Keeping Busy

Ahhhh, summer in Houston. Ridiculously hot and humid. In fact, unless we get to the pool before noon, it is even too hot for swimming! We've been trying to keep busy inside.

making jam and painting pots

I saw the above picture in Sunset Magazine and thought, "free project!" I already had the paint, and some pots that were happy to oblige!
Lastly, hard evidence that Z and L ALWAYS have the last laugh. Yeah, yeah, I might set their bedtimes and regulate the eating of vegetables, but they have their ways! I found these pics on my camera as I uploaded photos this afternoon. Apparently, Zach was interested in having a little photo shoot, and Lily was a willing model. What is that she's eating you ask? Oh, that's just my USB card. haha, this actually explains A LOT!

ps...I just love the top left "self portrait" of the photographer, and the hilarious face on Lily because she knows that the USB card is a BIG no no! Looks to me like she was enjoying the paparazzi "catching" her in the act!

pss..the big question is...where was I?

testing...testing...1...2...3...

...testing a camera, that is. My very nice (and trusting) home teacher (who also happens to be a photographer) let me borrow one of his cameras over the weekend. I shooed my models outside last night before the last of the light was gone. Fun. I love this picture of Zach and David. It's one that I would NEVER have been able to capture with my point and shoot, the shutter speed is slow and this whole "shoot dad in the face" moment lasted about 1.5 seconds. My pennies are finally saved and I am READY to buy. I just don't know WHAT to buy yet. dang. suggestions welcome! One very humbling realization is that I have about a million things to learn to even operate this camera. No, I haven't taken a photography class, but heaven knows I need to! I think it's going to be a fun journey though. Feels nice to have a hobby.

(the borrowed camera was a Cannon 40d)

a sweet profile or two

A family (who had .5 seconds before church and paused on the way out the door to squint into the sun) photo. I know, it stinks, but we haven't ALL been in front of the camera (together) for a bit!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday....

...all looked like this. Waiting patiently for the pool to open at 10.
swim a little.
snack a little.
don't worry, we'll be back tomorrow!

The List

A boy and his CARS

The girlie

I can count on my husband. Which is why Friday, after finding out (last minute) that I was to bring salad to a dinner, I called him for help. I gave him a simple list:

Romaine Lettuce
Caesar Dressing (a nice kind)
croutons
Parmesan cheese
I chuckled (but was not surprised) when I got the first phone call.

"Babe, there is NO Caesar, I only see 2 kinds and one says free and the other says lite!"

This is actually an improvement on previous grocery runs because Dave is notorious for bringing home "Fat Free ranch flavored sour cream", because by golly as long as he sees the words SOUR CREAM, it must be sour cream right? I instructed him to just move down the isle a bit, and he would find some more. A few minutes later the phone rings again.

(incredulous): "Seriously they HIDE the Parmesan cheese! I had to dig for it! One is a store brand and the other says "artisan"...is there a difference?"

Meanwhile, in the background I could hear Zach saying, "But dad, I want the Mr. Incredible cheeeeese!" It was then that I understood he was getting the FULL grocery shopping experience! What a man right!?

After I hung up the phone, I remembered back to the ULTIMATE list I ever gave my sweet, sweet husband. We had just come home from the hospital with our first newborn. We had EVERYTHING we could possibly need for the baby, only to find out there was A LOT of stuff that I needed...the hospital had provided a nice list of things that might help the recovery process. I would take all the help I could get. Wanting to make his new little family as comfortable as possible, Dave volunteered to make a run to the store. The list went something like this:

extra strength Tylenol
Tucks pads
underwear (cheap package kind)
stool softener
maxi pads
Lanolin nursing cream
Nursing pads

I will NEVER forget his face as he read through the list and walked out the door. Poor guy. The phone rang. Except this time I could barely hear him.

(whispering) "The sizes are different. Do you think you're a size 5-6-7-8-9 or 10?"

(me) "Honey, I can hardly hear you, what did you say?"

(tense) "Listen, I am kneeling down in the WOMENS UNDERWEAR isle, WHAT SIZE ARE YOU!?"

After some descriptions (like that a size 10 was a 47" hip) I was thoroughly confused and just said, "you're just going to have to open up a package and pick the size you think will fit me."

(silence)....(click)...

All funny stuff, but the best part of the story was when he finally made it to the check out line, the checker eyed his purchases with a smile. She picked up the package of underwear and said sarcastically,

"Sir, do you know this package has been opened? Did you try them on?"

Forget about flowers and expensive presents, THIS is the story I recall to remind myself just how much my husband loves me!

please notice the dressing.
NOT one of the brands I had suggested on "the list" but Dave thought it would qualify as "nice" because (his words) "it has a FOIL top!"

Love my man!