summer days

Summer is here, and we are getting used to the triple digit weather. Mark and I have been going out to exercise at about 7am when it is only 80 degrees. Once in a while we will sleep in and then go later, in the 90+ degree weather. He has been picking up jogging and doing great! He was pleased when he was able to jog 3 miles, then 4, then 6, and then 7. I'm very proud of him and very impressed too. He's knees have been starting to bother him, so hopefully he can keep it up. Our good sport dog Bosco loves to go with him, and seems to be a little sore too after the long jogs.

I've been working 4 days a week at my "regular job" and then my moonlighting job one evening per week. It's been going well. The thing that makes it so much easier is that Mark is at home with the girls. He is doing a super job with them. It is such a relief to have him with the girls. I often think about this poem:
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, Dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep

Hannah and Ashlyn are great helpers with Makayla and just love to pick out her outfits and to carry her around. Makayla is smiling more and is cooing a little. It's so cute. Poor baby got her shots this last week. She was a little grumps for a couple of days. She now weighs 9lbs7oz and is in the 10th percentile for height and weight.

As a random thought, I'll share my bread troubles. I love to make whole wheat bread. Usually it turns out pretty good. Lately, though, I've had some issues with the bread. First, I didn't have any gluten flour. That batch also had trouble in the oven as it wasn't actually turned on, but the oven was cooling. Those loaves of bread tasted ok, but just collapsed and crumbled. Finally we got through those loaves and it was time to make another batch. This time I made sure I had the gluten flour so that it would stick together, and that the oven was on. Unfortunately, I forgot to put in the salt. Well . . . I guess we'll just have low sodium salt for now. The bread doesn't taste very well. Maybe next time I will get it right. I never can quite knead it and form the loaves as well as my mom can. She seems to have loaves that are all the same size and are smooth and pretty. Mark made homemade pizzas last week when I was at work. He reported that he had to throw out the first batch as he accidentally put in too much yeast (1.5 cups!)


Our library offers free passes to local museums. Last week we took the girls to the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa, AZ. It was really fun. There were kids art projects displayed as well as activities for the kids to do. We made pipe cleaner people, played with puzzles and puppets, as well as put on costumes for a play. One room had black lights and cool paint on the walls where we could play with puppets and put on hats. Hannah especially enjoyed the art room for chalkboards, white boards, and drawing paper.