Ryan's 1st Bday

We celebrated Ryan's 1st birthday on Saturday, the 21st. It's always amazing to think how much that has happened in a year...birth, rolling over, smiling, laughing, crying, screaming, bottles, baby food, crawling and developing personality. At this point, I enjoy looking back at their pictures just to see how much they've changed. Ryan is such a ball of energy, has no fear, loves music, loves people and enjoys pretty much everything we throw at him. No, we don't throw anything too hard :) This is a video of Ryan eating his own personal cake. He had such a good time, but what a mess. He's a very messy eater.

We're looking forward to some more milestones this next year such as walking, talking and the Terrible Two's!. Okay, I'm not looking forward to that because Ryan can sure scream, but I am looking forward to getting it over with. Anyways, enjoy!

Week 2 of my Co-OP

I took a pic this time. I got some heirloom tomatoes which are making me really happy. I got more patti pan squash and that was good last time I cooked it.

I gave the eggplant to my neighbors because I know I don't like that. I gave the plum tomatoes to Bobby because he loves tomatoes.Everything else, I'll keep. We got more turnips so I guess i'll make a turnip casserole.

And these are the boys playing in the dirt

And this is what I saw last night...

And it wasn't even good beer.

Something cute

As we were driving home today I heard a little giggle and took a picture of what I saw.

The House

Well, the house is coming along. We just got the electricity set up today and the dry wall got put back up. So, that's really exciting. Today Alex showed us a nest of baby birds under our porch. Right after I took this shot the mom and dad got real nervous and started flying at us real crazy. So, we left so we didn't get attacked.

The pictures I attached are of our backyard and kitchen. The backyard is being set up for a future pool, man game room and screened in porch. That's about it on the home-front.

Daddy Took Us to the Zoo

Well, there's no zoo in Charleston, so we have to drive to Columbia which is just under 2 hours. This is the first time I've gotten to go. The zoo is smaller than what I'm used to, but it's just perfect for James and Ryan. It is small enough that James can walk around the whole time and also small enough that we can see all the animals. Sometimes a zoo is so big that you don't get to see everything. Anyways, James' favorites were the turtles and zebras. But the aquarium section with snakes and fish were a big hit also. He got to ride the little "train" and it was slow enough that he wasn't scared. Ryan liked it too. It was in the hundreds temperature wise so the boys were beet red for most of the time we were there. It was a fun time and I hope to go again soon but not too soon in this heat.

A nice thing about my location

Well, there are definitely some things I don't prefer about my current living location, however, there are some things I definitely do. For example, when people don't want a household item anymore, they just leave it outside at the end of their driveway. There's usually a 2 hour max on how long an item will stay outside. I have put out a few things that didn't last 2 hours, so that's really nice. I have also picked up a few items on my way home from errands. For example, we just picked up an Eddie Bauer baby backpack. We already have a backpack so we'll probably give it to our friends. If they don't want it, who knows... This next item wasn't free, but cheap. On our morning walk up to Starbucks we passed the local pre-school who was having a yard sale. I got a $10 toddler bed. Woohoo!! Anyways, good deals like that are found easily around here, so that's one thing I really appreciate!

Nosy Southerners

I hate to say this is just a southern thing, but some things are. There's something down here that makes people think they can just say things to you and about your children as they walk by. Like "He's Fat", "He's short", etc. Most recently, I was in Tuesday Morning walking around with a life vest for James. A lady looked at it and asked if it was for my dog. I told her No, that it was for my child. How Old? she asked. 2 1/2. I said. "OH, he should ALREADY know how to swim". Yea, I know. Whatever!! Usually I don't get frustrated but how many 2 1/2 year olds can swim completely on their own? Not many. Anyways, sometimes it's nice when people just keep their thoughts to themselves.

Forever Stamps

This is a quick note to let you know about Forever stamps. They are non-denominated stamps that you buy at the current rate that last "forever". For example, if you buys a book of $.42 stamps today and tomorrow it goes up to $.43, then you can still use the ones you bought at $.42. They're called Forever stamps and you can get them online or at the post office. For those of you still sending bills by mail, I still do a few, I thought this would be helpful.