Happy 4th of July!

July 4, 2012



Happy Birthday, USA!



From this tall guy...

and these two sweet girls.

We rocked our stars and stripes...

and chilled in the pool.

The kids ran through Memaw's sprinkler...

relaxed on her raft...

and hung out in the shade on her nice hammock.

I decorated an angel food cake with pink icing, strawberries and blueberries and took it to our second swim party later that afternoon.

There was ball playing, more swimming...

and a few festive sparklers!

We ended the night watching the fireworks with friends.  It was a fabulous 4th of July.  Thanks so much to all of our gracious hosts!

Goofing around with Daddo

Jared actually made it home for dinner with the fam earlier this week!  We haven't been able to say that in a VERY long time.  Everyone was so giddy that they just had to have some play time after dinner in order to properly celebrate.

Daddo spent a solid 15 minutes being "Turbo Dad" and running around the house with not one, but two, monkeys on him.

They loved it!  The votes are in--Daddo should come home for dinner much more often!

My senoritas

My parents brought back these adorable dresses for the girls from their trip to Mexico.

To spice up their look, the girls grabbed Gigi's new hat and divided it up.  Maddie got the tassles and Lila got the hat.  They make me smile.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Andrew!

Yesterday we went to dinner to celebrate Uncle Andrew's birthday.  We had a private room on the second floor of Urban Crust in Plano and it was perfect.

Both Andrew's and Maria's families came to celebrate with him and we all had such a good time. 
Notice what's playing on that TV?  Let's just say that Jackson could not have been more pleased with the seating arrangement.

Before dinner, Maddie suprised Uncle Andrew with this picture that she had colored for him. 
He loved it.

Lila took a cue from Maddie and immediately got out her crayons to make Uncle Andrew one, too.

This was Jackson for 90% of the night.  Eyes on the game.  He kept everyone informed on how the Rangers were doing--his Poppi especially appreciated it since he was underneath the TV.

After pizza and pasta, Memaw broke out the chocolate cake!  J and M helped Andrew with all of his candles. It takes some help to get 29 of them to go out!

These two could not ask for a better Uncle and they are so excited to be getting another Aunt in only a few months!

After dessert, it was time for presents.  Madison modeled one of his presents from us--a Camelbak for  his newfound love of bike riding.  Too cute! 

Happy Birthday, Andrew!  Thanks for letting our crew celebrate with you.

Mi casa es su casa

This past weekend my parents went to Mexico for a wedding.  My mom very nicely offered to let us invite some friends over for a swim party.  We honestly do not miss having a pool most of the year, but during July and August, I do find myself wishing we still had one.  We were really glad that some of our friends could make it.  Before they arrived, Lila found Gigi's reading glasses and a swim hat.  She told me that she had the glasses on, "so that I can see you better."

It was quite the outfit in which to greet our guests!

Maddie got to hang out with Chloe...

and Abby in the pool.  She palled around with Chloe for a lot of the evening and really enjoyed swimming with Abby, too.  It's so cute to see them being friends with one another now.

Not quite the social butterfly for the first hour, Lila preferred to eat ice poolside and just take in all the action.

She's perfected the pouty lip, that's for sure!  Sass-a-fras.

It was a very laid back evening, with most of the action taking place in the baby pool.

J man hung out in the big pool and played ball with Adam, Dusty and Justin for a lot of the night.  He loved pitching to Dusty and seeing if he could hit it with the green noodle.  J threw some heat, but I'm pretty sure Dusty got at least a few hits.

After swim time, we were all ready to dig in to the yummy food that everyone brought.  The kids were so well behaved and ate like champs. 

Look at how happy Lila was with a full belly.  Laid back with a big ol' grin on her face. 
Yeah, summertime!

We loved seeing all of you last night.  Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for letting us hang out at your casa.  We had fun.  Maybe not Mexico fun, but good family fun, nonetheless!

Painting their masterpieces

Earlier this week, the kids had had plenty of sun and TV.  I told them to pick a craft and get busy!

Not surprisingly, they all chose painting.  I love it that my little cowgirl can now join in on "big kid" activities like this.  And she cracks me up by needing to accessorize in order to do her best work.

Ways to Beat the Heat...

Wow!  Summer has arrived.  This weekend it went from being pretty warm, to just plain HOT!  As in 105 degrees every afternoon.  How are you supposed to enjoy the outdoors without melting?  I'm glad you asked.  We found plenty of ways up at Lake Texoma.

Get Boom Pa to buy you a new swimming pool and fill it up with seriously cold well water.  As in 46 degrees!  No worries, it does warm up in the sun, but it's mighty refreshing.

Spend lots of time swimming all over the cove.

Bored with swimming?  Get Gigi to play a little football with you...in the water, of course.

Listen to some of Boom Pa's jokes...in the water, as well:)

Sport your new hot pink shades and chill with Gigi.

Chill on the beach with your mamasita and a nice cold drink.

Tube around the lake on a beautifully calm morning.  (Yes, that's Lila in there, too!)

Get so relaxed on your tube ride that you actually fall asleep!

Let your mama take off your lifejacket and lay you down on a lovely beachfront palette.  Then enjoy a nice little nap with calming waves assisting your slumber.

And finally, have a seat under the shade and enjoy a cold one. 
Heat, I think we've got you beat. 
Now if we could just move the lake a little closer to our house, we'd really be set.