great people great fun

Our internet quit for a week right after I finished my last blog spurt. I didn't get to write about the great time we had with the Fowler family when they came to visit a month ago.
Such wonderful people- we know them from a Provo ward we lived in when we had Harrison. They interned in Dallas this summer, and Anna posted pictures on her blog a few months ago of the intern experience- makeshift furniture and living arrangements, that flooded Sean and I with memories of our three summers in three different states.
While they may not have loved every aspect of interning, we were so glad they were close enough to come to Houston for a weekend. Harrison and Asher had so much fun with their two terrific little boys, Jimmy and Johnny. And, Sean and I loved staying up late playing Ticket to Ride with James and Anna. Anna is so gracious, and such a patient mom. And, James braved all four boys at once in wrestling! We sure hope they end up in Texas!

linky-loo

I'm a big boy now.

The littlest little man is learning to sit. After sitting comes crawling, with crawling comes, "uh-oh, I gotta clean the carpets, and and put those plastic things in all the plugs, and do something about those cords, and buy cabinet locks, and maybe take down the drapes so he doesn't pull them on himself..."

More than that, when we enter this curious stage, I love the window into his emerging personality, and often feel a little sad that the 'little baby' days are almost over.

linky-loo

Lincoln is a little munchy mouth. It's super cute when they start watching every bite go in your mouth as you eat, and then they flap and squawk a little to let you know they'd like some too.

Here's some pictures of his first meal several weeks ago.

linky-loo

I don't remember either of the older boys adopting a toy as their favorite until they were much older, but this little rattle was Lincoln's favorite for a few months. He would shake it like a madman, and then pause to stare at the little beads inside- so sweet. He loved this little toy from about 2-5 months.

linky-loo

two to three months

The Janis family

We had some great friends visit us in July: the Janis family. We know the Janis family from the work Sean did with the J. Rueben Clark Law Society in law school. Daron attended William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, and they were amazing hosts when we visited them there our last year at Duke. They live in Dallas now, and stopped in for a day in July. They have sweet little ones, Esther and Nathan, and we loved having them here! Their pictures turned out way better than ours. Go to their blog to check them out!

keeping busy

When I was a little girl, I remember looking forward longingly to the lazy days of Summer...warm weather, the smell of freshly cut-lawns (to this day still my favorite smell ever), splash contests in our little plastic pools in the backyard, and the crowning glory of it all, sleeping in.
Funny thing though, after about two weeks, I'd feel super bored, miss having a sense of routine, and want school to start again.
And, the cycle never changed. I thought it would likely be the same for my boys this summer, so I decided to schedule the days, and do "school" in the mornings. So, we've had a summer filled with themed days, oodles of crafts, cool outings, and yes- even a bit of learning. As we cycled through some simple centers in the mornings, it was fun to see them using toys, games, and puzzles that would have otherwise been neglected.
And, no worries, they had "recess" every afternoon. Ironically, that was actually the part I had to force them to do with the crazy Houston heat!
Here's some pictures from the days we learned about policemen, ocean creatures, rockets, soccer, and turtles. I found tons cool videos on youtube- like of rocket launches and butterfly metamorphosis. For my other favorite video site, click here . For favorite coloring/craft sites, click here , here, and here. For super cool facts on snakes and other critters, click here.