Summertime F-U-N!!!

One of our favorite summertime meals.... shishkabobs! They can be a bit time consuming to make, but so yummy and worth the effort! I've started doing them a bit differently... I separate the meat and veggies. That way I can grill each one for the right amount of time they need. Throw on some fresh cut pineapple, steam some rice, add a little barbecue sauce, and it's a fabulous dinner!

.... and what's more fun after dinner, on a warm summer evening, then heading outside to play in the pool? (Well, the kids, at least!)

Silly girl

Getting all dolled up at Grandma's house.

How I love all of her adorable, silly faces!

One of Kaitlyn's new favorite things.... flossing her teeth. She asks me at least a couple of times a day, "Mommy, can I fwoss?".

Family night

We went to John's Incredible Pizza with Chad, Tori, and Alyssa a couple of nights ago, and had a blast! They have a huge pizza buffet with various themed dining rooms to sit and eat; and when you're done, they have a huge arcade and play land with games for all ages. It's such a fun place to go as a family!

They were so excited to ride the train. Kaitlyn kept asking to go ride "Thomas". Alyssa was a little scared of the toys, so she just watched the other kids play. We'll get her on some of the toys next time hopefully!

One of our favorite games.... the motorcycles!

Chad and Tori playing air hockey.

Talon and I rocked at the basketball game. We got tons of tickets!

Until next time.....

9 months old

Nolan is 9 months old! He went for his check-up last week, and he weighs 21 lbs. 10 oz, and is 28.5 inches long. He is between the 50-60th percentile.

He is doing so much these days. He loves to roll around and scoot on the floor. He's refusing to crawl at this point (I guess he figures he can get around fast the way he's doing it now, so why change anything?). He does like to stand and walk around when we hold on to his hands. He finally got his first tooth, followed immediately by his second one.

See?....

He still hates his baby food and anything other than his bottle. His doctor thinks we should get a speech therapy consult, but we are trying to figure out if he CAN'T eat, or just WON'T. So far, we think it's an issue of just not wanting to. He hates his food and throws a fit when we try and feed him. Dr Kilty's concern was that he may have muscle control issues with his tongue. We're holding off for just a while and trying a few different feeding tricks before we rush to the speech therapist.

He loves spending time outside and likes playing in the grass. Probably one of his favorite things, though, is playing in his ExerSaucer on the back patio. One evening, the older two were playing in the pool, and he was out there just having a ball. So, I got the camera.... and he hammed it up!


With the cowlicks in his hair, it stands up in the form of a mohawk most of the time. I think it's adorable. He's already had his hair trimmed a couple of times.

I'm not even sure what he was so upset about, but he got very unhappy for some reason. This kid can THROW. A. FIT. Then, within a few seconds, he was just fine again.

Starr Family Reunion 2011

The Annual Starr reunion was at Lonnie and Becky Justice's house in Washington this year. We had a good time visiting with everyone, and the kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and all the kids.

Talon found a new best friend.... his cousin, Summer. She played baseball with him and let him pretty much run the show for the afternoon, and he's been talking about it constantly since then. She has become his imaginary friend. When he plays baseball in the house or the yard, he says that Summer is pitching to him. She even helped him decorate a t-shirt to bring home. She definitely made a big impression on him!

Destini and Granny having a heart-to-heart chat.
Sharlotte and Nolan became good friends fast. Of course, he didn't mind the attention and being constantly held and made over!

Best friends.... Kaitlyn and Delani. Kaitlyn insisted on sitting in the stroller, then wanted Delani to join her. They sat there for a long time and hugged on each other. Kaitlyn is a bit on the shy side, so it's great to have a cousin her age that she can play and be good friends with.

Of course, there was lots of music and singing.

The weather even turned out to be really nice. We had a great day!

Buddies

Nolan rolls around everywhere... and doesn't waste any time getting where he wants to go. These two love rolling around on the floor together!

Love this face!!!

So serious!

Guess what I learned...

20 seconds is about 4 seconds too long when heating some baby foods in the microwave. I suppose I should have taken heed to the warning label on the back. "Do not heat in microwave. Contents may explode."

The good news.... my microwave is nice and clean now!

Popsicles

After the song fest, it was popsicle time!

Little Songbirds

The kids were playing in the pool and decided to serenade me, so I got a couple of video clips. Usually, when I get out the camera, they just get goofy, so I don't get any good videos. This day, they cooperated so well. Kaitlyn loves to sing, but gets shy and wont sing on demand or when I have the camera out. I'm hoping I can sneak a video some time.... she has such an adorable voice.

The three munchkins

I love the way the kids play together, and how the older two try to entertain their little brother. They like playing and rolling around on the floor at Papa and Granny's because they have carpet in their living room. (It's just not quite as exciting on our hardwood floors!)

It's always fun to gang up and attack Mommy!

Water fun

We have finally started having some warm days, so I got the kids pool out, cleaned it, and filled it up. They were so tickled. They love the water! I gave them a bunch of random containers with sand buckets and shovels, and they had a blast.

Kaitlyn was too scared to try the slide last year. This year, she thinks it's just the greatest thing.