Day 212 - July 31, 2010

Here are the kids and a ZEBRA (wow, right?) at the Snake Farm. In addition to the huge amount of snakes that they have, they also have exotic animals and a petting zoo. Heath and Susannah had fun feeding the baby goats (even though one of the goats tried twice to eat Susannah's skirt). They also had 3 adorable baby pigs.

Day 211 - July 30, 2010

Here are the kids reading books from the library. Heath didn't want to wear clothes this morning. But I did manage to negotiate with him that he could be in the diaper at home but he had to wear clothes before we left to go to the YMCA for Susannah's art class. Susannah is doing what I call the "purpose pout." She is making that face on purpose - she isn't really upset so it is the purpose pout.

Day 210 - July 29, 2010

Here are the kids all ready for bed. This was the first time that the kids had their showers way before bedtime. Heath had an unfortunate diaper disaster so he needed to shower right away. Of course, Susannah wanted to join her brother.

Day 209 - July 28, 2010

Here are Heath and Susannah playing with the Stone Quarry Lego set that Heath got.

Day 208 - July 27, 2010

Here are my sweeties playing nicely together.

Day 207 - July 26, 2010

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the kids these soft, "prickly" bracelets. Not only do the kids wear them around the house but they also enjoy a game of throwing the bracelets up in the air and trying to catch them.

Day 206 - July 25, 2010

Here are Matt and the kids checking out the fish and turtles in a pond at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Day 205 - July 24, 2010

Well, it is Lego-mania here. A couple of weeks ago, a Lego store opened up in our local mall. Our neighbors generously gave us a gift certificate for the kids and they were very excited to pick out some new legos.

Day 204 - July 23, 2010

I love pictures where it looks like one thing is happening but in reality it is something else. Susannah looks as though she is upset in the picture but she is really just laughing. The kids like to sit on the windowsill in the living room and do puzzles or play with toys.

Day 203 - July 22, 2010

Here are the kids hanging around the kitchen this morning. I was pretty happy that Susannah finally let me put some braids in her hair. She is very interested in braids and ponytails but doesn't often let me know it (and when I do, she often takes them out right away).

Day 202 - July 21, 2010

Our garden is really kicking butt. I can't believe how much we are getting out of it. We've harvested beans (green, yellow and purple) 3 times and gotten 3 large cucumbers. We have at least 10 more cucumbers still growing. The kids are just having a blast with checking out the growth and eating things that we pick. Here they are showing off two cucumbers that we picked today. And ... I was amazed that Heath ate his entire cucumber with this lunch. That thing was big.

Day 201 - July 20, 2010

After school today, the kids and I met up with a friend of Susannah's from school at a local public pool. Both kids have been doing really well in the water and Susannah even put her face under the water for the first time today. Heath is fearless and several times he made my heart skip a beat with his enthusiasm.

Day 200 - July 19, 2010

My kids can find snails anywhere. Over the weekend, Heath managed to find a itsy bitsy snail in the crack in between the door and the flooring. It must be an 1/8th of an inch. Here is Heath showing Susannah the snail.

Day 199 - July 18, 2010

A strange new phenomenon has been happening with the kids these days - playing in the back hall. Our art supplies are located in the back hall (from when we would keep things away from Heath) and the kids have been doing stickers in the back. They spend good chucks of time doing stickers on the floor. Here they are getting their supplies ready.

Day 198 - July 17, 2010

The children attended a friend's birthday party this morning. Here they are enjoying cupcakes next to the birthday girl (she is stilling to the left).

Day 197 - July 16, 2010

This afternoon, we had an appraiser at the house (we're refinancing). Heath was very interested in "the guy" and was anxiously waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him to come down. Susannah was keeping him company. And I quite enjoy this picture of Susannah. She has this bathrobe and has taken to wearing it around the house. Like a preschooler version of a smoking jacket.

Day 196 - July 15, 2010

Here are the kids enjoying some popicles before going in the kiddie pool. I love popicles before pool time - no clean up for Mommy!

Day 195 - July 14, 2010

Here are my rockstars rocking the sunglasses. Too cool!

Day 194 - July 13, 2010

Today after school, I had a couple of less-than-fun errands to do. The kids behaved (pretty much) so I decided to treat them to some limeade from Sonic. Here is Susannah sharing the treat with Heath. Ironically, Heath didn't seem to like the limeade, which is strange since he loves lemonade form Costco.

Day 193 - July 12, 2010

The kids and I are very into smoothies. Yogurt smoothies, green smoothies ... doesn't matter. We love them all. Heath loves them the most and regularly asks me to make them. In fact, we love smoothies so much I even started another blog about them. Here are the kids enjoying a banana, peach and spinach smoothie.

Day 192 - July 11, 2010

We went on a family adventure today to Berry Springs Park and Preserve in Georgetown. Here is Matt and the kids in front of the creek that runs through the park.

Day 191 - July 10, 2010

Two days ago, Heath rediscovered the Mr. Potato Head. Now, he is obsessed with playing with it. Good thing we have a couple of them and Susannah was able to get the one from her room (it has some more girly parts like a purse) and everyone was able to participate.

Day 190 - July 9, 2010

Here are the kids playing train. The funny thing is ... I have no idea why train always occurs in the kitchen, usually right by the dishwasher. They always do it in the same spot. Right before I took this picture, Heath was turned around to Susannah asking for her ticket.

Day 189 - July 8, 2010

Here are the kids at Costco enjoying some non-fat frozen yogurt. It was super yummy!

Day 188 - July 7, 2010

One of the things that I love about our house is that it is very open. It is great that the kids can ride their bikes around the house. It is perfect way for them to get some extra exercise.

Day 187 - July 6, 2010

I took the kids bowling this afternoon with some friends with our moms group. Heath was pretty upset about the balls going away. He fussed for about 30 minutes and then seemed to grasp the concept that the balls come back - that part of bowling. The afternoon of fun ended with my kids chasing their friends around a table at the alley. Love how the simple things entertain kids.

Day 186 - July 5, 2010

Ahhh ... the fun of Robot Boots! These orange traffic cones have all of a sudden turned into robot boots. And Heath did manage to do a good job walking around in them. Susannah was helping again to build with Legos.

Day 185 - July 4, 2010

Here is Susannah helping Heath build with Legos. I think that he originally wanted to build a car wash but Susannah seems to have expertise in building playgrounds so that is what she offered to help with. And, yes, Heath was refusing to wear a shirt, which seems to be a new trend around here.

Day 184 - July 3, 2010

More pretending to be kitties. Note the bowls of "cat food" on the floor. If only we could get our cat, Maxine, to eat Kix and Cheerios. We'd save a lot of money on special cat food for her.

Day 183 - July 2, 2010

Here are the kids listening to stories before bedtime.

Day 182 - July 1, 2010

Here are the kids pretending that the orange traffic cones are party hats. I went to let the dog out and when I came back in, the kids were yelling "party hats" over and over. They have wonderful imaginations.