it a few days after we left Omaha, so I have yet to see the finished project, but here is what the top looks like:

Hudson 9 months

Hudson is now about 9 1/2 months old. He quickly mastered crawling, and moved on to more exciting things, like climbing the stairs, and standing up. He is now standing by himself without holding on to anything, and walking while holding on to my hands. He continues to be a big, healthy boy measuring in at 90% for both weight and head, and 95% for height. He has had 5 more teeth pop thru in the last couple weeks, and now has 4 on top, and 3 on the bottom. He is a happy, content baby, and I just adore him.

Weddings & Anniversaries

John and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary on August 7th with a couple's massage, and dinner at the same restaurant at which our Wedding Luncheon was held. The very next Saturday, the 14th, we were in Idaho for John's brother Dan's wedding. It was a quick trip, but so nice to be there with all of John's family, and to welcome Annalee our new sister-in-law into the family.

Hudson with Aunt Natalie and Uncle Mike

Makenna outside the Twin Falls, Idaho Temple

Makenna and Grandma CeCe

Our 1st attempt at a family picture (it was a little windy)

Our 2nd attempt was a little better (although poor Hudson was ready to be asleep)

Makenna with her uncles Joey and Mike (Makenna LOVES her uncles!)

and finally...the happy couple!

The Lake Part Two

Makenna has pretty much been in heaven this summer living on the lake. She loves the water, and I think would play in it all day every day if she could. Anytime any one else comes over to swim, she gets so excited, and begs and begs to join them. She has also really enjoyed the paddle boat, and the kayak. However, there is one thing about the lake that she is very adamantly opposed to; and that is tubing. She is usually a pretty brave little girl, and willing to do almost anything, but for some reason, she is terrified of going tubing. We tried a couple of times to get her to go, and she refused. I guess we'll have to try that one again next year.

One of her favorite things to do is jump off the dock, which she does over and over.

Occasionally she plays on the sand too.

We are all going to miss having a lake in our backyard to play in anytime we want, but I think Makenna especially is going to go through lake-withdrawal. Luckily, she has lots of friends her age in Bloomington that she is excited to see again.

The Lake Part One

I knew that living on a lake would be fun for Makenna since she LOVES the water, but what I didn't realize was how much fun Hudson was going to have.

At the beginning of the summer I tried to keep Hudson in this litte tent to keep him clean and out of the sun. Of course that didn't last too long.

Once he discovered how much fun the sand was to play with, he wanted nothing to do with that tent.
Then came the water.
Hudson loves to play in the sand and the water.

He gets so excited, and just grabs handfuls of sand, sifting through them to see if he can find any rocks to put in his mouth. He also loves to kick his legs, and usually digs a nice hole by doing so.
So I gave up on trying to keep him clean or dry when we are outside, whether he is in his swimsuit or not, and I think he is pretty happy with the outcome.

Yum Yum!

My parents have a big, beautiful garden from which we have been eating all summer. One night my dad made us each a big salad with lettuce from the garden along with lots of other veggies on top. I poured some dressing on, and grabbed my fork to dig in, when something caught my eye. My salad was moving. This little (not really so little when it is on your plate) bug was crawling across my salad with dressing on its back!!

My dad took my plate to the sink and dumped the bug with the surrounding salad. I tried to enjoy the rest of my salad, but couldn't quite get this image out of my mind. Yuck!

Mid-Air

My brother just finished building a beautiful play set in his backyard, and we were invited over to help break it in. He bought and added on a water slide extension to his slide, and the kids loved it.

The slide was pretty fast, and Makenna wasn't quite able to get her momentum under control at the bottom and would fly off the end of the slide. Despite landing on her bum in the grass, she loved it and went over and over. My sister was able to capture some great pictures of Makenna mid-air.