Life update and photos

Hey guys.  I can't believe it's been over a month since I last blogged.  I haven't even blogged using the new Blogger interface yet.  Anyway, we've all been having a good end of summer/beginning of fall.  Over the past few weeks we've gone to some farmers' markets, roadtripped to Ames to see my parents, enjoyed the beautiful weather as we've gone on walks, and Claire started Kindermusik a couple weeks ago.  I'm so, so glad we signed her up for Kindermusik.  I had some reservations about it since she's only 5 months old; I thought she might not get much out of it.  I was definitely wrong.  It's so fun watching her interact with the other babies and just plain having fun.

The next several weeks will continue to be a little busier than normal.  Some exciting stuff, some not so exciting stuff.  I started a 4-week Bible study at our church this morning (exciting, and nice to gather with other SAHMs).  I went to the dentist a couple weeks ago to get some of my old fillings replaced, and I have to go back and get more work done in October (not so exciting, but painful!).  We are getting Claire's 6-month pictures taken the first week in October, and we're going to do some family shots too (exciting, at least for me).  This Saturday Steve and all three of his girls (Hannah big girl, Larkin the little girl, and Claire the baby girl) are going to an event at Noelridge Park called Paws in the Park.  It is a 1-mile run/walk for dogs and their humans with proceeds benefiting the spay/neuter fund at Cedar Rapids animal control.  The weather should be really nice and it will be fun to see Larkin interact with lots of other dogs.  She still gets jumpy around new people, even when she's got her Gentle Leader on, so I'm a little nervous about how things will go, but maybe she will decide to be on her best behavior so she doesn't embarrass herself in front of all her new doggie friends.  I can hope, anyway.

Here are our last six weeks in pictures!

Claire rolled over for the first time on August 7th:

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit:

Same dress, 1983 vs. 2011

Visiting my parents in Ames:

Labor Day walk at the Morgan Creek arboretum:

Larkin testing her boundaries...we decided to see how well she would do with staying in the sunroom if we took down the gate we usually have up.  She decided to lie there with one paw over the line.  Notice the ominous-looking spray bottle that was ready to get her if she tried venturing any further.