Grant's New Do

I finally gave Grant a much needed haircut on Thursday. Usually he screams through it, like panic/"I'm being tortured" scream and I'm screaming at him to knock it off. He freaks out and absolutely hates it when I cut his hair. I've taken him to Cool Cuts a few times, which he does really well there, but I'm too cheap to take him there all the time. So for whatever reason I was feeling rather brave and confident and chopped away.

I am so proud to say that Grant did amazingly and very surprisingly well! He did not scream or cry and only one time did I have to get the spoon out telling him he needed to sit still in his chair or that he would get a spanking. Soon enough I was done and he was a happy boy and sweet boy signing "thank you" to me for cutting his hair! Kate was up from her nap by the time we were done and then both of them took a bath. After he was dressed I said to Grant, "Hey, let's take a picture of your cool hair cut!" And he nodded "yes" and climbed up in his chair. He's very proud of his nice hair cut and Kate was being her cute self peeking from behind as you can see in the picture.

Thank you, Lord, for a nice hair cutting experience with Grant. I really needed it! It was a blessing only from you!

Last Birthday Post

This is the last one...I promise. :-) Here are some pics of the kids playing on their new swingset! We upgraded this summer with Aunt Jenni & Uncle Shawn's help. This is the kids' combined birthday present from Joel & I and Jen & Shawn. We found a great deal from Craig's List. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather when we can enjoy it even more. Thanks Aunt Jenni & Uncle Shawn for our new swingset. We love it!

Pizza Party!

Friday evening Nana, Aunt "Nina" and Uncle Daniel, Aunt Jenni & Uncle Shawn, and Uncle David came over for pizza and cupcakes. Here are a few pics at dinner:

Uncle David, Kate, and Nana

Uncle Daniel, Uncle Shawn, and Grant

Kate is opening her first present, a Nintendog from Nana. She loves dogs of any kind and she was soooo happy when she saw the picture on the outside of the box. She loves her new dog and here she is giving it the sweetest hug:

For the rest of the night she made sure her dog was close by. At one point when she was about to open another present and she stopped, looked at me and said, "Dog?" Then she got her dog, which was only 2 feet away from her and put it right next to her. It was so cute. This morning (Saturday) the first thing she said from her crib was "Dog!" as she saw it in the living room from her bed. Thanks, Nana!!!

Of course, Grant got a couple presents. Here is opening up a bubble maker dog toy. This will be a lot of fun outside and good hand/finger coordination in squeezing the trigger.

Kate was very much intrigued by her cupcake and two candles. She loved listening to us sing Happy Birthday. After we sang to her she wanted to pray before eating her cupcake, as you see her holding her hands to pray. So I prayed with her before eating her cupcake and then she sat there for a little while before eating it. I'm not sure if she was just tired or didn't want to get messy or just wasn't sure what to do, as she wasn't eating her cupcake but just looking very intently at it. So I picked it up for her and fed it to her one bite at a time. She was happy to let me do so. She is a sweet girl!

Sweet exchange between Nana and Grant

After presents and cupcakes we read books before going to bed. Grant and Kate went from Nana to Uncle David to Aunt Jenni to read books to them.

Thanks Nana, Nina, Daniel, Jenni, Shawn, & David for celebrating Kate's birthday with us and for the fun presents!!!

What a fun day we had. Kate is growing up so much and it was fun having a special day just for her. It was a great day from beginning to end. I'm so thankful for my Kate. She is happy and healthy and loves to laugh and to have fun just like her big brother. She is starting to have her own opinion on what she wants to wear, which sometimes is annoying but cracks me up at the same time. I pray that she will come to know Jesus soon and will love him with all her heart. I pray she will be kind and obedient. I pray for God to bless her abundantly and to guide her steps as she grows up. Thank you Lord, for a beautiful daughter and for the gift she is to us!

Happy Birthday, Kate!!!

Kate turned 2 years old on Friday, July 18! Here are a couple pics from donuts in the morning after breakfast.

Where's Kate? :-)

Fun with Friends

Last Tuesday, my sweet friend Sara and her daughter Emma came over. Emma & Kate played together while Sara and I made bows. I'm not sure which pair had more fun. :-) The girls had so much fun together and made us laugh with their cute little selves. This is one of the first times Kate has had a little person over to play where they actually played together so it was neat seeing Kate enjoying having a friend to play with.

Playing in a bathtub is load of fun! We kept hearing Kate laughing really hard so we peeked in on them. Emma was saying to Kate, "tickle, tickle" to her tummy and Kate just laughed and laughed. It was too cute!

After we made bows for Sara's shower gift we made matching clippies for both girls. They are pink with brown & pink polka dots. You'll have to click on the picture to get a better view. Super cute and fun!

Kate didn't get a nap before Emma came to play so she just stayed up all afternoon. She's never gone the whole day without a nap. I was surprised at how happy she was because usually she always get cranky when she doesn't get her nap. After they left, Joel sat down with the kids to read books while I started making dinner. Within about 3 minutes she was out! She played hard and wore herself out. Apparently Grant was tired too by the look on his face.

Sara and Emma, thanks for a fun day! :-)

Good Times

Uncle Daniel and Aunt "Nina" came over Saturday and stayed with us until Tuesday night. We had fun hanging out with them. Joel and I got to go on a date on Saturday night, we all went to church on Sunday, and then had fun just hanging out on Monday. Tuesday they watched the kids for me while I taught piano in the morning.

We always ask Grant to try to say people's names, especially close friends and family. So after months of asking him to say Christina, Grant started calling Christina "Nina" and it is really cute. He will call her that like he calls me "Mamum" and in the right context. For Daniel, mostly just the vowels come out but you can tell he is trying to say Daniel. He never really has had a name for Christina so we are so happy that now she is Nina. :-)

We love you, Aunt Nina!

Cool Dudes

"Shh! I'm sleeping with Aunt Nina"

Wet Zone!

Last Saturday we went to Rowlett's Wet Zone water park. Every Saturday morning they have swim time just for families with special needs children for $3/person. It was a little cold at first at 9am but we soon warmed up to the water. The kids love swimming and we haven't been there before with them. Here we are taking a break in between swimming:

Kate had fun walking along the edge until she fell off. Here she was about to "jump" off, which is more like a plop off. :-)

Rockin' Away

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jon!

In honor of Uncle Jon-Jon, who is serving in Iraq right now, we are patriotic. We're so proud of you for serving our country, Jon! We miss you!

Happy Birthday!!!

Granola Recipe

Here's the recipe I used for making granola the other day, as requested by a few friends. It's one I found from the internet after googling "healthy granola recipe."

Healthy Homemade Granola Cereal

4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 tbsp honey
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins

1. In a large bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, pecans, brown sugar and salt. Mix well.
2. In another bowl, mix the oil, honey, water, and vanilla.
3. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Spread over a jelly-roll pan sprayed with nonstick spray.
5. Bake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. The last 10-15 minutes add the raisins.
7. The granola will brown as it cooks.
8. Cool in pan on wire rack.
9. Store in an airtight container.
10. Enjoy!

Makes about 6-7 cups of granola and doesn't "clump" together like granola from the store. So it is a little messy for little people if eating as a snack. For cereal, though, it's great.

Fireworks!

After swimming we went to Breckenridge Park to see fireworks. The kids ate an early dinner so we packed some fresh fruit and a few sandwiches for Joel and I. We had a great spot outside the park on a hilly area with soft grass. The kids were able to run around some, too. Since becoming parents, I think Joel and I have seen live fireworks once, which was when Grant was 1 1/2 years old. The other years we have seen them on tv. So this year we really wanted to go for it and make it work. I gotta say, the kids did great, they loved the fireworks, and Joel and I keep telling each other that we will have to do this again next year! We were tired the next day but nothing a good nap couldn't cure!

Eating strawberries, blueberries, and green grapes. It was red, "white", and blue fruit. :-)

Watching fireworks! Kate kept pointing and tried to say "pretty". They loved the fireworks but got a little bored halfway through. But they were still pretty good. We brought their pj's and their pillows so they could lay back and be comfy. I had so much fun and am so thankful it turned out so well!

Blueberry Picking!

The past several years a couple of my students, Bryn and Hope, have brought me fresh blueberries that they have picked around this time of year. It's always been such a treat. So this year I really wanted to go. I went on Friday morning with a few friends and we had a blast! It was hot and a little dirty but we all decided this was our first annual trip to Blueberry Hill Farms. I can't wait to go back next year!

When we were about to leave the farm, we saw my neighbors (4 blocks up), Katie and Becca, who also are friends from church! What a small world...to be an 1 1/2 hours from Dallas and run into friends from my own neighborhood! 8-)

I brought my camera but unfortunately I left the batteries on the charger and so I couldn't take any pictures. I was so bummed! So the past few days we've been enjoying fresh blueberries. Grant and Kate love them, too. I made blueberry banana muffins on Saturday with Grant's help. He loves to help me make anything in the kitchen. I love that about him! So here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying their yummy muffins:

About 30 minutes after we were done eating I found Kate like this: sitting in her chair, which was in the living room, eating a muffin with her beloved dog while watching a movie. She is a cutie-pie!

Swimming

On 4th of July after blueberry picking and a good nap, we went swimming at Nana's pool. This was actually the first time we have been swimming as a family for the summer. The kids love the water and have so much fun. Both have no fear and will let go if you let them.

Yum...Granola!

This afternoon Grant helped me make homemade granola. He had fun pouring and then mixing. We made it after lunch and put it in the oven right before nap time. I told him that when he woke up it would be ready and that we would eat it for our snack. When he got up from his nap he went right to the kitchen looking for the granola! He loved it and wanted "muh" (more). This was the first time I've made granola and I think I will be making it much more since it was such a hit.

Kate was watching us while she was finishing up her lunch. She wanted me to take her picture and then started acting silly. She is a little toot.