July

The month of July brought about:

A low-key and fun 4th of July with our friends, the Michel family. We ate, hung out in our backyard, and lit sparklers (adults only).

The last week of summer school for Nate.  He really loved all 4 weeks and we were sad to see it end.  Especially Mommy and Daddy -- now how do we keep everybody preoccupied for a month and a half?!?

Nate turned 5 years old this month!  Yippee.  And yikes.  Where did the time go??  And, I must say -- (this is for you, Jen) so far, I'm absolutely loving the 5th year.  Nate's imagination has blossomed and he is the social butterfly of our house.  I love having conversations with him and listening to how his mind works. Every day is a new adventure with this kid.

VBS at church.  Nate was hesitant at first but had a ball at VBS. And he is asking a lot of great questions right now that have led to us having some meaningful conversations with him.  Here's a sample of what he's been thinking since VBS (some serious, some funny):

     "Am I going to die?"

     "God made McDonald's, didn't he?"

     "Is there leprosy all over my face?"

     "Where is my Father?"

Chelsea has her first tooth at 9 months old.  Actually, she has teeth now.  Two bottom teeth came in together.  I remember this stage with Nate -- my hardwood floors have a "film" on them from the pool of baby drool she leaves as she crawls around the house.  With Nate, I cleaned the floors every night (blame the OCD) .  That's definitely not happening with Chelsea.  My cleaning standards have been lowered dramatically.

Nate began swim lessons in July and will wrap up in mid-August. He's doing great.  I requested a female instructor and it's worked out perfectly because she has a mild manner that is perfect for my little people-pleaser.  I've watched some of the young male instructors and they would have been too intense.  His lessons are at the same swim school I went to when I was a little one.

I put this up on Facebook but it's too good not to show again.  Happy Birthday, America!

He gets wet.  My car gets washed.  It's a win-win.

Sneaky, sneaky girl.  We have experimented with putting the baby gate in the hallway so she won't go in the bathroom or Nate's room, both of which are her catnip.  She LOVES her brother's room.  Things are already getting ugly when she touches his stuff.

Legos have taken over my house.  I think they multiply at night.  Help!

Gotta get a picture with the red plate.  It's tradition!

Made my first rainbow cake a la Pinterest for Nate's birthday party.  It was fun to do.  Three layers was enough for my novice baking skills.

I fully expected to have an entire garden of various colors of sunflowers.  What a bust.  This was the only plant that bloomed from the whole seed pack beyond the usual yellow and even those were sparse this year.

Lee, however, struck gold with his tomatoes.

Our little Michael Phelps.

Yea for grown-up time.  With grown-up food. And grown-up drinks.

The weather has been on the mild side but certainly not cool enough for 2 jackets and mittens.  This is how he greeted me at the front door when I came home from work one day.  Crazy kid.

We've been taking advantage of the nice weather  and dining al fresco a couple of times a week.  Yes, that's a pizza box.  Don't judge.  And I think 3 out of 4 pictures on my blog have poor Chelsea sitting in her highchair.  We do let her down occasionally.  Honest.

PS -- this is my 400th blog post.  Wow.