Check, check & check!

Over Father's Day weekend we took a trip up to New Jersey! It's been nearly FOUR years since we've visited and it was far too long. While there I got to see ALL my family! It was really fun to see everyone and meet my newest baby cousins.

While we were in South Jersey we visited the Cape May County Zoo. It was an interesting experience, it was a steady rain shower most of the time we were there. But it was a free zoo so we made the most of it! Caleb liked seeing the animals, the giraffe were his favorites!

I also had the chance to catch up with my best friend from high school. We met at a playground and chatted while Caleb played. I had not talked to Sarah since Caleb was born so it was really fun!

On the way home, we listened to the audio book of "How to Train your Dragon." It was an entirely different story than the movie and it was really good! Since we've been back, I finished 2 other books.
- "Dexter is Delicious." (meh, not bad for a series, but I'm not so interested in anymore Dexter.)
- "Room" (Loved it. Such a fascinating story from a child's perspective. I highly recommend it.)

6. Visit our family in New Jersey - COMPLETE
8. Visit the zoo 3 times. (1/3)
16. Read 50 books (18/50)
74. Get in touch with an old friend - COMPLETE

83. Do 20 art projects with Caleb (3/20)

Caleb & I whipped up some Father's Day treats last week for our favorite Daddies. (is Daddies even a word? hmm...works for me) I saw this adorable craft idea on Pinterest last month and knew I had to try it.

We used acrylic paints, a dollar store mug and a plain canning jar from AC Moore for our project. The paint is not wash proof so they are for decorative purposes only!

Step 1: Attempt to capture toddler fingerprints. Keep baby wipes on hand to wipe off the 10 prints that don't look good, we only strive for perfection:)
Step 2: Take pictures of your adorable toddler before setting them free. Step 3: Use your terrible handwriting skills to add hair, legs and arms. Add an inscription & some candy and voila! Cheap, adorable presents!

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.....

Awesome title eh? It really captures your interest:) Haha, read on to find out more!

16. Read 50 books (15/50)
I read two awesome books last week. In fact, I read both of them in 1 day.

The first one was "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake." It was about a girl who can taste people's emotions through the food they cook. Really fascinating concept, and the author had a really colorful way of writing. I found it captivating.

The other book I read is titled "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time". This novel is written from the perspective of a 15 year old Autistic boy who is investigating the murder of a dog in his neighborhood. The author did a fantastic job of letting you get to know the boy and its so easy to get wrapped up in his complex world.

84. Take him to a park 50 times (45/50)
Caleb & I have enjoyed visits to : Green Road Park, Kids Together Park, the Airport Observation Park and the Millbrook Pool/Splash Park (twice). I'm sure we'll cross this goal off the list soon! And since this post is severly lacking in pictures - here is one of my cutie at the Splash Park.



29. Bake something once a month for a whole year (12/12)
COMPLETE! I actually started this last April, so either I did a shotty job at keeping track - or I didn't bake for 12 consecutive months. Whatev. It's my blog and I'm calling it complete:) I baked a tray of cake chews for a family party this month. They were a HUGE hit!

95. Write to 25 companies & request coupons (7/25)
This is an update - I haven't written anymore companies yet. But I received $14.50 worth of coupons so far! Woot!

Scrabble:)

77. Have 10 "at home" date nights (3/10)

Glen & I snagged a brand new Scrabble game at a yard sale a few weeks back. We finally cracked it open to play. Neither of us have fond memories of Scrabble, Glen says he always lost to his big brothers. We figured we would have fun together. With the help of a few beers it was an interesting game!

Here is a super exciting shot of our completed board! Glen & I thought some of our vocabulary left a bit to be desired, but we had fun and that is all that matters:)
Glen finished the game with 3 of the letter U. LOL. He still won!

Finishing up in May

16. Read 50 books (13/50)
I read "Dexter by Design" last week. I finished it in 1 day and didn't want to put it down. It was my favorite of the series so far!

I also read "Breaking Dawn" over Memorial Day Weekend. I've read it before but it was just as good the second time around:)

25. Spend a whole day without turning on the computer
SO proud to complete this! I was (mostly) computer free from Friday afternoon through Monday morning. I checked my email once over the weekend. I mostly kept my phone powered off too. It was really nice to be checked out from the web and enjoy a weekend with my family.

61. Have ten date nights (6/10)
Glen & I went on a double date this month. Glen's coworker and his wife invited us to go kayaking on Lake Wheeler. Glen & I ended up renting a canoe, and our friends were in a kayak. We spent an hour on the lake splashing, laughing and having fun. Afterwords we were really hungry so we enjoyed dinner at a Chinese buffet. It was a nice treat to go out with another couple!

18. Try 25 new recipes (12/25)
I made this stovetop Mac & Cheese recipe the other day. Blah. It was not that great. Oh well.

29. Bake something once a month for a whole year (11/12)
I made a batch of pumpkin chocolate muffins in April & May. Caleb loves these for breakfast!