July!

Well happy July! Finally summer is here! We are looking forward to the 4th with family, Ava's first birthday on the 19th, and the fair season! Starting in with a bang with 90+ degree weather, but that's okay. Winter is still too strong of a memory for me to resent it! And thank the Lord for air conditioning!

We have been hitting the zoo every week and are hoping the government shutdown doesn't last too long. We love going there with our friends.

Ava is interacting more and more. Sometimes I could swear she says certain things like mama or hi or dada - she is probably mimicking us a little - but it's never enough to "count". She is crawling fast now and pulls herself up a lot. Her feet get so dirty outside that I decided to start having her wear shoes, and she doesn't appreciate it so far! I'm enjoying the development though. The older she gets, the easier it is for our family to do things together and to just enjoy each other. I love hearing her join us in playing or laughing.

We are practicing manners with Jack. We went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago with a very polite little boy (Wesley) who is just 2, and so I thought if he can do it, we should be doing a better job about it. So it is fun to hear Jack practicing how to say things. He has thanked me about 1000 times for a car I bought him the other day, but I haven't gotten tired of it yet!

Otherwise, that's about it. I'm just enjoying getting outside and being with the kids and getting together with family and friends. I have a few things on my to do list this summer, but I'm thinking about letting it all go and just enjoying my time to do other things. Winter will be here too soon, and there will be time enough for projects.