Squirrel Friend

I don't know how I missed this when I had posts in both May and June :P  But Rachel and I were reminded of this little squirrel the other day and it's just too cute not to share.  We were at the Dallas Arboretum having a picnic in front of the lake when this squirrel came really close to us.  He had quite the treat that day when we shared our pecans, peanuts, and cashews with him!

Chatty William

Here's one of the best videos we've gotten of William and the range of things he can say.  He says more and on his own, but here our little performing monkey was in rare form for the camera! :)  The "aw man" and "oh no" he came up with one day completely on his own, as well as the "I'm not!" which drives me crazy most days as it is his go-to response whenever I get on to him about doing something he shouldn't be doing.  The second time he says it is what it usually sounds like!

Last of the Summer Fun

I found a few more pictures from our summer.  Enjoy!

Watching movies

Pool fun

Our 4th of July girl

 Rachel's new favorite activity over the summer was cutting out things with scissors...and I mean ANYthing (we had random bowls filled with different colored construction paper shapes all over the house; it got pretty bad there for a while!).  Here she's doing some more constructive scissoring, cutting out pictures from my leftover coupons.

 Playing with his sister's computer game in the cozy coupe car

My dad's gift to them; getting them ready for the PGA I suppose :)

 Cantalope is one of our favorite summer treats, and it turns out a kid will eat more of it if you let them slice it themselves with a butter knife!

Teaching William

The view of this video isn't the best, but I was worried that if I moved around to see them better that it would interrupt them too much and they'd stop doing what they're doing (they tend to do that as soon as they hear the camera come on) :P 

Rachel is at her cutest here teaching her little brother the ABCs with an alphabet puzzle.  She's a great little teacher!

First Haircuts All Around

Rachel and William both got their first haircuts this summer.

William got his first, and with the help of Daddy and Mama K we got it done! If his hair were straight, I don't think I'd have done it myself. But with hair this curly, if it's a little off no one is going to know! Good thing too! He did well at first, then he got pretty fussy. So we placated him with peanut M&Ms and you'd have thought he got haircuts everyday since he's been born! :P Just had to find the right diversion I guess!

Before; as you can see it was pretty shaggy!

During

Right After

A few days later (taken while waiting for Rachel's haircut actually)

I had Rachel go to the same stylist that cuts my hair, Misty. She's Awesome! I've always loved how Rachel's hair is naturally shaped, so she cut it in a really nice shape.

Before; can you believe how long it is! And see how much lighter it is at the bottom. It's crazy to think that the light hair she's had ever since she was born!

During; she did great, following Misty's direction and never getting nervous or fussy.

After; we were all very pleased with the result. Now if I can just get her to quit hamming it up in front of the camera! :)

Better Late Than Never I Suppose!

I won't make any excuses; just been really busy with, ya know, kids and all! :P Here's pictures, and I'm hoping to get caught up in the next few days. I've been a slacker!

Summer 2011, Part 2

After watching Mary Poppins, Rachel was dying to fly a kite! So we did this several times this summer. We have two parks that are really good for this.

Rachel and I had a girls' night with lots of nail painting and hair braiding :)

My in-laws celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this past June. I was worried how the cake would turn out but I think it turned out really well.
My sweet curly haired little monster (and I mean that in the sweetest way!)

Rachel with her Mama K on her birthday

Rachel and I (well, mostly me) made these to decorate the wall above Rachel's bed.

Enjoying the sandbox (did lots of that this summer, but had to do it early in the morning or early evening to avoid the oppressive heat we had this year)

And lastly, my favorite way to spend a super hot summer afternoon!

Summer 2011, Part 1

I am SO enjoying this summer! I was a little worried Rachel might get bored after being so busy this last school year with all her classes, but she's taken well to having days of leisure. For me, it's reminded me of when I was in school and had time to go to the pool and watch movies in the afternoons :) (though we do splash pads mostly...easier for Mom when they're this age!). Here's some pictures of what we've been doing to stay busy.

This is from her last day of preschool. We are so excited that she's going to be in Ms. Cori's class again next year!

William is getting SO BIG! He learns how to do something new everyday. Just today he learned to climb up and sit on top of this table....:P

I don't know how this happened, but he was not happy about it!

Making homemade noodles

These two have been thick as thieves this summer, playing and harrassing each other like crazy (and it's pretty mutual on both parts...no one so far has gotten the upperhand in irritating the other yet!). But they get along way more than they pick at one another.

My mom and sister came down for a visit in late May. We had a really good time and Rachel really enjoyed getting to play with her Aunt Lydia! Can you find Lydia in the picture? Maybe it'd be easier if her socks were red and white striped! :) Rachel called this the "pillow machine"

William showing off his Blue Angels tshirt my dad got him while they were on vacation.

Playing jacks with her Grandmama

And enjoying tea and cookies, something no visit from my mom and sister would be complete without :)

Gotta go put Rachel to bed...hopefully i'll get more pictures posted tomorrow!

Rachel's Busy Weekend

We had one super busy weekend in April. We went to Scarborough Renaissance Faire (which has gotten a lot more fun now that Rachel's old enough to enjoy some of it though William is still a year or so away from doing more than just riding around in his stroller). Then on Sunday Joshua took Rachel to an air show in Fort Worth with his parents. William and I stayed home and chilled since he doesn't care for loud noises....yet..... :P

Pictures from Scarborough

She always gets the best views; this one of the parade.

Rachel saw a girl with decorative face paint and she HAD to do it herself. She pestered and begged until we finally gave in :)

Enjoying a roasted turkey leg (kind of a must-do at any Ren Faire)

Riding one of the war horses that work the joust (that's our friend Maggie leading them)
And finally enjoying some medieval music (her dress is hiding her legs which are actually on the bench; it was just her feet that dangled but i love the effect!)

Pictures from the air show; since I wasn't there I don't have too much commentary, but you can see much fun was had by all! :)

Walkin' the line (with ear protection)

Inside one of the planes
Checking out some WWII aircraft with her PapaT