gag Brushing yuck Teeth gross

Kyler
has been known to
throw his cereal bowl in the garbage,
napkins in the sink,
head to clear the table and make it halfway up the stairs
before realizing the kitchen table is actually located downstairs
in the room he started in,
and lose his socks in the drawer under the oven.
I'm sure he just has a lot of important, deep thoughts
swimming through his mind.
Though this morning,
He wasn't so thrilled about the consequence
of not paying attention.
He went in the bathroom to brush his teeth.
A few minutes later,
we all hear
gag gag yuck splicht gag gross
He had squirted the hand soap onto his toothbrush
instead of squeezing the toothpaste.

Warmer Days

It's started to get chilly and rainy here
already.
So I'm ready to relive the summer
and the sunshine.
Some pictures from warmer days . . .

Days by the pool . . .

25 cents a cup--the boys efforts at entrepraunership

(with their good friend) . . .

 Splash pad at the park . . .

 Baseball games . . .

 S'mores and friends . . .

 Slip n' slide . . .

 Picking strawberries . . .

 A day with Aunt Stefanie and her son, Bryce . . .

 Fishing and hiking . . .

 Messy art projects outside . . .

 Visiting the petting zoo . . .

 Digging in the sand at Jetty Island . . .

 An afternoon kayaking at a lake in Arizona . . .

At the beach with Uncle Josh . . .

Dull?

Not here.

Even on a rainy day.
There's singing and dancing (in the rain),

puppet shows,

*sad note: Kyler also did an awesome puppet show, but because it was so long it wouldn't upload here.

brownies gone cupcake,

and lettuce to be gathered from the garden.

Oh, and right now there's some arguing

going something like this.

Ka: I want to play in there, too.

Ky: I just want some privacy.

Ka: You can't shut the door!

Ky: Yes, I can. I am. It's my room.

Ka: No, it's not! Mom and dad bought it!

blah blah blah on and on

Let's call this afternoon
entertainment at its finest.

First Week of School

On Day One of First Grade . . .

At 6 years old,

Kyler's favorites:
colors: green and red
food: fruits and vegetables, like grapes
friends: Jack and Bettiann
place to go: bookstore
book: Geronimo Stilton series
thing to do: read
toy: legos
movie: Star Wars
thing he did on the first day of school: math game

On Day One of Kindergarten . . .

At 5 years old,

Kacin's favorites:
color: blue
food: chicken nuggets
friends: Jack, Ethan, and Owen
place to go: the store
toy: cars
thing to do: play outside
book: all sorts
movie: Cars
thing he did on the first day of school: ABC work

The first week of school is
over.
And the boys are still happy and excited
to go back on Monday.

How am I doing with all this growing up business?
I will admit, Kyler starting First grade was
REALLY hard on me.
All day in school, growing so big.
And partly hard because it made me think
too much
about the 4 years I taught first grade.
I loved teaching. And seeing his classroom made me miss it
like crazy.
For just a day though.
As I thought about it some more,
I realized how happy and lucky and glad
I am that I can be a stay-home mom.
I can cuddle, hug, read, play games, play at the park,
talk with, bake cookies, ride bikes, and sing songs
with my kids.
I get to teach them
and watch them grow
and see them learn new things each day.

The first week of school is
over.
And I am happy and excited
to still be a stay-home mom on Monday.

Hiking for Blackberries

That's what it ended up to be.

We had a few hours in the afternoon
and decided to take a hike.
We pulled out our local hiking guide
to try our third hike out of the twenty-five nearby
(we have a goal to try each one on the hiking guide list).
We picked a 2.5 mile trail,
nice and flat.
It was perfect weather--
sun shining, blue skies, puffy white clouds.

We went over many bridges and saw ducks, birds, insects,
and a little snake that scared me to death
when I almost stepped on it.

The favorite though
was the sweet, ripe blackberries lining the trail.
The boys and their tummies
thought they were quite yummy.

It was a happy time.

Hence the happy, waving shadows.

22 more hikes for us to explore . . .

The First Post: Jumping In

It seems so awkward to me.
The first post.
You know,
what to say, what pictures to post.
I guess it's just the act of getting started.
Jumping in.
And then
hopefully
blogging here
will become more natural.

It's not us
to demand attention and try to get the world
to notice us.
But if stepping out of our comfort zone
is something we need to do,
we will give it a try.
We are ready
to adopt
again.