Emily's Name....Forever in Ink

 Tim is no stranger to the tattoo gun.  He's got several....ok, he's bordering on "many"...but there is one consistent theme.. no names!  In the tattoo world, getting your girlfriend's name is insane, wife's name is completely idiotic, but kids' names are just fine.  Why?  Well, your kids are your kids forever.  Doesn't change.  Your girlfriend or wife?  Getting their name is the kiss of death for that relationship.  So while my name will never grace Timmy's body, our kids' names have been his goal since November 18, 2010.
He got Emily's name yesterday in a beautiful font called "featherography".  After this has healed, he will be adding some shading and making some additions that are specific to Emily.  For example, he wants to add a scorpion tail to the "Y" in Emily because she's a Scorpio and he might add a smoking gun in the background because she's such a pistol. (yes, pun intended). In a month or two, Jason Oliver will be added to his other side.  Jason's personal touches haven't been decided yet--we need to give him a little more time to develop a distinct personality.

Beginner Blankets

 Truth be told, I learned to crochet in possibly the worse "beginner way" possible--by making a huge blanket for my mom for Mother's Day back in my sophomore year of college.  I spent 3-5 hours almost nightly for three months doing row after row of shell patterns to create a striped jewel tone blanket big enough to be used a twin bed bedspread!  I'm much more likely to make hats now because I've been lucky enough to have pretty good business through my Etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/HippityHoppityHats) .  In fact, when I go on Google and search for "baby boy visor hats", my shop is the third website that pulls up and under images, three of my hats are in the first row, including the first image to appear!  So exciting!  But I was starting to burn out a little on constant elf hats, baseball hats, and visor hats, so I took a break from the norm to learn the Granny Square.  Believe it or not, it's very simple, and I can't believe it took 14+ years before I even thought to tackle that stitch!  
So I have made 3 blankets so far.  The first was for Emily, because when she sees me crochet she says "Is that for me?  Or for a baby?".  And it's about time she got to benefit from my hobby!  So her blanket is yellow and pink and called "Pink Lemonade".  The next blanket I did was the one above and below.  The color combo is called "Aidan" and it's a combo of bright white, denim blue and chocolate brown.  I did the blanket as a basic giant Granny Square.  I think it turned out well for only my second Granny Square blanket!  (Third blanket is still a work in progress....)  There is something very soothing about a Granny Square with all the holes to poke little fingers and toes through!

School's Out!

 For our first official "Day out of school", I took Garrett, Caroline, LoLo and Emily on a short road trip to Busch Gardens!  Lots of schools in the area have to go through this week, so I figured the park might have less people than later on this summer.  Also, forecast was calling for 30% chance of isolated storms, which would lower the number of people at the park even more.  We have season passes, so it's not like a "make or break" thing for us if it rains.  We could just hang out in the funnel cake shop until a storm passed.  Luckily, we only had to put up with two five-minute sprinkles and that was it!  And with the cloudy weather came no sunburns and lower temps than usual.  Score!

I  LOVE all the stained glass in this place!  

Garrett was in trouble for an untidy chamber and Emily couldn't keep her mouth shut.

LoLo and Caroline....BFF

Yes, that is a very tall roller coaster.

Notice the complete lack of crowds in this place!

For the first hour, it honestly felt like we had snuck in the place!  There was only a dozen or so other people there!

Waiting so patiently for the older kids to get finished with the Griffin.

And we're spinning!  We're spinning baby!

Jason: 8 Months Old

 Jason is growing up fast!  He's had many new developments over the past couple of months.  We were so lucky with his eating--he took it very easily at 5 months and there hasn't been a food he hasn't liked!  His meal plan consists mainly of:  fruit and cereal for breakfast, fruit or veggie for lunch (2 containers), and a protein with veggies for dinner (like apples and chicken with mixed veggies).  His favorites so far seem to be blueberries, prunes (!), applesauce, sweet potatoes, and peas.  He has added wheels and puffs to his meal times too.  They give him something to teeth on and help introduce more solid foods.
Jason is sitting up like a champ now.  We can plant him in the middle of the rug with a pile of toys and he is happy as a clam for about 20 minutes.  Jason has decided that crawling is overrated.  He can push up on all fours when he's on his tummy, but he usually just collapses down and looks like he's frantically swimming.  His tried and true method of getting across a room is rolling!  He keeps his eyes on the prize and just rolls over until he gets there!

 Jason was making an absolute mess of my kitchen at bath time (and contributing to some costly water damage to the floor) so we got him an inflatable tub for the downstairs bathroom.  It seems to be doing the trick of keeping him happy AND keeping the water in the tub.

 Sizes:
Clothes:  12 months, some 18 months
Diapers:  3, but it's getting snug
Weight:  21 pounds

Gym Fun Class

 Emily took her first gymnastics class this past winter, which I signed her up for because of the snow and ice (and inability to run off our energy outside).  She started in January and by April was hooked.  When the class ended right after spring break, we were deep in Garrett's baseball season and the weekends were packed.  So Emily went on "hiatus" while Garrett finished out his season.  We didn't want her to lose all her skills so we signed her up for Gym Fun, a class (and very cool teacher) who come to her daycare every Tuesday.  Yes, a little pricier than the parks and rec class, but it's only for a couple of months until her other class starts back up in July.
Emily had her recital on Tuesday and it was great!  She did her "routines" on the floor, bar, beams, and vault.  A medal and certificate later, and you would have thought I had Gabby Douglas up there!

Introducing Emily!

balance beam

Bars routine

Waiting our turn....

Yay for us!

Caroline's 11th Birthday

 When I asked Caroline what she wanted to do for her birthday this year, she immediately said "Slumber party" and named off the four friends she wanted to invite.  So we made narwhal-themed invitations and she handed them out to Anna, Claire, Emma, and Lauren (LoLo to Emmy and friends).  Two were able to stay through dinner and cake (prior commitments) and LoLo and Emma were able to spend the night.  The girls kept it old school by watching "The Last Unicorn" and playing Dance Party on the Wii.  Caroline got to pick the menu (above) which consisted of dino shaped chicken nuggets (Emmy's choice), Bagel Bites, watermelon, pasta salad, and....bacon.  Yes, bacon.

Jay got kicked out of his seat at the table since there were so many girls.  He enjoyed his view from the counter.

Did you know that icing on  an ice cream cake will run after it's frozen?  Yeah, me  neither.  So here is my "fix".

Happy Birthday to You!

We LOVE Carvel ice cream cake!

Caroline and friends turned the melted icing into face paint.

Ummmm, yeah, the sugar is kicking in!

Present time!

Gift cards are always good!

"melon" colored headband (Caroline's current favorite color)

kitchen/baking themed presents from Aunt Carrie!