July

During Primary I was told to go see Sis Thurgood when the meetings were over. At the end of Sabbath services, I went over to Relief Society and visited with Carol. For those who know the Blacks, Carol is Joy's sister. She is a fabulous lady. Carol was thinking about my kids while at Target and had a stash of goodies in her trunk for them. Included in the bags was this Brave princess dress and doll. (The headgear is a Macey original...) Macey loves this dress, even if it is too hot to wear right now. She has worn it in public to the delight of most passersby.

Alex made a goal of saving $100. He accomplished this and I took him to the bank to change it in for this bill. He was very excited. Too bad he doesn't have a reason to save $100; so mostly it is just exciting to say he has it and to think about what could be.

July is art month at our house. Painting is something that I should do more often. Macey has a natural sense of shape and color. Ryan has few inhibitions. And Alex is stuck in his usual motifs.

A first stab at finger painting.

The Titanic as she is going down, by Alex.
I have also bought the boys clay, but I haven't pushed that too much. Ryan is going to Art Camp this week. It is in a clay studio so maybe after that he'll have some more self motivation to do art (like when he has no one to play with and he can't have electronics).

I thought I would at least acknowledge that I have tried to make new friends in our ward. There are only 10 women in their 30's in our ward and very few of us are friends. So I hosted a cookie exchange as a first of hopefully many girl nights. Alas, July is not the best month for such an event and I only had 4 ladies come. But we did have a good time and I plan to try again soon.

The Bently's of Val Alsteen wanted to meet up with us. So we headed down to the science museum last Saturday. Dan didn't go with us before so this was his first trip.

On this trip Ryan got to hold a dissected shark and touch its insides. Yes, it was gross and yes, he loved it. My boys love science. Thank goodness. Ryan loves the nonfiction section of the library and this more than anything is going to motivate him to read, read, read.

We mostly spent our time divided with the men and big boys going one way while the women and small kids went another. But the bubble room is a great place for everyone.

Super Macey!

And here is Alex building a paper model of the Titanic. He decided to break his $100 at Barnes and Noble to buy this set. It is a trial in patience for me to keep him motivated and participating. He is a wonderful kid that is afraid of his own strength. In his mind to tear out, fold and insert tabs is risky business. He also thought it would take us 2 hours. I'm not sure why... it has already 'cost' us 5 hours and we are only 20% done.

Happy Holidays

If you are familiar with us at all then you know about our morning birthday tradition. This time I got 3 kids in bed!

I had a fun day playing with the kids.

Dan arranged for a sitter so we could go to dinner just the two of us.

Following dinner we went to watch a fireworks display 30 minutes away with the Delucias.

Fireworks in case you've never seen any.

On the fourth Marcella calls and says, 'We are getting ready to cook a late lunch. We were thinking of you. Do you want to come over?' I will say this up front, if the Delucias offer you food, you say, 'YES!' We already had our swimsuits on and were getting ready to go to the pool, but instead of hanging a left at the end of the street, we took a right and ended up at the D cafe.

Actually, we couldn't have bought a better meal at a restaraunt. It was delicious! Following our meal, the two families then went to the pool to cool off and play.

And when that was over it was time to fullfill a condition I set to Dan previously (again, check the previous post). We were off to an FC Dallas game.We got to be on the field to welcome the two teams in a fan tunnel. It was a neat experience as the skydiving team came in for a landing in front of us. The game was against the Toronto team. It ended in a tie, 1-1. But it was fun and the kids endured the sitting very well.

The firworks show was awesome! However, our little princess did not enjoy it. She didn't like being so close to the noise. She wanted to hide in the bathroom. I did not. So I held her and rocked her and kept saying, 'it is almost over' when actually it was a long show that lasted past her. She fell asleep just before the finish.

Sporadic

One day Dan calls me and asks in a I-really-want-this-what-do-you-think way (I know this way, because that is how I got the membership to the science museum, see the previous post) about buying a set of MLS soccer tickets at a price that was a little over the top of what we would normally spend on recreational activities. I said go ahead, but here is my condition... you must 1) take the whole family to the 4th of July game and 2) find activities to do with the other children, because let's face it, soccer is an Alex and Dan activity for the most part. Deal.

 So, I handed Dan a $10 off coupon to Build-A-Bear that we got from a Happy Meal sometime ago with a 'have a nice time' grin on my face. Yes, of course I could have done this, but Dan is so much better at letting the children have what they want. I am too practical and see things from a grown-up point of view. (ie Are you sure want to have a Minnie Bear when you could have a Hello Kitty?)
I can't say anything of the experience because I was not there (I was taking Alex to get a library card, which he loves as much as Macey loves this bear) but there was happiness flowing from our Macey girl when she got home.

 I made this Minnie Bear a dress. Macey isn't too much of a stuffed animal child yet, but she does snuggle this bear and I think she is very happy with her choice.

 Sleepy time with her Minnie Bear while watching Thomas. Oh yeah, Macey is into Thomas the Tank Engine. Really, I was glad to see those movies relegated to the back shelf, but she is into it full force. It is awesome to repeat the same genre. I already know all the characters names! We already invested into trains and tracks! I know what she is playing when I hear her say something like, 'And then, there was trouble.' We all (except for Ryan who totally skipped this phase) know the words to the theme song. I'm already planning which engine to buy for her birthday. The best part is, I can find it cheap on craigslist or ebay!

 Another inexpensive toy that we are re-using this year. The slip-n-slide. I know, I could just put the hose on a piece of painters plastic, but here it is all bright and fun with a pool at the end.

 Macey runs down as far as she can before she slips, whereas the boys are learning how to slide with cool moves.

And once again we are watching basketball games. Alex was born to play basketball. He is a natural. This is him throwing up a shot; one that went in by the way. Dan is coaching again. Our athlete is amazing. I'm glad that this is something he tries to work at since he has a tendencey to give up early on hard tasks.

Science Museum

I debated about the science museum. I knew I wanted to take the kids, but did I want a membership? As the museum now stands, no, I wouldn't want to have a membership, but come January a new star is coming to town. The Perot Nature and Science Museum. It should be awesome from the building it is housed in to the exhibits displayed. So, I joined the museum. I'll be a charter member for the new museum for as long as I keep my membership active. My boys love science and I think it is appropriate for us to have access to such a cool place.

We got shark hats for joining the museum. I know what you are thinking, 'Why, oh, Why don't I have one of these hats?' Well, you shall just have to be envious of our good fortune and great fashion statement. I personally was thinking, 'why didn't I get circus tickets like the folks did the week before?'

 There was a shark exhibit in town. (Hence the lame hats...) We did get to see a frozen full size tuna next to a shark. That was sweet.

 The science museum's redeeming quality is the children's museum that is housed in house. There were lots of great touchy feely, playing, and exploring areas. One can never be too old to play dress up firemen.

 Macey going down the slide all by herself.

Here Macey had just kissed this duck and was getting ready to take him to the head of the stream for a swim. I'm hoping that the new museum will have a variety of exhibits to teach us all, but also to get the boys thinking about their futures as scientists.

Father's Day

 We got a new camera and had to take some quick pictures one morning. Here they are ready to go get donuts.

 Macey in her Snow White princess shoes.

This is Macey being a pirate. I tried to put a shirt on her but she said, 'No, pirates do not wear shirts.' I'm not exactly sure which pirates she has been watching, but I suspect animal characters...

 This is the Father's Day card I made Dan. The message said thanks for helping me keep my ducks in a row.

Here is Dan's favorite meal, Hawaiian Haystacks. His is missing some colorful veggies, but we know how he feels about red and green vegetables.
June is over and now we are off to July.

8th Degree Orange Belt

Ryan continues to advance in his Tae Kwon Do ranks. He is now an orange belt. He loves TKD. He never knows what day of the week it is, so regularly he wakes up and asks, 'is today TKD day?' I love his enthusiasim. He really tries hard to learn and to please. He says, 'yes, ma'm' and, 'no, sir' regularly to show his respect. He is a great kid. He is loaded with potential and I'm glad we found something that taps into his strengths.