School's Out for the Summer

This year some friends and I decided to host a little preschool for out kids. There are several kids Hannah's age that live here in our complex and also go to church with us. It was a lot of fun. Hannah really enjoyed it and I had a good time too.

Our scheduled classes finished at the end of May but since then several of the kids have been in and out so yesterday we were finally able to get together and have our end of year party. Reianna bought pizza and we had chips and salsa, salad and brownies. The kids enjoyed the pizza and brownies and playing with each other.

Here are some pictures from our first field trip and our party (at the top).

Visit To Texas' Ice Cream Capitol

If you have never been to Brenham, TX you should go. It is a charming town. You drive the streets and part of me feels like I am driving through the city I spent the first 5 years of my life or the cities I know from my childhood and where my dad currently works. It just has a nice feeling. I know that you wouldn't go for just that reason, but how about the best ice cream in the world? Maybe not the world but surely the best ice cream I have eaten this side of the Atlantic. I love ice cream, I eat the generic kind just because I love ice cream but I really love good ice cream and you can always find good ice cream in Brenham.

This is the headquarters of Blue Bell ice cream. It is only sold in the south because they won't ship to outside a days drive from any of their creameries. It is tasty stuff. They have lot's of fun flavor and your old standbys.

Our most recent trip was Tuesday. I volunteered to drive our young women from church to Girl's Camp. Brenham just happens to be on the way. My sister-in-law who lives about an hour away mentioned that we should get our kids together so, we decided to meet up in Brenham.

Our weather had been hot and sunny and what would you guess but we woke up Tuesday morning to rain clouds. It rained most of our drive to Girl's Camp and poured just as we started throwing girls out to get their tents ready. We finally got them settled and hurried to Brenham so we wouldn't miss Margaret and the boys. We got there just as they did. It was still raining. We had planned a picnic, ice cream and playing at the park.

Well we found a dry bench and being Texas it wasn't cold sitting outside even though it was raining. the kids enjoyed their lunch and being together. Then we went inside for some ice cream. Yum. Hannah and Josh enjoyed some Strawberry, Jonathan had chocolate, I can't remember what Margaret and Caleb shared and I enjoyed Caramel Turtle Fudge. It was delicious.

After ice cream we discovered it had stopped raining. We decided that we'd driven all this way to let the kids play so, let them play. We drove to a nearby park and let the kids play for about 30 minutes. Jonathan and Caleb were so dirty. At one point Caleb slid down the slide and fell off the bottom face first. They poor kid had dirt and mulch all over him. Luckily it wiped off pretty good and in minutes he was off again. The kids had a great time and by the time we left I think they were tired. We had them sit down to take a picture and they actually sat there.


It was fun. Thanks Margaret for asking us to play. What a day.

Modesty is always in style.

We believe in being modest and that is something we have tried to teach Hannah. Last night we were watching a movie and Hannah had a really hard time with the dress one of the characters was wearing. It was a dance sequence and so she just had a bodysuit on with a long ruffle in the back.

Hannah looked at me and exclaimed, "Mom, she is missing half her skirt. That is not modest."

I tried really hard not to laugh. For the entire dance number Hannah went on and on about how she need to fix her dress to be modest.
I feel like I have at least succeeded in something. My kid may not be a rocket scientist but I am glad she is learning something important from me.

What have you been up to?

The classic question when you see someone you haven't seen in a while, right?

Well the classic answer, at least for me, "Oh nothin' much. Just the usual." So noncommittal and really contains no information so, I am trying to be more information and honest.

Our usual for the last few weeks means, get up at 7 am, even though my alarm went off at 6 and get everyone breakfast and Hyrum lunch if he's home. I try to get Hannah to eat quickly but I think she got my brother, Andrew's genes and she just takes it nice and slow. Then we get dressed and head out the garden.

A couple of weeks ago this meant at least an hour of pulling weeds and pulling muscles. I got all of the weeds taken care of now we/re just on to maintenance, watering and picking food. It is so fun to come home with a bowl of beans and tomatoes. The only problem is that I don't quite have enough to justify canning them and we can't eat them fast enough. I may have to find some hungry neighbors.

After the garden we enjoy the morning at our shady park. It is hot down here but somehow, under the thick branches and leaves on the pecan trees there is always a morning breeze and I can stand sitting there. Sometimes we hurry home so I can shower and we can get to the store or just so I can get inside. This heat and humidity really gets me.

I'm working on a variety of projects right now but with really no motivation or thought of getting them done soon. We'll see see how they go. I'm working on a blanket for Jonathan, my block of the month quilt, scrapbooks for the kids--getting them up to date, cutting out some laminating I had done almost a year ago, teaching Hannah how to read and potty-training Jonathan. That is in addition to the normal things involved with keeping a house clean. Next week we'll probably head to the pool and do some swimming. The kids love it and so do I.

Life continues to be busy and carrying us along with it. The kids are growing faster than I can handle most days. I am grateful for the things they teach me and for the experiences they provide. Sometimes, I want to lock myself in my room to get a break but they are great kids.

So that is what we've been up to. Not anything too exciting but, hey that is our life.