A long post about some crazy weeks.

We have been feverishly trying to get some work done around the house while we have people here to help us out. My parents came over at the end of July and spent the entire week fixing the lawn tractor, canning green beans, shampooing carpets, cutting down a tree, and cleaning the house. It's like the nesting instinct kicked in, but all I had to do was sit back and watch. They said they enjoyed the exercise, but I'm not sure if it counts when they're collapsed on the floor. Anyway, thanks Mom & Dad!!!

My sister flew in from China for the last week of July and will be here for one more week. Graham warmed up to her very quickly, and she's been a huge help with the boys. We've also been getting a lot of appointments done while she's here to help drive them around. One of those appointments was the purchase of a larger vehicle, and we have now moved into the minivan era. As Abbie put it, I'm no longer a wife with kids; I'm a mom. Graham loves it, though, and he could spend hours sitting and playing with the gadgets.



We've had our first corn on the cob of the season...



And if Graham ever grows a beard on his forehead, this is what it will look like.



Baby C is growing by leaps and bounds and is very tall for his age. His favorite activity these days is knocking on things with his fist. We'll be sitting in the car and suddenly hear a tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, which means that he is knocking on his car seat. He hasn't yet figured out that when he puts his entire fist in his mouth, it triggers his gag reflex. One of these days, maybe.

And finally, my sister and I took Graham grocery shopping last night, and I decided I'd better not risk all the walking. Instead, we stalked a motorized cart by following a lady out to her car. Then Graham rode on my lap while we zipped around the huge store with electric finesse. It was fine until he found out that
a) there was a horn that made a satisfying honk
b) he could drastically change directions by wrenching the handlebars from my grip
c) he could make a much louder "vroom" with his own mouth.

The situation went something like this:
"Vroom! Vroom!"
beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
Veer to the left
beep beep beep beep beep
Veer to the right
"Vroom! Vroom!"

Then he found that he could do a tuck and roll to escape from my lap, so my sister gave him a candy orange slice for entertainment. Its remnants left a gooey mess somewhere near the cheese aisle. We quickly zipped away.