June 2014.

School's out! Carson with our carpooling buddies, Kennan and Carlos (both a grade older than him). 

Carson with his teacher, Mrs. Guyer, one of the kindest people alive.

Best Kinder buddy, Chris. We are so sad that they've moved and won't be at Scobee next year!

For Carson's end-of-the-year party, all the Kinder classes had a dance party. 

The principal, Mr. Tatsch, does the too-tee-ta dance.

Another good friend, Neo.

Everett on his last day of Pre-K.

Ms. Bellah won't know what to do without an Otto in her class next year!

Everett's class had an ice cream party.

And they played water games outside.

Both boys wanted to wear the same shirts they'd worn on the first day of school.

Isla didn't finish school, but she spent a lot of time on top of counters and tables.

Isla's vocabulary has recently exploded, which is such a fun development. She'll try and repeat pretty much anything you ask her to, and occasionally she puts two words together. She'll tell you she's a "seet guhl!" (sweet girl).

At 21 months she barely has enough hair for a tiny ponytail on top of her head. (Seen here post-nap, obviously.)

She is such a sweet, happy girl. She is a peacemaker and will most often share anything she's asked to. Isla is a normal toddler though and gets super mad if she sees a treat that she's not allowed to have!

I'm so glad this girl is in our family.

Grandmama came for much-anticipated visit! We spent a day downtown at the Tower of the Americas and taking the trolley to Market Square. We swam in the pool, and she got Carson to make it all the way across, freestyle. We went bowling. We enjoyed a yummy lunch at a new favorite, Garbanzo. She babysat Isla while we got to go to a dinner party with just the older three kids. She redeemed her Mother's Day coupons from each child: Carson's was to read with her, Everett's was to take her to the Dollar Store and buy her something, Faye's was to give her a treat, and Isla's was to give her a hug.

This begins the story of Grandmama and Faye making pesto.

First, they gathered basil from the garden. (Let's not pretend like we have a thriving garden here. Gardening is not my talent. We'll see if the basil plant stays alive.)

Then they washed it off.

They roasted almonds and garlic.

Faye pounded the basil.

They chopped it all up in the food processor, and...

Enjoyed some delicious pesto!

Grandmama distributes popping rocks.

Faye gets silly with her apron strings over her head.

Reading about American History.

Off on a date to the Dollar Store.

Playing babies.

Snuggling.

Carson has been extremely motivated this summer to finish his tasks each morning (worksheets, piano practicing, a cleaning job, and a lesson) so that he can watch a sports game. He is obsessed with the World Cup. He and I both cried when Chile lost. Today he realized there are no world up games on, so he's turned his attention to the WNBA. Carson can also often be found in our driveway actually playing basketball games, with himself. He'll have a paper and pencil off to the side of his court with a bracket, and he'll play for both teams. He runs in an hour or so later to give me the play-by-play. Sports rule in the boy's world!

Popcorn is our typical summertime snack.

Isla's perch for our bowling game.

The boys really love bowling!

This HAD to be documented. Carson lost! To both Everett and Faye! Everett was so so so happy about this. His strike was a lucky one. He actually only knocked over nine pins and slightly moved the tenth one. The computer counted it as a strike anyway! You'd better believe Carson mentions that all the time and bemoans the fact that Everett got a strike on the scoreboard.

Our first tomato!

Everett and Isla, just hanging out. Isla's tan!

These two are the cutest playmates.

Most of the day on Wednesdays, I am nervous about teaching my Insanity class that night. I like to practice it with the music at least once, and the kids are more than happy to do it with me! One night I didn't need to practice, but Carson really wanted to do Insanity anyway. So he got the list of moves, put on the music, and did an entire 50 minute workout himself.

Faye gets in on the action as well. The other day she was doing mummy kicks in the pool.

Faye loves to catch these little guys!

She especially loves the teeny tiny babies.

Daddy's home! This was a Sunday, I believe, and I told the kids to let dad lay down while we all gave him a massage. This is how that ended up!

She's good at doing cheesy smiles for the camera.

Another day, another kitchen sink bath.

Pregnant Faye needed to rest for a bit in her chair.

We are regular pool-goers these days.

The kids just finished their swim lessons with our favorite lifeguards.

And with the end of June came the end of Rick's rotation at the VA and the end of his second year of residency. He's happy to be moving up in the ranks and operating more this year. This summer is flying by for the kids and for me. We have a good routine going on and are having lots of fun too!