summer heat

We spent a lot of our summer at the pool. It was free for the kids and only $4 for me. Dennis learned to swim! Here they are warming up in the sun. 

 Clothing is always optional in the summer heat. We were dying this summer if it ever got into the 90's. Its funny how you adapt to where you are. Last July in Saint Louis it didn't ever cool off below 105 deg the whole month.

 Grandma and Grandpa got Dennis this awesome swing set for his birthday! We are in the process of staining it.

 Zola loves a thrill. She always wants to have the sinking feeling in her stomach.

from JULY??

Where does time go... man, I thought I posted these pictures but I guess not. 

Dennis and our neighbor friends got our fountain and waterfall working though it only worked for a couple of weeks until our duct tape gave way and it started leaking again. We will need to put a new rubber liner down next summer. 

 Dennis sure loves his comic books. He would rather page through it for an hour than eat breakfast! Now, that's sayin something. Dennis loves breakfast.

 One day Zola brought me my apron that I got at Zola's Grand Girl Gathering. It was super cute. She wore it all day.

 My breakfast was delicious. raspberries from the garden, blackberries from the douglas trail and blueberries. YUMMY.

 We went to the Olmstead County fair in mid July and it was raining and freezing. Lucky for us there weren't many people there.

 We were cold.

 Our daily raspberry picking until I found tiny worms... then I stopped picking. Anyone know how to get rid of worms in raspberry patches?

I have a picture of myself in this very spot when I was little. 

 Our jackpot blackberry find during our bike ride.

It has been so nice to be able to send the kids outside with sticky food to eat. They loved their mangos. 

 Zola was so cute and excited to watch a movie.

 Nobody loves avocado more than Zola.

 Dennis was dragging Zola around the floor by her feet and she was so happy about it. Here she is saying, "cheese".

 Getting ready for be. Zola and baby. Notice, they both have shoes on.

 There is nothing cuter than a babies bottom. The little stinker doesn't like letting me put a new diaper on her.

Hanging with the boys

Zola wants to do everything that the boys do. She copies them and follows them everywhere. Good thing they are so nice to her.

I love my kids

I overheard the kids eating breakfast this morning.

D: zola, you are dirty.
Z: no
D: dirty means you are messy all over.
Z: no
D:aha, yep, I'm right. Look that's messy.
Z: no.

Made me laugh.

18 months with videos

Zola is 18 months now. It is amazing how fast she has grown up. She has been a total delight for our family. Zola loves to give kisses and has just learned how to pucker. She is quick to say that she is sorry with a hug and kiss even if it was her that was hurt and Dennis that should be saying sorry.



She loves to dance and will stop any activity to dance if there is music. She has a job of throwing away her diaper after she is changed but just recently she has been resisting and throwing it on the floor. It doesn't take much of a mad or sad look before she gives you a hug and puts it in the garbage. She loves to put the dogs in their crates. She will chase them and yell at them while pointing at their crates. She will go back and forth between them and the crate all the while trying to convince them that they should. They never listen. But when she finds Buster already in the crate and she gets to close the door, she is happy as a tick. Sometimes she must be talking in her head because she does all of the hand motions and facial expressions but all that comes out of her mouth is a little ststs. It seems like you are watching a video on mute because it is so dynamic but silent. You can see a little bit of that in the beginning of this next video. It is hard to capture on tape.



She loves to do what mommy is doing. In these next videos she was washing the wallpaper glue off of the wall with me. She also loves to fold laundry, weed, and do dishes.





Zola loves a thrill. Her favorite is when you lift the swing up so high before letting go that it gives her a drop in her stomach. She will be asking for you to do it again before it even swings twice. She taps the swing on the bar in between her legs where I lift from to let me know what she wants. She is getting to know her body parts. She loves to point out eyes, ears, nose, mouth and belly button. She still loves shoes. She is a good eater. Her favorite thing to eat for breakfast is shredded wheat. She doesn't like sweet peppers yet. We will keep on trying since we eat them often. She has two favorite books that she asks for at least once every night- "chugga chugga choo choo" and "my first book of math"

words that she can say:
-please
-thank you
-help me
-up me
-milk
-swing
-mommy
-daddy
-dennis
-grandma
-grandpa
-buster
-bruno
-doggy
-shoes
-food

all about Dennis with some videos

Dennis is so fun to be around. He is a clever boy with a sense of humor. These days he has been playing non stop with his friend Braden. He looks forward to having more friends once school starts.





Some things he said:

D: Dad, if we had a cat we could bring it to the pool!
R: Why?
D: because it could swim in the kitty pool.
_

R: Why did heavenly father give us bodies?
D: So that our heads don't sit on our legs.

We sure love him.