It's Logical.

I caught Graham digging gum out of my purse. Here's our conversation as I took it from him:

Me: Graham, you are not allowed to have gum. Don't take it out of my purse.

Graham: That's not gum. That's candy.

Me: No, it's gum, and you might choke on it. Please go throw it away.

Graham: Next time, don't put gum in your purse where I can find it.

Catching Up

I'm running behind on my blogging... I guess summer officially begins today, but it seems like we've been going constantly since Memorial Day. Here's a recap of our unofficial start to the summer:

1. Our water babies.



2. We got to visit with Matt and Leigh Ann, Kaelyn and Evie, and Dave and Charlene around Memorial Day. We had a wonderful time, but unfortunately, we have no pictures. We will just have to reminisce in our minds. Which means this was a rather meaningless #2.

3. Visiting a museum of natural history. Graham finally got to see some dinosaurs, and they also watched their first baby planetarium show. Note to self: the kids are not old enough for a planetarium show.







4. On the way back, we stopped to see Sam and Abbie, Saya and Eldon. Our kids had never eaten ice cream cones before. Technically they still haven't, since Will had to finish them all.



5. Graham is doing more things on his own now, like buckling his own car seat (yay!!), picking out his own clothes (hmmmm...), and dressing himself (yikes).



6. Jayme went with us to the science center (thank you!), where Graham got to see some more dinosaurs and the other two never stopped running. Except to take this picture.



Finally, I need to post an update on all the crazy things these kids are doing now. For instance, Graham is standing on the deck watching the church's lawn service. Chase is standing at the back door in his underwear saying "I'm gonna bite you!", which I don't think he really means--he's just trying to irritate Graham. It's a constant battle--I just hope it doesn't get any worse.

Now Chase is screaming. I'd better run.

Quarters and Sense.

Graham has no concept of the value of coins. We have tried to teach him a little at a time, but when I pay for everything with a credit card, he doesn't get much real world experience.

I told him that if he helped us out around the house, he could earn some money and maybe he could afford a new Cars 2 toy. I gave him a few quarters last week for vacuuming the entire downstairs. Then last night he helped set the table. Here's the conversation that followed:

Me: Did you tell Daddy that you helped set the table tonight?

Graham: I helped set the table, Daddy!

Will: That's great, Graham!

Graham: I need to earn some mon-dey for that.

Me: Well, I guess I could give you a nickel for it.

Graham: No, I need a quarter.

Me: How about a penny? (Trying to make it sound really exciting.)

Graham: No, a QUARTER.

Me: Okay, how about FIVE pennies???

Graham: No. NO PENNIES. I need a QUARTER.

I shudder to think of what his teenage years will be like.

One lucky yard.

Recipe for finding a lot of luck in our yard:

One Grandpap working in the area + one rainy yard full of clover patches =
a whole bowl of four leaf clovers (and a five and six leaf one as well)



When the yard finally got dry enough, Graham got in on the weed-eating action. Thanks for the gloves, Emily!

Off to the zoo. Again.

Last weekend, we braved the impending thunderstorms (which never happened) and headed to the zoo with Jayme and Adam. We all got ride bracelets through Will's work, so the kids had a blast on the train, the boat, and the carousel. The most impressive thing, though, was to see the polar bears swimming right above our heads. Here he is, just after thoroughly scratching his rear end.



Starting the day in jeans. By the end of the day, I wished we had looked more closely at the weather report.



The souvenir cups were huge.



Gabriella held on tight during the boat ride.

Mother's Day with Grandma and Grandpap

We headed over to Will's parents' house for a long weekend, and again the kids had a blast with their grandparents. Graham had a checklist of things he wanted to do, and he accomplished all of them.

First things first: riding the tractor with Grandpap. Graham insisted on steering and learned how to crank up the throttle when nobody was looking.


Graham, Daddy, Grandpap, and cousin Nathan went fishing and caught four trout.


Next on the list: visiting the barn with cousins. Chase loved Emily's puppy.




Chase and Isaac enjoyed some tractor tipping.


We got to see Isabella for the first time in a year. Here she is hanging out with Aunt Kim.


We also got to meet little Audrey and play with Logan. All in all, it was a great weekend!

Easter with Grammie and Grandpa

This year, we spent Easter getting a sugar high at my parents' house. It was an action-packed weekend and the kids had a blast--we had a picnic, met up with an old friend, had an Easter egg hunt, dyed eggs, and looked at farm equipment. What else could a 3-year-old heart desire?

Playing in the giant cardboard shantytown with Grandpa:



Standing inside a giant tractor wheel:



Riding a bale of miscanthus grass. It was huge.



Doing Easter-y things.






And finally, the obligatory Easter picture before church. It was tough getting even one.