Fredericksburg

This past week we took a little day trip out to Fredericksburg along with Steven's parents. Ken's cousin, George, and his wife Alice live in this incredible home on a beautiful piece of land.

This place has a historical marker! I was honored just to be there. The main part of the home was built over 160 years ago.

The house is like a museum; everything is decorated and placed perfectly, and all the rooms are so warm and charming. Alice has done a beautiful job. And yes, I took my two little boys to this pristine, historical home. I was more than a little nervous, but really the boys did so well. George and Alice have grandchildren and were really happy to have the boys there. It definitely helped me relax!

They ran all over the place and explored every room. They made more than a dozen trips up and down the stairs and traipsed all over the grounds outside.

We've been here once before back before Will was born for a family reunion. Matt was 2.

We posed him on the rocks again. That kid is big!

It was a really enjoyable day. We had a lovely lunch, and the adults talked genealogy for a good while. It actually rained while we were there and it cooled off considerably, so we were able to sit on the front porch for a few hours. It was so nice. We hope to visit again soon.

Recently, I took the boys to the Children's Museum downtown. Matt spent most of his time in the grocery store portion of the museum busying himself with baskets and recycling milk bottles with some other kids he met there. Will was all over the place, but his favorite was the train track. He had a hard time sharing even though there were plenty of trains for all the kids. I had to steer him away at one point. Have I told you that he's 2? Well, he's definitely 2.

So, we still haven't gotten rid of our red couch. Perhaps that is a good thing because the boys jump on them everyday. And I do mean jump.

Summer is flying

It's like 105 degrees here in Texas. Everyday. And bone dry. How do we cope with this oppressive heat? Lots of cold watermelon.

And sno cones of course.

Frequent visits to splash pads all over the city.

Grilling hot dogs with good friends makes everything better.

Guess what? You can still find Matthew in front of the fridge with his letters and numbers. Who knew those magnets would be so cherished?

Will is still living the rock star life and wailing on that guitar daily. Looks like I've brainwashed him, too. He demands to listen to Foo Fighters everyday. Whoops. We're trying to broaden his horizons a bit.

Matt's latest obsession is license plates. Seems like a natural progression considering his love for numbers and maps, right? He received a kids' road atlas for his 5th b'day, and it has a license plate game in it where you cross off all the states' license plates once you've seen them. That boy's eyes are peeled and he is craning his neck as we drive around in the car. He's spotted about 20 different ones, and he gets ecstatic when he sees one. My favorite: we were driving along and from the backseat he yells, "Mommy!!! Connecticut!!!" (he pronounced it Connuh-ty-cut). Hilarious. Steven, being that he is father of the year, fastened our old Texas plates to the three ride-on toys outside. Matt was thrilled. The next day though the grandparents came in to town and Ken brought Matt a Washington plate he had, and within minutes those plates came inside the house. Now, dump trucks and cement trucks are parked next to them. Everyone who has come to our house recently (and I do mean everyone) has been shown the license plate page in Matt's atlas book. He's excited about it. That boy is too funny.

Ken and Joyce are in town! We love it when they are here, and look forward to lots of good family time this next week.

July 4th/Princess & Warrior Camp

It's been a full week! Monday started off with fun July 4th celebrations. This is the first year since we've lived in this house that we have not put on our annual July 4th party. So sad, but it just didn't work out with Steven's crazy work schedule over the weekend and holiday. Boo! Hopefully it'll be back on next year.

We started the morning watching our neighborhood's July 4th parade. We met up with some friends, so the boys had some pals to run around and collect candy with. After the parade we played on the elementary school playground until the heat was too much handle. Then we walked all the way home--Matt actually walked the entire way; I wasn't sure he had it in him! We got cleaned up and then spent the rest of the day out at Bryan & Sarah's house. The kids had a blast running around and getting in and out of the pool and on and off the trampoline and playing games. It was a relaxing, fun day with family and awesome food--Sarah made homemade pizzas that were delish!

Tuesday through Friday of this week the boys and I have been up at the church attending/helping out with Princess Prep School and Warrior Prince Academy. It is a program put on by Royal Purpose Ministries and teaches young children their identity in Christ and how to be a daughter of the King and a Warrior for Christ. This week I got to be with 2nd and 3rd grade girls. And oh my is it different than the boy world that I live in! This is my group of sweet little girls.

It's almost as if I've forgotten what little girls are like, but I was quickly reminded this week. They really were a joy to be around. Still though, I sat in amazement as they painted their nails, colored, danced, dressed up and played all kinds of pretend things. Such a contrast from taking Matt to his Warrior room where they were building things with Lego and sword fighting each other.

The girls got to watch puppet shows everyday, and they were pretty cute. The kids loved it. The girls also made all kinds of jewelry crafts and a jewelry box to take it all home in. Matt made a shield with the fruit of the spirit on it.

Today we had a graduation ceremony for the kids and for the parents to all come and watch. I finally got to see what Matt had been doing all week. The girls got up and performed their princess cheer and dance--it seriously made me channel my inner cheerleader and reminded me of the countless hours we spent practicing our routines. Then the boys filed in and did their thing. From where I was sitting I couldn't see Matt because he was in the back, but I saw him singing and moving around during their dance. I gotta say, the boys did a great job with their choreographed routine, I was impressed!

What a great week. I was blessed to work with those girls and we had so much fun. I will say though, I'm looking forward to next week where we have absolutely no plans. We need to go swimming!