85 and rising...

So, on Saturday night we were sitting inside and I started to feel a little warm.  I looked at the thermostat and realized that the house was hotter then the thermostat was set.   I walked over to the vents and sure enough, no AC.  Yep, our AC was broken.   Good timing right?  So, we turned on the fan poured ourselves some sweet tea and settled down for a relaxing yet warm weekend.

Thankfully this weekend was on the cooler side compared to the hot temperatures we have had lately.  It was only in the low 90's and mid 80's the last few days which has made the house tolerable without AC.  The humidity is high (78% to 98%) but at least the house is staying around 85 degrees.

So, what have we done while it's been hot inside?   We watch the Olympics, drink sweet tea, go for a swim in the pool and find creative ways to make dinner without using the oven or stove (I don't want to turn on anything that will make the house any warmer)  Thankfully the AC should be repaired by the end of the day and I found a really great recipe for dinner using my slow cooker.  If this Lemon, Rosemary Roasted Chicken tastes anything like it looks right now we are in for a delicious dinner...though maybe we will want to serve it cold as a chicken salad if the AC isn't working by tonight :)

  Now, I think I will have a nice cold glass of ice water as I continue my day and count down the hours 'till the AC Tech comes.

Back to AK

Last week was wonderful as we got to head back to AK for my sister-in-laws wedding (more photos of the wedding to come later).  It was great to spend time with family and friends again.  We had told Neal  about a week before we left that we were going to go on a plane to Alaska in 5 sleeps.  He was so excited and loved counting down the number of sleeps before we got to "go to Alaska on airplane".   Not only did we get to fly on several airplanes but on our way back to NC we got to ride on this Disney Plane.  Neal couldn't stop talking about Mickey mouse when he say it and now all he asks for is to ride on the "Mickey Plane".

The excitement and delight that Neal has for flying on airplanes and being at the airport is crazy.  He just can't get enough of the whole traveling experience.  Everything is exciting to him from riding the escalators  the "train" to the other terminals, seeing the airplanes and pointing out (more like yelling out) every time he sees any kid with a Spiderman or Toy Story shirt.   This is how we occupied some of our time during our layovers.

If Neal wasn't watching a movie (one of the reasons I think he loves flying so much is 'cause he gets to watch movies) he was sleeping.

It sure is a blessing to have a child that can sleep anywhere.  He was so tired that he even fell asleep in the Atlanta airport for a few hours.

With a total travel time (including layovers) of 14 hours, 3 airplanes and lots of coffee for Tyler and I and movies for Neal we finally made it to AK.   We adjusted to the 4 hour time difference after about a day and a half and had a great time with the whole family.

Pizza Friday

Friday nights around here usually mean Pizza nights.  Who doesn't like Pizza right?  Around here we eat a lot of pizza.  I love it 'cause it's easy to make and makes great leftovers for lunch over the weekend.

Neal really likes to cook with me.  So, he helps out when it's pizza night, although we get less pepperoni and pineapples on our pizza when he helps (he likes to sample the toppings).  

Also, if you haven't been over to our TWR ministry blog lately make sure to pop over there and see how God is working through TWR and our ministry there. 

The Builders

The best time of day around our house is when daddy gets home from work.  No matter what Neal is doing, the minute he hears his daddy come home he runs over with excitement saying "welcome home daddy" and gives Tyler big hugs.  Then he is running all over the house telling Tyler about his whole day and showing him all the toys he wants to play with.

While making dinner the other night Tyler and Neal were busy making their first fort.  Well, Tyler was busy making the fort, Neal was busy watching and saying "look mama, look".

Neal loved his fort and him and Tyler had fun laughing and pretending to sleep inside the finished fort together.  It was a bit small for Tyler but Neal loved crawling around inside.

Anything that daddy does around here is way cool according to Neal.  It is great to see how much he loves to spend time with his daddy.   No matter what Tyler is doing Neal wants to be right next to him doing the same thing.  There is always lots of laughter coming from Neal when daddy is around, and it puts a smile on all our faces 'cause what is better then the sweet sounds of a child's laugh.

Reading Material

Unpacking always takes longer then packing.  We finally set up our last bookshelf and were able to unpack our last box of  books...We have a lot of books.

I had forgotten about a lot of the books that we own.  While unpacking I found the photo books I made of Neal's first year.  Neal and I sat on the couch together and had a lot of fun looking through all the pictures together.  Neal was pointing out everyone he knew in the pictures and was so excited to see "baby Neal" on each page.  I loved looking at all the pictures and remembering all the milestones over the first year of his life.  He changes so quickly.  

I also found some good, and very applicable, reading material for myself.  

I had forgotten about these books and am excited to start reading them and learning more Biblical truths and wisdom for parenting.  I pray each day that Neal will come to know the Lord as his savior and that I will be faithful to speak the truth of the gospel to him each day.  I am so glad that Tyler and I get to walk this road of parenthood together.  We have learned a lot already and we have only started.  

Now I should get going and get in some reading while Neal naps.

Thunderstorms and Movies

We finally are having a break from the hot weather.  The other day we had a huge thunderstorm.  The wind was blowing, it was raining hard and the thunder was so loud that the house was shaking.  Neal managed to sleep through the first 20 minutes of this storm (which I can't believe).  When I walked into his room to wake him up he was laying on his bed saying "boom, boom, tunder....boom, boom big tunder".   He was so excited about the thunder that he wanted to go outside and watch/listen to it.  I told him we had to stay inside for this storm.  Every time he heard the thunder he would jump up and down with excitement and say "boom, boom tunder".    Shortly after this excitement we lost power, but not before we had popped some popcorn...

So we brought out the ipad and watched a movie together while eating popcorn and listening to the thunder.  Neal and I got to snuggle together and enjoyed the storm in the dry house as we waited for Tyler to get home from work.  Thankfully the power came back on just in time to make dinner.

Bugs

Bugs, bugs and more bugs.  Not only are there lots of bugs outside but Neal likes to try and keep them in his bug catcher so he can watch them up close.   As long as they stay in the bug jar I am ok with that, but I make sure to put plenty of tape on the lid so no little hands can let them out without me knowing.


May favorite one we caught was a "blutterfly" (as Neal calls it)

The June bug was way to loud and made all of us (even Tyler) jump when he would suddenly buzz and fly around.

The coolest looking one was the Praying Mantis (which is hard to see in this picture).

Neal loves to watch them and tap the jar to make them move.  After a day he wants to go outside and watch them fly away when he open the lid.