splash pad

The splash pad and playground near our house is lovely. There is a huge play ground and interesting splash pad area.

The splash pad part has lots of holes in the ground and along the cement sides that randomly squirt out water at different times, making it so the kids have to stay moving. I love it. The kids love it. Perfect. Paul had Tuesday off so after leaving Dale and Vanessa's house in the morning, we spent our afternoon splashing. :)

fireworks!

We celebrated part of our 4th of July on the 1st. Paul got off early and we drove up to Dale and Vanessa's house to join them for dinner and fireworks and a family sleepover, since Paul had the following day off of work. The kids had a great time running around with Paul and their cousins.

Lullaby soaked up all the baby Duncan time she could. She really LOVES babies, and Duncan sure is a sweet one to love.

Dale worked the barbecue and made delicious dinner. Thanks Dale! We brought a TON of cherries and a few neighbors and their kiddies came over too. What fun!

Lulli went to sleep late, but far before the fireworks started. She slept through everything, which was impressive since we shot them off in their cul de sac! This was the first time Matix or Hawken were awake for them, and it was so fun to watch their expressions. What sweet little boys I have.  Dale and Vanessa bought a billion fireworks, big and little and everyone had a good time.

I was so happy to have Paul there too. We always miss him when he can't join in the fun with us, so it was really nice to be able to do this together.  Happy 1st of July!!

package!

The kids got a package from Grandma Stacy filled with fun activities she made for them. They love opening packages with their names on them. (Hawk was still sleeping when we opened the package, so we re-packed it for him to do once he got up... He was just as excited, but no pics)

She made three file folder games. The boys like the dinosaur one the best, and Lullaby likes the dress-up guy the best. So adorable.

They also got chocolate and strawberry milk straws. I don't have a picture of this, but it is really cool. There are little flavored beads inside a straw and when you suck the milk through the straw, it runs past the beads and flavors the milk. So clever, and no mess. Thanks Grandma for another fun surprise! :)

summer

What would summer be without cherries? And faces, lips, hands, and teeth completely stained from them...

Now we are off to the splash pad we found that is literally 3 minutes away from our house. Another perfect summer afternoon activity. I love it.

work

On Paul's first official day of work, the kids and I went to work decorating the door. 

Matix drew a picture of the hospital Paul works at and even wrote the word hospital on the top (I told him how to spell it, obviously). His letters are getting so clear and easy to read. Smarty pants.

Hawken drew a sick guy (I think with blood coming out of him) and "daddy being a for real doctor" helping him. So sweet.

Lullaby scribbled a very special scribble for daddy too. I love how she holds the paper down with one finger from her other hand. So dainty. :)

The finished product that awaited him when he arrived home. I love these kids, and I love how much they love their daddy and want to make him happy.

When he got home, we surprised him a little more with tasty treats we got from the grocery store. I wanted to bake him brownies, but our oven still doesn't work. :( Luckily, these were really good.

And, Paul has decided this residency isn't going to be too bad. We are not looking forward to the months he will have night float, but so far peds (the area he is starting in for about a month) is going really well. The residents from last year wrote a "survival guide" and it outlines everything he needs to know about working in that area. Each day/week is different from the next, but on Monday he was finished at 2pm and yesterday he was finished at 6pm, both of which are earlier than we ever thought would happen. He had Tuesday off and we spent all day playing. So fun. Today though, he had to miss all the 4th of July fun we had, since he is working again.  Pics to come from today, soon.

sweet Kina

Oh this sweetest pup can't even nap alone. Hawken got caught resting with her, and then later on Lulli was "whistling" (really just high pitched squeals) until she would perk her head up and Lulli would kiss her on the nose. We love Sakina.

safety activity

Our church stake (several wards together) put on a "safety activity" for the primary children. They had a police officer, several firefighters, a karate and self defense instructor, a life guard and a couple other people from the community come to teach the kids. The activity was very organized and the kids were grouped and escorted around the stake center to each of the community leaders. We got there late and only got to go to three of the groups. Our first was about water safety, taught by the lifeguard. She mostly just lectured, but the kids were all fairly attentive.

Then we went to the self defense instructor. He taught the kids about how using your words and your body can keep you safe. I took pictures of the part when he showed the kids how to stand if a predator tried to take them away. He had them yell as loud as they could "Stop! This is NOT my mom!" and "Stop! This is NOT my dad!" and hold a defensive position with one foot back and arms out. Matix ate it up. We talked about bad guys the whole way home.  He knows just what to do.  Hawk didn't like being in the front next to the instructor, so he sat back by Paul. The instructor was very intense, but it made the lesson stick.

Last were the fire fighters. Inside, two firefighters talked about what to do in case of a fire. Matix and Hawken have a book about it and we have read it enough times that they knew all the answers to the questions he was asking. Including feeling the door to see if it was hot before opening it. Then one of the guys got dressed in his suit, explaining each part and why he needed it for protection. The other firefighter kept reassuring the kids that it was still "Firefighter Cade" under all that stuff. They were SO good with the children and let them all go up to give him a high five to show them that he is not scary. I guess lots of kids will see a firefighter in their house and hide because they are scared of him.  Lulli was the only one of ours who was nervous, but later warmed up with Paul holding her.

Outside, other firefighters showed the kids the truck and all the tools on it. The kids got to go through it and get little firefighter badges. They loved it.

After everything was over, they each got a goody bag filled with things and little activities to do at home. The coloring book about gun safety was a favorite. Then they got enormous popsicles. What a fun day! At first I thought, A safety activity??? Maybe we'll go to that... We'll see. But I'm so glad we did.

Happy July!

Is it really already July? I have a baby due NEXT MONTH?! Wow. Well so far, Houston is exceeding our expectations, but to be honest, we had low expectations. :) Who knew there would be so many amazing friends waiting to meet us here? Or that Paul would really enjoy working at UT Houston? Or that our house would fit us just perfectly? The weather could use a little cooling down, but after seeing what our Arizona friends and family are dealing with right now, I'll only complain a little, because really, if I weren't pregnant, this summer wouldn't be that bad.  We are finding lots of fun things to do with the kids, even things we thought would be boring errands have turned into adventures. I heard about a re-cycle, up-cycle, swap meet event where you could drop off unwanted things, and take others things that you do want. Fair trade.

They had huge recycle bins, for non-reusable stuff, and as we got there, they were setting up a stage to have a band perform during the swap. So fun. We brought a few boxes of things we discovered that we no longer needed/wanted, and left with a couple toys for the kids (of course they had to get something for themselves), and a wooden stool that needs refinishing (some future project) and some drink bins for parties (I had been eyeing some up at Target a while back, but couldn't rationalize buying them)... but for free, I'll take them!  Hooray for Houston being eco-friendly and having events like this one. Everyone was so friendly and having fun trading things. I loved seeing people find use in the things we brought too. Ooohing and ahhhing over little trinkets that we used to love. On the way out, the boys posed with their favorite tag. Each garage door was tagged differently, and they were all very well done.