August Recap...

It's hard to believe, but we're now beyond Labor Day, the official end of the summer. I thought it might be a good time to fill you in on what we were up to during August.

Marie had frequently asked this summer when we were going to the beach. So, in early August, I decided on one not-so-hot Friday to take the kids. We packed up the car and drove to the beach, a whole 10 minutes away from our house. This particular beach is on a large lake and Marie took to the water right away...Joey, not so much. After a picnic lunch, we took a walk over to the "Splash Zone." Marie was kind of tentative at first, though I finally convinced her to go through the spraying water by going with her myself. I hadn't worn my suit and got a little more wet than I anticipated, but thankfully dried off quickly. We headed back to the beach again and finally convinced Joey to get into the water a little bit. Overall, I think the kids had a good time and it satisfied Marie's requirement of "going to the beach."






We also spent a lot of time in the garden during August. Marie's sunflowers REALLY took off. They ended up being a couple of feet taller than me and she got a kick out of watching every day to see if they had bloomed yet. We picked plenty of cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers, and LOTS of green beans. All told, we canned just shy of 50 quarts. I think we should be set for the winter.


We also took a couple of trips to the blueberry patch. Marie did fairly well picking herself. Joey, on the other hand, wasn't a huge fan, which just meant that we needed to make more than one trip. The weather has been nice. We did have a few pretty hot days, which was perfect for getting in the pool a few last times. But it also cooled off a bit, which made hanging out in the yard very fun. Jon and the kids have played a lot of ball and even got out the kite one evening.


We took a weekend trip to Ohio to meet up with the rest of the Shibata clan. Joel, Jenn, and little TJ were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Shibata and this was our first opportunity to meet him. What a cutie! Everyone was able to make it over for the weekend as well, so we had lots of fun going to the pool, riding on the golf cart, and generally running around and playing. We anticipate the cousins will have lots of fun together in the years to come...





JJ, Marie, and Joey had a great time jumping down from the step into the (carpeted) living room...

The whole family....just keeps growing!

Overall, it has been a wonderful summer. The kids have been getting along great. Of course, there is the occasional disagreement; they both at times think they need to have or do whatever the other one has or is doing. But, the times when they play together and get along are getting to be more and more frequent.



We are looking forward to the fall and to birthdays, Atrium, football, and apple picking. Jon has started his online class. I think he is excited about it in some ways, but it will obviously require some investment of his time which may keep him from working in the garage as much as he'd like. His job at GM is going well; he still loves it and he is keeping pretty busy there as well.

The winds of change have been blowing at my job. There has been some upheaval in the corporate office and the management structure and as a result, some key players have left the company for other opportunities. It is a very real possibility that things will be changing on our front as well, but time will tell and we'll keep everyone up to date.

The biggest news we have to share is that we are looking forward to adding another little one to the Shibata household. We have a due date of March 9. Marie is EXTREMELY excited and has been making plans about what will happen and things we'll do when the baby comes. She is going to be a BIG help, we just know it. When asked if he is ready to be a big brother, Joey promptly tells us "No." He still has a few months to get used to it. :)

How does your garden grow?

We've had pretty mild weather this last week or so. We have really been enjoying it and as it turns out, so has the garden!

Marie has QUITE the little green thumb. She helps pull weeds out of the garden and out of the landscaping. She is actually fairly good at knowing what is a weed and what is not. The other day, she got a big kick out of it when a baby bunny hopped out from under some irises we were working around. It even stayed put long enough for her to take a picture. (I think it was scared to death!)


Almost every day, we go outside to see what we can pick out of the garden to bring in. We've had a couple of instances of vegetables being picked before their prime, but Marie is catching on to the fact that we need to wait until the peas, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers grow BIG before we pick them. She does seem to be getting a little impatient with the tomatoes that are just not turning red fast enough. It doesn't take long before she gets tired of picking things herself and is then quite happy just holding the bucket.


She also loves to take "her" shovel out to the garden to "check the dirt." She'll dig a little bit (between the rows, thankfully) and let me know if the garden needs to be watered. This is actually pretty helpful. :)

Her FAVORITE outdoor task is helping to water the flowers. I guess I should say she loves filling up her little watering can. Pouring the water out onto the flowers is just a means to empty the can so that she can go get some more water.

Joey just keeps growing. We have been getting a lot of comments lately that he must have hit another growth spurt. His hair is filling in more and more and is perhaps getting a bit darker. He still has those blue eyes and still eats like a champ. He is getting a little more mobile, though he mostly scoots himself backward. He'll prop himself up on his hands and knees and rock is little bottom...so cute. No official crawling yet. It will come soon enough.

He absolutely loves Marie. He doesn't take his eyes off of her any time she's in the room. Any silly face or noise from her will make him giggle. They have also started to play together. They sit on the floor and play with blocks. Marie is busy building cities while Joey sees which ones will fit in his mouth.


In other news, Grandma Meinhart has been visiting for the last week. She has been a HUGE help with the kids and with the garden since I've been somewhat out of commission. About a week ago, I unfortunately had a bit of a sports injury. I tore my left hamstring while playing softball. The whole family ended up in the emergency room after I passed out twice. That's not something that Jon or I want to do again any time soon. The orthopedic doctor estimated that the rehab for the hamstring will be on the order of months. He also thinks that I tore my ACL. I had an MRI taken, but won't get the official word until I see the doctor again at the end of this week. So, things have been a bit different around here, but they're getting better and we are making it. :)

Finally, a couple of days ago, Joey was waking up from his nap and Marie came along to check on him. As Grandma was getting him up, here was the exchange.

Peg: Wow, Joey. You must feel pretty good after that nap. Marie, how long did Joey sleep?
Marie: Oh, about 40 pounds.
Peg: Forty pounds! Wow! That's a long time!
Marie: Yeah...

Just so you know, pounds is also Marie's unit of measurement for length and currency...which would make a little more sense if we were British.