End of Summer

So its that time again.  Summer is officially over and that's okay.  I am beyond thankful for the time that I have off each year.  With that being said, I did squeeze every last second out of summer with:
a pool day

dinner with some of our favorite friends to celebrate Mary's birthday

 

sleeping in, being lazy, enjoying a good run,
some deep cleaning of the kitchen (necessary maybe not fun, but glad its done),
and celebrating a friend's engagement.
2012-2013 school year, here we come!

Independence Day

A month later...is anyone else still getting pumped up about America due to the Olympic spirit? Y'all I am loving these games! 
On July 4th we drove with some friends to see some fireworks.

 On our way back to their house, we saw fireworks in literally every direction around us! I guess everyone had been storing up since they were unable to do fireworks the year before because of the drought.  It was amazing! We ended up having just as good of a view from their house as we did from the fireworks show.

Meanwhile E was back at the house doing this...

God Bless America! Let's keep getting those gold medals! : )

Cooling off

Holy Cow it is August!?!
So I got this idea on Pinterest (I feel like that's how 75% of my conversations start now-a-days..) for the pups.  The pin showed a picture (with no link) of a huge block of ice with dog toys and treats frozen in it.  The idea is to take it outside with you so the pups can stay entertained and cool.  I started with chicken broth mixed with water in a large tupperware container. Froze it part of the way, added in the toys and treats and then returned it to the freezer.
When we went outside, I dumped it into the grass and the girls worked hard to get their treats and toys out. 

Love this idea! Next time, I may freeze treats in an ice cube tray because this took them FOREVER to actually get to the good stuff.
Since you love my puppies (right!?) Here is what else they have been up to:

SNUGGLING! I didn't even place them like that, promise!

 

And playing with their favorites: E's is the Wubba

 Chlo's is the hamburger

Happy Wednesday!

Studying

My blog has not been updated very much (at all) this summer because I have been teaching summer school, summer camp, drinking lots of coffee (hello goldcard!)

 and the big time consumer....STUDYING.

 

I have finished 9 hours (as of today) am just 10 months away from graduation.  WHOOP!
Today I finally got to do one of my favorite summer activities, reading outside!

And not to worry, I have of course found a little time for crafting and cooking this summer, so if I can just remember my projects/recipes, I will be sharing them soon.

The Dog Days of Summer

Since I am now home during the day,
1. my puppies are EXHAUSTED at night
2. I am getting to see what they do during the day
Some parts are not exciting such as nap time or window time, but squirrel time on the other time is very exciting

The foe is spotted
The ladies then assume the hunting position

Until one undoubtedly gets distracted (see black lab rolling in the grass)and the other has to go for a closer look
Yes, I did have time today to not only witness this but to also document it. Wish you were a teacher now, huh? : )

S-U-M-M-E-R

I know those of you who are not teachers will not appreciate this very much....however, I finished summer school last Wednesday and am officially on summer break! WOOHOO!!! I just don't even know what to do with myself. Hopefully my summer will have a lot of crafting, running, time with friends, time outside, playing with the pups and reading for fun.

So far my summer has consisted of
1. Rangers v Astros game with Cody and Lauren (sorry Houstonians, but I had to put the Rangers first because they beat the Astros senseless..)

2. Yard Work

3. Running at decent times of the day (ie: not at 5:30 am or at 4:00pm)

4. Pool time with my friends!

5. A mud run (in which we did not get very muddy, but it was still fun) (The pictures are small for a reason my friends, that would be too much SB if it were any bigger...)

before

after

6. Time with my husband and precious pups

7. Celebrating the fourth with a pool party and a fish fry! yum!

Hope y'all are enjoying your July!

Suntanned toes ticklin' the sand

Yesterday I went down to Galveston with Emily and Dinah for a quick day trip! Our day involved two Sonic trips (we made it to both happy hours!), a Subway stop, a journey down to a beach that looked closed still, Charley's first ocean experience and a few hours relaxing in the sun & chatting : ) What a good day!

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

So..I got a bicycle!! Woohoo! I am super excited!! Its a Marin mountain bike and its awesome! NBD : )

Also, today Meagan and I went to eat lunch with the Mittons and Davids, so we got to spend time with two of our girls from this past year!! So fun! : )

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city

Last Tuesday, I had a downtown day with Hannah, Meagan and Dinah!! We went to eat at Empire Cafe for lunch before venturing into actual downtown : )


Then we went to discovery green, which is a park in downtown (it was clearly a rainy day..woohoo!)


We then tried to figure out how to get down into the tunnels, which is harder than it sounds! We went into one building that we thought would take us there and tried the elevator to go down a level which didn't go down. Everyone got off the elevator but our sweet Dinah, she ended up having to ride up a few levels and switch elevators! Gotta love it : )

We finally had to ask for help getting to the tunnels and this nice man showed us the way!
After a little while of wandering the tunnels, we ventured back to the streets to look for a dessert place! We went to Sambuca and had very yummy sweets!
Such a fun day!!


My parents came into town on Thursday and we enjoyed our time together visiting, shopping and eating! Thursday night we went to Hickory Hollow for giant chicken fried steak (which of course i did not eat..both other people did). On our way in I took a picture of the sausage sign because it has the word Sage at the end : )

We explored Houston shopping a little more on Friday and then went to Melting Pot in the Woodlands for dinner!! It was so good and there was SO much food!



The rest of this weekend, Cody and I worked in the yard some more and he worked on the pop-up which I think I am going to begin referring to as The Cobra (I think thats the brand..its written on the side).
This week I have the Houston project at night, fun things to do during the day, and then Cody and I are meeting our fams at Lake Travis for the weekend! Woohoo! Gotta love summer : )

And the rocket's red glare

What a wonderful July 4th weekend!! I just LOVE when Cody gets an extra day off!
Thursday night we bought a pop up camper : ) (Cody's going to work on fixing it up a bit and then I'll add pics.) So now we'll have actual "beds" to sleep in and an air conditioner/heater. Which if you remember our freezing San Antonio experience, Chloe will be very excited about the heater!
Friday morning we went to Longview to spend the weekend with our families. My parents had driven to meet Brad and Jen Thursday evening so Erin got to spend the weekend in Longview as well!!
We had dinner with both fams on Friday and then Friday night we went to see the Longview fireworks.

The fireworks are better than this pic lets on..just couldn't figure out how to get a picture of them

My parents were there too, but I somehow missed getting pic of them! Sorry 'rents!
Saturday we went swimming, played with the baby and spent the evening at Nanny and Papa Sage's house. Ellie also enjoyed a fun-filled weekend of swimming!! She's passed out today : )
Sunday on our way back home, we passed the Traylor fam on 59, so we stopped and saw them for just a few minutes!!
A few more pics from the weekend:

Is it bad that my puppies automatically sit when they see a camera...do you think I take too many pics of them? Ellie was supposed to be getting out of the way for the picture : )

Erin and Ellie became friends very quickly....new besties!

Okay I couldn't resist playing dress-up! Isn't she a doll!?

Erin found the pups!

On two completely different notes:
My water bottle that I have carried with me everywhere since receiving it at Christmas has fallen apart : ( I need to get a new one!

On another note, if you have a puppy that loves treats, we have found the perfect thing! Pupcorn! Its low-fat, low-calorie, lasts forever and only costs $2.50 at walmart! Chloe got really sick a few years ago and can't have anything high fat anymore, so we switched her to Pupcorn and now Ellie loves it too!
This is my first full week of summer!! So stinkin' excited! : )