creativity

Andrew made a slingshot after school today. I was folding clothes in the bedroom. He was so proud of his creation.


After this picture, he invited Amanda to play "spy" with him. The first step to playing spy...make nametags. :) The second step is to color all kinds of secret codes and cut them out and display all over the house.

Yes, we use lots of paper. We are working on using recycled paper.

Meanwhile, Amanda and I are having fun exploring paints, coloring, cutting and glue. She loves all of the above. Last week we painted with apples.

We started with red, but she really wanted pink.

Weekend Visitors

We had visitors this weekend.

I wasn't thrilled.

They were big.

They were black.

I spent all weekend thinking of how to quietly dispose of our visitors.

My stomach flipped every time I walked through the kitchen.

The kids thought they were the best guests in the world. They waited for two weeks, expectantaly asking every day..."did you get the roaches yet?"

Roaches????? Yes, Madigascar Hissing Cockroaches

Evidently the coolest thing about these roaches is that you can wear them as a "roach broach." Here are Scott and Derrick posing with their new "jewelry." Andrew, a boy after my own heart, chose not to wear one.

a best friend

Amanda is adjusting to life without brothers this week.

I'm an OK playmate.

But Farley is much more fun. He is endlessly patient with Amanda. He loves to run up and down the hall with her. He soaks in the attention when she puts a chain on him and "walks" him, while pushing her babies in a stroller. He graciously accepts her kisses and hugs. And, most importantly, he is 100% devoted and attentive to her. There are no phone calls or emails to distract him.


Yesterday, he even wore sunglasses for about 1 nanosecond.

Oh how I am thankful for our dog!

PS - The boys are also adjusting to life at school. Yesterday, Andrew told me, "I just want to stay home and hold Cici all day" as he was meeting the bus. But, he arrived home excited about recess and PE.

mucking

After weeks of no rain, we had a huge rain last night (2.5 inches) and the creek started flowing again. It had been a trickle, but now it is a real creek again. The boys could not wait to explore this morning. So, while it was still overcast, we put on our boots and set off.

Scott found this crawfish in a crack among some concrete and rocks. He was so excited about it. Derrick is holding it in this picture. He was giving Scott a lesson on how to hold it and also reminding him that it has gills and can't stay out of the water for very long.


This was Amanda's first true mucking experience. Don't you love her pink boots! They may look girly, but Amanda is not afraid to get muddy and wet while exploring.

Andrew was too busy trying to dam the water to smile for the camera.

Scott took a break to give me a little grin.

This isn't a great picture, but if you look carefully, you can see everyone is crossing through the tunnel that goes under our street. And, believe it or not, I put my camera down and joined them! It was my first under-road crossing and it was quite fun. The tunnel had great echoes and there is some sort of great adventure to know you are crossing under a street, even if it is just our small little street.

Andrewisms again

Even though he is is a "big" kindergartener, Andrew still has some funny kid moments that make me realize he is still a little kid.

The other day the kids were playing in the living room. I was in the kitchen. Suddenly, I heard a loud, "Noooooooooooooooo!!!! That's for ages 8 and up! You can't play with it until you are eight!"

Amanda was trying to play with his rubber band gun.

It took me a second to see the irony in that comment. He retracted his statement after I pointed out the fact that he is only 5 himself.

He is doing great so far in school. He loves his teacher (although he can't remember her name.) He loves the sandbox and climbing dome at recess. And he is so proud of the careful coloring that he has brought home each day. But he is exhausted. I'm glad we started the year with a short week and the weekend is here.

after school

We all survived the first day of school. The boys have a new bus this year and a new route. They get home about 15 minutes earlier than last year. Of course, that means that their pick up time is 15 minutes earlier in the morning. 6:44 will be pretty early tomorrow (especially since the bus passed at 6:43 this morning, so I have to make sure we are outside on time.)




Our neighbor brought treats for the kids - Doritos and lollipops. The kids especially enjoyed them. After we ate these, we spent a full two hours outside. The boys played and played in the sandbox. I was having so much fun watching them that we changed our dinner menu from spaghetti to tacos, since I was not able to make the sauce.

two more stories

I forgot to include two quick Andrew stories from this morning:

*As Andrew styled his hair this morning, he wanted to spike it. I suggested that may be distracting. So, he swooped it to the side and declared "this is my ice cream scoop style."

*Also, check out his shoes in the pictures. A few weeks ago, we were shopping at Target. These were on sale, so of course I thought they would be great back to school shoes. Andrew took one look at them and refused. He almost pitched a fit in the store. I was at a loss. Scott never cares about shoes.

Then, I noticed a cool feature on the shoes. They have springs on the back that make the wearer jump higher!! As soon as I pointed that out to Andrew, he was sold.

This morning, he stood in front of our mirror and practiced his jumping. Scott thought the springs were rubber because they would work better than metal. I just smiled as I watched my little boy LOVE his new shoes. Who knows, maybe they really will help him jump higher.

School!

It's a big day around here...the first day of school! We met the teachers yesterday afternoon. The boys took all of their school supplies yesterday. It was quite a load.



Andrew has Ms. Susan...a 27 year teaching veteran.

Scott has Ms. Katie, who has been teaching for 7 years.

This morning Derrick woke the boys at 6:00 before he left for school. They wanted to see Daddy in the morning. Andrew bounced out of bed and was ready to go at 6:15 (minus breakfast.) We had plenty of time to eat, brush hair and teeth and even to read books on the couch. We'll see how long that lasts!

We watched the bus drive past our house and opted for car-rider this morning.



Being a little brother definitely has its advantages. Scott just took Andrew by the hand and guided him right in the door. Look how big that backpack looks on Andrew!

As a matter of fact, I lost them for a minute at this point. Turns out that Scott took him straight to the gym and showed him where to sit and wait for dismissal to the classrooms.

I let him go to the room with the other kids, but snuck back a few minutes later to make sure he made it safely. They had a coloring sheet ready to go.


Amanda and I ate breakfast with Nana, ran some errands and painted.




She is sleeping right now, but it took her a while to settle for a nap. I wonder if the house is too quiet. It hasn't been this quiet since December when Andrew dropped his nap. I'm not sure what I'll do with this little extra time, but I think I'll start by catching up the blog with summer activities. We had a WONDERFUL summer and I can't wait to share stories here.