most of July 2010

Ahhh, July. One of the hottest months in the year... especially when you live in South Texas. I'll tell you what, it gets to be ridiculously hot. I don't know if I've posted this on the blog before, but we like to take the advice we were given when we moved here. You treat Texas summers like Utah winters. You don't go outside to "hang out" unless you have a specific activity in mind, i.e. going to the grocery store, swimming, sprinklers (or for winter: sledding, going to the grocery store, skiing, etc.). You don't go outside unless you're REALLY ready for it. Catch my drift?

Anyway, the rules apply. Here we are ROASTING on the 4th of July. Well, technically, I think it was the 3rd of July, but you get the picture.
An All American Family. Three of the four people were Texas born and raised. Well, Aaron moved when he was in school, but the first little chunk of his life was Texas, so it counts.
Amazing.

We're so festive, it hurts.

Ward party? I think so. I seem to be very intent on what Nancy has to say. And, Tillie? Give her crayons and she's a busy beaver.

hanging out in the 4th of July duds. Cal looks up to his older sister in more ways than one.

such a pretty little girl. Those eyes. I'm biased. I am her mother.

cutie Cohen. He used to live across the street. His mom and I were great pals. Sad she left (that seems to be the theme with a lot of our close Texas friends. Why is that?). Anyway, we saw an ice cream truck and all partook. Cohen is a messy eater. Check out the drips on his leg. Tillie was dying and kept saying, "Uh, Oh! Cohen gettin' all dirty!"

I pulled out the bib. Hey, I know how hard it is to get un-natural ice cream dyes out of cute clothing. I don't know if Cal wanted the bib or the ice cream bar more? Luckily, her dad is there to help with the drips. Keep scrolling down and you'll see what I mean.

Way to take one for the team, Aaron. :)

Where was the mom through all this? Enjoying her very own ice cream bar. With chocolate, thank you. It's a rough life, but someone has to do it.

::: Bath time with Cal is always a happy time. What a cutie that boy is! Aaron and I hurried to get the kids to bed, so we could go out and enjoy the fireworks. In our neck of the woods, they are going off until midnight!

yes, all illegal fireworks, I'm sure. Thank you, San Antonio neighbors.

::: Calvin is ALMOST 6 months here. I think this is the day before his first HALF Birthday. For pictures in his actual crown posing it up, click here. These are just a few of him hanging out waiting for his sister to wake up. He had just discovered how to do PUSH UPS. Here he is showing off his new talent.

::: We took part in a little neighborhood garage sale. Mind you, it wasn't the WHOLE neighborhood, just a few of our neighbors all decided to do it the same day in order to bring more traffic. We sold a few things and made some moola. Not too bad. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Glad to get rid of a lot of random things we weren't using!

Aaron, always making sure we have some good tunes flowin'. So many people thought that he was selling his little speaker and ipod, but no, he wasn't. And, do you love our little matching kids in jammies? I know. Me too.

no words for Tillie's hair, face, or shirt. Wow. Thank you, 1980's.

Aaron thought I should sell this hat, but I love it too much. Apparently, Tillie did too. Poor Cal was locked in the stroller. Sorry, buddy.

remember how hot Texas is in July? Remember how Tillie shares my genes? (both in the RED FACE department AND the desire for a great close up shot.) work it, Til.

Even though she isn't laughing here, she thought she was PRETTY CLEVER. oh, you.

::: Again, HOT being a theme with this post, our cute neighbor invited Tillie over to swim. She loved going to Cohen's house---so swimming was EXTRA exciting to this 2 year old! Here they are splashing around. Cohen is fearless when it comes to the water. Thankfully, Tillie is a little more reserved. I about died of worry when he'd jump in, head first!

Also, I think Tillie's hair looks really cute, for the record. :)

::: This was the day AFTER the Camry died. If you want to read more on that, go here. It was a tragedy. So, we all piled into Ruby, Aaron's Corolla that now belongs to another owner (sniff, sniff) to find us the perfect VAN. I wanted to document how cramped we are in his micro machine, but the camera looks like we've got room to spare. Not so. Ahh, the fun adventures we have had...

Tillie complaining that she "needs a good snack..." oh brother. we had been in the car for approx. 2.5 minutes. when she's bored, she likes to snack. uh oh. maybe too much like her mom??

And, here I am in the NEW (to us) van! Am I happy (and sweaty/shiny) or what?! And are those polka dotted pants I'm wearing?? Oh, nope. It's a skirt. Whew! Anyway, what a blessed day.

Well, that's most of July! Next stop, FAMILY REUNION: wood style. Get excited.