July 2010

Summertime means swimming and playing in the water to Jasper.  He is lucky to have a Grandma and Grandpa (Jack and Judy) who have a pool at their house.  Jasper is "swimming" now with out holding onto anyone.  As long as he's in his swimsuit with the built in floaty and has on his swimmies, he's ok.


.We were able to spend the 4th of July with Uncle Derek and Aunt Katie this year.  They came over and spent the day with us and went to the fireworks.  As you can see, Jasper likes his Aunt Katie just a little bit!

This year we moved our garden to an area that would get more sun.  I think it worked because our plants are HUGE - especially the zucchini!  Josh was being crazy and put a leaf on his head for a hat - Jasper loved it!  Speaking of zucchini, they are probably my favorite summertime food.  Jasper has been helping out with 'wecipes' and here he's brushing some olive oil on slices of zucchini before we baked them.

I tried my hand at some homemade items this month.  We made our own laundry detergent and fabric softener.  The laundry detergent is Fels-Naptha soap, borax, washing soda and water.  It makes 10 gallons at a time, so it should last a while.  The fabric softener is just store bought liquid softener watered down.  You then use sponges soaked in the mixture in your dryer and reuse the sponges over and over.

Jasper got to experience the Peru Amateur Circus for the first time this year.  He was a little nervous about the clowns at first, but at the intermission, he wanted to get close enough to take a picture with his own camera.  After he took the picture, the clown asked if she could pick him up so Mommy could take a picture.  I couldn't believe it, but he said yes!  His favorite acts were the jugglers (when they juggled fire) and the high wire.  I've probably been to that circus 20 or more times, but it was the most fun watching him experience We also went to the Circus Parade with our friends Mary, Will, Norah and Brady Porter.  Jasper sat on Great Grandma June's lap and nearly fell asleep toward the end!