summer playgroup

Houston summers are HOT, and there's no getting away from it. The best thing to do is to cool down at any and all opportunities. Paul had a half day (I love his geriatrics month!!) and he joined us at playgroup. Two new families have moved into the subdivision just north of us, and one of them offered their pool for playgroup, so nice! It turned out to be a lovely day!

help

Daddy's littlest helper. So sweet. :)

circus!

Mustaches and top hats and clowns noses, oh my!

take my picture!

A common request is for me to take the kids' pictures. They love it. Sometimes it's of something they're proud of, like this Lego creation.

Sometimes it's of just a silly face, because your brother got his picture taken and you want one too. :)

classics

The dollar area at Target has always been good to me. The latest amazing find are these classics, which have been adapted and a few illustrations added. They are so wonderful!  They still have several chapters and are over 100 pages each, but each night we have been reading them and the kids really seem to like it.

family home evening

Our activity for family home evening was swimming with the Johnson's again at their pool. It was a refreshing and fun way to end a day. Their oldest girls are in the same Sunday School class as Matix and Alexandra are. Alexandra was pretty much in heaven having two other 6 year old GIRLS to play with.

And Solace enjoyed lots of exploring time in the rock beds next to the pool. He tasted quite a few too. :)

I took candy from a baby

Lullaby gave Solace a lollipop and before I even knew he had it, he ripped the wrapper off with his teeth and went to town. I heard giggles from Lullaby and came in to see what was happening. Solace was SO excited about it, I felt bad knowing I was about to take it away. So I let him enjoy it for a few more seconds.

Then I took it away and wiped his face and hands. He was okay until he realized that I wasn't giving it back. Poor thing. I still had my phone near me, so I got some of the sad faces. This boy can turn it ON! I distracted him with a banana a minute later and he was fine, but this face! Even crying, he is possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.

every morning

Adorable? Yes. These two together are edible. 

good-byes are hard

Good-byes, although we do it a lot, are hard on us. Particularly hard on the kids. We haven't lived near family, ever. Our half winter and spring in Utah was the closest we've been to that. So when a visitor comes, especially a Grandparent, it makes the good-byes awful.  Matix wanted one last picture with Grandma Stacy before they left. I asked if he wanted to smile and he said no.  She sang to him and gave him extra squeezes, but you can tell, he just hates to see her go. Poor thing.

Later that day (two weeks ago now), he gave a talk in Primary. Paul and I both went to see him and Paul helped read the talk with him. He did a great job, and seemed fine.  But then that night, he lost it again and we had to call Grandma and Grandpa. They were still driving and Matix was able to talk to Grandma and feel a little better. Hawken was mostly just concerned if that meant that Alexandra was leaving too, but she wasn't, so he was fine.

lite brite

It's hard to get a good picture of a Lite Brite creation, but he was so excited that he used all the little pegs at one time, I couldn't say no.  So, here he is, Matix and his birthday cake picture on the Lite Brite in the playroom closet (the best place to create a Lite Brite masterpiece). :)

surfside

Surfside Beach in Freeport is our favorite. We went there with Grandma and Grandpa the evening before they left, and we were sure to be off the beach BEFORE the mosquitos came out. :) Also, the Strom family and the Twitchell family joined us. It was really fun.

Looking like a surfer, this is Lullaby's friend, Christian.

Grandpa and Grandma took the kids out deep for swimming and surfing.

Grandma made dinner for everyone, hotdogs on the beach are the perfect easy meal.

I spotted a jellyfish swimming in the water, Paul caught it in this bucket and after everyone was out of the water he released it again before we left. It was really cool to see it up close. It was pink in color, although the green bucket diluted the look of it.

Alexandra wanted to practice standing on the board before surfing, she is getting pretty good!