Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Help! With Dan being gone for the third summer in a row, I am running out of things to keep myself and the kids entertained. Any ideas or suggestions? Keep in mind that parks are out of the question because of the heat and my house has to remain pretty much spotless in case any prospectus buyers come to take a look. Here is what we have been up to during these hot, hot, hot summer days in East Texas:

Visiting the local splash park once a week:

Swimming when we get a chance (there are only private pools here)

Going to the Discovery Science Place

Eating lots and lots of popsicles

Playing with water guns (we need to get bigger ones!)

Playing Will's V-Smile or pbskids.org

Watching movies

Cleaning the house constantly

Trying to make Weston Smile

With Dan not home in the evenings the days seem to drag, cooking food is not as much fun, and I have less structure during the day. If you have any craft ideas, yummy and easy summer kid friendly recipes, or other activity ideas send them my way. How are all of you spending your summer days? And please PRAY that our house sells soon, keeping it clean is driving me insane!

Weston's Blessing and 2 Month Milestones

Weston just barely turned 2 months old! He is growing way too fast, and I am trying to treasure every moment while he can still be called my little guy. Here are some facts about Weston at this age.

Weston's Two Month Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs. 2 oz.

Length: 23 1/4 inches

Head Circumference: 16 inches

Weston's Two Month Milestones:

1) He truly smiles now (it is so handsome!)

2) He loves to hold conversations with his mommy

(he babbles, waits for me to respond, and then babbles back at me - we had a 25 minute conversation like this two days ago)

3) He rolls over from his tummy to his back

4) Sleeps longer stretches during the night (usually 6 to 7 hours)

5) Has slept through the night 3 times

6) Loves to grab hold of mommy's hair and hold on for dear life

7) Loves having his legs pumped like a bicycle

8) Calms down when the family sings "You Are my Sunshine" to him

9) Loves to have the Baby Einstein soft plastic books read to him

10) He loves to snuggle!

On Sunday July 6th, Weston was blessed in sacrament meeting at our church. Dan peformed the ordinance with my father "Papagator", my grandfather Freeman, two of my uncles (Web and Ron), and my cousin Ronnie assisting in the circle. Weston Reed Packer is the name he will be known by on the records of the church and on this earth life and he was blessed with love and kindness, the ability to listen, to be a good example, to have foresight and a discerning spirit, to have joy and peace especially as he listens to the spirit, and to have a kind heart. Weston behaved great during the whole blessing. We were sad that no one from Dan's side of the family was able to be there, but were grateful that we had several members from my extended family there to share this special event with us.

4th of July

I love the 4th of July and this year was no exception (though we didn't even try to top last year's festivities of the family reunion up in Heber with endless soft serve ice cream cones and seeing Brooks and Dunn in concert at Stadium of Fire) . Can it get any better than spending time with family and friends, eating great food, and watching fireworks?! The only downside to the holiday was that we were missing Dan's family and the annual Packer family reunion : ( The day started early with a pancake breakfast/flag raising ceremony/children's parade at our church. Dan and my parents met the kids and I there since they were driving up from Houston that morning. The kids had a blast and loved riding around on their scooters while all the adults cheered. We spent the rest of the day buying fireworks, watching movies, and preparing our dinner of potato salad, baked beans, and hamburgers and hot dogs! At nine o'clock it was finally getting dark enough to start our own firework display and that is where the real excitement began. Cicialy was scared to death of the fireworks screaming and refusing to even watch them, Will got to be grandpa's firework lighting buddy which almost gave me a heartattack every time, and we had to put out a fairly large grass fire, but the fireworks were spectacular and a lot of fun. We loved having Grandma Freeman, Papagator, and Daddy up here in Tyler for the weekend. Next year we will spend the 4th in either Utah or Houston - we can't wait!