Nothing's more fun than a sleeping baby

I capture the castle

Some fabulous friends of ours invited us up to their property a couple of weeks ago. What an amazing place! I was so jealous as they walked us around telling us what would go where. The house here with a great view, the garden here (surrounded by 8 foot fence to keep out deer), the hammocks, tree house, camping place, archery range, and most of all, the castle. These people have their priorities straight and the first thing built was the castle. Henry was thrilled. And even more so when he found some water guns left over from an earlier water fight. He and Dell had a great time storming the castle and fighting bad guys. Henry especially loved being in the turret on the roof.

children's museum

A bit ago Dell took Henry to the children's museum while I hung with Lizzy at the Pottery Barn Outlet. Here's some pictures of the fun Dell and Henry had. I love the car that kids get to paint. How simple and fun is that?

Projects

Here's a quick look at some of the projects we've been working on lately.

The Backyard.
We (mostly Dell) spent the past several months working on this. We'd head out in the evening with the wheelbarrow to gather rocks from vacant lots in the neighborhood to border the flower beds we wanted to create. Then we got a dumptruck load of dirt dumped on our driveway and used that to create flowerbeds inside the rock borders. Then we had lots of fun at nurserys around the area. We now have 2 asian pear trees, 1 avocado, 1 bradford pear (ornamental), and one pomegranet tree. Various native plants and shrubs-- go low water use! We also have a garden area with blackberries, strawberries, tomatoes, beans, onions, carrots and corn. Henry loves his corn. While planting it he was very excited and when Dell told him he was very good at planting and could maybe be a farmer when he grows up, Henry was thrilled. Now he talks about being a farmer a lot and goes out to check on his corn every day. It's up past his waist now and doing better than expected. Henry also sang a cute song he made up while we were planting all our plants. "It's a beautiful day in my garden, a beautiful day in my garden." So so so sweet.

A view of the backyard after planting. Can't wait for things to start to fill in!
The nursery. Okay, we did this ages ago, before Lizzy was even born, but I realized we didn't post any pictures. So here's a quick on of the wall by her crib. I'll try to post some of the rest of the room another time. A talent girl in our ward sketched and painted the tree for the wall. I adore it!

Pictures for grandma

My mother has been mentioning (and rightly so) that we have not posted enough pictures of baby Lizzie. So here's for you mom!

Lizzie Smiles
Smiles and a stretch
Blessing day pouts
And lastly , here's one of Henry, the super Jedi warrior. Don't you love the glasses?

words to wake up to

So here's what I've woken up to the last couple of days.

"Hi Mom! I need hand, hand, face (our family's slang for needing your face and hands cleaned). I ate... "
choose one: honey, candy, ice cream (the whole carton was sitting on the table), sausage (frozen straight from the freezer and smothered in ketchup), ice cream sandwiches, popsicles.

"I gave myself a haircut."

I think I need to stop sleeping in. Though luckily besides hair on the carpet I can't quit tell where the haircut took place. I think I should probably lock all the scissors away too.

Happy

Just got back from a fun activity with the young women of our ward. How I love them!!! They bring me such joy. We had a hilarious time tonight making wedding dresses out of toliet paper. They turned out surprisingly good. I wish I had my camera to show you how talented these girls are.
I'm home now, thinking I should go to bed. Lizzie is sleeping in the bouncy chair at my feet. Dell is at the other computer. Henry is upstairs asleep. The curtains are open and it's a perfect night outside. I should go out and admire the stars. And I am content. Happy. Life is good. And here's two random pictures to prove it. (They had to be random because on the laptop all I can access is the name of the picture and my brain doesn't remember what cmz.2000393.jpg is.) :)

Cute little Lizzie all dressed up for her first Sunday at church. Isn't she cute!!!Lizzie in her sling. My dear friend Sarah from medical school days has lent me her baby slings for Lizzie. THANK YOU THANK YOU Sarah! Lizzie lives in her sling when we are out and about and you wouldn't believe the comments I get on how cute they are. I feel cute and stylish when I wear them. I've decided a new baby in a cute sling is the ultimate accessory and one of the few I enjoy wearing. Doesn't she look happy all squish up in there? We go on walks, grocery shopping, music class, and even just around the house in the magic sling.

so you see, life is good. Blessed as they say here in Texas. Blessed, yep, that's us. Hope you all are feeling blessed too.