If a picture paints a thousand words

School pix came home yesterday and today, and tho they aren't the best pix of them, they really are pretty good reflections of their personalities at the moment....except of course that they are ever-changing these days - signs of teen moodiness? I hope not!

Jack - Kindergarten, September 2009
Chilaxin' while he talks with his buddy, Grayson
His 'doh' response to a story Grayson is telling
Harry - Kindergarten, September 2009
(I think my first grade picture had this same expression!)

Multi-tasking while talking on the phone with Grayson this afternoon

The boy is rarely idle, and can he talk - they were on the phone long enough for G's mom and I to have a conversation (on our cells), schedule lunch and solve a few world problems ;-) Again, signs of teen things to come??

Bread's If

You can have the rest of everything WE own 'cause WE have found US a home

We got word tonite that all is set for our new home to become ours on Friday - woohoo!
There are 1000 jobs, big and small, but it's very exciting to build a new home for our little family. Thanx to all of you whose excitement and support have made it even more fun getting this far!

Now, let's hope someone finds them a home in our old one ;-)

JB's I Have Found Me A Home

Anticipation...

These are some fine days. We are getting set to move into our new home, and the yard is just on the verge of changing into her fall wear.....

I could never get their reflections right with the camera, so I'll have to trust my mind's eye :click:

One of my favorite bushes has purpled up its berries

and my view out the window over my sink is turning - this tree will be a beautiful red soon if all this summer's rain is going to pay off prettily
I could spend a few hours in a hammock looking up at this today

Most of the trees look like this - a few pretty colors mixed in with the green that's not quite ready, but there are a lot of cold nites predicted this week

Turn, turn, turn

Enjoy Fall, Y'all!

Carly Simon

Ive been bound to leave you, weve known that for awhile

Just found this post from last year....sure do miss that front porch. If you know anyone interested in a lovely country home, be sure to let us know....

Clint Black's A Bad Goodbye

A cabinet maker's sonS

We are making plans for our new kitchen, and spent most of today with a really helpful lady, mapping out options, looking at more colors and patterns than seem reasonable....the boys did a pretty spectacular job coloring, reading a few books they brought and generally being pretty self-sufficient...of course it helped that Ms. Tina had coloring books, crayons and candy as they became more impatient ;-)

Dan Fogelberg's Leader Of The Band

ABC - Spin Cycle

Antsy girl
Bound for some
Craved
Decompression as
Encouraged by my
Fantastic,
Generous
Husband who has given me these
Incredible and
Joyful
Kids. My
List of
ME would
Not be complete if I
Omitted the wonderful
People whose
Qualities have helped
Really
Shape
The
Unusual
View that I take of the
World. Sending
XOXO's to those of you who have contributed.
Yes, it's good to get back to the
Zone.


Posted as part of Jen's Spin Cycle about Memes - check them out

09/24/09Harry: I miss you, Daddy, but I have to go do my work now!Jack: I got lonely and missed my family when I was over there.
The Jackson Five

Sunday, BUSY Sunday!

These days are pretty full, but Sunday stood out for all the family and festivals we could handle in our sniffly states. It was great to see you Mom, Bernie, Deb and Rick - next time let's do drinks in the shade ;-)

A great big thank you to Uncle Rick for the cool ride while he helped us load up my old office furniture - the first real sign that we're moving - woohoo!

They were actually pretty helpful, tho they couldn't do much about the heat or the weight of all that furniture

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the work, we got to play a bit while we picked up their Blue Ribbons for Reading certificates at a local festival

The boys and Dean in their traditional heading-to-the-fun picture

The boys trying to charm the ladies

Harry and Jack posing with their certs and Jack's teacher

Jack double-fisted - can't get too many treats (unless you check out that expression on his face!)

This was their first solo drive....
...and I'm not sure it was comfortable....

...but they were determined, and OHsoPROUD of themselves!

Harry got caught up in the pits

(ala one of Jack's favorite one-liners from Cars)

Jack's determined face - keep for future comparisons when he's going pro ;-)

And one of the best parts about going out and about is running into friends - Jack and Dylan hamming it up while Harry takes his driving responsibilities very seriouslyAnd this is what a pack-mule mom looks like when a friend catches her snapping shots - it was great to see you, Colleen, even if I look like I'm following Joey's acting advice ;-)

U2's Sunday, Bloody Sunday

To the movies and magic

I woke this morning to some sweet giggles and whispers (yeah, it got louder later, but I'm wearing my rose-colored glasses right now) and opened the door to see what they were doing....then got the camera to capture their 'camera' work....do you think this is how the Cohen Brothers started?

Their first attempts

Little Critters, directed by Harry, Jack as cinematographer

Dinosaur Shark, directed by Jack, Harry as cinematographer

Later, Jack tried to do it all on his own - something about grabbing all those toys and holding the flashlight under his chin reminded me of all these pix of him hoarding toys when he was teeny...I couldn't find them, but I did find this 2 year old multi-tasker who apparently hasn't changed much ;-)
The creative mood continued for breakfast

and then, since the camera was out, they asked to take pix of a recent school project - can you tell which is who?

Brian Wilson's Movies Is Magic

09/19/09 Harry: I'm a good clean up helper! Jack: That looks pretty unterrifying.

Here's Jack's very own unterrifying scary face during our vacation

Back To School

The kids had an early dismissal today, so we got together with a few friends at CEC, ran home to work on Silly Socks, then headed to the Ice Cream Social/Back To School Nite.

After seeing this picture, I promise to stop traumatizing them with the camera ;-)

Harry proudly displaying his journal - they made Stone Soup yesterday...he supplied the onions

Jack showing off his Safari Book

Deftones

I blink my eyes and the momentS ARE over

I'm still debating whether the days passed faster when they were home all day, or now when the moments are more rare but just as precious. They have definitely been hamming it up lately, as seen while they help me do the grocery shopping....

and even the unloading

The other day was just pure relaxation - Jack was practicing up for tomorrow's ice cream social while Harry was studying his new favorite map of the tri-cities.

I'm not sure if it will show up if you use Google Reader, but I finally finished a Pirate Videos post from August and couldn't make it post today....ugh.

09/15/09 Harry: Remember, Mommy, don't EVER eat the urinal cakes! Jack: I love going to school!

John Mellancamp's Just Another Day

Don't watch TV it's all lies!

Jack is our biggest tv fan, and he is getting a lot more savvy about commercials despite being an advertiser's dream...he reminded me the other day that Kaboom could make my job much easier as I was trying to remove a stain :rolleyes:

This may just be Jack's favorite part of moving so far...shopping for tv's

The boys got to play and celebrate their friend Joe's birthday a few weeks ago, and their friend Grayson gave Jack a chance to be a star in his own right. I'm thinking he liked it ;-)

Happy Birthday, Joe - can't wait to be your neighbor!

He's loving school, and his teacher tells us he's a delight. Meeting new friends is still his favorite part of any outing, and he's learning how to negotiate all the new social dynamics. He's a huge help around the house - his enthusiasm makes everything easier and more fun. He's really getting into watching football and racing with Daddy...full of questions and cheering for anyone in red LOL. He still gives me hugs during his nightly pitstop, and loves to tell silly jokes. All in all, it's a great age!



This is the first time I can ever remember him being hoarse...hoping it's just allergies.

American Music Club's Wish The World Away

MEn With All The Toys

I've been trying to have one after-school adventure a week, and this week we decided to take the boys to a 'man store'....wonder if they liked it?!?

Grayson, Harry and Jack trying out the four-wheelers
Checking out some hats while trying to see if they were tall enough to drive the NASCAR simulators...not yet :-(

Grayson, Harry and Jack watching the fish swim - you may be able to see that some of the fish are as big as the boys!

They finally agreed to ham it up for a picture:

Grayson, Jack and Harry...little posers!

Jack and Grayson went 'hunting wabbit'

The glass elevator gave a great view of all toys manly!

We even had dinner there but it was nothing I'd try again - they did end up with cute cups, tho, and tried a yummy slushy. All in all, a fun adventure.

Beach Boys