The ghouls all came from their humble abodes

The boys' school had their annual Halloween party tonite - somehow the one week always does us in, but we got close on Harry's costume and finished Jack's...with a few minutes to spare!

this is about 1/3 of the cars that were decorated with tricks and treats.

Harry decided he wanted to go as a shopping mall this year, and at the last minute we thought of the mall cop additions. He was bummed that we didn't finish the top floor fountain, but it will happen....

At some point, he decided to have fun

I got a lot of shots from the back, so it's good they were finished - Dean made Jack that cool guitar from an axe, and Harry will finish off his parking deck with a ramp up his right sleeve. Luckily, they have about 4 more opportunities to don their duds.

They look like giants in this picture!

Happy Boo To You!

Bobby "Boris" Picket's Monster Mash

I'm on a roll

Jack was sure the minute the assignment was made that he wanted to do penguins for his habitat project...the first big project/presentation of second grade. He read a gazillion books, researched on the internet and learned a lot....then he got to work....


Proudly displaying his finished project and report - now, if he can just stop laughing while he tries to read it....sometimes the boy can be super shy!

Highlighting the coolest thing he learned - there is actually a group of penguins that live in the coastal forest near New Zealand, the yellow-eyed penguin (can you see his art work??) is the rarest penguin of all, and typically lays two eggs at a time - twins!

Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby

Take Me To The River

Harry has been working on his first major project/presentation for second grade for about a week now. He's studied water features and landscaping books for months now, so he was excited to finally get to do it 'for real!'

He decided to do a largemouth bass habitat, and it started something like this....

....and ended like this, one proud boy! Practicing his presentation - showing the bass eating a smaller sunfish 1/2 its length
He brought all his favorites together with his path to the fishing dock

All the details with the case open - spawning grounds with papa to guard it, sunken log for protection, movable bass catching sunfish, and fisherman up top

Big Mouth Billy sings

Draw Me A Map - random stuff

The boys had assignments in each of their classes to draw a map of their bedroom....funny how the same room can look so different - Harry's is on top and very proportionally correct...Jack's is on bottom and more of a perspective thing...he was focused on toys and the books left on the floor ;-)



During Jack's conference, he was helping the teacher by passing out his class's KidPins - his teacher thought of this and says it's really helped streamline choices. The students just mark their choices for things like lunch .... trying to figure out how we can use it at home to reduce chaos here as well ;-)

They both attended their friend's birthday party last weekend, and Jack couldn't wait for her to have a chance in the Ticket Blaster....he also used his map-making legend skills to explain the picture to her

I found this book while volunteering at the library - picked it up because it was an author they've enjoyed in the past, but it turned out to be one of the truest things Jack has ever read...right down to the alfalfa hair

Dierks Bentley

The vista I see now is changing

It was a busy weekend, but a good one. The boys played with a lot of old toys in new ways, and Jack was full of imagination, and this was his favorite creation: Long Arm Guy
While volunteering in the library last week, I found out that Harry has been going with his friends who have trouble reading the AR quizzes and reading the questions/answers to them. What a good little helper he's being for his teacher and classmates :-) He hasn't taken any this year, but I just spent an hour listening to him read this book for an Accelerated Reader quiz tomorrow. It was a crazy long book, almost 40 pages, and still worth only .5 points. Who knows what will be on the quiz, how he'll do, or whether the librarian will think we're crazy for letting him try a 4th grade book, but....it's the most motivated I've ever seen him. I learned a lot and he was able to answer all the comprehension questions I asked him...except when he was joking around :rolleyes: He insisted on reading the entire thing in one sitting, so best of luck in the morning, little man!

Jack is reading this "In the wild" series, and this is the dolphin version. They are early 3rd grade, about 25 pages, and also worth .5 points. The librarian gives them a party at the end of each month if they earn a total of at least 3 points.

It's hard to believe how life has changed in the last couple of years - hang on, cause I doubt it will slow!

REM's Accelerate

But singing works just fine for me

Is there anything better than a rainy day forecast that is wrong? Especially in Spring?!This is that beautiful, overgown, tree that always heralds Spring at our old house...there are even a few tulips blooming, and I saw the first hostas poking their shoots out from under the leaves this morning. Something about digging in dirt just rights all sorts of things!

It's been a creative time around here - both boys are making up songs constantly, some of which are better than others ;-) This is Harry's roll-up keyboard that he bought with some birthday money - he's picking out tunes and putting his good ear to use.

Jack has also been building lots of lego creations with Dean. This was his first complelty solo attempt at one with more than 4 pages of instructions, and he was so proud to finishi it all by himself!

Our house is a series of projects in process - every surface is covered with a half-read book, portions of lego sets, stacks of drawings, etc. It feels good....well, except for my stack of half-sewn mending and half-changed-over winter/summer clothes...all in good time - there are some plants that need attention on this bright sunny day.

A great big Thank You goes out to all the people who work hard to make others' lives easier, better, healthier and safer.

James Taylor's Sweet Baby James

You know how children can grow

The boys' friend Summit is having a rockin' birthday party tomorrow, and he's asked that his friends bring homemade cards in lieu of gifts - Harry's been on a card-making kick lately, so he is quite jazzed. He was describing his card to me this morning when I realized I could make a movie of it.....very few random a's thrown in there but you get a whole lotta Southern accent, stringing the story out to glory in his spotlight, a couple of sneezes and a sweet thank you for your trouble.

Warning: Jack says it's too long and boring...then again, he hasn't started making his card yet ;-)

Elvis Costello's Tears At The Birthday Party

I am woman, hear me roar (randomly)

Keely does this cool random thing - go on over and check it out!

I *think* it's still Tuesday, and I've been feeling pretty random lately, so here goes:

Global warming? Pshaw! We have snow on the ground, snow on the dirt road to our old house, and our old deck is still covered...they say the end is near, we'll see. I'm still holding onto my Snow Dance shoes for Monday ;-)

I wonder how many secrets are told right out in the open....I was walking thru the gym the other day and learned that this guy's wife doesn't like morning sex.

Random pix

The post song is because this is how our afternoon was spent...playing, decorating and looking forward to Heart Day. The boys finally decorated their valentine mailboxes....I say finally because I bought the stuff either last year or maybe the year before. Great to stretch it out, eh?

Anyway, Jack made hearts of our family....guess who's 'holding us all up' and 'super strong'? Getting back to the gym is a good thing ;-)

This is how long D&I have been married. My friend Carol bought us the first White House ornament the year we got married. I think I'm going to give them their own tree next year because they're beautiful and get lost amid all the old construction paper, yarn and glue. Thanx for over a decade, D!
This is how much Jack loves the SofL - he's had this love for many years, and I really want to get him to NYC asap so he can see the real deal

Harry played mailbox Santa, delivering goodies to our neighbors .... I loved the shadows and how careful he's being

Jack hamming it up before his sleep over last week

See this....

...become this...and all sorts of other designs. Jack was most proud of this one because it wasn't one of the pictures....he's all about the creativity these days.

Harry cheesing it up after writing Jack a sweet note a couple weeks ago

Practicing his Grinchy pout before the big man came to visit

eyebrows and eyelashes galore

...times two

I found these pretty shots of the snow and candles in the window

Happy Tuesday!

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

And so began my love affair with water

The boys have had a great week at their preschool's VBS - they got to move up to the kindergarten groups and did all sorts of cool crafts, including these cute picture 'frames' and prayer rocks:

I helped the preschool teacher for three days, gaining a whole new level of respect - it's exhausting but fun!

Yesterday, Asher hosted our weekly Game Day and the boys ended up outside with a hose and a bunch of PVC pipe that they used to create all sorts of fun stuff. They all ended up thoroughly soaked and happy - Thanx for having us over, friends!

Brad Paisley's Water