Smile!

                                              

This little guy just makes me smile all over. So does the fact that he will have a little brother at the end of the year!

Took this sweet boy and his sisters to the splash pad last week.

Big sisters make things more fun!

Things are changing-the girls will be starting school next week and their little brother turns two the next day. Summer will soon be drawing to a close and today, I'm a year older. Our life here in the country is changing too-it gets better all of the time. Lots to look forward to, smile about and be thankful for!

I'm still here!

Sorry I haven't posted recently-seems like I've been really busy, but I'm not sure what I've gotten accomplished! Summer has flown by-I just noticed tonight that the sun is setting quite a bit earlier these days. The grand-girls will be starting school on the 26th-our littlest granddaughter will be starting kindergarten. Doesn't seem possible. Their little brother will turn 2 the next day. Where does the time go?

My daughter and I took the girls shopping yesterday for patterns and fabric for dresses. They asked me to make them (which really tickled me!) and I was pleased that they chose some pretty, modest, age-appropriate styles. Looking at what is offered in ready to wear for little girls makes me wonder what people are thinking sometimes. I don't think we should be teaching young girls that they need to wear short, tight, skimpy clothing and high heels to be acceptable. They are both slim, athletic girls and it makes me sad to hear them worry about whether they might look fat or not. Our kids just aren't allowed to be kids anymore. Off my soapbox now.

The weather continues to be hot and dry. We had a little break last week, but it is definitely feeling like August now! I'll be more than ready for fall when it gets here!

Hot

Well, that "taste of fall" is long gone. Heat and high humidity have come back with a vengeance-the high yesterday was 99F, but with the humidity, the heat index was 108F!  Today and the next 4 days will be similar. Think I'll be staying inside under a fan this weekend. We're going to visit our son, daughter in law and little Mr. Calvin. It will be hot there, but with low humidity, so much more bearable-plus a sweet little man to love on! Hope your weekend is a good one!

A Taste of Fall

We've had some decidedly un-July like weather here the last few days. It's been cool and cloudy and we had over 2 inches of rain yesterday. Our daughter and her little ones came over today and we all enjoyed the cool weather. We took them to McDonald's for lunch (not our favorite, but the kids love it) and then the girls and I made cookies with my new "toy" when we got home.

My husband surprised me with an early birthday present earlier this week. (My birthday isn't for another month.) I have wanted a good, sturdy stand mixer for years, but wouldn't buy one because of the price. He ordered a reworked professional model for me at very good price and surprised me with it. I'm beyond thrilled!!

It came with a dough hook and I'm looking forward to making bread. I've been making bread, but my hands stay very sore at the joints and kneading bread is very painful. I made a pizza crust with it the day it came-the dough hook worked well and it was wonderful not having to knead!

Fun Fourth!

We had our 3 nearby grands here for the long weekend while their parents got a much needed break and celebrated their anniversary in San Antonio. Here are a few of the things we did:

Made a flag cake-happy birthday, USA!

Lit sparklers and watched fire works:

and spent Saturday at the local splash pad.

We had our little man here too, but I managed not to get any pictures of him! He is too little to hold sparklers or decorate cakes and was in bed by fireworks time. When we went to the splash pad, he was having nothing to do with it and opted to play at the park with Pop! It was a great weekend, and today we are recuperating from all that fun!

Happy Fourth of July!

Throwback Thursday

My bouncing baby boy-30 years ago!