Outdoor Baby

Simms and the Annelid

Simms loves helping his dad in the yard - digging, watering plants, pulling weeds, harvesting acorns, collecting pine needles...  Last weekend, the little green thumb met his first earthworm and was thoroughly entertained. 

Simms helps his dad dig up some Indian Pea Plants for Greg's botany lab

Simms meets his first earthworm

(*note: no animals were harmed during this zoology lesson)

Some of the okra that Greg planted this year. Gumbo anyone?

 Indian Pea Plant, Loblolly Pine and Red Oak - samples for Greg's botany class

Butterfly Catcher

Tough Being a Toddler

It's tough being a toddler.  Napping, snacking, playing, reading...  Then, of course, there are all the chores.  Roscoe and Simms have been very busy around the house and yard.  We're  so lucky to have such great helpers.

Roscoe mows the lawn



Simms sweeps the deck




Pruning the plants



Watering the ferns

Fortunately, these two still know how to have fun after a hard day of work.  

Celebrating the Parents-To-Be

Last weekend, Alicia, Anu, Nina and I were thrilled to host a baby shower for Sam and Susan, who are expecting TWIN girls in December.  Double happiness!  It was a celebratory event filled with family, friends, food and fun. We are all so happy for these soon-to-be-parents.



Sam and Susan (+ 2) 
What lucky girls these twins will be to have these two as their parents.

 




Food highlights included Nina's baked spinach dip, Charu & Anu's Indian pakoras,
Alicia & Felipe's Argentinian empanadas

 



Another culinary highlight was this beautiful (and delicious) strawberry cake that Nora baked and decorated



YAY TWINS!
You  know how I am about banners. It's just not a party without one.




Look at all the gifts for the wee ones!



Sam is enthusiastically embracing a future full of all-things-pink.




"wombmates" (ahem, pardon my moment of marketing...)
If you need  any handmade custom onesies, visit my etsy shop Sunday Rookery!
 These  Twin Wombmate Onesies  and Twin Dog Onesies are both available online.




Sweet Cooper tries out one of the baby gifts for quality assurance.
Clearly, it passed his test. Good work, Cooper!




Nora, Greta and Susie

Greta flew all the way from NYC to attend the shower. Loved having her at the celebration!





Susie, her mom (Anna) and sister (Melanie)
Anna and Melanie traveled from FL to join the festivities.

 


Sam's mom (Sheila), Sam, Susie

 





The number pregnant women nearly outnumbered the non-pregnant women at this shower.
Susie (due Dec), Joy (Due Dec), Alicia (due May), Greta (Due Feb)
Congrats to all the moms-to-be! 



The Crew:

Anu & Chris, me and Greg, Sam & Susie, Nina & Jerel, Alicia & Felipe

Thanks to everyone for making this such a special day.

We're all so excited about the arrival of the Watson Twins!

Hummingbirds (in the House!)

I'm sure it's not here to stay, but the weather has been gorgeous in MS this week (75 degrees).  We've been keeping our deck doors open to enjoy the nice breeze and cool temperature. Our house must have looked inviting, as a pair of hummingbirds decided to come on in.  (Earlier in the week a hummingbird flew into our kitchen and Greg caught it with his hands!)  

Pair of hummingbirds fluttering at the top of our living room ceiling



Roscoe is hopeful that the hummingbirds will fly right  into the butterfly net.
Good strategy, Roscoe.

Nora takes a more hands-on approach and tries to catch them in the net...

She gets one to perch on the edge of the net. Little bird needed a rest.

Finally, Nora caught the hummingbird in the butterfly net and released it oustide.
Good work, Nora!

 

Joy vs. The Sewing Machine

I love sewing; that is, when the sewing machine actually cooperates with me. Unfortunately, this is rare when working on a  45-year old 1966 Singer Sewing Machine (pictured below).  It was  one of the first gifts that my dad gave to my mom, and we're still using it. 


Mom and Roscoe help me troubleshoot.

Hooray - my mom finally got the machine working again.

The bobbin was the problem (The bobbin is always the problem.)

Project underway....

Project completed: cloth diapers converted into festive burpcloths!  Cloth diapers make the best burpcloths b/c they are nice and wide and don't slip off your shoulder like puny burp cloths do. This set was made for Susie who is expecting twins in December. Can't wait!