Is it STILL summer?!

It's been another fun week of trying to stay cool during this hot summer! We've been back on Big Mack's boat, back to the zoo twice, and to the water park 3 times with Sherrie and Angie, Taylor, and Michael! Thank goodness there's so much to do and we have such wonderful friends to spend our time with. :o)

The zoo has a new friend, a calf named "Betsy," and Sophie is finally tall enough to ride the ponies!
 

On the days we haven't left the house, I've started teaching Sophia some arts & crafts! Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE crafting and painting, and used to make jewelry, pot holders, magnets out of those little plastic beads, collages, miniatures, and so many more crafts when I was a kid, and I am pretty sure she's got my knack for art. (Yay!)

We started with the basics: Coloring 101. She has really gotten good at making faces of intense concentration, and I can't help but snap pictures of them. Haha.

Today, I initiated Soph into the magnificent world of Hobby Lobby. :o)  She wanted EVERYTHING! I was one proud Mama! She wanted to get stickers, then she saw sparkly ornaments and party decorations, and I was just watching her eyes getting bigger and bigger. She's just like me! That place will turn a craft lover into a crazy person with a to-do list a mile long, empty pockets, and severe A.D.D.. We ended up with a few canvases, finger paints and play-doh for her, and the materials we needed to make a "Fresh Beat Band" T-shirt, which was HER idea!! She has also decided she wants that to be the theme of her birthday in November. Her G.G. is taking us to their concert a few weeks earlier, so that may work out well. I'm not planning anything yet, though, because she's likely to change her mind at this age. Her favorite shows, favorite color, and even favorite parent changes almost daily.

I have taken some great videos of Sophie singing this week, and boy does she LOVE singing. (Again, MY CHILD!!) When we arrive at our destinations, we can't get out of the car until the song is over, and I have to change the radio to "girl songs," turn up the music when there's a dance beat, and I am forbidden to sing along or even talk to anyone while she's singing, (and I'm a pretty good singer!)
Her favorite songs (THIS week) are Katy Perry's "Wide Awake," and "Lights," by Ellie Goulding, but when Gotye's song, "Somebody That I Used to Know" comes on, she screams with excitement, "It's my SONG!!!" The funniest part: She waits until the 3rd stanza when the girl sings to join in, but she does so VERY loudly!! :o)  I will have to upload some of these videos to YouTube...if I can figure out how to downsize them and convert them so they don't take 4 hours to upload.

Next week Sophie will be spending the week with G.G. and Big Mack while Daddy and I head to Las Vegas!! Our trip is technically for his Snap-On convention, but we've invited friends and family, and will be celebrating a lot of birthdays, including a late celebration of the hubby's big 4-0! Should be  a great time, but we will certainly miss our baby, and she has already told me, "G.G.'s house is gonna be SO FUN! I'm gonna go to the secret park, ride the golf cart, and feed the fishies! But Mommy, I'm gonna miss you SO MUCH!" [Insert sad face and sweet hug here.] What a sweetheart. She certainly is the best child in the world.

That  brings us to the last photo. I made this today while in the crafting mood for my "little sunshine." We sing this song together every night, and now it will be hanging on her wall every time she wakes up from those sweet little dreams.

See ya real soon! ☼