Konnichiwa?

One of the few Japanese words I remember from our trip to Japan a few years ago is the general greeting Konnichiwa (pronounced Koh NEE chewah), meaning good afternoon. Well, it seems Caleb has decided to speak Japanese or some other foreign language as opposed to learning his parents native tongue of good ole' American Southern English. We're not complaining, however, because we're just glad he is finally saying something!! He might be saying "birthday" in this video because we had just hung up the Happy Birthday sign for celebrating Jeremy's birthday and I'm sure I was saying something about Daddy's birthday, but I couldn't tell you anything else about his ramblings.

Happy 5th of July!

So we're those crazy people who didn't get any 4th of July plans together early enough that anybody could come, so we had to move our plans to the 5th of July. We had a cookout and invited some friends and family over. The kids got to try out Caleb's new sandbox and play on his little playground set. We were also planning on getting out Caleb's pool but somehow we adults just forgot(oops Allie, I'm so sorry, but we'll do it next time!) . Everybody was kind enough to bring a dish to share (yummy- good tea, good pasta salad, good beans and good dessert) and Jeremy did a great job on the grill (except for the two hot dogs he forgot- a little charred as I had requested turned into a thick, crispy black coat). The kids were hilarious to watch and we really look forward to doing it again- hopefully we can have something better set up for bug control next time. Some of my pictures turned out very fuzzy, so they weren't worth posting and so not everyone is pictured. The Wakefields- Eric, Ethan (26 months) and Robyn

Radnor (23 months) and Brian (~396 months)Allie-girl (almost 4 years old!)Caleb (20 months), who decided he had to eat on the run so as not to lose time
playing. He carried his hamburger patty around taking huge bites here and there. Everything was going well with the "eating on the run" routine until
Caleb ended up on the same end of the playset as his cousin Radnor.

Radnor saw Caleb's plan and thought to himself, "I must get in on some of this action of

eating and playing at the same time," and with that the burger quickly changed hands.
Ethan showing off his great smile and enjoying some time on the swing.
One of the funniest things was keeping the kids drinks separate, which proved most difficult concerning Caleb and Radnor as they both love to eat and drink (and Caleb is also allergic to milk). Here poor Allie looks on as Radnor finishes her juice box. She was such a good sport about it though! She even shared her fruit with both Caleb and Radnor. What a sweet girl!

Family Reunion

Caleb and I recently attended a family reunion with my parents. Jeremy and the rest of the gang had to work! It was great to see all of the family and spend time catching up with them.

Cousin Stella and her daddy Matthew (my first cousin). She is just 2 weeks
older than Caleb and what a doll! She has the cutest hip shake!
She will soon be a big sister too!

Caleb and Stella hanging out in the hammock. Thank goodness there are no
pictures of me in the hammock with Caleb- we about tipped over!

Trying for a posed picture with Stella and Caleb... even after his
much needed 2 1/2 hour nap that Grandmama was very
strategic in achieving, the boy was still not into posing.

Granddaddy, Caleb, Papaw and Mommy

Caleb wanted both of his grandparents hands when we stopped at the rest area.

Caleb sharing his rice cake with his lion in the car-
after all lions get hungry too and it was a long ride!

Good Friends, Good Times

We recently got together with one of my college friends and roommates. We had a great time and their little girl Allie is so cute! She knew about Caleb's food allergies and so she asked me if he could have pretzels. When I told her he couldn't because he's allergic to the wheat in them, she then asked if he could have yogurt. I again had to say he couldn't have it because he's allergice to milk. She was so sweet to be concerned for Caleb!The Wells

How our lives have changed from those carefree college days!

Fun in the Sun

My mother recently kept 3 of her other grandchildren for a week. We took them all swimming at the Lake and Caleb had a blast.

Caleb climbed up on his float like he was an experienced rafter. Thank goodness
my nephew Ethan was there to keep an eye on him!

Caleb acting like he's one of the big kids.

My wonderful niece Abby.

Jeremy thinking he's on the lazy river ride.

Double Trouble

Scared of water? Uh, that would be a No.

I'm a fish!

Really, I'm a fish!

Nobody was really into a group shot, least of all Caleb!

Life is Random

Okay, so here is some random stuff we've had going on.

#1. These are my tomatoes. Great huh? This is a type of cherry tomato plant especially meant for container gardening. We have so much shade around our house that I didn't think I could do very well with regular tomato plants, (even though I did finally decide to set out 2 regular tomato plants around our patio where some some sun does come through during part of the day just to see what would happen). Anyway, the exciting thing about this plant is if you can see, there are actually 2 tomatoes on it!!! They are tiny, but they are there!


#2. Here are some of my other gardening projects.

Herbalicious!

My prize-winning clematis. Okay, I can say that because I had absolutely NOTHING to do with this beautiful vine- except I did not cut it down when it was all brown and ugly. Previous homeowners planted it and we are just enoying the fruit of their labor.

My hosta garden. I think I have ~10 different varieties of hostas in this little garden, plus a fern and heuchera. Some of the hostas are miniature and they are so cute! I have my dear mother-in-law to thank for this patch of plants. This is the second time she has supplied me with hostas for a garden. The previous one we left in Farmville for the new homeowners of our old house to enjoy. Oh, the most fun in making this garden was moving all the rocks - if you live in Wilson County, TN, you better learn to be creative with rocks!

Our front porch garden. The only thing in the front of our house in terms of landscaping when we first moved in was a couple of dead bushes that didn't survive the drought from last year, some crazy scraggly trees, a deep hole that gave evidence of a previous living something with big roots and a TON, TON of weeds. Some hardwork, a couple of big loads of dirt, some help from my dad and my mother-in-law's nursery of a yard really helped to transform it! Plus, quite a few trips to Lowe's to purchase some azaleas, rhododendrons and other plants (with my aunts help!). The work isn't quite complete, but we are happy with our progress so far.

#3. Here is my youngest brother Luke's only partially finished (thankfully) haircut.

Any ladies looking for a man from the 80's? Seriously, the haircut looked good when it was finished- minus the mullet and all and he even trimmed his beard!

Last, but definitely not least, some of Caleb and his daddy having a good time.

What's the lion say? "Aaaaa!"

What's the lion say (2nd time)? "RRRRRRoar!"

Caleb and the floor had an unfortunate meeting...... and the floor won. All Caleb was left with was a nice busted lip and a scraped up nose.

Caleb and his daddy doing their best Elvis impersonations with Caleb's busted lip.

I Love You This Much

This is one of Caleb's favorite books for Grandma to read to him. As you can see in the pictures, Grandma taught him the physical expression of "this much" as in "this is how much I love you." It was so cute watching them together and Caleb always has such a great time with Grandma reading to him and teaching him new things. Believe it or not, she is the one who taught him how to roar like a lion!