July Fourth

We have the BEST neighborhood in the world!!! (yes, ask why, oh why, we are leaving it?!) For the fifth year in a row our Fourth of July parade has grown and grown. This year the cul-de-sac was full of moms, dads and little ones all dressed in red, white and blue and ready for the parade with decorated bikes, trikes and wagons. Everyone brought snacks to share. Two bounce houses were ready for play. And even live music- just for the kids- was brought in. What an amazing event. Engine 30 led the way around the circle and then stuck around for kids to climb and explore. Later on the ladder truck arrived and stretched itself to the sky for everyone to admire. It was quite a site - and I am sure that they don't really get the chance to do that very often here in suburbia. It was a great way to spend the morning.

Our afternoon was spent in the pool with our cousins and then back in the cul-de-sac to watch some fire works. The kids had a long and busy day. But they loved it!!! (These are our San Diego cousins and M).

89 and Counting

It was nine forty in the morning and the kids wandered outside to check things out. It was so hot that they asked to turn the sprinkler on. They then stripped down to their skivvies since they were still in their pajamas (oh, not E because modesty starts in at 6 evidently). But that did not last long at all and they all wanted to get into the pool. So by ten o'clock we were swimming away. It is a good thing that we did too because it got so hot that afternoon that when we tried to swim after dinner the pool was as warm as a bathtub. I think it reached 108 that day. ( I left out pictures of baby because he is buck naked).

Summer begins...

So summer vacation has not been as "summery" as I had hoped. It has been so busy. We spend every day packing for the new house and not as much playing as I had hoped. The kids have made it into the pool most days but have spent a lot of their time watching me pack boxes and asking if I am going to remember this or that.

E did make it to VBS and loved it!! We figured he liked it so much because he was right in the middle of HSM with all the music- he loves the music and we listen to it over and over again. Hopefully he will "count on God" as he sings over and over again.

Where have you been...

Life these days has been really busy. We have had kindergarten graduation, packing up the house, visitors, tball parties- and then the obvious everyday activities like sword fighting and swinging on a big kid swing at one and a half, eating raspberries off your fingers and falling an inch after the grass ends and banging our heads. It has been an ever so busy two weeks.

Raspberries are only fun to eat when they are on your fingers. Little E has a new habit of making the "cheese" face every time the camera comes out. E used to do this when he was a little guy and was quite well known for it. It was around the same age. Now that little E does it I just want to get out the camera for those photos.

Here baby E is sword fighting with his daddy. It is obvious that he has either watched his brother in way too many make believe dragon fights or he has been sneaking in midnight showings of Peter Pan to hone his skills.

When Uncle Bret and Aunt Kassidy visited us this last weekend I looked out to see baby E swinging on the big kid swing. It scared me half to death when Uncle Bret pushed him super high on the swing. But obviously I know nothing. As you can see from his face, my little baby is not concerned at all. And a couple of days later after he fell and hit his forehead, he was still willing to give me his ever so cute cheese smile.

Movie Night

Every once in a while we have movie night. The kids get really excited. They get to haul out the little red couch and bring down all the pillows off their beds. They eat popcorn and drink lemonade and ask millions of questions because we always make them watch something they have never seen before. Usually it is an old Disney flick, one that was old even when I was a girl. Our all time favorite is The Swiss Family Robinsons. We have watched that one over and over again. Tonight we watched The Shaggy Dog. The original. In black and white. It seemed that every single second E was asking what was going to happen next. He couldn't sit still. He is a very literal child and was so concerned about what was going to happen next. And by next I do not mean the long plot, I mean the next second. (Do you understand why at six and a half he considers Little Bear his favorite show?) M just wanted to be sure that the boy turned back into a boy after being a dog.

Argh, Matey! And Back to School

Today my cute little things decided they wanted to be pirates. The idea then spurred on our Halloween plans for this coming fall. Every year we dress up in similar costumes. One year we were all from Peter Pan, another Snow White. This year we are going to be pirates. So M and little E got themselves ready. They used their blankets. Once M had hers on, little E immediately wanted his wrapped around his head.

On another note... E had his back to school night while I was away scrapbooking. Thankfully my dear husband took lots of photos so that I would not feel like I had missed anything. He even took pictures of other children's items so that I could really experience what it was like to look for my E's things. Hmmm... Here are a few of my favorites.

Okay so here is ONE of my favorites (E with the silk worms they have been watching over)because the rest are of E's work and much better to look at up close. But I also included this lovely photo of my two little ones (as my husband was practicing using the different camera speeds) to show what happens when I am out of town. See M in the background? She is wearing a beautiful smocked dress with little angel wings. It is so cute with her little matching sandals. Oh, no sandals? In this photo she is wearing red buckle shoes, which would not be so bad on their own but they are especially nice with her red Hello Kitty Christmas socks. I know it makes me sound like a control freak- but she would not have made it out of the house if I were there. In fact I noticed in another photo that the buttons on the back of her dress are mismatched. Oh my. And it is captured in pictures.

Away at Camp

Yes, it is camp. Or what 35 year old women call camp. (Okay so I am little bit older than that). This is camp where hundreds of thousands of dollars all sit in one room. Where women stay up all night, all day and then all night again just to put their memories down on stacks of colored paper. It is a little bit of heaven. We eat, sometimes sleep and live to scrapbook our children and loved ones into a book. It is amazing how time just seems to disappear and suddenly two, three, eight hours have gone by and you have no idea how you missed them. You speak in a different language, you talk about famous women who created all these products by first name, as if they are your personal friends. It is a great time as far as I am concerned. I also get to spend the time with my best friend whom I don't always see and so if I don't get as much done as I had hoped to, at least I had a great time visiting with her. So this is where I have been while M is at home with the three kids for four days- bless his heart. He had done school, homework, tball, Kumon, and I am sure little M had him doing plenty of art projects.