Summer Happenings

This will be the first of several posts over the next couple of days! We have had a busy summer so far!

Esther finished her second season of softball just after school finished. She really enjoyed playing and getting to know the game a little better. It was pretty crazy having both Esther and Nathan play on different teams with different schedules so we'll see about next year. We may have to tell Esther no as she is already involved with dance and piano lessons and Nathan has no other activities as of yet.

Nathan missed his awards ceremony while we were in California so we'll be getting his trophy from his coach this week. I'll take a picture of him with his uniform and trophy and post later.

Esther participated in a Junior Players program at the library this year. There were several dozen groups in the Dallas area. At the end of two weeks, they had a "Festival of Plays" where the kids performed the short plays they'd prepared. Esther was disappointed theirs was about aliens instead of mermaids, but she had fun anyway.

Hamming it up, as usual. Our little actress in training...





A quick nod to the Fourth of July. We celebrated by attending our local parade. Jacob was tired as it was naptime and there was lots of noise and people, but he enjoyed it with a serious face. I love this picture of Nathan!

Our friend Julie gets to ride in the parade every year now since she was a former Ms. Mature Irving.

Then we had a ward BBQ at the church complete with a kids' bike parade!

Progression of a Mess

I tried a new recipe tonight - homemade chocolate pudding. Yummy! Jacob refused to be spoon fed so I gave him a bowl with his own spoon and let him have at it. Eventually I took the bowl away and he just spread it around. We were laughing so hard!

 Delicious stuff!

 I am pretty cute, aren't I?

Pudding fingerpainting. 

Are you laughing at me? 

I think I have something in my eye. 

Savoring the last of the pudding. 

Um... Can I have my bath now?

Bridal Shower

I have finally have the photos from the bridal shower I helped coordinate at the end of April. It was really a lot of fun to put together and Mary, the bride to be, was so thrilled. She just got married yesterday and is moving permanently to Idaho, so we chose a Texas themed shower.

Thank you to Candace from Allgood Smiles for the photography!

Here on the right is our friend Mary, the bride to be. Well, now the newlywed!

Easter

Easter morning goodies. My lilies are huge this year! They are still going strong and smell heavenly.

Can't you see how much they love each other? And they truly do!

I love these three kids! What great faces!

The many faces of Jacob. And his new trick of sticking his fingers in his ears.

Pondering.

Dinner was rack of lamb, roasted baby potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Very simple and delicious.

Jacob's Birthday

Whewph! Three March birthdays! At least I only have to plan two of them.

Our little Jacob turned one on the 30th. This year has just flown by. Jacob is such a happy baby and is an absolute delight to have in our family. We love his laugh and his sweetness.

Esther and Nathan chose a race car party for Jacob.

He was very excited by the cupcakes! But Esther and Nathan were freaking out that he was going to touch the candle. They are very protective.

He wasn't crying, just whining. He didn't like getting his fingers dirty. Plus he was getting tired. After a quick bath and some warm pjs, he was ready to go opening presents. Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures of that. But we did get some cute videos which I'm not going to upload tonight. Needless to say, he was a bit overwhelmed and Esther and Nathan played with his toys more than he did.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

I ordered a little kit on Etsy this year to try a new way of dyeing eggs. You use silk fabric to make colorful eggs. Two of them ended up not working so I think they may have been chiffon and not 100% silk. I'm going to be collecting pieces of silk this year so we have lots for next year!

Step 1: Wet the fabric in water.

Step 2: Wrap the silk around the egg.

Step 3: Wrap a piece of white fabric around the wet silk and tie it with a twisty tie.

Step 4: Put the eggs into an enamel or glass pot and fill with water and 1/4 C white vinegar.

Step 5: Bring eggs to a boil, then allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Drain eggs, then let cool.

Step 6: Unwrap eggs and see what happened!

Certainly the brighter the fabrics, the better they turned out! The duller colors were not nearly as interesting.