Summer Fun

We are thoroughly enjoying the summer, though it's getting a little hotter than I would prefer. :) We are spending lots of time swimming, wherever we can find water, whether it's our little pool at home or another pool with friends. KatieLynn and Dean are fascinated by the caterpillar-chrysalis-butterflies! Our passion flower has gone crazy this summer, and has attracted thousands of caterpillars. The kids love watching them, and have seen up close how they make their chrysalis. For some reason, lots of caterpillars have chosen the kids' little slide to make their cocoon/chrysalis. I had butterfly boxes in my classroom for 3 years, but never actually saw the caterpillars make their chyrsalis step by step until this week -it's pretty cool!

KatieLynn counts all the chrysalises (sp?), as Dean points them all out.

Dean squeals at each caterpillar.

and there's lots of caterpillars and lots of bites out of the passion vine!

Here's one of the passion flowers; it smells so good!!!

Dean ate some chocolate pudding, but most of it wound up on his face!

The kids love picking up sticks and then riding with Daddy to dump them at the lake.

Darren started shelling corn on Monday, so we have gotten to take several rides with him in the Peterbilt.

KatieLynn likes the roomy sleeper in the back of the truck.

Dean LOVES Daddy's big truck!

Look at the little farmers.

July 4th Weekend

We didn't do anything real exciting over the weekend. Friday we mostly relaxed at home, though we did get out, to eat at On the Border for lunch. I had been out of town Wednesday and Thursday, and didn't have any meat thawed out to cook, so going somewhere was really the only option. KatieLynn requested 'mesican food'; I think our whole family could eat it every day, and not be tired of it. :) By the time it got dark, Dean was tired and ready for bed, but KatieLynn stayed up with Darren and I. We could see tons of fireworks for miles around, from our front porch. Saturday night we spent with the Schultz family, and Sunday celebrated my SIL, Courtney's birthday.

The kids got to play outside all weekend long. KatieLynn's favorite outside activities are playing in the water pool, jumping on the trampoline, and riding her pedal tractor. Dean loves pushing and loading/dumping rocks into his big dumptruck and tractor w/loader, plus the sandbox, and also the pool and trampoline.

Dean is giving Daddy some big hugs.

KatieLynn & Dean love the trampoline and
Ring around the Rosies!

Dean loves falling down on the trampoline!

The favorite move in the water pool is going upside down on their backs.
Here's KatieLynn preparing for launch!

cousins, Emma & KatieLynn Friedel
they always enjoy getting together!

Swimming and Cake

Here's a few pics of the kids playing in the water pool today. We had cousin Claire over to play, and the kids all had fun.

Ring around the Rosies, Pocketful of Posies,

Ashes, Ashes, We all fall DOWN!

I took a cake decorating class, and with the class and help from my good friend Heather Petton, I feel much more confident in my ablilities. Here's the cake I made at last night's class. KatieLynn loved the flowers, and liked the icing, but she let me have her actual cake. Dean however, loved it all!

Weekend to Remember

Our weekend getaway started with a bang; diarrhea that is. We decided to wait and just leave on Saturday morning, so Darren and KatieLynn left early that morning for the donut shop, while I finished getting myself ready and got Dean up. Getting Dean was way more involved than usual, as there was brown all over his crib bedding, blankets, and bears, not to mention in his hair! I give him a bath, which he didn't like, because generally you have about 30 seconds from the time you get him out of the crib, to his booster seat with a cup of milk, or he is quite unhappy. It took me several minutes to accomplish this task, but as I poured his milk, in walked the donuts, so that made it all better. I had to wash everything before we could leave, in part because it was just nasty, but I really couldn't let it just soak, because we needed to take at least one blanket and one bear to Bebe & Papa's (my parents) to spend the night. Darren was great; he took the kids on an errand to the cows and tractors while I got everything all clean. I thought about cancelling our our trip, but Dean was acting fine, and both Darren and my mom insisted.

So we take the kids to Brenham, but somewhere along the way to Stephenville, my stomach starts acting up; I blow it off as hunger cramps, since we were running late for lunch. We pull into Stephenville's Montana Restaurant at 1:30. The food was delicious, and we ate WAY too much! We drive around a little, looking to see what all has changed, and as much as I wanted to keep driving I knew my stomach needed some relief. We check into the hotel and realize I'm sick too. I don't think all the greasy food helped. We rest and watch TV for a few hours, and by 7pm I'm feeling better, though not hungry. We go see 'Get Max' at the theatre; it wasn't our first pick, but it was cute. To make a long story short, we've all four been sick by the time we get home. Though I'm really looking forward to the next weekend away! :)

On a very sad note, my 27 year old cousin, Erin, died in her bed this weekend. We aren't sure of the cause. Her mom and my mom are sisters. Erin had one of the sweetest outlooks on life; she was always a very happy girl with nice things to say in any situation. She will be greatly missed, but I know for certain that she is with Jesus now. Please pray for her family when you have a chance.