How fast it all goes...

Lily's first teeth - July 2006

Last portrait with all her baby teeth

The "wigglers" - the same 2 teeth that first came in 5 years ago.

One excited little girl holding her first lost tooth

Letter immediately composed to the tooth fairy

Buds

Clue #4

This baby name clue relates to the middle name which has been used in the works of Jane Austen.

Girls night out

Lily and I had a date night last night. We went to see The Little Mermaid at the Muny. It was a great evening. Since the Muny is an outdoor theater (the nation's largest, by the way) and operates only in the summer, you never know if you are going to get a hot, sticky night or if it is going to rain. But the weather cooperated - warm with a little breeze. I'll take it!

Before the show, we enjoyed a dinner together in the Muny's pavilion restaurant. They had a special children's buffet set up for all the little ones going to see The Little Mermaid. As usual, Lily won the hearts of those around us, and the waitress actually brought over her manager to make over Lily.

After dinner, pre-show picture in front of the fountain.

Lily was very excited to see Ariel and really did a great job at the show, especially considering that the show starts at 8:15. It was nearly 11:00 by the time the show ended, and she was a little crabby on the walk back to the car. This is WAY past her bedtime, so I can't entirely blame her. She passed out in the car in about 60 seconds on the way home. Overall, it was really great night. As she gets older, I really enjoy one-on-one experiences like these. I know that Carl has also been enjoying his weekend walks with Lily while William naps and I work on some grading for my classes. I just can't say enough about how much we enjoy this little girl!!

A good week

We had a really fun week here at the Deetz household. On Wednesday, Lily had her cooking class which she really enjoys. The cooking class is held within one of our grocery stores and lasts one hour. The kids make and eat lunch, and I usually go grocery shopping with William. Not a bad deal, but this time was even better because grandma came along and took William while I shopped in peace. A girl could get used to that! I had my doctor's appointment after Lily's class which included my glucose test, and I passed!! I'm very happy that there was no negative or even borderline results. I already know that I will have to monitor my blood pressure at the end, meaning a reduced sodium diet which would make a low carb diet even harder.

On Thursday we had a car appointment which ended up lasting 2 1/2 hours! The kids were so, so good. Thank goodness for playrooms, free popcorn, and cartoons! They were so cute in this little car, with their popcorn, they looked like they were at a drive-in theater. We rounded out the week on Friday with a park playdate with my high school friends, and Lily and I have a date tonight to see The Little Mermaid at the Muny. I think I'm more excited about it than she is! :)



I have also been trying out some new recipes this week. (No surprise there.) However, these recipes have been fairly simple and fast, and I have been very happy with the results. This was especially good because Carl worked late nearly every night last week so we were on our own for the dinner, bath, bedtime routine. The menu this week included Asian porkchops with steamed edamame on Wednesday, shrimp soft tacos and Mexican corn on the cob on Thursday, broiled portebello mushroom sandwiches on Friday, and grilled genova salame with fontina cheese and pepperocini panini sandwiches today. Every meal was so fast and tasty - perfect for summer.

Butterfly House

Every first Tuesday of the month, the Butterfly House offers free admission for local residents. So the day after we returned from our trip, we headed there with some friends. We then enjoyed the playground area next to the Butterfly House and topped it off with a picnic lunch.

Lily with one of her besties, Amelia, walking along the giant caterpillar

Amelia also has a little brother named William!

Our mischievous William

Catch me if you can!

More lakehouse pictures

We went back to the lakehouse on Sunday night to see an impressive fireworks display around the lake. Another fun, relaxing evening!

Lily and William, ready for more fun at the lakehouse!

Lily and William in the paddle boat on the lake with Grandpa and Aunt Ingrid

Game time!

William hanging out with Grandpa on the dock

I only got one (blurry) picture of Lily with a sparkler, as this was the only one we were able to light. The wind did not help, but those little suckers were tough!

Beautiful sunset over the lake

Waiting for the fireworks to begin

Lily doing her "sparkler dance" on the boat while watching the fireworks. I love her joy and zest for life!

Teddy Bear Grandma's House

Lily affectionately refers to her Great Grandma Deetz as the "teddy bear grandma" due to grandma's trunkful of teddy bears that Lily adores. Lily also loves her sleepovers with Great Grandma, and when she found out that we were visiting the teddy bear grandma, she had to pack her bag about 5 days in advance. Too cute.

Getting baking tips from the expert


Our little farm boy

One of Lily's favorite activities while visiting "the farm" is catching turtles, fish, frogs, and such (or maybe having them caught for her would be more accurate). This time, she had an exact number of each animal that she wanted, and luckily her dad, uncle and grandpa were happy to oblige.

Every little (and big) boy loves a John Deere

Ingrid & Ryan's wedding shower

We spent this past weekend in northeastern Indiana with Carl's side of the family. I always enjoy visiting there, despite the harassment from Carl's uncle. ;) We left early Saturday morning and made it without any issues in the afternoon. It really was an enjoyable ride, and once again I have to give kudos to the kids for being such great travelers. We celebrated Ingrid & Ryan's upcoming marriage with an early evening shower at Carl's Aunt Pam and Uncle Randy's lakehouse. It was such a nice evening.

Ingrid & Ryan with her dad and Grandma Deetz. The kids are very attached to Aunt Ingrid, so she was not able to take pictures without at least one of them!

Ingrid with her mom and Grandma Murphy (and William, of course)


The gift-opening pow wow

Lily and William chillaxin' in the hammock

Immediately following the gift-opening, the skies opened up and gave us a real shower. We took cover inside until the storm passed. Lily and William had some fun with sunglasses. "Watch me, William."

William's turn!

Lily gets some one-on-one reading time with Meemaw.

William with Grandpa

Ice cream social

Lily had her last week of her month-long summer camp last week. It was a great experience, but I guess it's time to move on to more fun camps and classes! They had some fun events during the last week including a science show, a petting zoo, and an ice cream social. Guess which one William and I attended...

Lily helped William (in more ways than one) with his popsicle.

Clue #3

Are you ready for another one?

From the list generated by Clue #2, you can eliminate all names that start with D, G, N, P, R, Q, T, U, V, and Y.