Graham's Hay Rake

Dose of Random Pictures

At Will's company picnic this year, the boys got to shoot bottle rockets and Gabriella had her face painted.

I came upstairs one day to find Chase and Graham having a tea party.

Sometimes we see the occasional forest creature in our backyard. Here was a fox, wandering around at lunchtime.

Homemade playdough is fun.

Bike Day

Chase had Bike Day at preschool on Wednesday. It was a rough morning anyway, so I let him choose which bike to take. I fully expected him to take his normal tricycle. Granted, he has some trouble riding it, and I did hit it with the van once, so one of its tires is bent.

However, that's not the bike Chase picked. He chose Pinto, the noseless worm toy salvaged by our neighbor from a "free" pile in someone's front yard.

Gabriella named it Pinto and is particularly fond of feeding it pretend carrots through the hole in his face. Chase decided Pinto was a better choice than a tricycle.

I actually found myself glad that Chase didn't care that his bike was different from everyone else's and that other kids might find it weird. But I also found myself glad that nobody else was around when I dropped it off and picked it up. :D

Preschool!

Today was the first day of preschool for both Graham and Chase.

 

Chase asked for one extra hug and then walked right in. Graham had a hard time letting go of his daddy. All the teachers said they did great and the boys each said they were well-behaved. 

Later, however, Chase said his teacher told him he needed to sit down. Then Graham said his teacher told him the same thing. They also said they didn't learn anything. This could be an interesting year.

Oh, dear.

I'm trying to teach our kids to hold hands as they cross streets and parking lots. This doesn't always work.

Me: Kids, grab on to someone's hand. Here we go!
Chase: I don't wanna hold hands!
Me: Chase, you have to hold hands when we cross the street.
Chase (folds his hands together): I hold my own hand.

In other news, Gabriella has been referring to me as her "big mama."

Mini Will

Graham wants to be like his daddy. Sometimes it is amazing to see this little Will running around, helping in the yard and practicing his casting. If only he would bring home a mini-paycheck, we would be in business.

Well, hello everyone.

Grunt, struggle, stretch. Sigh.

Yes, that is our family, climbing back to reality after a summer of blissful insanity. I still have no idea where July went, and it's already halfway through August. Seriously, how can we misplace 6 weeks? My quest is to answer this question, and I think blogging will help.

I know the summer kicked off with Chris & Kim's wedding over Memorial Day. Yes, Will's sister got married, so Will can't accuse her of freeloading anymore (he was most disappointed about this). The kids miss their Aunt Kim, but we get to see her occasionally. Usually at Chick-fil-a, where she has to avoid getting the kids' greasy fingers on her work clothes.

It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful reception that was spoiled by two nasty thunderstorms. (Even as I type this, I'm thinking, "Seriously??? There had to be TWO???) Everyone we talked to had so much fun, though, even if the party was crashed by a wet oppossum.

And that was that. The ending wasn't ideal, but they made the best of it and got some awesome mudsliding pictures out of it. We are looking forward to next year's raindate reception. Congratulations, Kim & Chris!