How can June be over already?

We've had a great month - very full of friends and summer and photo sessions and fun. Preschool for Cade ended the first week of June and I admit I cried a little bit that day, thinking of how he had completed his first year of preschool and is so much more grown-up than he was last September. It's going by so fast (usually) and I don't want to miss a second (most days). I'll include some snapshots of the past month as well, for those of us that love a visual. :)

LOVE IT: Cade is having a blast with his art classes at Little Masters Art Studio! My good friend from high school emailed me that her sister, Katie, an at-home mom and artist, decided to open an art studio for kids in her home in Canby so I checked it out and was really impressed - I'd seen some of Katie's art before and she is amazing! I've loved her program and each class is 2 hours long so it is really more like a little art preschool. Cade is signed up for 4 throughout the summer and he has had two so far. He can't wait to go back and he now knows far more about Mondrian and Van Gogh than I do. Today I asked him what was his favorite thing about art class and he answered with an enthusiastic, "EVERYTHING!" I know there are still some openings if you're interested and even if it is sort of a hike for you, there's surprisingly lots to do in Canby (grocery shop, Farmer's Market, Christian Book Store/Coffee shop, other book store, nice big park/playground, restaurants, other farms/farm stands to visit) if you're killing time during the class. Check it out!

ACCEPTED IT: Cade and Callum both started swim classes at the YMCA, Cade is in a class with two instructors and 3 other little boys his age. He loves it and after two classes is really getting more comfortable in the water. Callum and I are in a parent-child class during the same time-slot and he is doing well...I don't know how much he is enjoying it, but he doesn't want to get out when it's over. Generally speaking, Callum's been pretty disagreeable lately (and by lately I mean the past year - sorry Callum!). Unfortunately, swim class is no exception. I think for me the highlight was when the rest of the class got to watch me drag Callum, kicking, swinging, and screaming, to the locker room during the 'goodbye' song, after he'd been asked to relinquish his plastic splash toy (like the other, nice babies) and went ballistic. For most of the class he'd been looking around like he'd rather be anywhere else as the teacher unwittingly tried to get a smile or some positive feedback out of him, and the rest of the time he squirms to get out of my arms so he can "do it himself." Occasionally, I give into his wishes and he sinks slightly and grabs my neck again. Today in the pool, my favorite part (besides his 2nd epic tantrum of the day - the first was in the library this morning - oh joy! And we really like that library too...) was when all the other babies and mommies were obediently practicing blowing bubbles into to water and Callum looked at me and confidently (& stubbornly, I might add) announced, "I'll never blow bubbles...never!" He's just precious, isn't he? (In effort to recover any potential babysitters we may have lost during the last paragraph, I want to add that if you are not immediate family, he seems to like you a whole lot more and will most likely hide his cross nature until we return - at least as long as you have food).

ATE IT: A couple of people have emailed about my green smoothie recipe so I wanted to link to my recipe post in case anyone was looking for it. Also in our bellies has been lots of fresh produce from the various Farmer's Markets we've been visiting all month. Yesterday, for example, I got romaine, spinach, cherries, strawberries, sugar snap peas, blueberries, a loaf of bread, radishes, broccoli, baby red potatoes, asparagus, bibb lettuce, & a pastry (& probably something I'm forgetting) all for around $22. Crazy! And it was all picked the same weekend and I got the pleasure of supporting local farms while treating my family to veggies and fruit that were picked when ripe and had almost all their nutrients still in tact. Now that's something to get excited about. ;) One of my beloved college roommates, Kendra, her husband, Matt, and their 2 year old, Jacob came over for dinner last night and it was fun to prepare yummy fresh berry and peach crisp and chicken & veggie-stuffed phyllo dough to add to our filling potluck. It was so yummy!

THANKFUL FOR IT: Saturday morning I was blessed to meet Jillian (another college roommate and close friend who lives in Spokane) at our favorite college coffee shop, Coffee Cottage for a long chat. She and I never seem to have enough time, but it is always well worth whatever time we spare. Since a photo session got pushed to later in the day, Jillian and I talked a lot about the upcoming arrival of her long-awaited little girl in November. Jilly and Nick (& all of us who love them) had prayed for a child for some time and in God's perfect timing she was created. So there was lots of fun stuff to talk about like her shower in August, must-have baby items, and various "coax your child to sleep" books/methods. We even walked over to a quaint used book store nearby and found one of my favorite books for her soon-to-be growing collection, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. I'm so excited for them!

Cade and Jack also experienced their very first Vacation Bible School last week! They had SO much fun (Steph & I weren't sure if they'd make it all week, but they LOVED every minute of it). We're been having such fun play dates, including one recently with Tess and Charlotte at Sip & Kranz, which I'd been dying to visit for a long time. Our friend, Lindsay Beall's sister came up with the idea and Lindsay has been running it. She even stopped by the cafe while we were there briefly so it was a treat to see her. I highly recommend checking it out if you are local. The food was wonderful (even though it was a warm day, I needed to try their Thai curry soup - yum!), lots of options for the kids, a play room full of toys/books/puzzles/trains that is well-insulated (basically it was partly sound proof), and the chairs/decor is beautiful. We have also had a couple of play dates in friend's backyards, lots of playing at parks and fountains and water parks, and even some fun at the Burger King kid zone in Burlingame. No, it is awesome and only $1 per child, though I feel silly endorsing Sip & Kranz in the same paragraph as Burger King...just not even the same league at all and I know this, yet we still go to both places because they are both - wait for it - kid friendly. And Lord knows we are losing those kind of places right and left (R.I.P. Toney Baloney's, Peanut Butter & Ellie's, and Myles Away Cafe).

But back to the upsides, Johanna has been doing great over here & things are still going really well having her. On Saturday, my cousin Michelle and Bryan invited us over for a farewell (almost) swim in their apartment pool. Katie, Daniel, and Jo Jo came too and we all enjoyed getting cooled off in the pool on the 100+ degree day. Congratulations to Michelle and Bryan for becoming homeowners this week!! Today they got their key and will be moving into their new Tualatin address over the next several days! I still can't believe my wish came true to have Katie AND Michelle both in the same town as me! (Haglund laughter will be heard for miles).

And more good news, last Friday, Kevin and I were able to use some free tickets from a friend to the Broadway show Avenue Q. If you've heard about it, you may know it is a little ummm, risque, in parts, but being that I LOVE musicals, love comedy, and could not get over the talent behind the production, it rocked for me. We even went out to eat beforehand and it was just so nice to have a date night and get to catch up on life without the kids around. Anyway, that about sums up our month...hopefully I'll be more regular about posting in July, but who knows! It's summer after all.