The Devil Wears...Thomas?

27 July 2010

Holly loves to copy us. She pulls things out of the bathroom drawer and pokes my toes with them. At dinner she begs to eat the same food we are - not just the same type of food, the same actual food from our plates. She brushes her hair with my comb. She tries to wrestle with the boys. And last but not least, she loves to put our clothes on her body. Once I found my bra slung around her neck and Jared's sock pulled over her foot and all the way up her leg. Today she did this and was more than willing to pose for several photos. I thought Derek would be mad but he thought it was hilarious. I think it's so cute that the boys love their little sister so much. They fight with each other all the time, but they have nothing but love and tenderness for this sweetie-pie cuddle-muffin. (You should be able to click the picture to make it bigger.)

Cooking Camp

Tyler attended Cooking Day Camp for 3 days this week. Our budget was a little tight, and we didn't think he'd be able to go, but he collected donations from Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents until he had enough (combined with money from his own bank) to go. We have quite the little entrepreneur (or possibly televangelist) on our hands! The class focused on baking, and he made cookies (day 1), breads (day 2), and pies (day 3). One of Tyler's favorite activities was piping whipped cream on a chocolate-caramel pie. He said his favorite thing to eat at camp was 'whoopie-pie,' which is actually an oreo-type cookie.

Tyler came home with a love of baking, and is looking forward to making delicious baked goods to send to all those who helped make it possible!



Tyler is helping to fill a muffin-tin.

Shredding cheese for Cheddar English Muffins.

Tyler became good friends with the boy who is sitting next to him. He had just moved to SA with his family from Hong Kong, and his mom enrolled him in Young Chefs Academy hoping he'd make a friend. They exchanged numbers (after introducing their parents to each other), and they hope to have a play-date soon!

Personally, I just hope Tyler bakes us some bread soon, because Derek is getting sick of using hotdog buns for his PB&Js.

Enough is Enough!

21 Jul 2010

Here is a cute picture of Holly.

Here is a not so cute picture of her mom. I love eating and being home with my food all day has not done my body good. I need some motivation. So, Jared took this picture and I'm posting it for all to see. I'm pretty embarrassed. However, we are coming to Utah for Christmas and by then, I want to look a lot different. Hopefully the idea of showing up at my mom's house looking like this will be enough to keep me out of the kitchen. Wish me luck!

Also, I just got this haircut today. It's super nice in the heat. I'm hoping that after I lose weight I won't look so old.

Sunday Lunch

18 July 2010

I feel bad that I haven't been taking many pictures lately so I haven't had many new blog posts. We're still working on getting jobs. We both have an interveiw with an alternative high school on Tuesday. They only have one math postition open, but we're hoping that somehow a miracle will allow us to both get jobs at the same school. Cross your fingers.

Tyler had tons of fun at cub scout day camp. They went for four days (home each night) and did archery, pellet guns, swimming, crafts, skits, and animal fun with the Sea World folks (how cool is that?). I didn't stay with him all day so we don't have any pictures, but you can believe me that they had a good time. I drove a car pool each day and I always made sure to have Sonic slushies waiting for my boys in the car at the end of the day. It made me a very popular ride and since I let Tyler pick who got to ride in our car, it made Tyler a very popular boy ;)

Jared is recovering from his hernia surgery just fine. He has three one inch long cuts on his stomach but they're mostly healed up. On Friday, the glue came off one and it opened up. We hurried to the hospital and they glued him back up in a jiffy. I guess they don't like stitches in Afgahnistan so the military doctors glue all the wounds closed. It's a really good idea.

Having Jared home so much has made me very lazy lately. He has completely taken over dish duty, garbage duty and most of laundry duty. All I have left is cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming and cooking. Now he's started cooking too. I have to admit, the kids really like the food he makes. Derek's new best friend is a hot dog that he named Octodog before he ate it. Poor Octodog. He had a good & hot, albeit short, life.

The New Dog Door

15 July 2010

Since we're getting ready to go back to work this Fall, we figured it would be good to put in a doggy door so that Ralphie can get outside while we're gone. After a little research we decided on this sliding door panel thing. Ralphie is still a little hesitant to use it without encouragement, but others in the family have taken to it quite well. Note that after I made this video I found my cell phone outside in the rosemary bush.

Presents from Grandma

8 Jul 2010

Grandma and Grandpa James sent the kids some presents. Derek and Holly got Crocks and Tyler got a t-shirt. Thank you so much Mom and Dad! The kids love their new stuff.

Derek To The Rescue

28 June 2010

Super Derek to the rescue! This is an actual photo Jared took with his phone while we were on a walk the other night. Notice how the handle bars are turned backwards. He says it helps him reach the pedals and turn better. What a great kid!

Summer Fun in the Sun

27 June 2010

Amazingly the milk spray seems to be keeping the fungus/mold off my grapes. And, believe it or not, the duct tape seems to have saved my zucchini plant. The damaged part of the stem is taped up and buried and the rest of the plant is as green and healthy as ever. I went out earlier today to polinate the blooms with a paint brush so I should have some zucchini for dinner this week. Below you can see my sunflower. I got a grab-bag of sunflower seeds and planted a few. They were all different. The first 4 plants grew and bloomed weeks ago. This one didn't do anything forever and then one morning we had this! It's more than 7 feet tall. The kids love it!

The kids also love swimming. Tyler isn't afraid of the water anymore. He jumps in with his tube and swims across the pool with his foam swimming board in order to earn Wii playing time. We're working on more efficient kicking and holding his breath when his nose dips under the water. Derek is still attached to his tube but we made major progress the other day when he got up the courage to jump into the pool without anyone in there waiting to catch him. He got a Pop Tart as a reward.
Holly is cool as a cucumber. She likes to walk around the pool. Sometimes she climbs in and sits on the top step when her feet get too hot. She's also just fine floating around the pool in her yellow baby floaty. The last time we went I took her out of her tube and helped her float on her back. Unlike the boys, she was EXTREMELY calm and held perfectly still with her legs and arms straight out like a star fish. What a great baby!

Pictures from the Park

25 June 2010

Here are some pictures from the park.

Squash Vine Borer

23 June 2010

So my parade of disgusting garden worms that love to live in Texas continues. Right after I thought that I'd cured the zucchini of all it's ails, I went out and found this! A stupid, gross, wiggley, wormey, squash vine borer. Eeeeeewwwwww! I pulled it out of the stem and cut it in half with scissors. I don't know if the plant can be saved. It's not wilting yet so that it a good sign, but the hole that is left is pretty big. The danger of reinfestation is low until later in the summer and one website said that you can repair the stem with duct tape and then cover it with dirt. I think I'm going to try it.

The poison on the tomatoes seems to be working. No more worms so far this week :)