What's LittleBear been up to lately?

LittleBear has been a busy boy since turning two! Most noticeably, he's started talking a lot more -- doing better and repeating words, and even using words (and correct ones*) without prompting. So fun to hear that!

But that's not all; he's also been busy...

... keeping his hands in his pockets


... visiting Lion's Park






... being cute


... and acting silly


He's a lot of fun to be around!

* Because we figure some will ask... His new words include "cookie," "remote**," "Bert" and occasionally "apple."

** "Remote" refers to the remote control for a fan in his room.

Family Garden: Giant Honeydew

There's not a lot new going on in the garden this week. I did go out to take these pictures and found a new honeydew melon that I had not seen before, and it's the biggest one yet! That was a fun discovery!

Other than that, not much has changed...Here's what things look like as of now:

Box #1:
Box #2:
Box #3:

Giant Honeydew!
Cherry Tomato Plant:
Much Happier Cantaloupe:
Beanstalk, still going!
Broccoli:
Yummy Bell Peppers:

Family Garden: And They're Off!

Garden Front and Back

We have melon vines racing through the backyard! Seriously, those vines belong to two plants...amazing! It's been a bit of a challenge training LittleBear to be careful and not step on the vines, but he's doing better with it. I tried wrapping them around the garden box, but that didn't really work. Other than that, there's not a lot new going on with the garden. We've been asked to restrict our water usage due to the drought, so I backed off a bit on the water. We'll see how that goes.

At the moment, we've got three bell peppers, and a sweet pepper growing. There are also at least five baby honeydews and I suspect there are more that I haven't found yet. We've also got some more green beans on the way. The beanstalk is still growing and has decided to go sideways along the top of the trellis.

My mom says she thinks the melon vines might make it to the fence. We'll see!

Box #1:
Box #2:
Box #3:
Baby Honeydew!
Green Bean Blossoms!
Much healthier Cantaloupe plant:
Broccoli!
Beanstalk reaching for the sky:
Sweet Pepper:
More baby melons growing!
Purple Broccoli Plant is actually purple (look at the middle of the stem)!
Cherry Tomato Blossoms:
Bell Pepper Trio:

Guess Who's Two!

LittleBear is two years old!


Wow, we seriously cannot believe it has been two years! LittleBear is a most active little boy who keeps us on our toes, but is also a sweet, gentle, observant, curious and sensitive little man. He eats like a champ and is learning an incredible amount every day. All the while, he is showing us the world in a new light each time he discovers something new.

We wanted to honor him through a birthday party that would be really fun for him, so we came up with this: a splash party with bubbles! But what do you do when you've planned an outdoor splash party and the forecast high is 105 degrees?

We were armed with 3 gallons each of lemonade and sweet tea. We had chocolate stuffed raspberries, goldfish, chips & salsa, and Chex mix. We also had carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and homemade ice cream cake (if you're interested in hearing about how the ice cream cake was made, you'll find a summary at the end of this post).

We had a lovely time with friends and family!!! At least as far as we've heard from party-goers, the heat didn't feel nearly as severe as it should have. It took LittleBear a while (like, most of the party) to get into the pool, but once he did, he's been wanting to go in every minute since! We even spent a good deal of time in it the afternoon of Father's Day.

Thanks to everyone who shared in this day and helped make this party so special and fun for LittleBear. We're so blessed!



Or click here for a photo gallery of the birthday weekend.

Also, here are some videos from the day:

• LittleBear woke up on his birthday morning to find a big new present waiting for him!
• Almost time for the party
• Singing "Happy Birthday" to a boy who just wants to get down and play
• The party moves outdoors
• With the party almost over, LittleBear finally decides to try the pool and slide -- and finds it's fun!
  

And now, for the ice cream cake recipe. I (Bethany) combined several recipes that I found through blogs I follow and made a few changes to suit our tastes. As for an ice cream maker, I use the Kitchen-Aid mixer ice cream maker attachment and it is wonderful!

Anyway, the original recipe for the cake can be found at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. It consisted of a layer of chocolate ice cream, followed by a hot fudge sauce/chocolate wafer (minus the espresso) crunchy middle, then a layer of vanilla ice cream, topped off with a bit of whipped cream. If I had it to do all over again, I would have put the hot fudge sauce/chocolate wafer layer on the bottom and skipped the whipped cream all together, but it was still really tasty the way it came out. I also would have substituted whole wheat pastry flour in the chocolate wafer recipe (replacing the all purpose) and would have lowered the sugar increments a little on each recipe. Even so, it is a recipe that I'll definitely be making again!!!

Happy birthday, LittleBear!! We love you so much!!!!!!!!!