The Little Man is 2

 Our youngest turned 2 yesterday.  Hard to believe it's been that long, and yet here we are.  What a joy this little guy is!  He is a very busy little man.  He loves to run and climb and play in the irrigation ditch.  He's brave ... a little too brave for Mama's liking, but also a ton of fun.  His vocabulary is amazing, and he fits right into the family.  He LOVES to read.  For hours.  And hours. :)

He's also had some real challenges, and we're thankful he's doing as well as he is.  He is allergic to tons of foods, and despite the doctor's belief that the allergies would decrease, they have actually gotten worse.  The ones we know about right now are eggs, dairy, wheat, soy, corn, tree nuts, coconut, sesame, and he is deathly allergic to peanuts.  So making a suitable birthday cake (or even his daily meals) is a challenging.  I'll do a separate post on his birthday cake, as the recipe I found and tried this time was amazing.  I literally wouldn't have known it was an allergy-free cake if I hadn't made it myself.  I think it's going to be the only kind of cake I make for birthdays in our family so the poor little guy can have some each time.  He's number 5, so we do a lot of celebrating around here.  He also has very bad eczema, which often prompts well-meaning strangers to suggest odd treatments.  The latest was a woman who I'm pretty sure wasn't dealing with a full deck.  She was sure he needed to take Emu oil or liquid aloe vera - both internally.  With all the allergies he already has, I've decided not to ever take a chance with odd treatments that have to be ingested.  Seriously though, doesn't it seem likely that if there were a simple cure for this problem, our excellent pediatrician  - or at least the dermatology specialist - would know about it?  Okay enough of the rant.  Let's get back to the party.

 He had a fun time unwrapping his presents.

Papa and Bugga came over for cake and ice cream and to see him unwrap everything.

 His 20 year old sister bought him some dried fruit - apricots and pineapple.  When he found it, everything had to stop until I opened the pineapple and let him dig in ;)

 

His four year old brother was as excited about the birthday party as he was.  Here he was wanting to give the birthday boy a hug :)

I love how excited they get about the smallest little things - like in this case, a simple ball.

This big box was full of medium sized balls.

He about fell into the box trying to get them out.

As soon as he did, he would take them over to someone and share them :)

Here's a blue one for Papa.  Bugga had already been given a red one.

 Daddy bought him a monster truck.  (Actually Daddy did all the shopping for us.  He bought the balls, the monster truck and a sail boat).

His sister also gave him a stuffed tiger that looks just like Hobbs from the Calvin and Hobbs comic strip.  So that's what we're calling him.  He shared that with his nine year old brother.

 Excitement!

He was giving Hobbs a big "squeeze hug" as the four year old calls it.

His nine year old brother gave him a couple of boats.  This one is a jet ski, which he immediately took by the handle bars and started making motor noises with :)

Then it was time for cake.  This was quite a treat for him since with all his allergies, he rarely gets cake.  I make him cookies from time to time (oatmeal mixed with mashed bananas and baked) but cake is a rare treat.  He can't have any of the boxed mixes because they usually contain xanthan gum, which is a corn product, and he is allergic to corn.

Don't you love that face?  He was trying to figure out how to blow the candles out.  The four year old was very eager to help him out with that.

Birthdays are SO exciting!

 Sister was trying to get him to blow...

Here we go!  (Don't mention it to the company, but I think there was a little moisture in that blowing!)

I couldn't decorate it like i normally would have so I just sprinkled some of those dehydrated strawberry and banana pieces on top ... you know, the ones that are in the baby food section?  He loves those.

I think he thought the entire pan was for him ;)

It started off neat enough...

But in the end, he wanted the rest of the pan  ... and he had given up on the fork.

Grandpa sent him a musical card, which he though was the most hysterical thing ever.

It didn't take him long to figure out how to make the music start over... and over...

Of course when you receive four boats for your birthday, it's a must to have a bath after the party ... not to mention the chocolate covered face and hands...

He sure had it figured out how to play with that jet ski!

Anyway, it was a great party and a great day.  We're so thankful for each and every one of our blessings!

Sommers Ranch Homestead Field Trip

We have an awesome group of homeschoolers here locally, and we often have the opportunity to go on field trips together.  What's even better is that there are some great Moms in the group who are willing to let my nine year old tag along when I'm stuck at home with the daycare kids.  A few weeks ago they went to the Sommers Ranch Homestead, and someone just shared pictures with me, so here they are.  (They also went to a Painted Sage Farm that week, which is a local co-op greenhouse and farm, but I don't have any pictures from that trip.)

Our son (on the right) had a blast with his friend.

Despite their size difference these two are less than a year apart in age.

This is a picture of the homestead in winter.  I love that they have preserved this place.  

 There are a lot of interactive things for the kids to do - such as gathering eggs from the chickens.

 There are demonstrations showing the kids how things used to be done.

They even got to help make bread, and then enjoy the end product.

 There were horses for them to ride, and other outside play things.

(I pulled this photo from the internet - these kids were not part of our group, but how fun is this see-saw?)

They learned to do a little roping.

And they did a little leather work.  They made coasters.  

They've really done a nice job of making this a hands-on historic site.  I highly recommend it if you're ever near Pinedale, Wyoming.  Here's a link to their facebook site if you're interested https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sommers-Ranch-Homestead/215858238436648

June Reading

 Well, I guess I'm back on track with my reading.  I made it through 9 books this month.  This is what I read, in the order I read it.  In the picture, the first book I read each month is always on the bottom, with the most recent on the top.

1. A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama (The Samurai's Garden, which I read earlier this month was much better)
2. City of Saints by Andrew Hunt (set in 1920's Salt Lake City - an excellent book with a Dick Tracy/Dragnet feel to it)
3. The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (the first Picoult novel I've read and I LOVED it.)
4. 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson (not great)
5. Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (Horrible. Not worth reading at all. Had to read it for book club. Complete waste of time.)
6. Trekkerman: Walking the World's Best Trails by Ric Samulski (Samulski is from here, and used to own the newspaper I wrote for when I first came to town in 1994.  He didn't own it then though.  I'm not at all into hiking, but this was a local book club selection, and it was surprisingly good.  Very humorous.)
7. The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall (interesting non-fiction book about how story is such a part of being human.  Very thought provoking.)
8. You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt (good book about the cold war)
9. The Walnut Tree by Charles Todd (fluff fiction, with an impossible storyline, but entertaining)

I read a total of 11.5 inches this month, in nine books, with a total of 2,769 pages.  For the year to date that makes 42 books, 49.25 inches (over four feet!) and 12,045 pages. :D

The stack on the left is the pile of books I read this month, and the books on the right are the ones I have checked out to read soon.  This doesn't include two of the book club books I don't know about yet. I should find out what they are early this week.  I don't expect to get through the whole pile, but I'm hoping to make good progress on them.

 The other day when I had my daycare kids out on our playground, I couldn't find my four year old.  A quick search found him in my bedroom, in the chair.  He told me he was reading books. (He had been reading the one that is at his feet in the picture.  He threw it down when I came in with the camera).

He loves to read, and he loves to be alone.  He had been outside alone right before we all headed out, then went in when all the kids came out.  Later, he went back out after all the kids came in :)  He's his own private little man.  I guess he takes after me in that respect.  I love to be alone where it's quiet too.

 And then there's this creative little guy.  He found a knight, but couldn't find the horse that goes with him, so he grabbed a little stuffed horse to improvise with.

Pretty sharp :)