Summer's In Full Swing

We enjoyed another beautiful weekend here. This is our latest edition to the family, a beanie baby named Marshmallow. He goes almost everywhere with us. Luke has also regressed to carrying his lovie with him again. I'm not sure what that's about, but he sure is cute.
Looking handsome in our church clothes and sporting a new haircut for the beach.

Also handsome in his church clothes, with a tummy full of fresh strawberries. Yum! We have purchased far more strawberries than we could ever consume but they are just so good.

The cousins came to celebrate my birthday a little early. It was a beautiful day and they were kind enough to share their new water slide with Luke.

Getting ready to enjoy some cake with my little apprentices.

Happy Father's Day

We had a very hectic Father's Day this year. Our initial plan was to entertain the family here. However, auntie Heather is battling the stomach bug, so we dashed out of church and headed for her house to rescue her. We gathered most of her children and went on to Grandma and Papa's house. After filling them up with Subway sandwiches, Sprite and Doritos we turned them loose in the yard.
Just kidding. It was pouring down rain so they entertained themselves with a game of Hide the Fly Swatter. Seriously. The rest of us lounged on the couch and watched the Mariners win. It wasn't long before they complained of Doritos-induced stomach pains, so this time we really did send them outside. The rain stopped and Uncle Steve managed to entertain them for a few minutes. It wasn't quite how we expected to celebrate the day, but it was fun and everybody was a good sport.

Bad Picture, Big Fun

We had such a great time this weekend, we never even paused to take a decent picture. Here's Luke, sitting in his car seat, chattering away as he gets ready for his next adventure. The weather was fantastic on Friday night, so we headed over to the park for Maple Valley Days. I was not at all impressed, but the boys loved their giant balloons (the large yellow orb lurking in the picture), the carnival rides and the chance to get out and try something new. Andy surprised us all; he really loved the rides and cried when it was time to go home. On Saturday, Steve took Andy to my parents' house and Luke and I spent the whole day together. He was so excited for some "special mom and Luke time". We went to his very first movie in the theater: Up. It was a great movie and he was champ. He hid his face in his blanket a couple of times, but said he really liked it. We had just enough time to grab lunch at McDonalds before hitting a birthday party at the Little Gym. I was completely worn out when we got home, so I can't imagine how he felt. He admitted that he quite happy to have the place to himself, as Andy was staying the night with Grandma and Papa. I'm glad we got to spend some time together and introduce him to the excitement of the movie theater.

Papa's Birthday

Look! I can eat this all by myself!
How many candles on that cake, anway?

Andy likes to help, especially when there are gifts involved.

We celebrated Papa's birthday yesterday. It wasn't my best work, photography-wise...you have to snap quickly with so many munchkins involved. The rain held off and we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Mom had her usual fantastic spread, complete with a cake from our favorite bakery.

Happy Birthday, Papa!

A Regular Fish

Luke asked me several weeks ago if he could start swimming lessons. I agreed somewhat hesitantly, wondering if this was a passing fancy or just genuine interest. He is 5, it's probably time to get started because it's really difficult to keep him safe in the pool. Today was the BIG FIRST DAY. I reminded him last night of our agenda for this morning and he was immediately anxious. He couldn't go to sleep, kept calling me back into his room to talk about it. That's never a good sign. Steve tried to give him a pep talk at breakfast. That was met with much scowling and head-shaking. I started a 60 minute countdown, which led to even greater anxiety. I would put his swim clothes on, he would pull them off. I would get mad and start raising my voice, he would furrow his brow and glare at me. Gosh, this is so fun. Steve called and I immediately burst into tears. How can one little 5 year old send me over the edge so quickly?
Five minutes before it was time to go, I found him naked in his room, building something with Legos. I put his swim clothes back on and then he got up and calmly got in the car. He was sweet as pie the whole way there. He told me in the parking lot that he had changed his mind. He was ready to swim.
Thanks be to God!
His classmates didn't show up, so he had one on one instruction with his teacher. That was a major bonus. She taught him the basics very quickly. He loved it and tried everything with enthusiasm. After 30 minutes, she had him jumping off the side of the pool at 4 feet without any flotation. A regular fish on the first day. Lets hope this trend continues...

That's A Wrap!

Luke finished preschool last week. We went to the grand finale on Wednesday night. He lined up politely, put on his cute little graduation cap, processed down the aisle, sat in his chair on stage...and refused to sing. He didn't cry or misbehave, just clamped his little mouth shut and parked in his chair. Hmmm. I tried smiles of encouragement, he just stared right back at me. Steve and I just looked at each other in bewilderment. He loves to sing. He sang the songs and recited the verses all stinkin' year. What's up with this child?

Just when we were ready to give up, he leaped from his chair and began singing. Loudly. At the top of his lungs. Then he would shake his head and sit right back down. He had to go to the bathroom at one point, so we took him and tried giving him a little pep talk. He would have none of it. He informed us he would only be singing the songs he knew. Alrighty then.

Andy, meanwhile, kept himself amused by pulling all of the hymnals and Bibles out of the pockets and stacking them on the chair. Interesting.

Luke, as you can see by the photo, did not seem traumatized by his evening on stage and was back to his normal self the next morning. He eventually told me he didn't like all the cameras and the people looking at him, that's why he didn't sing. I suppose we can predict that a career in the spotlight will not be his thing.

Keeping 'em busy

The best part of this photo is the expression on his face. He wants so badly to have one of his Lego creations published in Lego magazine. He loves to look at the magazine each month and see what the other kids have built. He made this train the other morning and spent most of his free time driving it around the house and creating imaginary events. So precious. And very serious.

Every year, about this time, someone who lives here decides to tackle a yard improvement project. Long about August, it becomes a crapshoot to see if all the effort was worth it: emerald green lawny goodness or dry, dead crunchy stuff. One never knows what you are going to get around here. Anywho, last weekend was the first installment of 2009's lawn makeover. Thank goodness for the little boys and their lawn mowers or Steve might still be out there slaving away.

I have noticed that little boys mimic almost everything they see and hear. Sometimes that can be very, very funny or terribly embarrassing. In this case, it brought a smile to my face. Luke even mastered the full body crank-the-lawn-mower pose: pulling his imaginary lawn mower starter cord a couple of times to fire up his bubble mower. Even the neighbors saw him and laughed. What a hoot.