I figured some of you may be confused with all the names I mention in regards to my family. So without further adieu, the Who’s Who of Heather’s family:

Andy
My hubby, Ben’s daddy. First boy I kissed :) Computer engineer and super smart tinkerer who may someday take over the world. I’m convinced he can fix anything. He often says I break things just to see if he can fix it. This may or may not be true. Andy’s blog.





Ben
My baby boy, born October 2010. Loves kitties and clementines. Sleeps 7:30pm-7:30am, I am SO lucky. Has such a sweet demeanor and is very gentle for an almost 2 year old little boy. Picks vegetables out of his macaroni and cheese mix, shoves noodles to the side and eats the peas.





Jack
The cat, adopted in 2006. Also known as Tubbo, the large kitty. Puts up with Ben quite well. Bad kitty sometimes sneaks onto the counter and eats food he’s not supposed to.





Colby
The other cat, adopted in 2009. Colby isn’t the brightest crayon in the box, but he’s super sweet. He’s my snuggle buddy.






My dad
Colonel in the USAF. Currently lives in Massachusetts. Just sold his truck for a vintage corvette, boys and their toys. Right handed but plays softball left handed (I always thought that was weird). Instilled in me a love of camping and the outdoors.





Leslie
My stepmom. Lover of coffee (particularly Tim Hortons). Got me hooked on Downton Abbey. Always makes it feel like home when we visit (wherever they may be). Leslie’s blog.





Gabby
Leslie’s oldest daughter, my step sister (although we usually forgo the “step” part). Currently looking for an interior design job after graduating from FIT in NYC. Way more stylish than I and a super creative girl. Gabby’s blog.





Danielle
Leslie’s second daughter. Insanely talented singer and performer. World traveler and adventurer. Has such a sweet heart and the most b-e-a-utiful blonde hair that looks good however she wears it. Danielle’s blog.





Christopher
Leslie’s youngest, my step brother. Loves video games and playing guitar. Benny adores him! Fun fact, Chris and Danielle actually share the same birthday, June 14.





My mom
I am so like her in more ways than one. Inherited her freckles, although I always thought I should have been a red head too. I do graphic design/web design part time for her company. Mom’s website.





Paul
My step dad. Talented guitar player and fellow tinkerer with Andy. Made me my first MP3 mix CD when I bought my own CD player as a tween. Likes “stuff” and “things” on his pizza, ick :) Paul’s youtube channel.





Justin
My little brother! Works harder than anyone I know, going to school full time AND working a job full time. Growing an Amish beard, but underneath the scruff is a really sweet guy. So many memories, we had fun growing up together.





Kate
Justin’s fiance, my future sister in law. She’s finishing up her Masters in education. So sweet and fun to hang out with and she’s absolutely perfect for my brother. Weirdly, Kate hates chocolate…but I love her anyway.





Andy’s mom
Oh my goodness, a multi talented lady! From fabulous quilts to delicious desserts, she does it all! Including sewing the buttons back on Andy’s work shirts (because I’ve failed him domestically). Best mother in law a girl could ask for, we have a great relationship! Plus, she introduced me to the strawberry rhubarb combination :)





Andy’s dad
Such a terrific father to Andy, I really see a lot of him in his son. Another tinkerer (we have a lot of them in the family). He’s excellent with woodworking, wiring and mechanical projects. He’s also colorblind, which I find fascinating for some reason. Once he retires in January, he may never stop helping us work on our house ;-)





Jared
Andy’s younger brother who doesn’t look a thing like him with blonde hair and green eyes. He is SUCH a great guy and has a big heart for others. He just graduated and is looking for a job in nursing. Jared is like a rare animal, it’s impossible to get a picture of him because he’s always eluding my camera. I think this pic is like 1 of 2 that I actually have of him :)

Last weekend Andy and I went camping in the Adirondacks. We dropped Ben off at Andy’s parents and met some friends up there for hiking and campfires. One of my favorite sites was a US Mail truck that was actually a Jeep, decked out with off road tires and everything. We also got a good laugh when we arrived at check in. Apparently Andy had registered us as arriving in a black Ferrari instead of a black Ford. The guy at the gate asked “So where’s the Ferrari?” … because that’s a vehicle people go camping in :)

It was so pretty up there. We spent most of our time away from the campsite hiking in the woods, they were so green and quiet. We climbed Panther Mountain and found a few other trails to explore. We actually followed a deer trail through the woods for a little bit too. I don’t know anything about hunting or tracking, but it was really neat to figure out where the deer path was by looking at branches that had been snapped out of place or moss that had been rubbed off a log as the deer walked over.

Mountain man on our way home.

And in case the picture of the spider didn’t gross you out, you should check out this video that Andy took. The flies were really bad in the part of the woods we were at and our friend Kevin was catching them IN HIS HANDS and then throwing them at the web. Hysterical and gross at the same time :)

Ben, just so you know…it’s not an “uh oh” if you did it on purpose ;-)

I need to only get one book out of the library at a time. Right now I’m reading 1,000 Gifts and The Hunger Games. Two very different books, one an easy read and one not so much. I hope I finish them by the time they need to be returned!

I’m finally 5lbs under my before Ben weight. 21 months later. Now mind you, had I dieted (yuk!) and watched calories I’m sure I would have gotten here much faster. However I do love desserts and lots of coffee creamer :-P I also enjoy running, sweating and working out too so I guess it all evens out.

I really hope Andy never wants a mustache. Why is that the cool thing for guys to do these days? Mustaches just remind me of 14 year old boys who can finally grow some facial hair, so they do, even though it doesn’t look nice. I like his goatee, I’m just hoping he doesn’t succumb to the mustache craze.

This week I’ve had several friends tell me they can’t have more (or any) kids. Or it’s going to be very difficult for them to conceive :(

I think Ben has finally learned to walk nice with us. Holding our hand and not trying to run all over the place. I caught myself saying “leave it” the other day when we were at the park. He was going for a piece of trash and actually did leave it alone. Sadly, that’s the phrase we’d use with our dogs when we didn’t want them picking up or eating something ;-)

After a month, I LOVE my new phone even more. I’m glad I chose it when I did, the price has jumped way back up for some reason. It’s so convenient though, to have everything with me when I need it. I hardly ever pull my laptop out in the evenings now, unless I’m editing photos or working on a project. Very happy with the purchase!

This week I hosted a spa night for a few girlfriends from the mom’s group at church. My friend Chris is an Arbonne consultant and let us try out some of their products. Normally, I’m really not into the home party type things. I just get really awkward when it comes to other people and money, even if the product in the middle is a fantastic one. And Chris assured me that it wasn’t even really about people buying things, she just wanted to bless us. Arbonne’s whole philosophy is that what we put on and in our bodies should be as natural as possible. Their skin, cosmetics and wellness products are all formulated in Switzerland where the EU has banned 1,200 ingredients from health and beauty products. The US has banned only 10 of those! Crazy!

My friend Heather helped with decorating. Ok, lets be honest…she brought everything but the Christmas lights. She should open up a party supply store from her basement, she’s seriously stocked for any occasion. I strung Christmas lights up in the trees and they were so pretty, I want to leave them up all summer. Hopefully everyone had fun :) Any night with a mud mask and foot scrub is a good night!