just a few little things

so it seems like time to update somethings, but i'm not sure what :). naturally i look to my pictures as a guide, basically what they tell me is, it's too stinking hot to do anything so we're languishing away here...



but the laundry's getting dry as fast as i can hang it outside!



note rayna's sticker earings, she LOVED them, despite the funny face :)



we had a great time with uncle matthew when he came to visit, though i think this was the only day i actually took pictures :( sorry there weren't more!



my absolutely AMAZING cousins made matching skirts for rayna and afton... they wear them ALL. THE. TIME! i actually had to hide afton's from her for a few days! (i haven't got any great pictures though, this one was acutally in the background of another photo when i realized i hadn't taken any good ones i copied it just to show the skirt... they're INCREDIBLE!!!)



daddy helped the kids built a tent from the clean laundry :) they were sad when we had to eat dinner with those chairs!

afton's scrabble game, she'd pull out the letters and i'd help her line them up so she could sound out the words, she figured out all those words though we've barely done any 'reading' before! i was amazed.



happy boy. doesn't like to talk, loves being the center of attention





happy cucumber. tasted good, one could say it brought a smile to everyone's plate ;)
(sorry to those that saw this one on FB, i just love it so reposted it)

also, something i don't have any pictures for, paul just completed his third HHH (hotter than hell hundred) 100 mile bike race!!! he felt really good about it, and got his best time ever (6 3/4 hours) despite over 100degree weather :)

GO PAUL!!!

and double congratulations to auntie em, who just got her mission call to florida!!! 

(alligators and hurricanes and drug dealers OH MY!)

lunch time conversation

afton and rayna at lunch:

a: ouch, i just bit my tounge!
r: you aren't supposed to eat your tounge, silly, you're supposed to eat your food.
a: (emphatically, if slightly garbled from pain) i know!

hehehe :D

first EVER day of school!

and how did that happen?!

afton's in pm pre-kindergarten so we played with some friends a bit this morning (so as not to think about waiting for school to start)... but now it's official. we're committed. :) (and excited!)

so excited for the backpack... seriously, why is that always the kids' favorite?



when we dropped her off she was happy to start playing with the little 'play house' area.

i can still barely believe it, but it seems to be done. i guess we'll get a real report in about 2 more hours :)

more pics of malachi

so i just uploaded pictures form the last 2 weeks, and there's not really anything exciting (not that we didn't still have fun, but i guess i just haven't pulled the camera out much). however, there are a ton of pictures of malachi, he's quite a silly poser! here's a few of my favorites: 

gotta love pudding!!! and with my own spoon!!!



playing with rayna :)




who could resist those eyes?! and with the kissy-face already ready?!



rocking the feet up




he loves blowing... i know the pic is a little fuzzy, but it  still makes me smile :)

ps, i don't usually have my child running around naked or even half-naked... i just realized that

 this post would make it appear otherwise... not quite sure how that happened...

fork video

this really is as boring as it sounds... a week or so ago malachi was crying so much he wouldn't eat his dinner. through a series of points, grunts, and not a whole lot of sign language (darn!) we finally figured out he wanted a fork to eat with (even more ironic when you realize that afton and rayna still generally don't eat with forks!), and this was the result:

july

i'm not sure whether to say, where has july gone, or thank heavens july is finally over... a little of both, perhaps. this month has gone by fast, but it was so hot and miserable that i'm kind of glad it's over ;). it still surprises me hot very hot it is, you'd think i'd be used to texas (or az) summers by now, but i'm miserable! anyways, we've had a lot of fairly lazy summer days, and not a lot of big exciting things (cause really, it's too hot!). so here's a few pics to put things in perspective:



sometimes things seem a little topsy-turvy here, but we're helping eachother, so i think we'll turn out all right

 

rayna's perspective through the camera lens

afton likes to come jumping up behind daddy and land seated on his shoulders, i have it on video, but it's only like 4 seconds long, so i thought the pic would almost do it justice



love these happy sisters!!!!!!



there are a lot of big shoes to full around here too!



malachi's favorite spot, he spends significant amounts of time here.




another of rayna's pics, showcasing her skirt,
she wears it almost every day (til mom takes it away)



rayna's birthday tutu

 


  




peek-a-boo!!! hehehehehehehehe!



mmmmmmm blue sucker!!!