Fun with Grandpa & Grandma Nickel

On the first and third Fridays of the month Aaron spends the day at his grandpa and grandma Nickel's house. He has a lot of fun over there playing and going to the park to people watch - he's just like his mama. Here are a couple of pictures from last Friday with them.

Getting big 

LOVES swinging

People watching :)

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.....such a sweet picture of Aaron and his grandpa

My Little Helper

My little helper likes to help me......

organize garbage bags....

load the dishwasher....

organize drawers and Ziplock bags.... 

I'm so lucky to have such a good helper on my hands!

Summer Fun!

We're going to have a lot of fun playing outside in his little pool this summer! Bring on the sunshine and 50 SPF!

He NEVER sits! Or sits still for that matter. I keep trying to teach him to "sit on your butt", but he's just too busy. We really have to keep a close eye on him. 

I think he was going for a Blue Steel look. He kind of has Ace Ventura hair.

Here he is at his grandma & grandpa Nickel's house Saturday afternoon with his 2nd cousins (Bryan's cousin's kids). James is a couple of weeks older than Aaron. They had a lot of fun together!

Yes, my child is a wild man

I hope you all are enjoying your summers! We sure are!

Sunday = Baby Food Making Day

As some of you know, I've been making Aaron's food. Yes, there are times I cheat and just feed him some good 'ole fashioned Gerber - like when we travel, but for the most part I make it all. I really love to cook, and this is kind of my creative outlet, but it can be very time consuming. I usually just spend a whole Sunday morning making enough to last a couple of months. Let me share with you what it's like. Mind you, I have a very small kitchen. 

Necessary equipment - immersion blender, food processor, blender, chopping boards, good knives, peeler, measuring cups, lots of pots, and baby jars. The wine doesn't go into the baby food - only into my mouth. 

All of my ingredients & most of the equipment

Mixtures of squash & sweet potato; chicken, squash & apple; chicken, squash & sweet potato; legumes, carrots, sweet potato, beef stock & water; and pureed apples

3 hours and 2 cut fingers later I am finished! I just freeze all of this into ice cube trays and then portion them into ziplock bags. I also bought bananas, blueberries and peaches, but those I usually just make when I need them. But they also freeze nicely, as well. 

After all of this hard work I'm very excited to try the legume mixture on my guinea pig. This was his first time having this concoction. I thought it tasted just like pot roast and was very proud of it!

And then I get this reaction.

What the hell, lady?!

I'm gonna puke, I'm gonna puke!

Woooooo Weeeeee - that was a tough swallow.

RUDE!

This mommy decided she had earned a beer after all of this. 

I also learned over the weekend that he might not be a fan of grapes. He's still too young for grapes, but I was just letting him suck on it while I held it. 

Even if I get a couple of fails with foods, these faces are priceless. For the most part he really does like everything I make him, I swear. 

Fourth of July

Growing up I always really loved the Fourth of July. Parades, swimming, grilling out & fireworks make for the perfect day. I look forward to having these traditions with Aaron. We didn't stay long enough to watch the fireworks since it would be too late for Aaron. But I think he still enjoyed his first 4th!

We broke out some of my cousins' old toys for Aaron. I LOVED playing with that farm!

Hope you all had a nice 4th!

The weather has been so nice out lately - when it's not raining. We've been trying to get some outdoor time in. Sometimes you have to change it up or else I catch him doing this....

Always in to everything but his toys

My little superhero

Even superheros need to refuel - at least it's on Puffs and not mulch

Celebrating Memories & Marriages

Last Sunday the whole family travelled down to Bongard, IL to attend mass at Immaculate Conception.....the church I grew up going to, my dad & his family grew up going to, my grandpa grew up going to, my great grandpa went to - you get the idea. I got a history lesson from my grandpa Bosch, and then made him quiz me a couple of times, so hopefully I get all of this right.

Immaculate Conception has been open since 1900 I believe. My grandpa was baptized there, married there, and has been going there for almost 88 years! My family always sat in the 4th row, right in front of grandma and grandpa. This old church will be shutting its doors in a few weeks. It will have mass on occasion, weddings and funerals. Mass was said in honor of my grandparents. Someone joked that if grandma and grandpa could just get their kids and their families to attend every Sunday the doors wouldn't have to close. It was nice for us all to be together for one last mass there.

Renewing their vows

The newlyweds

My grandparents, my parents, and 3 sets of aunts and uncles were married at IC. Here is the group shot.

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” 
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

After church we headed to my grandparents' house in Longview, IL for a cookout, quality family time, damn good Bloody Mary's (thanks gramps!)  and some free puppy entertainment. I also got to show Bryan the house where 10 people lived at one time - how they did it, I'll never know.

Thanks to Caitlin & Sarah for capturing these pictures for us!

Charlie

Harley

Finn

And one to end on!