Holy Cra...FT!

I hadn't realized how many little projects here and there I had been working on lately. Most of these are my projects, but I have recently found some craft projects for Kari, too, just in time for the 4th of July. Here's a little peek at the new things we've tried:

Homemade Bubble Blower. It worked pretty okay. The last picture is of her inhaling the bubble solution. And that was the end of playing with the bubble blower.

Fabric buckets; baby bibs for the upcoming birth of a friend's baby; appliqued frog and Kari's name on her school naptime blanket. That was not easy sewing around all those corners with a full size blanket. Ugh.

4th of July door wreath

Paper Mache' bowls. We filled them with York Peppermint Patties and a note to Kari's teachers wishing them a happy 4th and to "stay cool."

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Kari has been enjoying saying, "Milwaukee Wisconsin" as she rattles off her latest weekend destination. The Keckler crew headed North this past weekend to attend the wedding of one of Holly's almost famous (or perhaps infamous??) cousins. While we couldn't arrive in time for the actual wedding, we were able to celebrate at the reception in total Milwaukee style.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Milwaukee Zoo with Holly's other cousin, Allison, her husband Nick and their three wonderful kids. It was hot and we didn't last long, but it was good to spend a bit more time with Allison's family. The highlight of the zoo was the train ride.

We arrived to Glen Ellyn late Saturday afternoon, just in time for Kari to head over to the new Splashpark.

And we couldn't be in the Windy City without seeing Grammy Pammy, so we trotted off to have lunch with her and Dale on Sunday at the always delicious Portillo's. (Yes, hotdogs are delicious.)

And today, we're back to the grind. We're getting geared up and excited for the holiday weekend and 4th of July festivities. Kari is looking forward to the fireworks at the Elks, which she apparently remembers from last year.

Father's Day Means

spending time together as a family.

Bryce: The Second Child

It's so true. The second child just doesn't have as many opportunities for documenting milestones, nor professional pictures. Bryce's baby book does not have a dot of ink in it yet; instead it is filled with scraps of paper and Post-It notes of "firsts" I've been able to quickly jot down. With Kari, I was under the impression that a good parent made appointments for professional pictures every three months in the first year. (That did not happen with Kari, by the way.) Poor Bryce, just shy of hitting 10 months, had his first professional photo taken last month. I did something different this time. Instead of heading over to Target for the same old run-of-the-mill baby poses, I had a colleague's daughter who is in school for digital photography take the pictures at a nearby park. I could not have been more pleased. In less than an hour she snapped over 300 photos of Bryce just being himself outside enjoying the sunshine.