Ashley's Baby shower

Ashley was due in 2 weeks, so we through her a shower on Saturday.

Since Calvin's theme for his bedroom is "Safari", that made a great theme for the shower. 

I tried a couple new things for the shower, and both turned out great and are thing I will do again.

First was a diaper cake. I didn't want to individually roll all the diapers becuase then Ash would have to unroll, unwrap and flatten them before she could use them. I used a method I found on You Tube that just slightly curves the diapers. Hopefully she'll get good use out of it.

I lvoe the way it turned out!

My second venture were cake pops. Again, You Tube was extremely helpful as well as a copule other sites. I don't remember which ones I used as I just kind of combined them all. I did find this video on decorating them extremely helpful, though.

I ended up using French Vanilla Cake with some Raspberry Preserves, Cream Cheese icing and Starbucks Raspberry syrup (just a little). I dipped them in Vanilla candy shell and used chocolate for the decorating. They were deliscious! I don't think I'm a huge chocolate person, I've found, as I prefer fruity cakes when I make them. This tasted much like a moist raspberry cheesecake and I'll use those ingredients again, although next time I might make lemon cake balls with a lemon cake and vanilla coating.

I was happy with the results, anyhow, and will definitely attempt it again in the future. Both these new things were so fun to do!

Some decorations for the shower. Some of these were from Calvin's room and other's I got or made.

 

 The food table:

Ty and Annie enjoying some cake pops

Love this one!



Fun in the Water

We've had some hot days so far this year, so we've spent some time at the fun fountain areas in Knoxville. We went to the Splashpad yesterday and I got a few fun pics.

Ty is my little waterdog. He loves the water. I thought he might be a little intimidated by getting sprayed in the face, but it didn't seem to bother him. He and Libby had a blast!

He loves grabbing the water.

Ty loved Annie's curls and was gently feeling them. Of course they wouldn't cooperate when I pulled the camera out. My little man is deffinitely getting a belly and some rolls! For the first time since he was a newborn.

Here are some pictures taken by my friend Holly. Libby and Hosanna are good friends and these pics are adorable!

Earlier in May, we went to the fountians downtown with Khadine, Holly and Judah. They also have a super fun playground there! They are huge fountains, but the kids still enjoyed them. Libby just ended up running around the outside most of the time. But they also enjoyed splashing them. I think this pic is just before Libby hit water right into Judah's face, after I was showing her how to splash it. Sorry Judah! I felt pretty bad.

This would have been a cool shot with a 50 mil lens.

We're going to try to go to Dollywood tomorrow. If I remember to bring my camera, then I hope to get some more fun shots. What a fun summer we're having so far! And it's only just June!



Memorial Day Weekend Part 2

Sunday - Boat Day

Sunday we had a blast going out on the boat with Scott, Ash and Annie and Adam, Holly and Judah. Libby remembers now that the boat is fun so we don't have any trouble getting her on it. Into the water is another story. I don't know what happened to her, she used to love everything outside and never be afraid of anything. Sometime in the middle of 2 years old, all that changed. The drama kicked in and all of the sudden there are so many things to be afraid of. I'm hoping she'll outgrow all that around 4.

Ty, on the other hand, loves the boat, water, everything. As soon as he got in the water with his lifejacket on, he started splashing around and grinning ear to ear. I hope he doesn't outgrow it.

We cruised around on the boat, got lots of swim time and some wake surfing and wakeboarding. Then we ate dinner at Willy's on the water. We had a little scare that we were out of gas, so when we got the boat started after the scare, we raced back to the dock. The fireworks had started around then at Willy's (they were having their summer kick-off party). So we got to see the fireworks in passing and back at the dock. The kiddos loved them and were just staring. That may also have been the past-bedtime, been in the sun for a while stare. Either way, we had a blast!

I didn't get any pictures becuase I didn't bring my camera on this adventure. Hey, don't judge, I did have my arms full and was thinking of a million different things I needed to remember to bring before we left. I do wish I'd brought it though.

Monday - Mammaw and Pappaw's

We went out to Matt's parents on Monday for a fun and restful Memorial Day.

Libby wasn't participating with the camera, so this is about the only pic I got of her. Cuddling up watching Toy Story on the couch.

Cornhole in the backyard. 

Ty playing with his basketball. He loves throwing balls - straight at the ground.

 Ty, as always, was a little more photogenic and interactive with the camera.

So that was our fun weekend. Everyone enjoyed it and now we'll be missing it till Matt gets another weekend off, not for another month. :(

On Tuesday the kids and I went for a run at he park and then got ice cream at Bruesters with Nana.

Ty got a new hair style last week, too. Buzzed a little too short, but still so cute.

Here is Ty, waiting to get in the car to go to the park.

 Love his little Under Armor shirt. Thanks, Mom!

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend with Matt having off school on Saturday and off work on Monday! We got to hang out with him the whole weekend! Libby got so used to it, she's been asking me everyday now, where is Daddy? And saying, "I wish he didn't have to go to work." Me too.

So Day 1 of the weekend (Friday) was basically yard-work day. He trimmed the hedges and trees and I followed along cleaning up. We both got a run in and by the end of the day, we were EXHAUSTED! It was above 90 degrees outside and that really zapped our energy. We ended up with about 6 black bags full of branches!

Saturday was a little more fun, but still ended up being a bit exhausting. We went hiking in Cades Cove! We hiked Abrams Falls and didn't know exactly what we were getting ourselves into with 2 kiddos. It is 5 miles round trip. I thought Libby would make it further than she did. :) She did make it off and on almost 2 miles on the way there. Then coming back we decided to pick up the pace, so she got to ride in our arms. We made it back in about half the time it took to get there. :) It actually wasn't too bad carrying her. She doesn't weigh more than 30 pounds and distributes her weight well. It was another hot day (in the 90's) and it was great to get outside and be in nature. A great way to get a workout! The falls were beautiful and I'm so glad we got to do it!

We also drove the loop in Cades Cove and were surprised it wasn't as busy as we thought it would be.

We got to see a bear, 2 deer and some wild turkey!

Would have gotten a better picture of the bear if some park ranger intern wasn't on an authority trip and commanding everyone to "stay behind the fence" even though the bear (which he didn't even see) was over 100 yards from the fence line. Oh well, I got to see the lump of him from the fence and this is the best pic we got after zooming in like a hundred times. :)

I did actually bring my camera on the hike and got some great shots! Here we are starting off. Ty got the best ride.

Libby, being adventurous said, "watch me climb on this rock, guys." 

 I can never get that hair to stay out of her face.

Hiking with Daddy.

Ty did great the whole time. He loved watching everything around him.

I had to stop and get a few nature shots. Here are a couple of dragonfly's that caught my eye along Abrams Creek.

Most of the hike was under a canopy and along the river, so it actually stayed pretty comfortable.

More smiling baby shots. Love my little man!



 Crazy man. I think the funniest part of the hike was when Matt hid behind a log and starting making growling noises as Libby was walking along. It really scared her and we were cracking up. :) It's good for her to learn to laugh at herself.

 Ty conked out about 10 minutes to the falls. He was so tired!

The water felt great and it was nice to refresh ouselves before heading back.

I would have dipped the kids in, but we had to start heading back, so a splash on the face was all we got. It felt wonderful, though!

Abrams Falls

More on the rest of the weekend to come.