Summer 2009!

...is not going to be over for quite a while. As usual I have not blogged in a billion years, but thought I would share a few pics of the summer time as soon everything will change again. At least when I do blog I fill it up! : ) It has of course been incredibly hot here all summer and I have spent more time indoors than any summer of my life. A pool in the backyard would have remedied this issue and the heat has made me decide there WILL be a pool in the backyard in the future! : ) I visited my family in Illinois back in early July.
Here are some pics! My mom and dad and I went to a winery in Grafton one day and then decided to head on down the road to Pere Marquette park for a gander at their little winery as well. That was a fun day! Bethany, my sister in law had my family and my grandmother over for dinner on the 4th. That's my beautiful fourth of July cake above! It was yummy! Lemon with vanilla icing and fruit. I may have to make it again sometime before next year. It was a cool, rainy day. Actually it was incredibly mild weather the whole time I was up there. It was a great break from this Texas summer heat!
The other pics are of me

hunting for lightening bugs with my good friend Rachel's little girl Makayla. She is so sweet and cute. Other than that, this summer has been relatively low key...still teaching classes but not as many as during the school year. Taught 3 full weeks of Sleeping Beauty Dance Camp - picture below. Now just gearing up for fall marketing and ready to start teaching daily again. I think I really am ready. I think. : ) Andrew went to Illinois last week to visit his family as well. We decided since we are taking a big trip to Hawaii in the fall that we wouldn't both go back to Illinois this time around as with 5 pets and a plane ticket to worry about...too much moolah! But can't wait to go back again soon. Definitely at Xmas if not sooner.

The last pics are of a new flower bed I made last weekend as well as some of our front and back yard, some of my favorite places to hang out! : ) It may not look like much but it is the first flower bed I have made "from scratch". It has about 3 good sized plants at this point, what you can't see are the 6 little ones that will all grow back with lots of color next year. All the plants in this bed are incredibly heat and drought tolerant so it should also look awesome no matter how hot it gets down here. It is so beautiful to me as before it was just a bare spot of grass next to the house - then with some plants planted right there in the grass...I did actually build the flower bed after I started planting things there... : )

Anyways, that is about it for now, stay tuned... ; ) XOXO