July wrap-up

July is over, August is here. Tme for a wrap-up of July pictures from the Easton home:

Right before the 4th of July, we talked about freedom and Independence Day for family home evening. We showed the boys our American flag and had them draw their own picture of it. Connor looked at the flag for a second, then started drawing several long red stripes.

Coincidence? 

Maybe, but these lines seemed very deliberate compared to his normal scribbles. We were amazed.

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One day, Dallin was being too quiet while I was washing dishes, so I went to check on him and found him climbing into my bed. He said, "I go sleep." I figured he would pretend to snore under the blanket for a second then move on. I came back a few minutes later and found him completely asleep.

I'm now sure why he was holding pencils.

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 I got some cool craft foam stickers to give as prizes to my piano students. Dallin and Connor wanted one too, of course, so I let them each choose one. Dallin took a LOOOOONG time deciding. He kept changing his mind, so he just sat by the box of stickers trying to choose.

This was after about 10 minutes. He looks so sad in this picture because he really wanted a sticker, he just couldn't decide which one! Connor, on the other hand, took the first sticker on top and had ripped it into tiny pieces within 90 seconds. 

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 Dallin is becoming more independent. He likes to pick out his own clothes each day. 

Notice his big boy underwear. Dallin is now potty trained! (That probably deserves a whole blog post of it's own...)

 He also likes to dress himself, although he isn't always successful at getting his pants on the right way.

He's mad because I told him his pants were backwards and he's insisting that they aren't.

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Connor is growing up too. He can count! Well, he can recite numbers, usually in order with no set starting place. His favorite time to count is when he's about to run and jump on something. He says "1,2,3 go!" which is usually shortened to "3 go!", and then he runs and jumps onto the couch. In this video, he's trying to count Mancala game pieces. If you listen closely right at the beginning, you can hear him say "7, 8, 9, 10,...3"

Dallin, not to be outdone by his younger brother, counts into the teens and even 20s.

Indiana has had weird weather this month. It started with cool 70s, rainy weather. (We wore jackets while watching fireworks this year.) Then it got really hot in the upper 90s for a week or two, then ended with mid 70s. Not a typical July for the hot, humid mid-west! It's been a nice break for our air conditioner. We've had it on for a grand total of 10 days this whole year! We've enjoyed the mild weather because it has meant more outside time...

...even if that means we have to wear jackets to enjoy popsicles and homemade ice cream outside.