See Biscuit Ride

This video cracks me up. It's from Chuck E Cheese; they have a horse that you "ride" in a horse race (you watch the race on the screen in front of you). Boy, was Blair serious about this race!

A day for dads

Or something like that... I would say ours was, but actually I'd have to check with Jeremy first. He kinda got ripped off...other than breakfast in bed for him, it was just a normal day. We went to church, came straight home and fed the kids lunch and got them down for naps. I normally strive for the celebrating parent to not have to do ANYTHING on their day--that's always my goal on MY birthday and on Mother's Day, so it's only fair that I repay the favor; however, on this day, I ended up falling asleep and taking a nap, during which time Blair woke up and Jeremy had to do this and that for her while I snoozed on the couch! Oops. Then he didn't get any brownies, nor cards, nor a gift. Yep, that's how we feel about you, good buddy! (All was made up to him on Monday, though, when we celebrated with said brownies, cards, and gifts. So I just like to think that we extended the holiday for him. Yes, that's it.) Here's a few pictures of his day...

Breakfast in bed--it's a tradition for the celebrating parent as much as it is for the kids

Jeremy's Star Wars-themed breakfast--TIE Fighter Ties, Princess Leia Danish Dos, Obi Wan Kabobs, and Greedo Grape Juice

Sloane staying true to her familial South Texas roots (see her shirt). Blair refused to wear the My Dad Rocks shirt, probably because it was such an unthinkable color of navy, and not pink.

Opening the kids' handcrafted cards

Just another summer day at our house...

With Summer in full swing, and me already at my wits end (and the kids at theirs), we have to find SOME way to keep ourselves busy, lest we all end up in the looney bin. The adjustment into the summer routine has been harder on us all than I thought it would be. Reid has a lot of energy and does best when he has a structured day. Blair has been used to having the run of the house mostly to herself every day and now has to get used to someone else crashing through. But I've found the key is to just keep us busy. The weather has been fairly nice so we're trying to take advantage of it when we can. So here are a few snapshots from some of our recent outings and activities. And there will be many more to come...we've only done about half the things on Reid's "Things To Do This Summer" list. So stay tuned! :)

Good old fashioned playin' in the dirt at Daddy's softball games

Dirt from head to toe

Cooling off at the spray ground

Playing at the park

Swingin'

Reid had been begging to have a picnic at the lighthouse for the last year. So we finally did it.

Due to the wind, we had to sit in THAT EXACT SPOT so we, and all our stuff, wouldn't blow away!

Just enjoying the beautiful weather in a pretty little dress

Feeding the ducks and geese at the park. You had to watch out for that goose buddying up to Reid...it bit Sloane when it thought she was holding out a piece of food (actually, she was reaching out to touch him), and it kept inching closer and closer to Reid with each bite of the sandwich he took.

One silly goose to another

This is exactly WHY we need busy activities...after donning his superhero costume and cape, jumping off the couch and faceplanting on the livingroom floor, he honestly asked, "Why didn't I fly?"
Popsicles have become a daily staple

Reid's t-ball games. His team is the Yankees. (barf!) But I guess we like the 't-ball Yankees'.

It's been a year already?

Sloane has turned a year old. Already. In some ways it's gone by so quickly, and it other ways, it's felt just right. She is such a fun baby. She really is. She's been fairly laid back, although we are just now starting to see a little attitude come out of her. Sometimes she thinks she's 1, going on 21. Since she's getting more mobile, she doesn't like to hold still, and when someone is holding her down, she lets out the loudest shriek and shrill. She's definitely been the loudest of the 3. We always call her the little shriek owl. Or sometimes howler monkey. Yes, it's that loud. But when she's not piercing eardrums, she is a ball of fun. She's got a great personality. She greets you with smiles and giggles every morning and after every nap. She likes to play and be tickled. She "talks" a lot, usually with something she's trying to tell us, but nothing we can understand unless she points at something. She mimics us and her siblings alot (which is setting us up for T-R-O-U-B-L-E). She likes to sing with others and at church. Reid learned a song about colors at school and it has sign language with it, and he's sung it so much that she's picked up on it. I didn't realize that until I was pointing out colors today and saw her start to move her hands (imitating sign language) and heard her "singing". It was so cute. She's taken a few steps, but isn't consistent with it yet. She's almost completely on table food now (still eats some rice cereal and jarred fruits for breakfast). And she loves her sippy cup of milk! Anyway, on to the party...!

Her actual birthday was spent at home. Instead of a cake, we got some big, thick, iced sugar cookies from a favorite cookie shop. We put a candle in one that looked like a cupcake and used that as her cake for the night.


To celebrate her birthday with family and friends, we held a circus-themed party the following Saturday. It was a fun party to plan because the whole family got in on it. Reid and Blair helped me stuff bean bags for the Bean Bag Throw, paint coke bottles for the Ring Toss, color signs (all of which proved to be awesome busy-projects for them), and then helped set them up at the party. My mom baked the cake, while Jeremy did the icing and decorating (I think we have another Ace of Cakes on our hands!). And my dad figured out the mechanics of getting the Bean Bag Throw and the Strongman Cutout to stand up. Okay, so my mom and dad probably weren't really LOOKING to get that involved, but well, they were here, so they got put to work! And Sloane showed up ready to party!

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages...

Step right up and try your hand at the bean bag throw!

And ring toss!

Come challenge the amazing Strong Man!

And, uh, Strong WO-man! (yes, she has a hairy chest, she moonlights as the Bearded Lady on weekends)


And what would a circus be without Sidewalk, the clown?!?

...making balloon animals

...and painting faces















Also featuring the internationally-renowned and incredibly talented Pooch Performers!




















So grab your hot dog...












...popcorn and peanuts...















...and of course the cotton candy (clown noses optional)















...and witness a spactacular feat of cake balancing...

...as Miss Sloane, Star of the Galaxy, celebrates her First Birthday!

Vacation Bible School started today.

Haaaaaaallelujah! Haaaaaaaallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!