Scenes from Summer

Thanks for all the kind words on my new name and look. Yes, I love it! It makes me happy.

Can you believe it's almost August? School starts in less than 3 weeks - insanity! I think we're getting ready for it, though. And August is getting jam-packed with events, which will make it go by even quicker. My brother and his wife move here next week, my parents will be here helping them, then the next week my other brother comes, and of course we'll all do some playing as well. We also have, in the next 3 weeks, our anniversary, Mason's blessing, back to school shopping/events, gulp!

A re-cap of the past few weeks:

- Connor finished swim lessons, which he loved. He made some great improvements, and loves the water. Very fun!

- We met Brian's parents in Boulder for a fun picnic. This was taken just before a July monsoon let loose and we had to take cover for a while. This sent Isabel into complete hysterics; I'll have to tell you about her weather paranoia sometime. It's intense.
Mr. Mason had a great time hanging out in the stroller. His hedgehog shirt and turtle hat make me smile. :)

- We wrapped up another successful Club SOS (Summer of Service), with 2 months of weekly service activities. I really think my kids have gotten something out of this, because they more frequently volunteer to do service for me or Brian around the house, or do service for each other. It's a concept that's important to me.

At our last activity, we did an unbirthday party, where we brought toys, cake mixes, frosting, candles and birthday bags, and assembled them to donate to a shelter so kids who are there during their birthdays can have something with which to celebrate their birthdays. Then we had a party with cupcakes and water balloons.

- Imagine my surprise to find Lucas can stand on his head! I have the limb-iest boys, they are all arms and legs.

- Mason has been smiling at us for the past couple of weeks, which the kids think is the most amazing thing they've ever seen. And he's been cooing a lot, it's so very sweet. Catching a baby smile is not an easy task, this is the closest I've come. This picture is a bit overexposed, so he looks a little washed out...
And he appears to have some big blue eyes too - hooray! They remind me of the shape of Isabel's eyes, we shall see-

- Brian had a backyard campout with the three older kids, since we won't get to real camp this summer b/c of Mason. Good thing kids are easily amused! Grilled hotdogs, played games in the tent, played soccer and frisbee, gave Mason his first tent experience, made breakfast on the grill, lots of fun.

I made Frosty S'mores for the campout. They are gooey and fabulous!
1 circular container (1.75 quarts) vanilla ice cream, 1 jar (7.5) marshmallow spread, 1 cup chocolate chunks, 1 1/2 cups honey Teddy Grahams, 1 cup chocolate sprinkles

1. Put softened ice cream in a large bowl. Rinse and dry the circular container. Line the inside of the container with a gallon-size freezer resealable plastic bag, pulling the top of the bag over the sides.

2. Add remaining ingredients except the sprinkles to the ice cream, mix together, and scoop back into the bag-lined container, pressing ice cream mixture down to pack firmly into log shape. Seal bag and freeze container until ice cream sets, about 2 hours.

3. Remove log from container and bag. Roll log in sprinkles, place on a serving plate, and cut into 10 slices. Serve immediately.
In case you doubted Isabel's love for sugar. This wouldn't fly at the table, but on a backyard campout, well... gross, I know. But she can't let a drop of the sweet stuff go to waste.
So, are you savoring summer, or anticipating the start of school?