The little prince of all that you survey

Harry has been all work today - one of his homework assignments was to count certain items in our home and graph the results. Anything to borrow the lapdesk they gave me recently ;-)
He also brought home his first-ever text book today - he read his first story and will take a test on it Friday. He was so proud of his book, his backpack finally weighs something, and Jack is totally jealous of Harry having a real book!

Olivia Newton-John's Lullaby

Are you ready for me? Cause I'm ready for you

Jack's really enjoying soccer this season, and living in a small town means that most games are played against a lot of friends....Saturday saw him pitted against his pals Dylan
and Aiden - I just realized they have the same number and liked the looks of this picture

of them running this one gives me hope for football drills one day ;-)

I got side-tracked by talking during much of Harry's game, but he did actually enjoy it quite a bit and did ok until the first break....it's coming along, but that competitive drive has not kicked in yet.

And occasionally they will look at me at the same time. It makes a mom's heart smile!

Disciple's Game On

It was just an old plywood DINOSAUR AND CAR

I'll admit it, we're slackers...the boys' Aunt Jackie brought them these wooden projects the last time she babysat (August?). The boys and Dean finally got a chance to put them together one lazy Sunday
and Harry's added some of his favorite details - still working on the Mustang logo, but he's got the back wiper blade going!

Thanx for making some happy boys, JJ!

Alan Jackson's Drive

On a piece of paper I can show it to you

A great big THANX to Harry's coach for going the extra mile to use Harry's love of maps and drawing to make the game of soccer a bit clearer....the boys had a great time kicking the ball around the "field" :-)

Bare Naked Ladies' Drawing

There are no fish left in the streams

The boys finally had their uniforms ready for tonite's Minnow Races. They were a little bit excited, starting with Harry modeling his duds.
They have been practicing their salute, motto, handshake and other scouting tricks for their first badges

We grabbed a pizza and met another cub and his family. Harry had a great time working on his latest PuzzleMania

After a brief awards ceremony to pass out summer and initial fall awards, the boys got down to racing their fish. Harry and his old bud, David, both had fast fish!

Jack won a few and lost a few. His attempt to bend his straw to box the minnow in didn't work very well, but he had a great time, anyway.

He also tried approaching it from high but could not make that fish GO

They got to bring them home, and we'll see how long they survive

Harry telling his Daddy all about the nite's adventures :-)

Eyes Adrift's Slow Race

Cause we all have a little more homework to do

Jack has been in an industrious mood of late. We've had a Halloween party most years that they can remember but opted out last year since we were planning the move. They are both thrilled with the possibility of partying this year, want to invite everyone they know, etc. Jack has been planning the contests we will have for months. Yesterday, he started making certificates :-)
So far: the scariest costumer, the best witch's scream, and the silliest costume

And the real classwork and homework have kicked in....I thought this one was funny because he has been a cleaning machine of late.

Here is our eldest, all proud of himself for doing his wordstudy and homework and a little extra that wasn't required (and, yes, he's using a Christmas pencil....and yes, he's been working on his list!)

Harry also jumped into his wordstudy homework, used an organizing trick that his teacher taught him in class and had fun writing his words of the week in his agenda.

A Little More Homework, from 13, The Musical

And frame my life into before and after

I took pix yesterday with two different cameras and forgot these shots - Harry getting ready for his first uniformed game, and Dean and the boys playing their favorite scratcher lottery at our recent traditional after-game lunch. It has been a really fun weekend, and we are so blessed!

Carrie Newcomer's Before And After

The children of the summer's end

We took our annual trip to an old-time county fair today, and the day was wonderful - we were able to leave just about the time that everyone was headed toward overload, and I even got to go to a friend's afternoon party (thanx, Crystal, and all your fun friends). I included links for comparisons from the last two years -
Something magical about a ferris wheel....this really is a sweet event, and we started the day with a birds-eye view

Those are our big boys carrying up their own mats, Jack a few steps ahead of Harry

Jack wanted to ride solo again this year, but Harry wanted his favorite co-pilot along....

there was a lot of debate about who hit who the most

Harry got to ride in a pseudo-vw, his previous favorite ride!

Then he got his biker on!

There are some comparison shots from two years ago where the handlebars are about at their shoulders....wow, they really are growing!

They got to do some planting, and we'll see how well we can keep the pansies alive and get the dandelions planted in time for spring

Boys love firetrucks!

This is Harry's favorite car of late, forget the original love for VW's and the later love for Hummers....the boys loves him American muscle cars at the moment!

They won a few prizes, and Jack was even generous enough to let Harry pick a prize after Jack won the water race twice. Thanx, big brother!

And there's the Jack with his Daddy after all the fun was had!

Here is the post from last year's festival, and the one from two years ago

David Bowie's Memories of a Free Festival

Among the fields of SOCCER

Game 2...with uniforms - Harry's team is the Cobras, and Jack's is the Purple Dragons....both teams did well and both boys said they had fun.
Harry was a little off today, but told his coach how much fun he was having.

They played a team with a whole lot of friends, and somehow the parents ended up doing the tunnel again....do they ever get too old for this??

After Harry's game, the boys kicked the ball around a bit....

Jack had a great game, scoring his first two goals of the season and helping his team a lot. They all worked really well together, and the team they played was also organized and having fun!Hydration is important, and the boy likes to ham it up ;-)

Telling stories with his long-time friend Darius

Harry wasn't very interested in much today beyond his Puzzle Mania book and drawings

Dean will be really proud of that follow-thru...how long before basketball season starts??

They love 'em some TALL PANTS...silly boy!

Our two sons

At some point, I told Jack he needed to do to himself anything he did to Harry...guess who ended up with the worst marker on this face?? I took a cute video but think this pic tells the story

Sting's Fields Of Gold