friday phone dump

I have some photos from the past few weeks piling up on my phone.  None of them go with anything else, so here they are in one big, random post!

When Asher and I were at Bucknell I took a quick shot of him in front of the library to send to Drew.  Just love it.

The other day it was a little cool out so I had Asher dressed in pants {rather than shorts} for the first time.  They seemed fine until I put his shoes on so we could go outside.  Oops - guess Mr. Flood is going to need some new pants for fall!

Another first for us this week was baking together!  I pulled a step stool over so Ash could reach the counter and he went to town helping me dump the ingredients in the bowl and "holding" the hand mixer.  He loved it!  After we got the cake mixed up and in the pan Asher was very anxious to see the final product, so he stood here and watched it bake for quite awhile.

That eventually got boring so he moved on until it was time to apply the frosting - he may be young, but he's no dummy - even A knows the best part of the cake is decorating!

What did people do before there were cameras on cell phones?  Love being able to capture these little memories with my guy.  :-)

finishing our trip in the middle

One last post about the trip Asher and I took to PA last week!  After swinging by Bucknell, we continued on to my sister's house to spend a few days.  They live in some beautiful countryside and had lots {and lots} of room for Asher to run and play.

Owen and Jenn took Ash for a ride in the golf cart and he l-o-v-e-d it!  As soon as they stopped he started signing "more, more, more."  This boy loves to feel the wind in his hair.  :-)

Asher also had a ton of fun playing with Owen's very wide variety of balls.  First up, some baseball...

then a little football...

After mama couldn't take any more outside time {Asher would have stayed out all day} we headed in and played with a bunch of cars and trucks that Owen pulled out of retirement for Asher.  I know what A is getting for Christmas!

We had so much fun visiting - can't wait to come back!

wordless wednesday - ouch

Yesterday I ran upstairs to grab something and, in my haste, misjudged where the door frame was relative to my foot. 

Ouch.

I've never broken anything before, but now I can cross that off my list.  Broken toe?  Check!

{plus, I know you all wish my feet were featured on this blog more often.  from me to you - you're welcome}

a few more for the flock

I've made a couple more turkey shirts for Asher's many girlfriends {might need to talk to him about that...ha!} and just wanted to share really quick.  My next project is a turkey shirt for little mister - stay tuned!

what did people do before GPS?

Seriously, with a map like this, who needs directions?

where it all began

I don't know how many of you know this, but Drew and I met at college.  It was my Sophomore year at Bucknell and a super cute Senior engineering major asked me to dinner.  The rest - as they say - is history.  :-)

Anyway, on my way to PA last Friday Asher and I had to drive right past Bucknell, so I decided it was the perfect place to stop and stretch our legs.  It was really fun to walk all over campus with Asher and tell him about all the fun Drew and I had there!

Asher met Bucky the Bison...

and walked over to Rooke Chapel.

We saw the plaque that Drew's class donated

and hung out on the quad {a very collegiate thing to do}

I'm voting for Asher to be on the next Bucknell calendar with this shot!  ha!

It was a pretty quick stop since we still had some miles to cover.  Next time we go back Daddy needs to be there!

'ray Bucknell!

rural living's the life for him

We. are. back! 

Did ya miss us?  No need to answer - I know you did.  :-)

Asher and I spent the past 5 days traveling through central Pennsylvania visiting friends and family in the town {and nearby} where I grew up.  We had such a fun time!  Let's start at the end, shall we?

Our second of 2 stops was to visit my good friend from Bucknell, Emily, and her family.  Em grew up on a dairy farm and still lives in countryside with her husband and their brand new baby girl.  Little Scarlett is so precious! 

I soaked up having a sweet little one to dote one.  Miss S was old enough for lots of smiles, but too little to have stranger anxiety - perfect!  Asher wasn't really a fan of me loving on Lettie - apparently, his mommy shouldn't hold other babies.  We'll have to work on that, I guess...  {anybody else watch Modern Family last night?  It was very much like that! ha!}  He did - kind of - agree to let us take their picture together.

Emily was so sweet and thought up lots of exciting stuff for Asher to experience.  What little boy {especially one who lives in suburban Virginia} doesn't love seeing farm animals, dump trucks, trees being chopped down, and - in general - getting super dirty and running all over?!  I thought we'd never convince him to leave. 

One of the first things we did was visit Emily's husband, Shawn, doing his job as a logger. 

Shawn was really great and took time out of his day to show us how they chop down trees, then drag them out of the woods, trim them down, and load the logs onto the truck.  Phew - it's a LOT of work.  I really admire how hard he and his Dad work day in and day out!

Shawn tried to give Asher a ride in the skidder, but A wasn't so sure.  He decided to pass and play it safe staying with me, so Lettie got to ride instead!  There's just something sweet about a daddy with his little girl - no matter what the circumstances.  :-)

The next day we went to visit some friends of Em's who have a working farm.  Asher got to see his first herd of cows up close! 

He was glued to the fence and kept talking to them - "moo.  mooooo."  When they 'talked' back Asher would get so excited!  ha!

He also got to run with the chickens.  I expected this to be like the skidder ride - thanks, but no thanks.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Asher jumped in there and started chasing the chickens all over {poor things!}.  He was flapping his arms and trying to catch them.  Too funny!

Thanks Emily, Shawn, and Scarlett - we had a wonderful time and can't wait to visit again!

One of the hardest parts about being away is not having regular access to a computer {even my phone didn't really work out in the woods of PA!}, so I'm still getting caught up on blogs.  Looking forward to seeing what you all have been up to while we were away!

finishing up

The last day of vacation is always bittersweet for me.  While it's sad to leave behind the relaxed schedule, abundant snacks, unlimited time with Daddy, sun, sand, and surf - it's also exciting to be going home.

On our last few days Asher got to try out something brand new - biking!

Well, riding in a bike trailer.  He's still a bit small for the whole pedaling thing.

Asher l-o-v-e-d it!  Every time they'd roll into the driveway he'd look up from under his helmet and sign "more, more" over and over.  ha!

On our last days we also went for a little visit to my great-Aunt Betty.  She just adores kids - the feeling was mutual with A.  Aunt Betty is my grandfather's sister and has always been a special part of my life.  She lives at the shore full-time and as a child we would come to visit her with my grandparents.  Fun!

We had such a wonderful time at the beach this year.  As I said earlier, Asher totally warmed up to the shore and was actually sad to leave.  Drew and I felt really bad making him come home!  We're looking forward to next year already!

******************

Asher and I are going on a special mommy-son trip for a few days so I'll be MIA for awhile.  Drew is being left behind {sad - we'll miss you Daddy!!}.  See you all in a few!

fall wardrobe

Asher has a new shirt for fall!

He's so sweet, I thought he needed an equally sweet tee.

Speaking of fall, that reminds me - I need some help.  I'm completely stumped on what A should be for Halloween.  Any ideas??  I have a feeling this might be the last year I can totally dress him up in whatever I choose, so I want to make it good.  :-)

wordless wednesday

sand and surf

Before we went to the shore, I was a little nervous.  On our last trip to the beach - 6 weeks earlier - Asher hated everything about it.  He didn't like the sand or the water and spent the whole time clinging to me with his face buried in my neck. 

That's a long way to spend a week.

Fear not - 6 weeks was just long enough for A to mature into a beach lovin' boy!  He was a little unsure at first, but once Daddy showed him how to shovel sand into his bucket, then pour water over the whole mess Ash was SOLD. 

Before we knew it he was sitting on his own, shoveling then dumping - shoveling then dumping...

Drew was sent on just a few {hundred} trips to the ocean to refill A's water pail.

Asher even put his feet in the Atlantic a few times.  This was most definitely his least favorite part.  The ocean was still a little big and scary for this little guy.  Mama was very fine with that!

Eventually he even got brave enough to walk in the sand unassisted.  Loved walking side-by-side with my big boy.  :-)

Someone cue the Baywatch theme song - this boy is ready to rescue!  {He's even wearing red board shorts - nice}

After a while A would get tired of the beach so we would head back to the pool.  I'm pretty sure this is how Moses rode down the Nile.

I'm so happy that Asher enjoyed the beach this time around!