July flew by (and took our neighbors with it)

I've come to terms that I pretty much only have time to blog once a month.  Between Hannah, the house, my church calling, crafting for the house/family, and serving I don't have much spare time to sit down and blog as much as I used to.  I'll admit, I am one exhausted momma.

Potty Training!

Ladies and gentlemen -- Hannah is potty trained!  She did a great job, and has only had a handful of accidents.  She is officially ready for pre-school come September (which mommy is very excited and ready for too)!

July 4th

Independence day was fun this year.  I helped our Stake Young Women's president make cookies for the first part of the day.  She has an enormous mixer (industrial kind) that can make 40 dozen cookies in one batch.  Insane!  Over the course of the last 3 months, I think I have helped her make 500 dozen cookies -- and I am not lying!  We've made a plethora of different flavors for girls camp, youth conference, and for an open house/reception.

After cookie production was over with on July 4th we went over to some friends for a party and BBQ'd.  We played games, took turns watching Hannah run around outside, and then we watched the fireworks that Penn State does (which is a 45 minute production!).

I only took a few pictures on the 4th of July, and it was just as fireworks were starting.  I was too tired from cookie making that I didn't even think about pictures.  Hannah loved the fireworks and still asks to see them to this day.  One odd thing to note, it was actually a very cool day on July 4th, that come 5:00 pm I had to put a jacket on.  It was 60 degrees.  We could not believe it, but we also were not complaining!

Speaking of cooler weather, I have only had to turn on the AC probably 5 times this month. It has been such a pleasant and mild summer that we pretty much open all the windows and let the breeze come right through the house.  We've been hovering around 75-80 degree weather most days. It's wonderful!

Songs and dancing

Hannah has started to sing a lot more by herself these days and it melts our hearts.  You'll hear her sing "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me...," or "I love to see the temple, I'm going there some day..."  We are so grateful that she is attending primary this year in church.  She is clearly learning.

Hannah also enjoys dancing, and asks to dance daily.  I do some dance workouts and she enjoys doing them with me.  She's pretty coordinated too.  I've also played some Just Dance videos (from the Wii) on youtube and Hannah tries to mimic the moves on the screen.  She also likes to try and dance like Jessie and Buzz at the end of Toy Story 3.

I can't download any videos of Hannah singing and dancing though.  I think I've used up my allowance for video downloads for the blog so I took some screen shots instead.

Becoming a girl

Hannah is becoming more girlie everyday.  She loves to wear dresses, and is always asking if she can wear some of my jewelry.  I allowed her to wear my green necklace to church one day, and she was ecstatic!

Though she doesn't always enjoy having me do her hair, she does enjoy feeling pretty after her hair is done.  

Kronk

I mentioned earlier that we have been having cool and glorious weather.  Kronk has been in heaven for the month of July.  Well, almost the whole month.  We have 12 windows in our house we can open and he loves sitting on the window sills of all 12, drinking in the fresh air. He has also enjoyed sitting in the chairs on the back deck sunbathing.

Last week we had a day where it got up to 95 degrees with 90% humidity so I had to close all the windows and turn on the AC.  The entire day he was grouchy and mad at me.  He kept howling at the windows (and at me) because all he wanted was the windows open. Every once in a while I would open the sliding door to the deck, he'd take a half a step out and then come right back in because it was so hot.  He was not a happy kitty those days.

Daddy's girl

Hannah is a daddy's girl through and through.  Most of the time she wakes up after Nathan has left for work.  Some of those days she is very sad from the moment I walk into her room to go get her (by the way -- she still has yet to come out of her room in the mornings by herself!).  We occasionally call or FaceTime daddy first thing in the morning to perk her spirits up.

Sometimes though she gets even more sad after we hang up the phone.

One Saturday morning, she wanted to sit next to daddy and "work" like him.  So she grabbed her little chair, put it right next to Daddy, and played on i-pad.

Crafting

I had a busy month crafting.  First of all, I made this skirt and dress for Hannah and I.  I bought this fabric on clearance from Hobby Lobby back in April and I finally got around to sewing with it this month.  I made a pencil skirt for myself, and a pillowcase dress for Hannah.

I also painted some vases that I got for free.  My sister told me about some acrylic paint ($2/bottle) and instructed me on how to paint them.  It was the easiest thing I've ever done in my life, and totally worth the $4!

I also "glittered" a vase that someone gave me.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but it was also extremely easy to do as well.

Service

My new calling in the Relief Society keeps me very busy.  Nathan was telling me the other day "I thought when you got released from Young Women you wouldn't get as many text messages." Well, he was very wrong!  I get text messages much more these days.

On Sunday, we tackled reorganizing the visiting teaching routes.  This is not easy to do, and it takes many hours and several takes to get it right.  It requires lots of organization (which I love). I was so proud of how organized things were, and how Nathan and I set up the computers that I couldn't help but take a picture of us working on the routes.  Our Bishop stopped by my house for a few moments, saw our set up, and was a little speechless.  It was a proud moment for me.

Neighbors moving

Our awesome neighbors moved away on Monday (sniff, sniff).  We will miss them very much! Hannah loved playing them (as did I because it kept her busy).

Miscellaneous

During church, Hannah was keeping busy by playing with her felt Mr. & Mrs. Potato heads. Apparently, she wasn't the only one though.  I looked over to my left and Nathan had started entertaining himself as well.