Parks are for the morning.

Did I mention that it's HOT in Texas? That is why parks are for the mornings.. Anything after...say...10:15am..nope, don't want to be at the park. We went to the library yesterday afternoon and the temperature reading in the car was 115..well, that was with the car sitting there with the sun beating down, after we started moving, it was 103.
Anyway, we took the girls to the park this morning.. Here is Emily and Allie running down the path...

I really seldom complain about the heat, it really doesn't bother me too much. I just want to be at home in the pool. Or even soaking my feet in the kiddie pool, while sitting in the shade. It really does take the edge off of the heat.
And Popsicles. They work too.

Rollerblading and Home Improvement

I bought Allison some rollerblades yesterday at the Salvation Army for Two Dollars!! I couldn't wait to get them home and surprise her with them! She loved them and said, "Now I can be like you, Momma!" Awww!! Melt my heart! So, we put our rollerblades on and headed to the sidewalk out front.

She loves them.. and I was very impressed with how quickly she got the hang of it!

In other news...as you may or may not recall.. We moved to this house in December. There is a lot we must do to this house before we move again in about a year or 2......We haven't decided if we our going to rent out this house or sell it. Either way, we have to replace all of the windows, this is a 30 year old house with 30 year old windows...we have to update the bathroom counters..repair the backyard fence, and a few other random updates..This will be a semi-long process..as we will be doing these updates as we can afford them..(not putting anything on credit) One thing we can cross off the list is one bathroom counter completed.
See the before:

See the after:

The picture really does not do it justice. It is really beautiful. I have my husband to thank (THANK YOU, BOBBY!!!!) He is a Jack of all trades. There is really not much my husband can't do. He is a true handyman and I am so thankful for that.. and our bank account is so thankful for that!

Until then...Happy Rollerblading and renovating!

Take Care,

Kristin

Yay!

Look what I won!!

I won the Pillsbury Bake-off Contest from Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife! Yippee!! I won this sweet talking doughboy...yes, you press his tummy and he giggles...and 2 copies of the prize-winning recipes book!!

I was soooo happy. especially since I have been in the throws of a summer cold...of which, I thought was leaving me, but, apparently made a resurgence today...blah.

I am thinking about a nice, hot bath..while reading all of these fabulous recipes!! Surely, that will make me feel better!! Thanks, Storm!

Fireworks and Fun

Like many of my fellow Americans, we celebrated Independence Day by watching Fireworks... these are some of the best shots..


Emily watched some of the show from my shoulders, but most of the time, the girls were just running around. I don't know if they were more excited about the fireworks or the fact that they were awake and outside at 9:30pm...yeah..probably the latter.

Earlier in the day..we were doing this:

Allison loves the pool. Even though she can touch the ground, she is practicing lifting her feet up and swimming with her life jacket on.

I am just thankful we were well enough to do this...last week was a bit rough. We all had colds that zapped us of our energy. So, it looks like we will be back on track this week.. and I am looking forward to it!

I wish you all a great week!

Kristin

Thriving in Gymnastics

This is Allison, waiting to be called into her gymnastics class.
She goes once a week and is over-the-moon thrilled about it.

With each class, her confidence grows, her balance improves.. and she just glows.

It is a true joy to watch....
My little girl growing up.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

So, I didn't get up this morning with the intention of making ice cream sandwiches.. but the idea was just obvious when I decided to make more chocolate chip cookies in addition to the 2 dozen I made yesterday...I decided that if I make more cookies today, then.. we would have a LOT of cookies to eat and I didn't just feel like freezing them for later.. I thought that I'd smear some ice cream on them..slap 'em together..and there ya go...and they turned into the best ice cream sandwich..or Chipwich, if you will...

So.. What is with all of the cookie-making?? Well.. I have been wanting to recreate the best chocolate chip cookie I ever had the pleasure of devouring, which up until this point in my life, I have only found in one bakery, and that bakery is oh so far away from me..so, what better time than the present.

So, aside from the backyard pool and making/eating chocolate chip cookies...what have I been doing? Not much. Pretty much just that.

Oh.. and I started making a new sculpture last night that used literally hundreds of my beads... It is turning out so very cool. I think I am gonna keep this one.

I will post pics later!

Take Care,
Kristin

Happy Father's Day....belated...

We spent Father's Day in San Antonio.. the day before, we went to Sea World.. the day of, we went to my brother's house, where we swam in his pool and ate some good food.

My intentions were good with the above picture.. Put the girls in cute dresses and take a nice Daddy/daughters portrait. Well... Emily (on the right) didn't want to stand still and Allie, although..got the smiling thing down, wanted to look everywhere..but the camera.

Aaah... toddlers.

I hope all of you Daddies out there had a nice day!

Take Care,

Kristin