What do Mushrooms, Frogs, Pinatas, Rocks, and Eggs have in common?

I'm not really sure of the answer, except for the fact that they are what this blog post consists of. Here are just a few 30 pictures of what we have been up to the last few weeks.

These "fun guys" have been popping up in the back yard thanks to the rain.

Kayla enjoying the MUCH needed rain.

 This horrid creature made his way into MY house.

Ok so he wasn't really all that big, but scared the crap out of me anyway. I made Kayla catch him and explain to him that if he entered my house, again he would get the shoe.

Girls making a mess with the crafts.

We decided to make Pinatas.

Shelbylyn enjoying every minute of it.

Having far too much fun...

Yep, still loving it.

Decorating the finished product. Shelby still having fun.

Sierra made an elephant.

Brooklyn made Ron Weasley and an egg.

Kayla made an alien.

Shelby made a fiesta skirt. Look at that smile, I think she is glad we are finished.

I made a turtle.

We also decorated hot rocks with crayons.

Since it has been 110* for the last 3 days in a row, we decided to try frying an egg on the sidewalk. Because we have a dog and I didn't want him to try and eat it, I made the kids put the egg in a pan.

This is after we let the oil get hot.

One hour later.

24 hours later.

Breakfast anyone?

But won't look like they are for boys?

I took a couple of pairs of Tyler's old cargo shorts and cut them up to turn them into skirts for the girls. Originally I had left the pockets on the skirts but it made them look too heavy so I carefully removed them and turned them into little matching handbags. I also sanded the fabric to give it a little more of a worn look to match where I cut off the pockets. I love how you can still see where the pockets were. Brooklyn was a little concerned at first that everyone would tease her for wearing something that was for a boy. I pointed out that boys don't usually wear skirts and no one will know that they were boys shorts to begin with unless she tells them. Crazy things she worries about. Tell me what you think of these...

Where do they come up with this?

The other night I cooked some ribeye steaks on the BBQ and they were delicious. Kayla said I should get an apron that says, 

"I know how to take care of my meat!"

All I could think of in response was, "YES I do!"

We were discussing how professional swimmers shave their entire bodies to prevent friction in the water. I don't know why we were on this topic, perhaps we were teasing Tyler to get him to shave his legs or something. Out of the blue Brooklyn says, "I'm not a professional swimmer, but I know some kids who could be."

Because if she was a professional swimmer, 

we wouldn't know about it. 

Surviving Summer...or at least TRYING!

It has been so hot and dry here.

 It has been strange having to stay in the house all day because it is just too hot to go outside to do anything. 

We have been trying not to kill each other or at least drive each other completely insane. It really is harder to do than it seems. MOST days this nearly 4,000 sq. ft. house just isn't big enough. 

I decided to take our summer bucket list and write it down so that we see it every day. Hopefully that will inspire us to actually get it completed.

We also put these hair wraps in the girls' hair while we watched the first season of Glee. 

We got the idea from here. 

Oh, and I think we might be becoming Gleeks. That's right, I said it.

Cooper got one too. Poor pup!

We have been swimming a few times thanks to some wonderful people in our ward. We have all completed the summer reading program at the library. I have to say that I was not at all impressed with the program here, far too easy if you ask me and not enough incentive to keep the kids engaged to continue reading. 

We have some other projects that we are currently working on and I can't wait to finish them so that I can share them with y'all.

Take me out to the ballgame...

This weekend we took the kids to Minute Maid Park for the Houston Astros vs. Boston Red Sox game.
Just look at the excitement on everyone's faces as we waited for TWO hours for them to open the doors.

They finally let us in...

The best part of the game was when the Red Sox brought out Ortiz as their pinch hitter and he struck out.

They opened the roof and the fireworks began. 

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go to another game.