A video for grandparents....

Ok, Ok, so this video will be interesting if you're a grandma or grandpa of Zanna..... otherwise, feel free to ignore...:)
http://youtu.be/dCRnBy9RQeM

How to make Candy....

Aunt Denise, Cam's Aunt, came to visit this past weekend. She works for a chocolatier and brought some of her chocolate-making goodies to share with Zanna. Here's a step-by-step in pictures....

Step 1... Melt the chocolates at high heat.  

 
 

Step 2... Pour into desired molds (after taking a small taste to be sure it's not poisonous)  

 

Step 3: Add desired stuffing (this time, dehydrated cherries) And have a spoonful of the chocolate, just to be sure it's still good.... 

Step 4: Add more chocolate (both to mouth and to molds) and then scrape off any extra chocolate to make the molds even.
 
 
 
 
 
Step 5: Clean the spoon..... :)
 
 

The mind of a child....

 
This poor family, they have this whole big house, and their only toilet is outside....
What also makes me laugh is that every time this baby uses the potty (which, I must admit, is an awful lot of what happens in this dollhouse) the mom is standing guard nearby.....sounds a little bit like our life :)

What a clown!

Cam took Zanna to the circus for a daddy-daughter date on our 7th wedding anniversary... (don't worry, we went out the night before, our anniversary was on a Sunday so I was working all day :)) She came home raving about the tigers, elephants and the silly clowns....she also got a chance to be a silly clown....  

Baptism Anniversary

 
August 16 is Zanna's Baptism anniversary; last year, we had Allison, her godmother, over for dinner. This year, we went to Freddy's, our new favorite 'ice cream' (really frozen custard) place in Pflugerville. This picture captures the joy that Zanna felt over her choice of a chocolate cone!! Note: Cam usually only allows Zanna a dish of ice cream and not a cone, so when I allowed her to have a cone (being the oh-so-generous one,.... or the naive one) I promptly got bath duty as well :)

A treasured saying from Zanna...we asked her at dinner the night before her baptism anniversary if she remembered who baptized her. She nodded and said, "Yes. God." Preach it, Zanna.

Swimming Lessons!

Zanna's in her second set of swim lessons this summer. She's taking lessons at Wells Branch Community Pool and we have really enjoyed both sessions. The first session we were in a "parent-toddler" class with Ms. Katie (whom Zanna now adores) and mostly did the basics: blow bubbles, kick, jump off the side, etc. Zanna was a fish from day one, which surprised me considering last year she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the water. That was way back in June, and now we're getting around to our second session of swim lessons, only this time, Zanna's in the Pre-school beginner class. When I arrived the first day donning my bathing suit, the other parents looked at me quizzically. I quickly learned that in the pre-school classes, it's "kids only" and mom 'gets' to sit out and watch.... aka roast in the heat!! I got smart after the first day, and bought pool tags for the family, so that I can swim with her before and after the lessons, which makes the heat less unbearable for those 35 minutes where she's being adorable in the pool and I'm baking on the sidelines. Today completed our first week and she did great! She even began to swim totally on her own today (for about 1 second) and will continue to work on that next week. Love my little fish :)



 
 
 
 
 
 

Grammy Camp!

Grammy came to visit last week and Zanna and Grammy had a blast together!!
Zanna showed Grammy the chickens and how to get the eggs, they had a "ladybug day" complete with ladybug crafts, and outfits and ladybug hunting, we made puppy dog, caterpillar, and bear cupcakes, played chutes and ladders, threw some rocks (went bowling), and laughed and hugged and played. We wish the visit had been longer, but it was sure fabulous and we're ready to fast-forward to Christmas for Grammy and Poppy's visit!