Double the Fun

Yesterday we had our friend Finn over for the day. Finn is a few months younger than JT, but he is a lot of fun! At one part of the afternoon, the boys managed to work their way over to our back door and play. They looked so cute with both of their little faces looking out the window, side by side. Courtney was so sweet to capture some shots of them.

How cute! Love these chubby babies!

JT on the lookout....

Finn on the lookout....

Let's both look!

JT applauding their efforts on getting slobber on the windows.

This is the face JT makes when he is focused on something- his little tongue sticks out :p

It's So Hot You Could.....

It seems like we are in the dogs days of summer here in Middle Tennessee. It has been unbearably hot and humid for weeks with no relief in sight. This past weekend we reached some of the highest temperatures in some time, 97 on Saturday and 96 on Sunday. Combine that with the typical 40-50% humidity during the peak daytime highs and that makes for one miserable, uncomfortable day!

Lindsay had asked if she could try cooking an egg on our driveway this weekend to see if the saying were true: It's so hot you could fry an egg on the driveway.

Lindsay decided she wanted to cook her eggs two ways: 1. directly on the driveway and 2. one in a little foil bowl that was placed on the driveway- to see if the reflective properties cooked the egg quicker than on the driveway.

She placed her eggs outside about 2 pm, the start of the hottest time of day. We checked about 30 minutes after and saw some changes already, by about an hour into it, the edges of the egg were beginning to get firm. After about 2 hours both of the yolks had a firm texture and the whites were more clear.We couldn't see any "white" to the eggs. By the looks of it, the foil cup did a better overall job at cooking the egg- cooked more evenly, firmer,etc. Lindsay had fun seeing that her little experiment worked. The best thing was at the end of it, she had a great snack to eat! Nah, I'm just kidding :) Couldn't resist!

Lindsay setting up her experiment...

After 20 minutes, the white is firm to touch

20 minutes some yolk cooking in shallow spots

After 1 hour yolk on driveway spreading both continue to cook.

The final result- a yummy snack-for the birds, bunnies, and squirrels.

Senior Pictures- Take One!

Yesterday, Sarah went to have her Senior pictures taken at a local studio. I said Take One in the title because this will be the first shoot, but not her official Senior pictures. For this photo shoot, it is the studio the school designates for their yearbook, so if you want to be in the book, you have to go and have fancier senior pictures done over the summer. The thing is, I guess clever by the studio, if you want to be in the yearbook you have to book a session that costs at least $25, so they take yearbook, cap and gown, and 1 "casual" set of pictures. Then of course they will send the proofs to you and they are hoping to get an order with beautiful photos of your beloved child. Who doesn't want to be in the yearbook? So even if you don't order anything, they have you for a little bit of money. A little sneaky if you ask me, but hey what can I do? :)

We have already made arrangements for a dear friend of ours to take Sarah's official photos. She does awesome work and I think it will turn out much more personal and less studio-ie if that's a word- he he. Once the weather cools down a bit, we will be taking her photos outdoors at a couple different locations. Doing Sarah's pictures yesterday made me all the more excited to have her "real" photos taken so we can order them and share with the family!

I took some pictures of Sarah's photo shoot, her different looks, and after it was over, we used her camera to recreate some of the casual shots. I still can't believe we have a Senior in the house! Where has the time gone? John and I are so proud of the beautiful, intelligent young lady God graced us with to be our firstborn. Enjoy seeing the beginning of her Senior pictures- more to come in the future....

This will be her yearbook "look" all the girls have black draping

This was her casual look for today.

Taking some of the yearbook shots

A glimpse into what this year holds...

Class of '11!!!

Simple Delights

I love looking at the world though JT's eyes. We can learn much from the simplicity childhood brings. Take time to smell the roses, delight each moment God gives us, and be joyful in all you do.

Earlier this week, JT and I had some joyful moments together. John was at the store with the girls and I decided to run to the grocery store to get a few things. When we checked out the bagger asked if JT would like to have a balloon. I responded yes please as JT LOVES balloons- he got his 1st one earlier this month and he squeals with excitement when he seems them now. So JT got a bright yellow balloon with a little yellow clip to put on his shirt and prevent it from flying away. JT's face lit up with joy with his new balloon.

When we got home and unpacked, I thought I would roll the trash can down since it was garbage night and JT likes being outside and walking down to the bridge. So JT walked beside me with his yellow balloon and his sippy cup filled with milk in hand- another thing he delights in drinking!

JT was having such a good time running up and down the driveway and through the grass I decided to grab the camera and endure the sweltering heat for my boy.Side note for you Californians, this is not Fresno dry heat, this is thick oppressive humid country here where humidity ranges from 40-70% depending on the time of day. Doesn't get at hot temperature wise- tops out right below 100- but man, it is intense! You start sweating a few moments after being outside and it doesn't evaporate because of the humidity. All the more reason to praise God for the invention of air conditioning!!! :)

Alright, sorry for the diversion. JT just had a ball exploring outside, grabbing chunks of grass bring them to me and then return them to the lawn where they belong. He also had a great time looking up at the chirping birds, hopping rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks in our yard.Yes, we have all of those critters living in our community!!! There was also some beautiful cloud formation above where it looked like God was hand painting swirls and streaks within the gray clouds above.

I am thankful for all my children, but I cherish moments like these where life slows down if you allow it.

Summer Boredom

While all of the girls are enjoying their summer vacation, there are moments of boredom. At times I'm told, "There's nothing to do. I'm bored." Depending on my mood, I can either offer some suggestions or respond that there are plenty of things that need cleaning. If I throw out the cleaning option, they almost always find something else to do. Why is that? :)

Well, this summer Courtney and Lindsay found their own solution to cure their boredom- make a pinata! JT had some diaper boxes and they looked up how to make homemade paste. The girls made strips from newspaper and off they went to create their pinata. This took several hours and the nice thing about having older children is they don't make quite as large of a mess and they can pick up after themselves. After they completed pasting the paper on the box, they set it outside for a day to dry completely. Then they cut up construction paper into confetti and placed a few toy trinkets for prizes.

It took several attempts to finally make time to play with their pinata. Rainy weather, a sister who wasn't here for some reason, first attempt to hang in the tree was unsuccessful,too late in the day...Much to Lindsay's delight, we- minus Sarah who was on a date- the pinata was hung and the kids got to swing the bat.

The girls let JT take some swings first since he loves his plastic bats. He did hit it a few times but was much more excited about running around in the lawn. 

Lindsay was next and she made some pretty good damage.

Then before anything broke open, we let Courtney have her turn. She clearly had fun giving it her all and broke the pinata open and out of its rope.

 After that, we let the girls go wild with the bats, keeping JT safely at a distance.