July 30 - It's Not That Warm

I was out of town last week for work when I got a dreaded text from JD Friday afternoon "The upstairs AC is broken." I fully admit that I freaked out and worried that after just getting our house painted (albeit at a very reasonable rate) we would be facing a huge bill for a new AC unit. We have 2 units and they are original to the house, so we know they need to be replaced in the next few years. I'm hoping to do it in the winter when you can negotiate better prices. Anyway, I arrived home Saturday night and JD had positioned a fan on the stairs so it was blowing cool air from downstairs upstairs. The temperature at night was 81 degrees in the house and it wasn't too horrible. During the day was a different story. With the curtains drawn and fans on high, we were at a balmy 93 degrees. The kids and I played Sunday afternoon at home and the game of choice was hide and go seek.

Can you guess where they hid almost every time? Upstairs! I kept asking them to hide downstairs and they would respond "But mom, it's not that warm up there. We're fine." My little Floridian and Texan....they definitely aren't bothered by the heat like me! Luckily, the repair guy came Monday afternoon and it was a minor fix. 

In other news, Julia has entered her second week of camp at Bay Oaks (swim, golf and tennis) and she loves it. She can't wait to go every morning and asked me if she can do sailing camp and Bay Oaks camp next summer because they are her favorites. I also found out the girl that runs the camp lives around the corner from us (I saw her while I was walking Amelia one night). Luke had a farm theme last week and enjoyed a petting zoo, while this week is a circus theme and there was a juggler at school yesterday. 

As for this random picture of me: photography by Luke. :) 

July 21 - Little Chef

Great news-AT&T came to our house Thursday evening and installed a new cable so our internet is back up and running. Yay! Last week, the theme was 'cooking' at Luke's school and he had fun making homemade applesauce and fruit salad. They also practiced cutting veggies (which he surprisingly loved) and they had a party on Friday trying foods from around the world. When I picked him up, he was wearing the cutest little chefs hat and refused to take it off. We went to the grocery store and kept telling people 'hey, look at my hat.' It was too cute. 

After his gymnastics hiatus, Luke is back at Lobo. He tried his first (again) class on Saturday and he did great. I was worried he would move the mats around again but he listened to his instructor and paid attention the whole time. After gymnastics, Julia and I were double booked for birthday parties (American Girl doll party and then pottery party) so Luke and JD went to the pool and then saw the new planes movie. They had a blast!

The boys

July 17 - Cold Toes

In exciting news, there are painters at our house this week painting the exterior, replacing rotten wood, pressure washing and painting doors. In not so exciting news, I gave them the okay to cut our internet cable (thinking it was a direct tv cable from the previous owners). So...I am working remotely at Starbucks today freezing my toes off. It is nice to be out of the house and around people for once, but wowsa, it's chilly in here. AT&T will hopefully fix the cable tonight and I'll be in my regular office tomorrow. Speaking of my office, several people have asked what Amelia does all day. To be honest-she sleeps pretty much all day unless someone knocks on the door. And then she does a really great attack dog impression...15min max before it tires her out and she needs to sleep again. She used to sleep on Julia's bed all day, but her room was starting to smell like dog (even though I washed her bedding several times a week) so now she is blocked from the bedrooms. She snuggles up as close as she can to me in the office. There are no words to describe how much I love this dog. 

The kids are doing great. Luke is obsessed with watching the painters. The other day he stood looking out the front windows while a guy was doing the trim. Luke said (through the window, don't think the painter could hear him at all). "Hi, my name is Luke. I'm three. I'll be four soon. I'm going to have a spider-man birthday party. My sister is Julia and she is 5. I have a furry sister named Amelia." So cute. Julia has also been really sweet lately. I took the kids out for ice cream the other day and Julia and Luke were playing their favorite game 'baby.' Essentially, Julia is the mother and Luke is her baby. She carries him around everywhere and tells him what to do. We were eating ice cream and she told him "You are just so cute, I can't even take it. Those dimples. I just want to kiss those cheeks all the time." What makes this even more funny is that these are the things I tell Luke. Hehehe. 

July 14 - Lisa

It's the middle of July and we are starting to experience some hot, hot, hot weather. We bought a slip and slide this weekend and the kids had a blast playing with it for hours. Amelia was intrigued by it but wouldn't actually go near the water. We might have to pick up a small baby pool for her so she can stay cool. 

On Sunday, JD took the kids to the Children's Museum for a few hours and then surprised Julia with a trip to the American Girl store. Now, if you recall from a few months ago, Julia and I went there for an event and after seeing the price tags I told her she would never, ever, under any circumstances get one of those dolls. Imagine my surprise when they came home and she had one. Needless to say, she is very excited and 'daddy is the best ever!' right now. She named the doll 'Lisa' and loves her. She has another similar doll that she got for Christmas named Julie and these are her "children." Lisa is 5 and Julie is 4 (they are currently attending school in our playroom). And Julia somehow convinced JD to build her a bunk bed for 'her girls.' haha. 

Lisa

Trying to cool off in the garden

Chris and Anthony

Julia and Chris dancing (Wii U), hilarious!

July 11 - Cousin Love

It's time to brag about my adorable nieces and nephews, so prepare yourself for an insane amount of cuteness. 

Victoria (age 6) had her dance recital last month and did a fabulous job. She also just started first grade (they have year round school in Raleigh). So far she is enjoying it. 

Andrew (age 4) is great in pre-school and is a little ball of energy. He still loves trains and keeping his parents on their toes. He's rocking swimming lessons this summer. 

Leah (age 2) loves her daycare and gets to spend a lot of time with her two grammies (they both live in Tampa).  She's closing in on age 3 and her sassy personality is shining through. 

Claire (age 2) is excited to start pre-school next month and enjoying being a big sister. She is also getting used to sleeping with a little tyke in the house. 

Grayson (2 months). An I'm proud to introduce the newest addition to the family, Grayson Magnus, born 5/8 7lb 9oz and 20 inches. Welcome Grayson!

July 7 - Sailing Into Summer

Wow-last week was simply incredible. The weather was gorgeous every day (it's hot but not oppressive yet) and the kids were in great moods all week. Luke made a super hero t-shirt at school that he was VERY excited about. His class also had another party and we helped make some trail mix out of cheerios, pretzels, marshmallows and fruit loops. Amazingly, he hated the fruit loops (which shocked me because I thought he loved all things sugar) but he loved the rest. His class also did some science experiments involving dry ice early in the week. He could not stop talking about the smoke and how some kids tried to drink it (not him, he said it had a weird smell). 

Julia had sailing camp last week and absolutely loved it. The camp was at the Houston Yacht Club and her group of 5 and 6 year olds were called the 'mini ragnots.' There were 11 kids with 3 instructors and we carpooled all week with her friend Wade (neighbor and fellow classmate in Ms. Bach's kinder class). Her friends Evey (neighbor) and Evelynn (from pre-school) were also there. The kids learned new terminology (mast, port, starboard, rudder, etc) as well as how to navigate the boat and tie knots. They did capsize drills in the pool, went swimming every day, had sand castle competitions on the little beach there and even sailed by themselves at the end of the week in opti boats (they were tethered to the instructors). Fab week!

On Friday, we went to our neighborhood pool for the annual 4th of July party. There was a dj, hoola-hoop competition (Julia placed third, limbo and several other races. They had pizza, drinks and cookies for everyone too. Hannah, Siddhant and their families were both there and it was fun. We came home for rest for a little while and then headed to another pool party at Wade's house. We all went swimming, ate dinner, played some WiiU and the the dad's lit some fireworks. 

Okay-as if that wasn't enough adventure for the week, Saturday brought more fun and excitement. Uncles Chris and Anthony arrived late Friday evening and it's always fun to have family in town. We went to a birthday party on Saturday (swimming party) and then grilled beef fajitas for dinner. Yesterday, we all went to Schlitterbahn (water park) for the day. Amazing week! 

Luke and his truck

Soaring!

July 3 - Most Improved

Last week our Daisy troop went to the local library for a tour. The kids loved going behind the scenes and seeing the book drop area as well as finding out where the magazines were.  After the tour the girls snacked on cupcakes and decorated picture frames. This month the girls are coming over for pizza and Wii U dancing, we can't wait!

The Orcas end of year banquet was on Monday at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet that has mini golf, bowling and arcade games. After chowing down (the amount of food Luke has been eating recently continues to shock me) the coaches presented awards and trophies. Julia won the 'Most Improved Girl' and Hannah won 'Highest Scorer' (both of them for the 6 and under girls). 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Library Tour

Daisy Troop

Great job girls!

Keeping it classy little buddy

Love these guys