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Happy Birthday, America (2015)!!

Weekly Happenings: The first half of last week was pretty normal. On Monday we went to the library and then out for frozen yogurt afterwards. We got a treat on Thursday and Friday in that Paul had the time off work. On Thursday we headed up to Austin to go to IKEA in order to get a storage unit for my music. It’s basically a long, skinny bookcase that we set on its side and then slid boxes into for storage. Paul has plans to buy some wood to attach to the top to make it more like a window seat. We’ll probably also put a removeable cushion on top (so that when Christmas time comes we can remove it and put the Christmas tree on top) to make it more comfy. We also stopped and ate at a restaurant called Green Mesquite (it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives). It was pretty good BBQ. Friday, we mainly hung around the house because we knew Saturday would be a crazy day (with it being 4th of July). Saturday we went to Market Day in Old Town Helotes, went out for lunch, came home to relax a bit, and then headed to the ward Independence Day party. The Sunday School Presidency was partly in charge of organizing it, so Paul was pretty busy during the party making sure things were running smoothly. It was a really fun party. There were a ton of water games (we knew it would be like that, so we put Joseph in his swim clothes ahead of time), a yummy dinner and dessert, and to top it all off, all the kids got to bring home something (Joseph chose a long water “launcher”). On the way home from the party we stopped by a fireworks stand and picked up some firecrackers to light off once it got darker. It was quite the sight in our neighborhood last night. I’ll post a video that I got of the “show” (there’s seriously no reason to pay to go to a fireworks show when you live outside of city limits). We all got to bed pretty late which made for a sleepy morning at church this morning, but that’s nothing a good night’s sleep won’t cure (unless our neighbors decide to continue the celebration tonight). 😉

The Weekly Weather: It was rather unstable this past week. There were several times that Joseph and I were caught unaware by surprise thunderstorms (luckily the storms were warm ones). This next week looks to be a bit more stable (there is actually no rain in the immediate forecast), but we know that can always change. 🙂

What Paul’s Been Up To: One fun thing that Paul got to do was go target shooting at one of the local ranges. He doesn’t get to go often, so it’s always a treat when he does get to go. Other than that, I think he enjoyed having a four-day weekend. We sure enjoyed having him home!

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary. I’m working on finalizing my visiting teaching report so that we can put it into the computer. Other than that, it’s just been the normal stuff.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He was rather excited to get some new clothes this past week (due to the holiday weekend, several stores were having really good sales, so I went to get some stuff that is the next size up so that I can gradually build up my supply). Other than that, he really enjoyed having four days of having Daddy home…tomorrow may be a bit rough.

This Week in Pictures (we neglected to get any pictures at the ward party; mainly because Joseph was never in the same place for long):

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Playing with the puppets in the children’s section of the library. They must have a time where they do puppet shows, but I haven’t looked up the information.
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“MOO!!”
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“RAWR!!”
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I love this little goofball. He was telling me that the train tracks were his hair.
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I walked upstairs and found this: apparently the T-Rex was a bit hungry and felt the need to take a bite out of the garage. 🙂
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Another gorgeous sunset.
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In case anyone is wondering what summer in South Texas is like, here you go…isn’t that humidity just divine?!
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Here’s the beginnings of my music storage. Joseph somehow got it into his mind as Paul was putting it together that it was going to be a place to put shoes. I have no idea why…I also have no idea why he was incredibly disappointed when we told him it wasn’t going to be (to the point of almost being in tears). He perked up when we told him that we were going to make it into another “cozy corner” (which is what he calls the nook by the stairs and under the bookshelves where we have some of his books as well as a pillow and a soft rug and blanket…it is a rather cozy corner).
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He had to try on his new sweatshirt (since it is designed like one of his current favorite shows: LEGO Ninjago). It’s a little big for him (and he for sure doesn’t need a sweatshirt right now with the current weather), but he wore it around for a good part of the afternoon after we got it, pretending to be a ninja. 🙂
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Joseph had Paul build him a fort out of Lincoln Logs so that he had a place for his Army guys to hang out.
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Waiting for the fireworks to start. Before anyone thinks that we’re being overprotective about proper hearing protection, just stop and think about how loud mortar-based fireworks can be…going off just a few houses down. Yeah…
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Playing with sparklers. He was moving it a bit, which is why the sparkling part looks so big. Paul had him holding it with a pair of pliers just to put a bit more distance between his hand and the sparks. 🙂
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Question of the day: Is Joseph going to be right-handed?
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Or left-handed? 😉

Bonus Video:

As you can see, it was pretty awesome…and that was only roughly two minutes worth. It went on for quite some time.