Our summer...
Here's what we've got going on at our house these days:
Ezra (and me too!) have been loving the pool at Ridglea! Good thing because this Texas heat is a killer already this summer. We probably go up to the pool 4-5 days a week.
We have been in the new house now for about three weeks. Things are coming along. I’ve got just about every box unpacked and most things are organized. Still need to do some work on the closets and hang pictures up on the walls but that’s about it. Tomorrow we’re having insulation put in our attic. I am SO HAPPY about this! It’s pretty amazing how hot it is in our house, especially the upstairs. We’re hoping this helps. Our old house is still on the market. Interested? Click
here! We’re waiting to do all our renovations to the new house until the old house sells. Oh how I hope it sells soon. We want to knock out a wall between two bedrooms and make one really big and really nice master bedroom. The kitchen needs an update – new counters, possibly new tile, a few cabinets knocked out, a new sink, new appliances. I really miss our old kitchen. We want to take out the carpet in one of our downstairs rooms. We want to put in a new fence and a gate on the driveway. Oh ya, and we need a new roof. Fun, fun, fun. Keep your fingers crossed that our house sells!
We are in our 5th week of music class at TCU. Completely different than last summer’s music class when Ezra was just starting to crawl. This time he’s up and moving and sometimes even running around the class. I have to sit back and laugh at it sometimes because it’s a very active class. Lots of little boys all doing the same thing as Ezra.
Ezra and I have been pretty good on the running lately. We average about 22 miles per week since summer began. I decided to stop fighting his early morning wakeup times and just go with it. So instead we get up earlier now and get out the door on our runs about 6:30. We were leaving about 7:00-7:15 so just this small shift in time makes a huge difference in the heat. Still hot – but much better. There's a four mile loop that we have been doing that takes us around TCU. There are some serious hills on that campus. My hat is off to my sister Emilie who use to run that loop when they lived in Fort Worth. There are three really good hills on our route. On good days we'll run up on all of them. I consider that a major accomplishment. Running plus pushing 30 pounds of Ezra plus his stroller. Ha! I've also been going to yoga twice a week and lifting weights twice a week. That one seriously is a big accomplishment for me. It's taken me two years to get it all back in after having Ezra. I guess I just need to be on summer schedule all the time. That would be nice. :0)
Ezra has been going to school a couple days a week this summer. I really truly do think that it’s good for him. It’s good for me too. :0)
We’re still going to the zoo 1-2 times a week and Ezra still loves it! This past Monday we went to check out one of their member Mondays and were so glad we did! We got to go in an hour early, they had yummy snacks for us, the zoo keepers had animals out that the kids could get close up to see, and we got to see all the animals out and about before their breakfast at 10:00 a.m. Too bad this was the last Monday for it. I should have gone to the others!
Ezra love, love, loves to hit golf balls and play basketball. He's always saying "hit" and "outside." One of these days I'm going to get him on video swinging. But not with a club in his hand. Just with his hands. He does this all the time. Pretends to swing. I love watching him do it. We have a basketball goal at the new house so that is fun. The shade in the backyard helps with the heat but really only in the mornings. Whenever I’m outside I look at the back of the house and think of Mimo and Granddad quite often. I know I mentioned that before but I think my sisters and brother would agree with me.
Ezra has started counting! This makes his former Math Teacher Mama proud! He doesn’t get them in order but he is trying. Mostly it’s when we listen to songs that count but every once in a while he’ll surprise me and say things like “two dogs” or “one cat.” Today he said “big dog” on our run. I guess maybe I say that one a lot??? I thought it was funny that he said it on his own.
We have finally started to let Ezra watch tv. I'm really proud of us for making it this long -- 21 months old. Good thing we did because he has instantly been hooked. We make a big effort for us to do other things so he's not asking to watch his "video." By video I mean the Baby Einstein Beethoven dvd. He can't get enough of it. He probably asks to watch it 20 times a day. That's the only one he wants. So even though it is so hot outside we are trying to get out of the house.
Ezra loves to share with his Mama. It’s pretty darn sweet. Anytime he has a snack he makes sure I have one too. If he has ice in his water then he wants Mama to have it too. If he gets sunscreen on then he wants me to have it too.
These days we’re reading:
Logan –
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall.
Nell –
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (one of this years Lonestar books. My goal is to read ten of them this summer. So far I’ve read two. Oh well.)
Ezra –
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? By Jane Yolen (Thanks for the recommendation Aileen! I totally forgot about these books! I think I purchased several of them years ago for my nephews???) Ezra loves dinosaurs so this series is great!
So that's our summer so far. I'm sure there's a lot I've left out that I will remember tomorrow. I think of things all the time that I need to blog about but never seem to actually sit down at the computer to do it. Must be that super cute almost two year old baby boy of mine. He's got us on the go all the time!
And here's the before....
And here's one more of our cutie... 
Our old house goes off the market at midnight tonight. Looks like we'll be renting it starting mid-August. Not the result we hoped for but it's something we're willing to try for a year. Hopefully the market will be better next summer. Our plan is to hold off on major renovations at the new house (bummer) but at least we won't be paying two house payments anymore.
So we have this kids music CD that Ezra loves. Loves it, loves it, loves it! We’ve listened to it a million times in the car. And Logan & I are about to chunk it out the window. It’s the only thing Ezra will listen to in the car. He always wants it on and only wants to listen to about the first 5 seconds of each song before he shouts "Mama, next song. Please!" So a couple weeks ago I started trying to get by sometimes without the CD . Instead of music I would say to Ezra “Let’s Talk.” And then we would talk about all kinds of things with the music turned off. But for some reason Ezra has it in his head now that when I say “Let’s Talk” then it always needs to start with “monkeys.” Here’s how the conversation usually goes…. 
