The one where Lisa calls me 11 times and then chases me across Kingwood. And later, I buy a blue hat.

That title got ya, didn’t it?  Not too wordy, right?  :) Yesterday the big girls had their swim lessons, and we were headed to the Bear Branch pool instead of Miss Jen’s house.  I was almost there when I noticed Lisa behind me and she was driving strangely.  She had her turn signal on way before the turn, and looked like she was trying to get around me.  I’m a little slow, but I eventually (once she started waving out the window) pulled over and let her come alongside.  I said, “I don’t have my phone with me, do I?”  Turns out the Bear Branch pool was not in fact open at 10:00, as she had investigated it was, so we were headed back to the Mills Branch pool.  I was telling this story to my mom and I told her that I would have figured it out once I got there, and then just gone across the street and borrowed David’s phone.  Then my mom said, “Do you know Lisa’s phone number?”  And… I do not.  But I’ve decided I should learn it.  :)  So, thanks Lisa for chasing me across Kingwood.

This was James’ first time in the pool!  I didn’t get any pictures of him in the water because that would have required either a water-proof camera or another arm.  I had neither.  :)  He didn’t care much for the baby pool.  It was shaded so the water was cold, and it was too deep for him to sit.  I put him on the top step in the big pool though, and he thought that was pretty nice.  It was warm and he could sit and splash.  It was very hot and sunny so I decided he needed a hat.  Sadly, this is what we had:

But if you look at it in Black and White, you can’t tell the hat is pink!

As Lisa put it, “That’s a boy with two sisters!”  Truly as I was packing the swim bag, a hat for him didn’t occur to me, but the girls’ hats were already in the bag.  I actually don’t have a hat for him though, so we picked one up last night as we strolled through Target.  It’s cute.  It’s blue.  It’ll do.

Even though it’s not the closest or the cheapest, we may have to do all our shopping at Target.  :)  I LOVE these baskets.  LOVE them.  I can fit all the kiddos in it, and James can look at his sisters!

This was his first time sitting in the cart, I think.  He was sturdier than I thought he’d be – I’m so impressed!  He really thought it was great, and I think the girls liked looking at him as well.

I’m just sad it’s so hot.

I have exactly one nice thing to say about this weather.  The clothes dry very quickly on the line.  That’s it; that’s all I’ve got.  Otherwise, it’s horribly miserable.  And I don’t think I’ve ever been more thankful I do not have an outside job.  I am praying for all the people with outside jobs.  This can’t be good.

And I’m also wondering if it’s ever ever going to rain again.  ‘Cause if it’s not I don’t feel so bad about letting my grass die as we’re all going to need to rethink landscaping around here anyway.  So far I’ve only lost two Azalea plants.  Out of eleven, that’s pretty good for me.  I really am trying to keep the others alive.  It’s causing me a lot of stress.  I’m very glad I didn’t plant any food this year.  That would be more stress than I need, I think.  I’ve decided for us it just isn’t practical to water our grass.  Some of it is just going to die, and I have accepted that.  We can’t afford the water to keep it alive, not to mention we don’t have a good sprinkler.  I don’t like the sound of the crunching grass under my feet though.

Father/Daughter Sock Hop!

This evening at the church was the Father/Daughter sock hop!

Natalie has quite a few fun party dresses that have been handed down to her, but Joanna doesn’t so much.  Joanna wanted to wear this dress, and it’s one Natalie’s has a match of so I dressed them alike.  I’ve decided they look pretty 40’s to me, so I guess my girls just showed up at the 50’s sock hop a little old fashioned.  :)

Daddy and his dates:

Natalie’s face here is just gorgeous:

I sent the camera along with Matt, and he captured quite a few pictures of their evening before the battery died.  (Note to self: check this before it’s time for them to leave next time.)

The girls decorated these photo holder box thingies:

Looks like they had quite a crowd!!

There was hula hooping!

And ice cream!!

Love Joanna’s face here:

My sweet little baby.  The evening may have been a bit much for her, but I think she had a good time anyway.

This is a great Joanna face.  :)  She tells me this is when her necklace broke.

Our buddies Will and Bella:

These next two pictures came home as print-outs and I scanned them in.  I am in LOVE with this picture.  I think Joanna looks like some 40’s beauty.  Best friends!

And this one is so sweet!  Natalie looks exhausted and Joanna has her fake smile on, but Matt looks handsome.  :)

It sounds like they had a great time and fun was had by all!

Stitches: The Extraction

I have one thing to say for the fluorescent lights in doctor’s offices/clinics/hospitals:  they have good light for taking pictures.

Joanna and I had a date at the Redi Clinic at HEB today.  :)

I’ve always been impressed with the macro settings on my camera.  Combined with the good lights:

As I was taking this picture, Martha said, “Oh, I guess I’m going to be on Mommy’s blog.”  Yup!

Joanna has on a pretty unhappy face in the above picture, but she did really well.  I think she may have been just a wee bit stressed though.

After the stitches were out:

Then Joanna did a little grocery shopping all by ourselves!

You Lookin’ at Me?

I propped the kids up in the courtyard at church today for some pictures.

This one is fantastic of James!

This one’s okay of the girls.

And I find James’ face hilarious here.  I’m sure he was in-between facial expressions, but it makes me think he’s sayin’ “You lookin’ at me?”

Man I love those kids.

I would post pictures, but I can’t

It’s 7:30 on Sunday night and I’m almost alone in my house!  James is sleeping, and Matt and the girls are at the Father/Daughter Sock Hop at the church.  I took a few pictures before they left, but then of course I sent the camera with Matt, so I can’t post anything until they get back.  I was happily sitting, reading my book, and ignoring the mess around me when Lisa called.  While not her purpose, she did shame me into getting up and doing a few chores.  :)  I want to be good like Lisa.  (And it really does feel nice to get some things done in peace!)  But I only did a few things, and now I’m sitting down again.  Pretty soon I’m going to get up and make myself a milkshake.  Mmmmmmm… 

Last Wednesday was when Joanna got her stitches, and the ER doc told me to have them out next Wednesday.  Well, Matt just happened upon the kids’ doctor at church today, and he said that facial stitches should be taken out after 4-5 days.  What?!!  I hate being told different things.  Anyway, I could have waited until tomorrow and taken her up to our doctor’s office, but that would have required me taking all the kids (ack!) and that’s only if they could see her in the morning.  I decided we’d go patron the clinic where Martha (Ray’s mom) works, and have her take them out today!  Joanna did great (of course), and it was good to have a friend take the stitches out for us.  I took pictures, and I’ll post them tomorrow or sometime soon.

Sola Gratia Party

Thursday evening was our end of the year get together.  It was potluck (we usually do appetizers and desserts – the best part of any meal!), and somebody had the idea to do the spread that was in the latest issue of Southern Living.  So one of our members printed out the recipes and passed them around on Sunday.  There weren’t enough for everyone, so I opted to made a dessert, which the spread didn’t feature.  This is good for me, because I consider all of this food to be fruffy, and I am scared of making food like that.  :)

Anyway, I took no pictures of people… just food.  :)

It was all so good!