End of August

Late summer harvest: And the tractor's fixed!!

Boys

The other day I was doing some shopping at Wal-mart, and there was another family that I can only assume was a grandma, a mother, and a boy they were getting ready for college. I pushed my cart behind this lanky boy that, at about 6'4", towered over his mom and grandma and couldn't help but think that, with a 6'2" husband, that will probably be me one day, with 2 boys towering over me. I can't even think about the day we'll be buying stuff for their dorms without getting a catch in my throat. I'd bet this mother, whose son now bested her by a good eight inches, feels like her boy was just toddling behind her not too long ago.

But for now, mine are still these little guys that clamor to hold my hands and have to crane their necks to look up at me. And here was my littlest this afternoon, all boy, enjoying his afternoon nap clutching his lizard.

Better late than never

Here's a pic from last Tuesday morning (I know, a little slow on the posting), when Max went off to kindergarten and Benjamin had his very first day of preschool. Ben refused to let me take pictures of him in his classroom, so this is all I got. He goes to the same preschool Max went to, for 2 mornings a week. Next year he'll go 3 mornings a week, and then kindergarten the following year. One of Ben's teachers taught Max last year; it's really nice that they already know him there.

At the beginning of the summer, when we'd talk about school, Ben would just burrow into my shoulder and say "I just want to be wif you." By the time we got to within a couple weeks of school, he had totally changed his tune. If we were within a couple of blocks of his school, he'd shout from the back of the van, "There's my school!" and wave at it. He'd also instruct Max that Max couldn't wave at the school because it was now Ben's school. So on the big morning, he just walked right in, pulled out the little chair, grabbed a crayon and got to work. He even wore his backpack when we walked Max to kindergarten on Monday (Ben didn't start until Tuesday) because he was so ready for his own school to start. What a big boy!

The boys are also doing another round of swim lessons. Swim lessons are like Disneyland for them; they absolutely love them. Max is now sticking his face in the water, combining kicking and arm strokes, and moving in the water - actual swimming!! Max also started soccer last week. Ben wanted to wait until he's 4 for soccer again. We've frozen our tushies off for two seasons in spring soccer, so we decided to go with fall soccer this year (although admittedly, August isn't exactly fall). I'm also volunteering in Max's classroom one morning a week. Kind of fun to be a teacher for a while again. Max is fascinated by the concept that I used to teach before we had kids. So that's our story around here. Have a good week y'all!

Mazatlan, 2009

Oh, down in Mexico. I never really been but I'd sure love to go. OK, so that last bit's not exactly true, but I can't help but hear James Taylor when I think of Mexico, which is where we just returned from. We managed to avoid the drug cartels and swine flu and had a lovely, relaxing vacation. What more could you ask for?

Hanging at the pool. This is pretty much what we did about 7 hours a day for the entire week...not bad...read a bunch of books, played some fierce cards, and had great conversation with the rest of the family. What? You can't see us? Well, it's obviously me with my sisters-in-law and the boys, but it was a teensy bit humid and my camera lens, along with my sunglasses, kept fogging up. So the camera is just showing how humid it actually felt, which is why we hung out in the pool most of the time.

Painting pottery. The boys' most requested activity (after the pool) - watching the sun set into the Pacific. Hanging out with Grandpa Jim watching Spanish cartoons. Larry the Lizard. Views from our hotel room - right: left: center: Aaaahhhhh: The boys passing the time in the Phoenix airport on the way home, watching Mexican jumping beans. I'm so pleased and thankful that all four families were able to coordinate schedules and spend the week together, scattered as we are now in Oregon, Arizona and Colorado. And a huge thanks to Mom and Dad for your organization and generosity in making this trip possible for all of us.

Two Thumbs Up

Ben passed his guppy swimming lessons and is now a minnow! Do you like his phantom owie and band-aid that he insisted on wearing on his head for 3 days?

And at Max's school, the mascot is the buffaloes, and for their character education, they try to "Join the HERD," with HERD standing for Honesty, Encouragement, Responsibility and Dedication. Kids get a punch on their HERD slip when their teacher sees them doing things that make them part of the HERD. When kids get 4 punches, they get a buffalo with their name hung on the walls of the school and get to enter their HERD slip in a drawing for various prizes. Anyways, Max already earned all 4 punches on his first HERD slip! So glad that he's going in that direction and not the way of the punk kids in his class that have already been sent to the office :).

Other random bit: yesterday Ben said "Mom, I love you all the way to Missouri!" Cracks me up!

I think I outsmarted my dog

Just try walking through that screen door now, Cedar O'Toole.

First Day!

This little peanut started kindergarten today! The backpack The school is just around the corner from us, which is really nice. Andrew, Ben and I all walked him over this morning.Lining up with his class Reading a sappy story designed to get all the parents crying, but I held it together.

He picked out spaghetti for his special first-day-of-kindergarten dinner.

This afternoon, Ben has his preschool open house where he gets to see his classroom and meet both of his teachers. He already knows Miss Lori, but I'm not sure who his other teacher will be.

July So Far - Fireworks and Swim Lessons

Here is one lone picture of the guys hauling all our gear down to the fireworks show Saturday night. Rik, Rich and Andrew: Don't they look thrilled? Such good dads/husbands, fulfulling the porter part of the job description.

On the 4th, we stopped in to visit Adam, Karla and Gracie earlier in the afternoon and then headed over to Rik and Tricia's where we also met up with Rich and Sarah. All of us go to the same "Married with Children" group at church. We all have kids from about 6 years old and younger, and we generally just have a great time together. The adults all get along and the kids just love running around together. Later this month, we are going camping with them and 2 additional families from our small group. Should be a hoot!

Anyways, we could walk to downtown Parker from Rik & Tricia's to the firework show, and we just had a good ol' time watching the fireworks and listening to the music. The rain that has been constant this summer let up just in time for us to bundle up and still enjoy the show. It was a cold night for July! It looks like summer may be showing up this week though.

On a totally different note, here are some pics from Ben's first swim lesson this morning. I thought he might burst a blood vessel from sheer joy and excitement. I had to keep reminding him to hold onto the wall when the teacher was with another kid because he has no fear and he's used to having his floaties on and being able to just bounce around pretty safely. He kept bouncing around the pool away from the wall and going underwater (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not) and giving me mini heart attacks. But he had a blast and was the first to volunteer for everything. He's totally been looking forward to playing "motorboat, motorboat, go so slow" ever since he saw it at big brother's swim lessons and his wish was fulfilled today. He has lessons Monday through Thursday this week and next. Max has lessons Tues/Thurs afternoons for the next 4 weeks because he starts kindergarten Wed morning!

A Couple Little Projects

In our bedroom, we got a lovely new mattress a couple of weeks ago and a new mattress pad with this amazing cooling feature...it literally cools down a few degrees when it comes in contact with your body. I don't know what kind of voodoo magic it is, but it's wonderful! I also added the artwork and lettering above the bed and got new reading lamps. The lamps slide up and down, twist sideways and the lampshade tilts. (Don't judge me because I don't iron sheets.) Our guest room is kind of long and skinny, so we made some changes there as well. Less fluffy bedding (I know, it still needs a bedskirt), ditched the nightstands and went for the wall-mounted shelves, and got wall-mounted lamps there as well to try and squeeze every square inch of space we could out of the room.

I Heart the Heartland

We just returned from our 5-day roadtrip across Kansas and Missouri. I confess that I was afraid, very afraid, of the heat and humidity a visit to the midwest might involve in late June. And the Saturday that we arrived, the air was so thick I could practically stick a straw out the window and take a drink. But that was the only day like that; the rest of the trip was perfectly pleasant...mid-eighties to low nineties and no real humidity at all.

The reason for our trip was a family reunion of the descendants of Susana and Henry Shier, Andrew's great-grandparents. After we decided to go, Andrew's parents (from New Mexico) and his brother Steve and his family (from Pennsylvania) all decided to attend as well, so it was a great chance for the boys to spend some time with their grandparents and cousins. I'd never been to Missouri outside of airport terminals in KC and St. Louis - what a beautiful state!

Sunday found our little parade of three cars driving up and down the streets of Higginsville, MO because none of us, um, knew specifically where in Higginsville the reunion was. All of us cleverly left our invitations at home, assuming that the more responsible members of our family would bring their invitations. HA! Well, we eventually found the reunion: Me, Sue and Kate:Ben, Maurice and Susanna:Jane, Max, Ben and Susanna:After the reunion, we headed out to Carl and Helen's house for a fish fry. Here is their recipe for heavenly fish:

• good fish. Carl caught the crappie himself. (You can see how it's spelled, but everyone pronounced it "croppy." Probably would have a hard time getting people to eat it if it was pronounced how it's spelled.)
• about equal parts cornflake crumbs and flour
• salt
• pepper
• a pot of hot oil
• God's country

Not sure where you find "God's country" at the grocery store, but oh my goodness, the fish was delicious! They had a big ol' pot of hot oil in the driveway and just fried the breaded fish right up. They also fried up hush puppies with jalapenos in them. Seriously amazing.

Carl, Susanna and Steve: Carl and Helen are retired hog farmers, and these days, just have cattle, corn and soybeans. Carl refers to his somewhere-around-400-acres as "not much more than a garden these days." Just for comparison's sake, here's our garden: and here's Carl and Helen's "garden": (Keep in mind, they don't even have to irrigate.) After the fish fry, we headed to Wilma and Jim's place for melon and cookies, where the boys saw and caught fireflies for the first time in their lives.

After the reunion activities in western Missouri, we headed off to Hannibal (on the eastern edge of the state) the next morning to check out the Mark Twain stuff. I have mixed feelings about Hannibal. They kept saying things like "This is where Tom Sawyer painted the fence"or "This is where Tom and Becky ran into Injun Joe" and I kept wanting to shout "but they're FICTION!" But I restrained myself, and tried to enjoy it in the spirit in which it is intended. We took a ride on the horse-drawn carriage:Max got to steer for a bit, which is why I took the following picture. I was not just trying to show you a horse's behind.The historic downtown area (notice the mighty Mississippi in the background):The Mark Twain cave:That evening, we headed south to the St. Louis area to have dinner and some great company with one of Andrew's cousins, Tamara, and her family. I'd never even met Tamara before! Here are all the kiddos, Liza, Andrew, Susanna, Oscar, Jane, Ben, Max and Carley:

Tuesday we parted ways with Andrew's parents, brother and family; they headed back to Pennsylvania and we headed west.

West of Kansas City, we took what I have dubbed "The Man Exit" off I-70. This exit has the Kansas Speedway, Cabela's, and the Agriculture Hall of Fame. There was only one other family at the Ag Hall of Fame with us on a Tuesday afternoon, and everything is completely hands-on. What a great place to visit!This is where the boys thought they'd died and gone to heaven. (All together now, "Is this heaven?" "Nope. It's Kansas.") Milking a fake cow: This was the biggest hit, sending corncobs through this machine that stripped off the kernels and then grinding up the kernels into cornmeal, which we then fed to the chickens: Riding the little train: That night we stayed in Topeka, enjoyed some barbecued ribs, and then safely returned home Wednesday.