The rest of July 2011

(I fixed the videos, so the ones that said private should be working now)

July was a busy, busy month for us.  We got back from our big road trip on July 4th, then my sister and her family were here, then the next week I had my sister trip, and then the week after that my mom came and Daniel and I went to Washington, DC. 

Here are some of the things that were going on in July in between all the vacationing:

Everyone loves giving Cynthia rides.

On horses:

On scooters:

In boxes:

And most of all, in little doll strollers:

Cindy loves this so much.  Her squishy bottom barely fits in the stroller, so she is kind of wedged in there tight, but she doesn’t mind.  She just sits back and acts like she is a queen in her carriage.  If she ever gets fussy when I’m trying to make dinner I just ask one of the kids to push her around, and it never fails to cheer her up. 

Henry is great at counting to 10, but after that things get a little hazy.  He had been listening to Lizza practice counting to 100, and he thought he had it all figured out.  He told me he was pretty sure he could count to 50. 

My favorite things about this video are 1) watching his stomach muscles while he counts.  Clearly counting is hard work and good exercise!  2) How appalled Oliver gets when Henry gives him the credit for teaching him his counting skills.  3)  Henry’s thumbs up at the end.  That’s my special sign I give to him when I think he’s done a good job at something, and I guess he felt pretty proud of himself after all that counting.

 

A back-tickling line while watching Cast Away:

My kids love this commercial for Huggies jean diapers.  One time they were at Wal-Mart with me and spotted a display of them for sale.  They couldn’t believe they were real, and begged me to get some for Henry.  I agreed to get just one box.  They were a little disappointed that they weren’t actually made out of jean material, but everyone still thought Henry looked pretty cute in them.

Tristan and Oliver decided to make their own commercial, with Henry as the star.

Rachel and Lizza are the fancy ladies who watch him walk by.  I love how they lower their sunglasses, just like the ladies in the commercial.  Oliver is supposed to be like the guy on the scooter, and Tristan is Henry’s driver (somehow he decided this meant he should be in army clothes.  He explained that he was kind of like a bodyguard.)  They were going to add sound to it later, but we never got around to it. 

Rachel is my crafting queen.  She decided to make a purse out of paper.  Then she made all sorts of things to go inside it.  I love her birthday shopping list:  cake mix, ice cream, frosting, pizza, candy, and party hats. 

And of course, everything that Rachel makes, Lizza makes, too.  Here she is with her purse and phone:

Rachel, Henry, and Elizabeth all reading on the couch at the same time:

In some ways Oliver is getting so old, but when I see how much fun he still has getting dressed up I realize that nine-year old boys are still just little kids in their hearts. 

And here are a whole bunch of little kids tackling Daniel.  This is still one of their favorite games.  Daniel has always felt it is important as a dad to play physically with the kids, and I love that.  Cynthia has decided she’s big enough to join in the fun.  She is a good little wrestler. 

And lastly, here are some dancing videos that Oliver made of Elizabeth and Rachel.  This is going to surprise you, but they have had no formal training – all of this skill is natural.