More science than they wanted to see.

We went to the downtown science center on Wednesday. Graham was so excited about the trip that he couldn't sleep past 6:45am. Will helped me load them up before he went to the airport for a business trip, and I somehow managed to corral all three of them by myself. They were everywhere. They played in the helicopter and ambulance. They played with food. They saw an animal show and got to pet a turtle, a millipede, and a Madagascar hissing cockroach (ew). They climbed, ran, jumped, pushed, and slid. They ended up at the water table, where they got completely soaked. It was okay, though, because I had brought them extra clothes! Into the family restroom we went! I was prepared! What I hadn't anticipated was that Graham would unlock the restroom door while I was otherwise occupied.

Introducing Chase Allen Smith!

It's official! Today we went to the courthouse to adopt Chase, our foster son. We have had him since he was two days old and he has been like one of our own children, but today he became legally ours. The process went smoothly, although Gabriella was very vocal. She screamed while the judge was talking and he responded by saying she would someday be a lawyer, then yelling, "Objection sustained!" A while later she really started crying, and the judge said she was too young to be held in contempt of court.

Chase is a sweet little boy who fits in perfectly with our family. There is nothing in the world like the sound of Chase's laugh, so we try to make him giggle whenever we can. He loves things with wheels, especially tractors, and is learning to say puttputt just like his brother.



We are looking forward to the end of home visits, as well as being able to travel with him and post pictures of him on the web. Nothing has really changed from Chase's point of view, but it was a very special day for our family.

Brownie Points

Today at lunch I told Graham to finish his pear before he ate his brownie. I walked out of the room and heard this:

"I have brownie."
"I HAVE brownie."
"I. Eat. Brownie."
"MMMMmmmm..."
"I LIKE brownie!"

The Glass Jar Menagerie

We currently have 3 monarch caterpillar/butterfly pets. We found them in the garden and put them in jars on the kitchen counter for the kids to watch. Graham named them Daggy, Picka, and Caterpillar. We tried for a more original name for the third caterpillar, but Graham insisted on Caterpillar. Caterpillar is going to be very disappointed when he becomes a butterfly.

This is right after Picka became a chrysalis, and Caterpillar was getting ready:



Daggy turned into a butterfly this afternoon. Graham is very excited. This is while his wings are still wet:



In other outdoor news, Will took the kids out to fly a kite the other day. Thanks to Aunt Kim for the pictures...

The Tractor

Graham has loved tractors ever since his Great Grandma and Grandpap Smith gave him a set for Christmas 2 years ago. He played with them inside, he rode the lawn mower, he pointed them out when they drove on the road, and he could barely contain himself when he actually got to sit on one. We finally decided to get him a toy ride-on tractor, but I refused to pay $300 for one. We got a very nice used one from Craigslist, bought a new rechargeable battery, and have basically stopped needing to entertain Graham outside.




The toy has its price, though. There's a reason they don't give 2-year olds a driver's license. Once Graham discovered that a second gear exists, he could now go 4.5 mph without watching where he was going. He has run into things at full speed more than once, prompting me to wonder if a seatbelt and mini airbag wouldn't be appropriate.

Unfortunately for Baby C, it's when Graham IS watching that he needs to be careful. Twice now I have seen Graham run him down like a helpless animal with amazing accuracy. Baby C, on the other hand, doesn't have long enough legs to drive the tractor. He prefers to ride side-saddle, standing on the pedal with both feet, cruising across the yard with a huge grin on his face, completely oblivious to the fact that he's heading straight for the garden fence. The steering wheel's function has not entered his realm of consciousness. It is so funny to see him gliding across the yard that we were laughing too hard to stand up straight.

The tractor has come in handy for yardwork--we have used it to dump about 8 wagon loads of apples into the garden. Graham also used it to chase geese in the backyard. He took off at 4.5 mph with those fluffy prizes in his sights. As he got closer, they split into two groups. He went after one group in hot pursuit, all the way up the neighbor's hill, where they finally tired of the pesky game and flew away. Graham sat there with arms outstretched, sobbing, "Hold geese! Hold geese!" I'm hoping this falls under the category of non-lethal hazing and we won't be hearing from the DNR.

Those Summer Nights

While Rebecca & Adam were here, we had a few of those perfect summer evenings where the kids played in the sprinkler, drew with sidewalk chalk, rode bikes, ate popsicles, and enjoyed the weather. I took a picture of all of our kids one evening. Baby C is wearing one bright yellow shoe, and his rear end is covered in chalk dust. Gabriella just finished a chocolate chip cookie and is begging for more with Bambi eyes. Graham is not wearing bicycle shorts--those are underwear. And Risa's bicycle helmet. And the crocs that are 2 sizes too big.

Back from the Blogging Hiatus

The past month has been just as busy as any other, with some traveling and a visit from my sister's family. Rebecca, Adam, Kaiden, & Risa came up and we were able to go to an indoor waterpark, a science museum, and a very nice outdoor mall. We enjoyed having them here.




Kaiden has a way of declaring things, like "This yogurt tastes like curtains" or "Gabriella wants me to swallow her eyeballs so she can see my teeth." He had his first visit from the tooth fairy when he used a remote controlled car to yank out his tooth. Risa is a sweet little girly-girl who is still learning English phrases. For instance, she would yell, "You scared me out of the daylights!" After 2 weeks, she still couldn't get the names right for Graham and Baby C and would resort to calling them "the big guy" and "the little guy". Baby C was constantly pulling her hair, so one day she went upstairs. When Rebecca asked why she was up there, she said, "That little guy is every time bothering me."

Kaiden & Risa found an unexpected favorite toy: Gabriella. For the most part, she tolerated the attention well.



Graham loved Risa. When she was out of sight in the grocery store, he would yell, "I see Risa! I see Risa!" They've been gone for 2 days now and he is still talking about her. Here they are sitting on a huge mound of blankets. (Why is that fun?)



We'll miss them very much!