4th of July Kick-Off

We had a busy but wonderful 4th of July weekend...lots of food, fireworks, and friends! Friday night we kicked off the holiday weekend by going to Grapevine. We hung out on Main Street before going to Lake Grapevine to watch the firework show that they put on over the lake. They had a dog parade on Main Street and awarded prizes to the patriotic dog. There were dogs dressed in tutu's, fur spray painted red, white, and blue, and some with flags hanging from their collars. I didn't get one picture of one dog. It wasn't the best parade we've ever been to, but we had fun none the less and we enjoyed seeing all of the red, white, and blue. Landon didn't care too much for the parade, he just enjoyed running around and playing with sticks and rocks. He fell asleep on the way to Grapevine and was in a not so great mood when we woke him up. :(

He was in NO mood for pictures at all, so I did the best I could. :)

This is the only picture I got of him looking at the camera.
We arrived at the lake just as the boats began to gather around to watch the show.
Landon had perked up by this time and was in a much better mood. I love it when my little guy is happy!
We are blessed to live in America.

I will update on the rest of our holiday weekend in another post.

Swimming and Muffin Tin Meals

Landon is loving swim lessons and he is doing very well, if I do say so myself.His teacher, Miss Christina, told me yesterday that she is going to try to teach him how to swim underwater the last two days of lessons. He is able to maneuver himself around on top of water and since it's easier to swim underwater, she wants him to try it out. I'm anxious to see how it goes--Landon doesn't like going underwater unless he jumps in and then pops right back up.
We've been very fortunate with swim lessons this year as there is only Landon and another little girl in his group, so he gets a lot of instruction and time in the water with his teacher. I'm so thankful that Landon is confident in the water (unlike me).


I was browsing through some blogs the other night and came across Muffin Tin Meals and thought it was an interesting way to serve little ones their meals. I didn't look too deep into the website, but got a general idea of what it was and we tried it out for lunch. Just a fun little spin on meals. :) Landon's muffin tin meal included cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, cucumbers, ranch for dipping, veggie straws, and a grilled cheese sandwich. (My muffin tin is clean--it just gets used a lot so it looks a little rough.) We'll definitely be serving up more MTM around here--maybe I'll even purchase a new muffin tin. :)

Things Landon Says That Make Me Smile

Landon says things all the time that make me smile. I know it's things that he'll probably never say again so I want to write them down. It will be fun to look back at these things years down the road and remember what he said.

• The other night after I had tucked Landon into bed and we'd said our prayers, he said, "Mommy, I love you a bunch and a little bit. Do you love me a bunch and a little bit, too?" :)


• As I was giving Landon a hug a few days ago I told him that he was the best boy ever. His reply, "You're the best girl ever." Sweet thing.


• Landon was putting a t-shirt on the other day and he accidentally put one of his arms through the neck hole, so it looked like he had on a shirt with one sleeve.

He started laughing when this happend and said, "Look Mom! I look like John!" I nicely told him that we don't know anyone named John and that maybe he was thinking about someone else. He got frustrated with me and we went back and forth about who John was. Finally he said, "Mom, you know that John from the book you read to me. You know...Jesus' friend." Then I realized that he was talking about John the Baptist. The picture below is what he was referring to.

I just couldn't believe that he remembered that story from one of his books as we hadn't read that particular book in several months. Landon definitely has a good memory.

• After a couple of hours of swimming and a bath, I got some Cocoa Butter and started putting it all over Landon's skin. He immediately wanted to know what it was, so I told him that it was Cocoa Butter. He said, "Oh, is it doggie butter?" --This is funny because our dogs name is Coco, so he thought that since it was named Cocoa Butter that it must be for dogs! Ha! :)


• We haven't had much going on around here other than swimming lessons, so the other morning when he woke up I asked him what he wanted to do for the day. His reply, "I just wanna go to Starbucks and get some pumpkin bread and then after that go get a snow cone--that's all." Silly boy! We really don't go to Starbucks all that often, however, we've been several times this summer with gift cards that David and I received at the end of the school year. Landon will be disappointed when those run out because we won't be visiting Starbucks much when they're gone. :)

Coconut Cookies

Landon loves to help me bake cookies, cakes, brownies...pretty much anything that involves licking a spoon covered in something sweet. The other day we made coconut cookies. It's summer time and anything that involves coconut sounds good to me!

I had my apron on while we were mixing ingredients and Landon wanted to wear an apron, too! This picture of him in the apron just makes me smile.
My little baker. :)

The finished product.

These cookies ended up being very tasty. They weren't too sweet and had a very light taste to them. I will definitely make them again...with my little baker of course. :)

Twins Visit

Today after swim lessons, Landon and I went to visit my friend Megan and her two week old twins. Megan was my teaching partner last year and she is so organized, so I know that raising twins will not be a problem for her! I wish I had her organizing skills...she makes everything look easy.

Megan and her husband, Marc, were blessed with a boy and girl. Maddox is on the left and McKinley is on the right. These sweet babies were so precious and I could have held and rocked them all day long. They are so tiny--it's hard to believe that Landon used to be that small, too.
Megan and her little babies.

McKinley...so precious.

I love the wrinkles on her head from laying on her hand.

Maddox...so sweet.

I will definitley have to make another trip over there this summer to hold these little bundles of joy.

Birthday Party and Playdate

Last weekend, our sweet little friend, Briley, invited us to help her celebrate her 2nd birthday! Her mom, Melissa, is the ultimate party planner and had everything so organized and cute! When I first met Melissa, Briley was just a newborn and Landon was just 18 months old. When I first met Melissa I immediately felt drawn to her. At the time I wasn't sure why, but earlier this year I found out why I had those feelings. Melissa had a little girl, Hadley, that went to be with Jesus in late February. Now I know why God placed Melissa and I at the same school and gave me those feelings. Unfortunately, we both wear the same shoes and belong to the same club. Melissa is still so fresh in her grief and my heart just hurts for her.

This is Briley...isn't she cute?

Landon really enjoyed playing in this little pool! The birthday girl eating her birthday cupcake.

Such a fun birthday party!

Melissa and I met up yesterday so Landon and Briley could have a playdate. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out and I am so disappointed that I didn't. :( We met at our house and I picked up Chick-fil-a for lunch, then we let the kiddos play. They enjoyed playing with Mega blocks and playing chase! Ha! Briley is a book lover (I know her teacher mommy is proud), so we read a few books, too! Playdates are always nice for the mommy's because we get to visit and the kiddos wear themselves out! These two were definitely worn out by the end of the playdate! :) I like to think that mine and Melissa's sweet little angels in heaven were looking down smiling as they watched their siblings play together. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Landon thought it was so funny to carry vegetables in our shirts.
He loves picking the veggies and helping in the garden.