Yikes! We're Exhausted!

I think we need a weekend to recover from our weekend. We jumped into Friday evening with the arrival of my sister and brother-in-law's four children. They were delightful and extremely busy. Thank God for video games and television. We "plugged" them in to the electronic babysitters rather frequently, just so we could take a break. Andy and Luke really enjoyed the extra excitement, not to mention all the additional time we spent outside. The best way to entertain 6 children is to try and take them on a combination bike and scooter adventure around the neighborhood. It wears them out quickly and keeps the adults sane, too. We finally got smart and put them to work on Saturday morning, helping Steve spread 5 yards of bark dust around our yard. The kids begged to stay another night, but the grown-ups resisted. Steve and I were worn out, but managed to finish the landscaping project by night fall. After church on Sunday, we had tickets to a minor league baseball game. The weather was crummy but we lasted nearly 8 innings. We also discovered that Andy loves potato chips. This is significant data because Andy has flat refused to eat anything that isn't pureed and in a Gerber baby food jar. Hmmm.

I Don't Get It

I look him in the eye, state my instructions very clearly in plain English. He nods his head, in what I perceive to be a gesture of agreement. I turn my head for one tiny second and he does the very thing I said not to do.
I don't get it.
He inflicts pain on his brother. He torments the dog. He throws dirt on his friend.
Rinse and repeat.
I don't get it.
It could be an extremely long summer if Luke and I go toe to toe every single day.

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Heather and Scott's birthdays over the long weekend. That's Amy sneaking into the picture. There is always an extraneous person peaking into a photo in this family. A real cropping adventure for this scrapper. (That's scrapbook talk, for those who don't partake in the world's most fantastic hobby). Anywho, the weather was beautiful for the party at Grandma and Papa's. It was a nice relaxing day. Steve manned the grill and mom put out a nice spread of vittles. I think we even all complained that we were too hot. How quickly we have forgotten the long, soggy days of spring.

Whew! We Made It!

Today was Luke's last day of preschool. Just like that, our rookie season is behind us. I'm not sorry to see it go. I am, however, a bit intimidated by the thought of summer stretching out before us with very few plans in place. Who will entertain him now? If this rain doesn't stop, it could be a long ride until September. Someone made a DVD of all the pictures taken during the year. It was fun to see how much everybody had changed since last fall.

The Titan of Tantrums

So disgusted I can't even show my face!
Let me outta this chair!

Meanwhile, Luke is busy preventing illness and building new structures...

This was actually an uneventful afternoon at our house. Summer lasted all of 3 days for us, now we're back to the mundane sogginess we've come to know so well.

Andy started throwing these giant tantrums a few weeks ago. Anything can set him off. On Saturday, he got so upset when things didn't go his way that he ended up falling on his face and scraping his forehead and nose on the sidewalk.

The good news is, Luke has sort of tapered off on the drama for now. He had a big day pretending to put out fires, checking my heart and teeth with his doctor kit and pausing to build a few towers with his Wedgits blocks. Oh, to have the energy of a 4 year old.

Big Fun with Grandma and Papa

I think this might be Andy's first mower ride. He looks a little uncertain, but he didn't cry.

Check out the face mask! I always liked to wear that mask when I was little, too.

A future farmer or master gardener is in the works, I think.

I took the boys to visit my parents and grandmother on Friday. All they wanted to do was play outside and ride the mower. I'm so glad it wasn't raining. Luke likes to wear Papa's face mask and help water the flowers. He calls it planting. "Mom, we have to plant!"

I wish I could get tulips to grow like that. So pretty.

The Buzz Cut

Steve took Andy for a haircut yesterday. "Make it as short as you can," he said. Well, she listened. I don't think it could be any shorter. I was a little sad when he came home. Where did my baby go? But he is cuter than cute, if I do say so myself. The preschool moms were very complimentary today and most had a similar story. I'm just glad it isn't hanging in his eyes anymore.