Henry just loves to play "naptime." Sometimes he pretends to snore, too.
July 2011 Archives
The girls loved "hiding" behind the branches of the weeping willow.
We took advantage of one more afternoon of Granny-Nanny Adele and took the girls kayaking while Henry napped. Thanks, mom!
No, group pictures are still too boring!
We didn't write this but we feel the same way!
After two days we are all a bit beached out (some of us more-so than others). It's a good thing we're going back home tomorrow!
See, my mom really is here with us!
That little speck in the sky between the building and the right side of the frame is Craig's kite.
Hi, Craig!
A group picture was way too boring.
He still definitely needs his afternoon nap (which he didn't get much of today--sorry, Henry!).
Obviously the kids loved the beach today! The hotel is perfect (once we got checked in): we had a separate bedroom for the kids to share, my mom slept on the bottom of a bunk bed in the hall, and Craig & I slept on the pull-out sleeper.
I honestly don't know who is the most excited about Henry's presents here!
Getting down to business!
He needed a new one because the old one fell apart. He seriously follows me around the entire time I'm vacuuming. The girls were never this dedicated!
The big hit of the day.
I bought a variety of cupcakes from Gigi's this year. I didn't need 30 cupcakes for 6 people!
Mr. Neat prefers to use a fork!
He really is super excited about his new vacuum cleaner!
The girls (that's including me) couldn't take it any more and we gave Henry his birthday presents this morning (we were trying to wait until this afternoon at least!). We are going to Galveston tomorrow so it made more sense to do it at home today than to bring everything with us.
Henry is TWO! I can hardly believe it, and of course, it feels like just days ago that he was born in that little clinic in Korea and the nurse said, "it's a prince!" Henry is a bit of a late bloomer on things (walking & talking to be specific) but he is a really great mix of daring and cautious, social and reserved. He has had so much fun with his sisters this summer, I honestly don't know what we'll do this fall when it's just the two of us again!
I can't wait to see what the next year will bring, my little Henry Lawrence!
She has no clue about the paint mustache.
Still no clue.
Not to be out-done by big sister, Sarah, Henry is playing with a flashlight with his sunglasses on.
Anna will have two teachers at her new school this fall. One will be her "homeroom" teacher (morning) and the other will be the afternoon teacher. There are two first grade classes and they will swap mid-day (one teacher will do science & math, the other will do language arts). Mrs. T came today to meet Anna and Mrs. C will come another day.
Anna brought Mrs. T to her room and showed her around and then we had a tea party and Anna actually spoke in front of her new teacher which is more than I had anticipated. Getting to meet these teachers at our house is something I had really hoped for since most of Anna's success in talking to someone new has been in our home (where she is most comfortable). Here's hoping that this is Anna's year!
Henry really liked having Grandpa here to play trucks with.
Grandpa drove the kids bonkers with his freestyle-reading of The Giant Jam Sandwich.
The girls had fun playing Rush-Hour with Grandma & Grandpa before bedtime.
Henry always wants his shirt off when he eats. Sometimes he prefers to just keep it off after that unless we go outside. Here, he's also found a pair of awesome sunglasses to complete his look.
Anna is spending a lot of time with the iPod lately but she always wants us all to know just what she's listening to!
Today I started training for my first marathon in March 2012! It is really far ahead but I figured it would help keep me motivated through the hot, hot summer. Today I just did six miles with the group and will get a schedule each week to follow until the big day in March!
The girls had their last summer camp this week: craft with jewels. This was the one that Anna really wanted to do and Sarah went with because Anna came to the dinosaur camp at the start of summer. It was at Sarah's new preschool and both girls loved it. It was basically like a slumber party camp.
The instant Henry suspects I might be preparing a meal or snack he is there with a chair and ready to go. He wants to help but also wants to "taste?"
We took the girls down to the George Observatory for members night. It was super cool and we all definitely want to go again. Before it was dark we got to see the moon and then we listened to a short lecture (Sarah got a bit squirmy) and then it was time to go up and see Saturn and also the moon again. Both were amazing. I was really surprised at how Saturn looked--it was like a glowing white cut-out on a black background. It was totally like one of those glow-in-the dark stickers on the ceiling. Henry stayed home with the babysitter (the telescope viewing didn't start until dusk and we weren't home until 11:30!) and did really well. The girls fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Henry loved watching the NASA shuttle launch today (the girls did, too). As soon as he saw the shuttle on TV, he ripped off the car shirt he was wearing and demanded his rocket ship shirt instead. He kept saying "blast off!" and we watched it several times without wearing out the excitement.
An orderly collection of fallen pine cones.
I wish I had made a video of this because Sarah's dance was so good. Anna's harmonica playing and the jingle bells around Sarah's ankle really spoke to her. It was also fantastic to have such a cool afternoon that we could actually be outside and not sweat to death from the heat and humidity!
Henry played at putting the little Orange Blossom doll to bed for the longest time.
And then he played that he was sleeping in Sarah's bed (which he not-so-secretly wants for himself!).
Hug.
Kiss.
I'm not sure who he is calling, but it was a good conversation!
He's saying "shhhhhhhh."
Okay, so he got a little grumpy with the camera.
On to Sarah, she was ready for a few pictures.
Sarah with Fannie, the longhorn, that she loves dearly.
Anna was grumpy about something and Sarah went to console her.
Henry's "baby."
Anna refused to cooperate with me today.
Sarah and her second favorite animal, "Big Brown Bunny."
All of Sarah's "favorite" animals (and Henry's baby).
Anna's favorite animals.
Our town canceled the fireworks display tonight so we let the girls watch the New York City show on TV tonight. This was a big mistake because it just made them realize how much they missed by not getting to go to the live show in town! Sarah said, "I want you to immediately take me to New York City as fast as possible so we are there for next year's fireworks!" She then proceeded to tell me all the things she was going to pack in her suitcase the next morning so she would be ready to go at a moment's notice.
The kids (Anna & Sarah, especially) were super-excited when they saw I had made these "patriotic" strawberries.
Craig did the 62-mile Burn Your Buns ride this morning. The kids were super excited to cheer him on at the finish and we got there just in time, too!
We ran into Sean and his mom on the way to the parade so we sat together. Good thing, too, because Sean was a candy-magnet!
Henry loved all the different cars in the parade.
"George Bush"
We were hot again this year but didn't have any temporary tattoos to sweat off like last year.
I took the kids to the parade by myself this year since Craig is doing a bike ride called "Burn Your Buns." I drove to the parade instead of walking so that we could hopefully see the parade and then drive over to see Craig finish his ride.
Sarah saw that I was going for my run this morning and wanted to come with. I took her on a one-mile loop and then I went out and got the rest of my run in. Sarah is planning to run a 1-mile race on Thanksgiving day.
These ladies were not interested in the tea party as they had way too many other fun things going on in other parts of the house.
Anna went to an art class at the museum of natural science this week with her best friend. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of the girls at the museum together but they had a good time and came back with a lot of really nice art. Hopefully we can do another summer camp week there next summer.
Anna lost her first tooth today! She really doesn't know where it came out so she wrote a note to the tooth fairy that included a specific request for a special tiara and wand.
