Sweet, sweet, summertime!

Wrapped up my 8th year of teaching last week with some of the most fun classes I've ever taught, and I've taught some pretty amazing students. I'm lucky to have a job that I sincerely love, even though some days are certainly better than others. Since I told my mom that I would update my blog over a week ago, it's probably time to do it. And as usual, dump a ton of photos. 

A couple months ago, Carrie and I met some of our students at the Art Lofts at UW to see some demonstrations for current high school students. It was so awesome and really made me nostalgic for those late-night hours in the art building in Eau Claire when I was in college. Was that really 10 years ago? 

Watching a foundry pour- you can see all the molds on the left side. The heat coming off this thing was incredible!

The Ceramics studio- it was fun to peek at their equipment and glazes!

 Noah got a fun surprise from Grandma in the mail after our visit over Easter- what could it be?!

My big helper- let's unpack this thing!

Ready to take off! How is my baby big enough to ride a trike?

We've had some really fun days as a family already this spring, one of my favorite was flying a kite with Noah for the first time. He didn't seem to think it was all that great, but Jordan and I were pretty excited. First, we stopped at Toys R Us and Noah discovered a new favorite ride...

Noah and Bob the Builder, total buddies.

Family fun! (Sorry for the face block, dad!)

Ummm... excited about the kite, Noah?

Last stop of the day: Jordan is teaching Noah all about body-building. Starting out with the one-pounders.

 And here's a bunch of random pictures that I pulled off my phone...

Noah for President. Seriously. He's all about love and cuddles, how can you beat that? 

Baby's first tattoo. We went to the Children's Carnival at the high school in May and he picked out this design himself!

In my ongoing efforts to minimize effort in cooking, we tried out Blue Apron for a week. It was delicious! But a little too expensive so I'm back to honing my skills in the kitchen.

This is the face Noah makes when we ask him a question and he doesn't know the answer. Big thinker.

On April 26th, Noah turned a year and a half old! How is this possible?!

12 months!

18 months!

It's always fun with Uncle Keith!

He loves his dinosaur raincoat. I do too.

Carrie and I had a lot of fun chaperoning prom this year. Although I think we agreed that next year we need to plan on ordering a pizza- that night gets a little long!

Noah strikes another presidential pose... 

... and then he eats sand. Genius, indeed.

This spring Noah's daycare hosted a planting party. We dug up the grass on one side of the building to build a couple raised gardens for the kids to plant vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Noah was more than willing to help out and get his hands dirty. He was also a big fan of the snack table. Once again proving that, yep, he's our kid.

Conquering grass mountain.

Using two rakes at once, very efficient. 

For mother's day we went to Huckleberry and Persimmon to plant some flowers and eat fruit pizza. It was such a nice day with my favorite guys.

He was pretty into that pizza.

Mom, just let me eat the cookie.

The littlest old man.

Another fun thing that I did recently was taking a solo trip to MN to visit friends in Minneapolis, leaving Jordan and Noah home to have a boy's night. It was amazing to have this time to myself and I'm so lucky to have a partner that is so supportive and such a great dad. It was kinda tough to leave, even if it was for only one night, but it was wonderful to spend time with friends that I don't get to see often enough. I even drank two beers! Party animal.

This whole bed is for me?! And I don't need to get up at 5am to nurse a grumpy baby?!

Kristina is a karaoke machine. 

James, sharing his mortifying readings from adolescence.

My mom and I got to spend a nice afternoon together in Minneapolis as well, shopping at the Mall of America and IKEA. One of the big purchases was a table and chairs for our tiny dining room. 

I had some expert help with the assembly.

Eating at the table with the family!

Noah loves his new easel. This is the first of many masterpieces.

And some more random photos...

Meg's best hiding spot.

Morning reading time with dad is the best.

Such a serious guy. Even on the playground! 

Although Jordan is a pretty serious guy too... 

Who doesn't love Charleston Chew?!

Hopefully I'll get some blog posts done more frequently this summer. It's just beginning and it already feels jam-packed with teaching summer ceramics, home improvement projects, trips to visit family, and having family visit us! Can't wait for it all.