lately...

we are wrapping up summer around here but not without a few slow, lazy days :)

enjoy!

i love morning light, summer strawberries, and homemade granola.

...buuuuut then we have those days too.
second cups of coffee and a cold, leftover doughnut from church.

we put their kiddie pool under the shadecloth for the avocados.
i got at least an extra hour out of pool time that day!

we adore summer thunderstorms around here.
especially the 15 minutes before-hand when its crazy windy and the storm is rolling in.
we run outside, harvest all the summer squashes that might rot in the rain and let the boys chase the frisky chickens.

and then after, you get a beautiful sunset through the pine trees.

Texas heat = tiny, super sweet, tomatoes!
seriously, the size of chickpeas.

homemade pralines

library days for when its just too hot.

and the train museum!

massive batches of fresh zucchini muffins for the freezer and when the new baby comes

for the opening ceremony of the olympics, we made bauru, a traditional brazilian sandwich, filled with mozzarella, roast beef or ham, and pickles! probably not so traditional that i melted them all in the oven but they were delicious!

olympic ring bagels for dessert!

and fruit and yogurt torches for the lighting ceremony...that we missed because it was past the boys' bedtime :(

my dad found some snake eggs while he was on the back hoe in our pond.
yikes.

and then they dissected it.
gross.
but at least we got a good science project in!

homemade axis deer burgers and sauteed greens!

i've always cut the boys' hair.
but paw paw offered to take them in and get them "real" haircuts for school starting and i couldn't say no :)

especially the ice cream treat afterwards!

poetry tea time!

we cooked breakfast at our church and i made waaaaay too much so we brought it all home and turned it into freezer burritos!

axis deer meatballs!

splashpad day with our cc group!

my days: having a toddler bring me tiny toys and be so proud of himself.

my nights: prepping for cc tutoring!

helping me make hot chocolate for those end-of-summer thunderstorm-y days

leftover nutella hot chocolate for a cozy, afternoon mocha later :)

mv's art for mama on the wall next to my bed
i especially love the lady dinosaur in the bottom right and the picture of pregnant Mommy in the top right :)

and my brother came home from med school!
after 2 long years in the caribbean (i know, hard life) he came back to the states to start rotations!
we were so excited to have him home for a week!!

almost 33 weeks pregnant!
i hate, hate bare belly pictures but i did take one with gabe and ended up really cherishing it.
so i decided to take another one with this last baby :)

triple batch of buttermilk pancakes to freeze!

love this kid's afternoon, post-nap hair :)

poetry tea time! last one of the summer so we did individual, frozen key lime pies!

our local pizzeria had their 1 year celebration and had $1 pizzas, bellinis, and cannolis!

my parents took the older boys to a movie so we spent the evening like this.

34 weeks pregnant!