PUPPET Lady

The library kicked off their summer reading program last week, and the boys looked for their names before this week's puppet show

Harry, Jack and Asher
They all got settled for the puppet show:
Loren (the only girl among 10 boys from their preschool), Asher, Grayson, Jack and Harry


How can I make him turn around when he gives me one of these?!?

Lyle Lovett's Record Lady

Make it a *cheese*burger

There's been a hearty slice of cheese in our days lately....man, I love these silly boys!























They have been going to VBS at a friend's church, where they got these cool hats and bracelets

Their preschool has summer picnics, where Harry noshed a watermelon

Did I mention the cheese? Even with ice cream

Jack decided he didn't want to waste....

a SINGLE drop.

Then he decided to steal some of mine!

Lyle Lovett's Here I Am

We all scream for ice cream!

Our second attempt at Game Nite happened in the middle of a wonderful summer day, with a

great bunch of friends and a LOT of ice cream!

Everyone but Sam and Hannah and me:

Zachary, Jack, Asher, Kristi, Sarah, Carol, Grayson and Nicole

(Harry was 'taking a break' because of behavior)

Jack and Sam being silly

The lessons on chivalry will begin in earnest tomorrow - I'm thinking he should be the one pushing...

I hope this is the last call we get that starts with ' there was this tree right in our way...'

There's something classic about boys around a car

Sarah found several critters today, including this pretty cool zebra-striped granddaddy longlegs

Does this remind anyone else of Richard Gere presenting that necklace to Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman? I kept expecting him to snap it shut on her hand

Grayson's best Anakin Skywalker impersonation...notice his 'do

Asher and Grayson getting creative with the moonsand

This dragonfly kept trying to join the party - I think it's Helocordulia uhleri (Uhler's Sundragon), female. Behind her is the bush that had those cool iced berries a few months ago - it's just starting to bloom

Harry getting a little training from Dean, and one of my all-time favorites - his first 'shot' at about 3 months old :wub:

I lucked into this optical illusion, which reminded me of the last two pix from this post

The MEn With The BagS

Prompted by Ms. Jenny's crafty Star Wars invite, and the lack of good SW bags when we shopped, the boys decided to make their own gift bags for Carter. This is how they started....

...and this is how they ended. Jack's on the left, and Harry's on the right. Those are my pitiful attempts at Yoda in the center of the bags. I'm not sure you can see it, but Harry drew Carter a "path to 6", featuring his favorite Garmin roads...sweet, silly boy!

dunh dunh dunh dunh da dunh dunh dunh dunh da

The boys have some pretty wonderful friends, including Carter and his mom Jenny, who is one of the most creative party-givers I know! Yesterday was all about Padawan training and filled with more Star Wars fun than you can zap a lightsaber at ;-) Thanx for including us, it was a blast!

The Padawan Master decking out Harry
Padawan Harry poses

Padawan Jack trying out his lightsaber

Jack found a fallen asteroid...

...filled with candy

Harry in full reglia before training commenced

and the youngest Padawan, Brayden

Our friends Zach, Ms. Christina, and Brayden

Jack completing other Padawan training

Harry (that's him heading into the tunnel) completing the obstacle course

Jack, Allison, and Harry playing

(is it just me, or does Harry look like he's a caveman with his club slung over his shoulder?)

Jack, Zach and Harry taking a break

Harry and Jack posing with Darth Vader

(Jack helped me PS this one)

Harry and Jack enjoying pizza and Yoda Soda

After the party, we ran a few errands and the boys took a break on a bench while eating their asteroid snacks and playing with their Jedi activity books

Thanx, Ms. Jenny for a wonderful party!

Happy Birthday, Carter - welcome to the 5's!

my attempt at the Star Wars theme

06/13/09 Harry: That is NOT good! Jack:We don't need it, we just want it!

Every one's a secret nerd

Oh, the joys of reading! Harry has particularly loved this series of books that I had in my work library - he was a fan of Look Inside Your Body first, especially when it was time to PT, then he fell in love with Look Inside The Earth, which is currently on his must-read list .... the coolest thing is that now he can read most of it - yay!

We have about 4 from this series, and I just found 3 more - some of the politics aren't exactly ours, but the boys really enjoy reading the books, especially the spiral-bound ones.



You may remember that Harry loves to find things within things, and he's still into roads, so his attention has been on the names of roads that we pass, practicing with the abbreviations RD, DR, LN, etc. Dr. has thrown him for a loop when it stands for doctor rather than drive, but he really seems to be enjoying learning all the tricks these days. Tonite, Jack was kind enough to share his Nerds with Harry, who promptly informed me that: "if you take the N, and E, and S away, you have the abbreviation for ROAD, Mommy!" (that *is* a capital R)
It's so cool watching his personality, interests and all the past lessons clicking into place :-)

The Ramones' Mama's Boy

I scream, you scream, everybody wants ice cream

The boys alternated naps this week, maybe a change in scenery helped ;-)

Harry sacked out before dinner and the library's Ice Cream Social
Jack, Grayson, and Harry playing with the Elvis lamp before giving us dance lessons (which I could not capture on film, but were HEElarious!) Jack told Grayson that Elvis is his favorite singer!

The library kicked off its summer reading program with an ice cream social complete with balloons and funny face stickers - Harry made a pirate face. I thought this picture was cool because you can see his face thru the balloon

Grayson, Jack and Harry lined up to get their treats

Harry flirted with the server to get some extra sprinkles, and I caught him so I got a sweet smile :wub:

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

This started as a post about brainwashing, then I got distracted by these pix from the last week or so...back to that later. Summer's 'schedule' starts next with with VBS, so we're making today a lazy at-home day....everyone is now fed and lazy....

Jack's boxing tutorial (he's also completely adopted the idea of 'the gun show' and will strike a pose and flex his muscles at random times, just be warned ;-) )

I guess this is his right cross

His footwork still needs a little work, since he'd be on the mat with this stance... guess it's time to start the training ;-)

Harry's reading has taken off lately

(read: his motivation and willingness to show you that he can read!)
He read "Extension Van Parking Only" yesterday and was so proud of himself!

The boy loves him a sign, and it's very exciting to watch :-)

And now for the brainwashing portion of our post...

My husband has been on a 5-year campaign to instill respect and appreciation in our children...it seems to be paying off this week, at least in public and toward me. Jack explained that he likes 'to help my mom because she works so hard for our family, so I like to help her and make it easier.' Some friends watched the boys yesterday so I could get some housework done, and Harry told them I was the best mom :wub: They are in super-secret mode for the next week in terms of daddy, but that post will come in time....

Thank you, sweetie, for laying such a great foundation - and you're welcome, future wives :-)

And reality check, Jack started off the morning by telling me he wants to be cranky all day :rolleyes: and Harry had a thirty minute meltdown....oh, joy!

Nat King Cole