Jonah's First Bike Ride

Fruits of Our Labor

It has been an immensely busy time for the Conklin home, but we are beginning to see the fruit of our labor. Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we had a garage sale and Jonah had a table selling rice krispy treats and bottles of pop for $1 each. He was disappointed that we were selling the guitar hero guitars (so long PS2... we enjoyed you while it lasted) and told him that he could use the money he made to buy a new guitar. After selling like the best of them (sorry, no pictures of the stand... I was busy selling myself!) he earned $40 towards a new guitar. When we got the the store, he changed his mind and decided on a bike.

Here he is putting together his new purchase with daddy.

Way to go buddy! Video of him riding the bike to come...
We also are seeing the reward of the hard work in our garden. This thing has exploded!

A little cucumber in the early stages.

Jonah's carrots, which we're hoping look as beautiful underground.

Our exploding zucchini, close to harvest. Mmmmm. Bread anyone?

Cherry tomatoes just waiting to turn red.

Yellow squash about ready to eat too!

And our strawberries, which we are already enjoying.

We pick about 3-5 a day and Brian claims they're the best he's ever had. The kids gobble them up too.

One of our spinach harvests, which are almost over until fall.

And our favorite use of the spinach, Tortellini Soup. So delicious!

The Latest

A few updates, but unfortunately we don't have any current garden pictures. That will have to wait. Jonah and Abby have both seemed to be growing up lately. Jonah is drawing pictures of family members (photo below) and has been expanding his imagination. About a month ago he started leading his imaginary horse, Silas, around the house. Silas became his buddy, who he even makes extra room in his bed for. But Jonah's entourage wasn't done yet. About a week after that Jonah had a tiny baby jaguar that sits in the palm of his hand. He has no name, and is just known as baby jaguar. Next, it was his dog Flash, who is a dalmatian and loves to lick Jonah's face. And, as of this weekend, he now has a baby fish named Splash, who I'm pretty sure is Nemo inspired. Periodically they will be coming and going, but they are always there and want me to say goodnight to them at naptime and bedtime. I'm not sure where he got this from, but it's pretty funny.
Abby is finally in the realm of understanding and can nod yes and no and actually understand what she's telling you. Not only is this extremely helpful, it's also very cute. "Yep" and "No" are said in about the girliest voice you can imagine. She also is really into the habit of wanting each and every toy that Jonah decides to play with. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10, Jonah isn't looking for her to come take it from him. This is a new task for me as mommy: conflict management. I'm sure that will be a primary role for me for at least the next 20 years...

The eggs hatched! Here are the baby doves that hung out at our house for about a week and then flew away. I was fortunate to get a picture, as the mommy dove had her eye on me and was none too happy.

One of Jonah's drawings, as mentioned above. This is of daddy.
Abby is obviously up to no good here. Perhaps on the way to try and take her brother's toy?

A few weeks ago we all were able to go hang out with daddy at an FCA Golf Scramble. Jonah even was able to play a few holes with the team. He honestly sees himself as one of the guys and will even lower his voice when he talks to adults. It's pretty funny.

The old thumbs up.

Finally able to make use of his birthday gift golf clubs and Christmas gift golf glove, which he wore all day long.

Lookout Hallmark

For Mother's Day this year, Jonah was not satisfied with any store bought cards daddy showed him and insisted on coming up with his own original. With daddy as his pen, this is what my card said:

Happy Mother's Day, mommy. Have a special Mother's Day. For keeping you safe from the boat. Happy Mother's Day, mommy, from going to the farm to see horsies and cows. Happy Mother's Day for getting flowers from mommy. Mommy is special for making the garden special from God. It's special about mommy when we decorate cookies.

We love you,

Jonah, Abby and Daddy

I think Jonah was right. Hallmark would not have had a card to adequately include everything he wanted to say. I love this boy!

A Full House

This last week we had the privilege of having Brian's brother Mark, our sister-in-law Steph, and their three boys Eli, Toby, and Ish for four days. It was so much fun to have them and we were so excited to finally be able to meet baby Ish! What a cutie.

The first morning they were here, we hit the zoo. Unfortunately this is the only picture of our trip there, but that's because we were so busy having fun!

Toby and Abby enjoying a little breakfast.
And snacks!

The boys playing wii and baby Ish soooo close to rolling over.

If you look closely, you can see a worn out Abby napping left, and a just as tired Toby on the right. I told you we had fun.

They were out.

And this is one of Ish's rare awake moments. What a handsome boy! Welcome to the family Ish!

One of Ish's two favorite things to do.

Mmmm... french fries and coffee.

Dr. Abby on duty.

The big boys playing with the airport. Jonah loved having Eli for a playmate for a few days. He is still asking to take his shirt off and play wii with Eli.

What a good looking crew of kids. Happy Mother's Day, Mimi! And Aunt Ali and Uncle Nick, the kids send their love.

The Great Outdoors

Today we had a reprieve from the rain so we took advantage of it while we could. Also, a few updates from the homefront. We have a nest... with eggs! A dove has made a little home on our arbor in the backyard and laid two eggs. Hopefully we can get some pictures when the little eggs hatch. The kids love being lifted up to check out the nest and look at the eggs. This is a picture from a rare moment when the mama wasn't sitting in the nest.

I think I mentioned the garden in one of the last posts (maybe?) but we have a blueberry bush as well.
I'm not a blueberry expert, and in fact I've never seen a blueberry bush before owning this one, but I think we have some blueberries coming in!

The kids showing off the garden. Kudos to daddy for getting the rabbit fencing up.
Almost three weeks ago we planted some spinach seeds and now we have 8 of these coming up. Spinach!

Right next to the spinach we also have 16 onions growing. We just planted some romaine lettuce and carrots a few days ago, so hopefully we will have more coming up soon.

And on the other end of the garden we have our strawberry patch. We can't pick them until July since it's the first year, but Jonah is SO excited.

Then I convinced the kids to let me take a few pictures of them. What cuties!!

Love these kids!

The final day! We decided to spend it at the Magic Kingdom, since that seemed like the kids favorite and had the most for them to do.

Once again, we rode Dumbo first to avoid the lines, but this time, Abby got a spin!

Of course, she loved it.

Jonah turned it up a notch, riding on Splash Mountain, his most daring ride to date. He looks a little nervous here.

But he wanted to go twice. First with daddy, then with mommy.

Then we went on the "Magic Blankey" ride, (aka Magic Carpet) once again.

We were also able to catch the noon parade. Here, Jonah is waving to Mickey and Abby is in my lap.

I think Mickey was pointing back at him.

There were many other floats, but it ended with Pluto and Donald.

And the last night, we were able to have dinner with Pooh and friends. Here's Jonah ready to get autographs. We didn't get a picture of him with Eeyore, but you can see him in the background.

Piglet

Tigger, who is second in Abby's eyes only to Minnie. Jonah also thought he was great.

Anxiously awaiting meeting Pooh.

Pooh was also loved by them both. What a great way to end the trip!
One last look at the castle on the way out.

What a wonderful trip! Jonah asks often "what time is it in Disney World? Maybe we can go back someday." We are so thankful for such a great experience.