The Red Chevron

This is the THIRD Black Widow spider we've killed around our house this summer!
I have this major aversion to smashing spiders...well, all bugs actually (something about the 'crunch' gets to me). So you can imagine my terror when I found the first one lurking outside our front door one morning after Brian had left for school. Usually, when I see bugs or spiders crawling around on my floor, I just turn my head the other way and pretend that I never saw them. (Unless Brian is home, of course, then I make a big deal of it until he ... ummmm ... disposes of it.) But I couldn't just ignore a Black Widow and let it sit around - so I stared at it for a full minute while I tried to decide how to get rid of it. Smashing it was out of the question - even with someone else's shoe - seeing how her bum itself was the size of a large marble. So I ran inside to look under my kitchen sink for something toxic ... BLEACH! I emptied about half of the bottle on the spider, and then kept checking on it every minute or so to make sure it didn't ever move again. It was dead - in the middle of our front porch - and that's where it stayed until Brian came home.

Carson's First Birthday!!!

Can you even believe that Carson took his first step today! On his birthday! This is the first time I've really seen Carson excited about doing something new - he's always been so laid back and content to just 'be'...but today he practiced and practiced and practiced until he could take 2 full steps. It's fun to see him clap for himself, too. :)











And what would a first birthday be without getting covered in cake???





Presents, presents, presents! Thanks so much to Grandma, Grandpa, Nana and Poppy!





















What a fun day!

And to finalize the day, we all went out to the ball game - Happy Birthday, Carson!

My Favorite Thing...

Instead of trying to catch up on the past three and a half years of my kids lives, I decided to share with you my FAVORITE part about being a mom so far - sibling love! These are a few of my favorite photos that almost capture the sweet feelings between McKenzie and Carson. Doesn't it bring tears to your eyes? :)

The Newest Bloggers!

Alright, so I just love to look at all of the new blogs from friends that are going up - so I decided to conquer my 'fear of the unknown' and try this out myself! This is such a great way to keep our family in touch with your family...so, here we go!




McKenzie's our little observer...she always knows what's going on and who has said what. She picks up on our vocal tones to know when we're happy/kidding/mad/sad, and she responds in the sweetest ways. Sometimes in the car after I've had enough, "Mom?" - "What?" "Mom?" - "What?" "Mom?" - "What?" I'll answer with a slightly sharper "What?" and she'll stop her thought to say, "Mom - did you say that with a happy face or a mean face?" I would love to know what goes on in that little brain of hers sometimes! She also has a little creative streak that flies out often. Right now she has her own little imaginary friend, Teeda. (We have no idea where the name came from) But, we've accepted him as one of our family. :)

Our little man, Carson! He's pretty content to play, laugh, sing, crawl as fast as he can... It's pretty cute to watch him tackle balls, laugh at McKenzie, hug his teddy bears, scream "DA-DA!!!!" - he's such a happy kid! (As long as he has food in his belly, a clean diaper, plenty of sleep and enough attention, that is...) Carson makes our life fun!