Smiling like a BOY that just received his medal

Tonite was the last game for t-ball, which of course means....trophies and a sort of lame-duck attitude toward the game :sigh:

Jack played first, with a little help from his friend Zach...not sure what he was saying but that hand on the hip is likely going to get old :sighsigh:

Harry, Grayson and Asher look pretty ready, right?

This is what I mean by lame-duck...Jack took to building sand castles while manning third base in the second/final inning

Guess he's not the only one itching to get back to the island....

Presentation time - they got medals with their names on them, delivered by a really great (patient) coach!

My mom let Harry have his turn as photog, and I loved this smiley moment

Jack got a big squeeze hug from Papa Bernie And there must be something about t-ball and grandparental sacrifice - last week, Dean's dad and stepmom drove down from NY to see the boys play....I zoned on the camera for most of it, but did manage to get a sweet pic of the boys with Papa

Thank you grandparents - they are lucky boys!

Alan Jackson's Drive

The way you draw bad cyard

So, they aren't really 'bad' cards ;-) but I was trying to think of a song and had Marley on the brain. I did forget the stats for the back, so they are printing new ones....if you want one, please LMK and they'll be in the mail asap!

Bob Marley's Bad Card

It's Hot Tonite

This was their penultimate (just to see if you're reading) game, and it was H-O-T tonite. We've been spoiled this summer, barely reaching the three-digit days, so I'll stop whining now. Here are some cute boys who miss their Daddy and really stepped up their hitting tonite - yay!




A few random shots from this month's t-ball games ....

Harry, Cody, Jack, Grayson and Zach

Jack thrilled with a recent hit - I love it when they go airborn!

Nothing like team spirit!

Harry still loves the dirt

Grayson, Cody and Jack get a little encouragement from Dean

Alice Cooper

Sweet sayings from the last weeks:

Jack: Mommy, I love you more than the most hungriest number!
Jack: Daddy, I love you as much as your wife!

Harry: We're going to Cowboy Camp today! See you later, buhbye!!

Jack: I'm just having jobs of relaxing today; Saturday and Sunday are for relaxing!

07/28/09 Harry: Mommy, can we put a K in the Garmin so it says Zack's and not Zaches?Jack:Sometimes I just can't my mind off of Layla; she's so much fun to play with!

And someone was building a mini putt

The boys and Grayson decided Sunday was a good day for puting the fun in putting...if only it weren't such a hot day his mom and I would have enjoyed it more ;-)

We wanted to say hi to Daddy on his trip - the lovely flower in my hair is a gift from Jack :wub:

We miss you, babe!

They took a break under this gorgeous old tree

Harry planning our house tour during lunch

Thanx for a fun day, G&N!

Barenaked Ladies' This Is It

Old rodeos and livestock shows

Last week's cowboy camp included lessons on hats, horses and other livestock. On the second day, the kids brought in animals and had a livestock show, including ribbons for 'best in show'.

Harry's pig took best in show for: playing in the mud
And Jack's polar bear took best in show for: sleeping in his nest (nest = the hat, since he learned cowboys use it for sleeping and holding important things)The two of them hamming it up for the camera on picture day - the got to ride a real pony, pix to come home this week I think

They also made these bandanas the first day, using paint stampers. They earned their badges and bandanas by bringing their hats back on the second day.

The third day was the 'gold rush' - they had all yellow things and even went on a treasure hunt for gold nuggets .... I'm too lazy to take a picture at the moment, but they covered tiny rocks and the kids had a great time

I know a few of you are homeschoolers, so if you're interested in their curriculum or projects, just email me :-)

Chris Ledoux's Round And Round She Goes

but don't touch my hat

Monday at Cowboy Camp was all about the HAT...and I remembered having caught lots of shots of the boys with these hats over the years. My friend Jenny taught me how to use Picasa's Collage feature to show a bunch of pix in less space....what do you think?

My friend Lori's son goes to a preschool that offers several camp sessions in the summer; last week the boys joined Tim at Cowboy Camp. This is what they looked like when they were just excited to go...
And this is what they looked like the first afternoon, after learning about how many ways the cowboy could use his hat. They wore them pretty constantly all week :wub:

Our kids are fascinated with hats, something I've forgotten since most of ours are in storage awaiting a new home. Here's an old post with one of my favorite cowboy hat pictures, made into a jigsaw puzzle that you can do (yes, you can load your own photos, sent, post, etc. - have fun!)

OK, it's been a LONG time, I found this in my drafts and didn't want to lose it
07/10/09 Harry: Mommy, when you do your errands, don't take a wrong turn! 07/15/09 Jack:Sometimes I just can't make my imagination calm down and go to sleep!

Lyle Lovett's Don't Touch My Hat

Then I awake....in my bedroll

The boys are in Cowboy Camp this week, and I have to say it's shaping up to be the best summer activity they've done so far. It's stiking just the right balance between cool toys, information, imagination, and just plain fun. They both walked around most of yesterday in 'cowboy mode'....and Jack woke up this morning, tossed his hat on and said "when I get out of bed, I mean, out of my bedroll, I stretch like this!"

He loved this picture because he looked like he was touching the ceiling....the fact that he's stretching all the way to his toes makes me feel a little better about how quickly they are growing ;-)

Yesterday's theme was the cowboy's hat, and today they are focusing on the horse, describing it as the "GPS of the west"....guess who's gonna dig today?!?

Chris Ledoux's Stampede

Are there any more real cowboys in this land?

That's the question to be answered this week ;-) Today was a slow, waiting-for-the-rain day, and the boys watched The Wizard of Oz again, this time with their friend Grayson

I swear Harry's ready for the Flashdance remake ;-)

We went to their friend Spencer's birthday party, which was a lot of fun.

Welcome to the 4's, Spencer!

So, we'll see if this motivation lasts, but it's the first day of lunch packing and I felt a little creative - trying to think of other cowboy-themed shapes.....

Neil Young's Are There Any More Real Cowboys?

it's the weekend go have fun!

It's been a fun weekend so far. Friday was movie nite - Jack's been learning to work the remote control

and Harry's been practicing his dance moves!
Harry's also practicing his phone skills and invited Mrs. C to join us at the farmer's market, which turned into dinner with all our fresh veggies

The boys made these nature mobiles with Mrs. C at the farmer's market

here's a closer view of Harry's

I figured Jack's smile was worth the flash reflection ;-)

Jack loves to make silly faces in the mirror, especially when he's getting ready for some serious flirting

After dinner, it was story time and everyone cuddled up for some books downstairs

Today's filled with errands and Open Houses - hope your weekend is lots of fun!

Rookie Of The Year's The Weekend

Crazy Underwear

Okay, I really picked this picture because I just liked all my boys rocked their shades...then I noticed Harry's red boxerbriefs and remembered this old song from Friends ;-)

We did buy Harry a left-handed glove and are working on getting him into the swing of catching, throwing and batting with his dominant hand....so far, so good - funny how that helps!

Phoebe Buffay

How We Roll

After getting our Chick-A-Wow-Wow on with Alvin, Theodore and Simon this morning, the boys decided to stroll around the pet store for a while....oh, the joy of simple things, eh?

Grayson, Zach, Harry and Jack

We lucked into one of the workers letting the boys meet a pretty bird
Then enjoyed a little lunch and dessert - yum!
Thanx Mrs. C!

Alvin and The Chipmunks

Cranky, cranky, make a pest a pet

All-in-all, it was a very beautiful day - we're working to make some rough moments smooth. Here are the highlights ;-)

I've started giving the boys credit for all the chores they do without complaint - for every ten checks they earn, we'll do a treat like the movies. Jack was a few shy for tomorrow's movie and decided he could wash the dishes (yes, I have an instructional video LOL)
We went to an exotic animal show at the library today - it was cool...

....a close-up, just in case you missed the pest on Jack's arm - it's a tarantula :eww: He actually volunteered, brave little thing! We saw lots of creepy, slimy things - oh, boyjoy!

After swim lessons which went great, I asked who did a good job and got this response ;-)

They had an exceptional day with lessons, a minor miracle given that Harry was very upset about something that happened before the lesson and Jack had his back - I left them both mopey and in tears, only to come back to happy, smiling boys who had learned several new skills and earned ribbons! (Look at those clouds reflected in the van windows)

Tho the pic's not great, that sign to their left shows that they are both well on their way to 4 feet tall - eek!

You can't really see it, but Harry had christened most of his face

Jack lost his scoop, so we shared - you can see his tear and his skinned nose if you look closely

Happy week!

Age of Electric's Cranky