Out of House

Simon and I played Candyland for "apricots." I put diced apricots on several locations, and he loved eating them when we landed on them. Much better than the time I used gumdrops; Simon ended up with a tummy-ache then.



Simon in the musical "The Music Machine" at Keystone.



The "music machine" was a colorful contraption. Hmmm, I need to make sure we get Simon's bubble machine back - He's been asking about it.



Awww, participating and everything ... at least during the rehearsal, which is when I snapped the pictures.




Matt and I still haven't found our alarm clock. We have had quite a saga with the online computer wake-up service. There was the night that it didn't call us, the next night we were called at 3:45 a.m. instead of at 5:30 a.m. Matt thinks we have it figured out, though. We have to add an hour and 45 minutes to the desired wake up time ... So we did that all week and it worked well. I woke up to some pretty funny messages and directions. Last week and this week, though, I and the kids have been at my parents b/c of VBS and the projects I was/am working on with mom, and I haven't been treated to an early morning wake-up call as I'm sharing a room with Simon and don't want him to wake up so early!



Nancy's Elizabeth is almost exactly a year older than Evie. Nancy's daughter looks like Nancy's sister Barbara! It was good to see Nancy. Last week was full of meetings with people I don't get to see as much anymore!



Evie continues to eat anything we give her - no matter the color or temperature! She is so easygoing! I was out of babyfood a couple of weeks ago, opened a can of pumpkin, and she loved it! I think at her next appointment - her 9 month appointment which is on Matt's birthday (Aug 11) we will receive the official "go ahead" for cheerios and table food.



This is the offical Music Machine program. It begins with the children "asleep." Simon got comfortable with his little rear-end in the air. He "woke up", faced the audience, and partipated in a couple of songs, and then ... well, he went back into this "bottoms up" position and stayed there for a loooooooong time. I think it was a combination of being young, maybe a bit stage-fright, and, as we found out later, he had dropped his yellow sunglasses. An adult helper on stage tried to tell Simon she had found his by giving him hers, but Simon said, "No, those are orange. Mine are yellow."



The other day Simon announced to me that he wanted to marry me.
That led to an interesting discussion. Here was another random discussion:
Mommy: Boy begins with "B."
Simon: (A questioning face.) But my name begins with S.

Ah, the egocentric stage is still in full-swing.



A snapshot of mom's refrigerator snapshots.



Simon and Pops creating with the Tinkertoys that Pops bought for Simon.



Evie was playing on Bethany's fun multi-colored quilt. So, at least for a few hours, Evie's toy matched her quilt. Lisa couldn't get over how "perfect" Evie was. She just went on and on and on about her skin, the shape of her head, the fact that she was content for over an hour with that one little toy, etc. Lisa just couldn't get over her! I left very encouraged on many levels, and I remembered why Lisa is one of my favorites! I'll have to find ways to get up to Rockwall more often!



Lisa, Jake, and Evie (with the carrott face).



Evie has a new "trick." She started experimenting more with her voice and makes these horrible, scary growling sounds. And, while she makes the scary sound, she gives the cutest smiles. It is truly an oxymoron. (We joke that we hope she doesn't make the noises during a prayer meeting. We don't want anyone to start casting anything out of her!)



I think this might be their first bath together. For necessities sake, they have taken showers together before. I gave Simon a washcloth and asked him to "cover himself" so I could take a picture! He will thank me one day!



I guess giving them both a bath at the same time counts as multi-tasking. I was also cleaning the bathroom. The other day I noted that at one point in the day I was playing hide and seek with Simon, feeding Evie her fruit and oatmeal, and nursing my own cup of coffee all at the same time!

Wow, this picture really highlights the difference in their skin tone! People ask me how/why Evie is so tan when I always slather her with sunscreen - when she is outside. I guess that is her small % of native american in her that gives her the dark skin.



We were treated last Tuesday by a visit from Shay who was visiting from Colorado. Shay became Simon's buddy. He was quite taken with her which is unusual. He rarely seems to attach to adults, but lately he has taken to both Shay and Tania. Anyway, Shay was noting her surprise that they make black play doh. Maybe they do, but we explained that ours came from mixing all the colors together, as Simon is prone to do!



The other day I made note of Simon's prayer because it was so sweet, grateful, and ... informative.

'Dear Lord, Thank you for Burma and Myanmar and India and China. Did you know they had an earthquake and volcano? In Jesus Name, Amen."



It would be sooo nice if Shay moved back to Texas ...



Some of mom's neighbors wanted Simon to come by. They let him (and have let him in the past) feed their goldfish in their pond. We enjoyed a nice chat with them. Simon did ask, "What happened to your hair?" Thankfully, this grandpa has probably heard it all and replied, "I left it in the house!"



Simon may be a little confused about planting, gardening, and the basic laws of nature. We were eating watermelon the other day and were discussing what would happen if we were to plant some of the watermelon seeds. Simon decided that he wanted to plant some string cheese so that some string cheese trees could grow.



Simon was intrigued by the corvette's lights that reminded him of a transformer ... We decided that it would be an Autobot (as opposed to a Deceptacon....)



"Hail Winnie."



In this picture, you can see how they were REALLY enjoying this toy!

Mommy to Simon: You are special.
Simon: No, I'm not.
Mommy: What are you?
Simon: Long



Simon and I were proud of our colorful geometric creations. One day, his future math teachers will thank me. Who knows, I may end up being his future math teacher ... In which case I will make a note to thank myself.



This was taken in Rockwall at the new "Harbor" development. It has changed so much! It was fun to remember old times and drive around. So ... since there were other kids playing in the fountains we thought that was their purpose. And, then, when we left, we noted that the sign specified that the fountains were not for children's play. I wonder if that means (1) You cannot play here or (2) It's okay if you do play, but if you get hurt, the city would be "covered" because of the sign's disclaimer ...



Pops taught Simon some "high five" language and technique. Simon LOVES it and will do it with you repeatedly. Did I mention repeatedly?
Give me five.
Up high.
Down low ... too slow! (When Simon sweeps his hand away and says, "too slow" he gives the cutest, slyest grin and does this precious little hand gesture. I'm going to have to get that on video.)



I've been joking with mom about her "sighing." I think it is contagious! It's become kind of a house-hold joke. I have caught myself sighing AND last night, Evie sighed! Maybe Evie was sighing from our 3-4 hour Belk's visit. My new favorite store. And ... we saved over $600 dollars .... :)



Look at Evie's sweet, sweet smile!



I like this picture of Mom, Dad, and Evie. When we leave on Saturday, we will have been here for two weeks! Everything takes long with two kids, and our projects and "to do" lists aren't completed yet! We might have to pull an all-nighter. Friday night - Saturday is the Beth Moore conference, though ... Mom and Dad seem to be enjoying us and are getting to finally "know" Evie whom they usually just see in passing. The kids and I are definitely missing Matt, though! Last weekend he came and stayed some and Evie literally would just sit and stare at him and just smile, smile, smile!

So, Matt has been solo for almost two weeks. If you have seen him around the office, looking incredibly well-rested, well, now you know why ...



A few weeks ago, Simon had a rough week! There was the day he sprained his ankle and had to get x-rays. Then, a couple of days later, we were eating at a restaurant, and he fell off his chair onto the floor, hitting his head. And, in the process of falling, he had grabbed the table for support, but had really grabbed his plate, which fell and broke ON HIS NOSE! Seriously. I was trying to comfort Simon. He seemed inconsolable until ... the manager asked if he wanted some ice-cream. This brought almost immediate relief ... and with a cherry on top!



Breakfast one day last week. Simon got up from his chair before eating his fruit, which surprised me. Then this conversation happened:
Me: Simon, do you want the fruit?
Simon: No thank you.
I start clearing his plate off and then Simon tells me he really does want the fruit.
Me: Okay. Well, tell me when you are actually done.
Time passes, and I am busy cleaning the kitchen and Simon is still at the table.
Simon: I'm actually done.
Me: Hmmm....? (Half-listening and then it registers what he is saying...)
Simon: I'm actually done.



Simon at V.B.S. I was thankful to hear from his teachers that he was very studious and well-behaved. They said he was particularly fascinated with "nothing." That before God created the world, it was "nothing." He kept wanting to talk about, well, "nothing."



Simon participating in the worship service. Mom bought him some camo to wear for "Inspired Jones." It works out well to have more camouflage as Simon is really into hunting. I don't think he understands what hunting is. Today, I solved that mystery. He said for the umpteenth time, "I wanna go hunting." I said, "Well, you need to talk to your daddy about that." Then, he showed me a picture, and said, "I wanna go hunting." I looked at the picture, and it was of Winnie the Pooh and friends ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS over an outdoor fire. This is his "Hunting."



Kevin and Carrie did an amazing job with "Inspired Jones." I don't know where they get the energy, though ... I get exhausted just watching them and thinking of all the details that went behind everything.... :)



Simon waiting in line for the pre-K bounce house. It's hard to believe that next year at this time, Simon could be getting ready to start KINDERGARTEN. Of course, with his August birthday, I think we could wait another year ... ?



Simon had just put several envelopes in my parent's mailbox. There was a cute picture of him holding some envelopes, but I couldn't post them, because I noticed that you could see our address on them! I didn't think it would be wise to put our address out there ... So, the only picture I have is of Simon's little rear-end again! We seem to be seeing a lot of that lately in our pictures!



Evie and Pops



I snapped this picture to show what Simon does while we work on the major "picture" project. He is on my mom's laptop, on pbskids.org, playing games, coloring, etc. It's fun to see him playing games online. I know I might one day regret saying that, but I hope he will be well-balanced in those areas. Matt likes games and movies, but is also active, helpful, and literate, so maybe he'll inherit those traits from his daddy as well as the trait for liking "screen-time."



So, this is part of our picture chaos. We have organized various bins and boxes by categories. Our goal is to get them in categories and then put each category in a BIG ziploc bag and then (over time), move the photos from categories to albums.



Another snapshot of some more categories.



And, this container is for photos to be discarded. We need to find ways to put more photos in here.



Evie's sink bath last night. I was too tired to bend, so I forgo the tub and embraced the sink.



This sink is a sink to "build a baby around."
You've heard of people designing a room around a certain "focal point." I think, with the right sink, I could be convinced to have another baby, just to use the sink for baths.



Simon has developed a VERY southern accent. Our realization of this just happened to be right after Matt's parents' visit ... Hmmm...



Even strangers in stores are commenting on his accent. We were in the dairy section, and Simon was pointing out the string cheese to me. "Look, momma, the string cheese is over Tha-ar."
Me: There
Simon: Tha-ar
Me: No "tha-ar", "there."
Simon: But, it's over "tha-ar."
Stranger: Wow, what a southern accent.



Now that Simon's drawl is drawing attention, some friends have come forth and commented that Matt and I have a bit of an accent as well. A bit of an accent, yes, I admit.



The other day Simon and I were playing a game and he won. He is actually very good at Memory.

Me: You won.
Simon: I beeped.
Me: ?
(Beat?)