Mine on Monday

Just one from last week. I was trying to scout out locations and keep coming back to this old building in an area near me. It's the same one that produced these two favorites HERE. On the back side of the building, I noticed this great green door up on a stoop. With the promise of candy, I took my willing subject to get a few pictures. What I failed to remember is that this place kind of creeps me out. As I was shooting, I kept one nervous eye on the lookout for anything or anyone that might be lurking around. I saw some graffiti and a few old mattresses through one of the windows, and that equals something I don't really want to know about. I think my imagination got the best of me because about 2 minutes into this "session" the wind blew, I heard a door creak and in about 3 seconds flat I grabbed the kid under my arm, threw him in the car and high tailed it out of there. I'm sure if anyone was watching this whole scene, they would have laughed their heads off. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life. After I got down the street a bit, I stopped to buckle him in the car seat and make sure I still had the camera with me :)

I'd like to saw it was worth it, but I was pretty scared. I don't think I'll be going back again! Fortunately I have another favorite to add to my collection.

Labor Day weekend

I'm kind of going a little out of order here, but I wanted to get pictures of their first day of school up while it was still relevant :)

Aunt K came to visit us over the labor day weekend and we had a great time. On Sunday, we rented a pontoon boat and spent all day out on the lake. It was heavenly! The weather couldn't have been more perfect (even a little chilly at the start) and we couldn't have asked for a better day.

We spent the first hour or so cruising around. Daddy even let his little helpers drive the boat.

After cruising around for a bit, we "beached" the boat on a little cove for the afternoon. Miss C had a great time splashing around the water and Little J was comfortable spending the time building sand castles on the shore. After lunch, we cruised around a little more and then anchored the boat in the water so Goomps could fish for a little bit. Miss C and Little J spent that time jumping off the boat and swimming to the ladder.....they loved it. I was surprised that they did it, considering we weren't in the water "catching" them. I think swimming lessons this summer have really paid off. They seem to be a lot more confident in the water.

First day of school

The kids had their first days of preschool last week and all-in-all, it was pretty successful. Miss C started on Tuesday and had a great first week. There was one little snafu (according to her). From what I understand, they were making a picture and at the bottom was the sentence, "Today was my first day at TK. I felt ________.". She tried to put "happy" in the blank. She got H-A-P and then couldn't figure out the rest. I guess the teacher pushed her to sound it out and she got pretty frustrated. So on the way home that day, she wanted me to help her spell it over and over again until she memorized it. I guess she wants to make sure she never has trouble spelling happy again!

Beyond that little wrinkle, she loves it. There are about 10 or 11 kids in her class and several of them she knows from last year. I think it's going to be a great year!

Little J went on Wednesday and had a good first day too. When I dropped him off, he was a little confused as to why Miss C wasn't going with him. She's at the same school, but doesn't start until 9:15 (he's at 9) and she's in a different "classroom". He didn't get upset or anything, but I think he really wanted her to be with him. After I pulled around, he forgot all about us and had a great time playing with his new friends. When I picked him up that afternoon, the only thing he had to say was, "the green shirt squirted me with the water." I guess they will filling up the water table for recess and a little boy wearing a green shirt turned the hose to Little J and drenched him. I'm sure that went over well, you know, because he's such a relaxed little boy and loves having his clothes wet (ha!). But he must of recovered quickly because when I got there, he was playing in the water table, drenched clothes and all.

This week they both go for the full week and I'm excited to get into a routine. Little J will go MWF and Miss C will go M-Th. So I'll have some individual time with each of them and I'll even get 2 days alone!

Happy belated birthday to me

So my birthday was last Tuesday.....kind of a quiet day. At my age, you kind of hope your birthday just slips by without anyone noticing. For the record, I'd like to freeze my age right here. I kind of like being in my 30's. A lot more confident than I was in my 20's and I feel like I've kind of come into my own over the past few years. Kind of a nice place to be if you ask me. Plus, I'd like to freeze time now because I don't want my kiddos to get any older. It scares me how fast time is flying. In the blink of an eye, they aren't babies anymore and I'm almost in my mid-30's. How did that happen?!

Field of flowers

So a friend tipped me off to this patch of sun flowers last summer. By the time I got my act together to get the kids out there, the sunflowers were well past their peak. I totally forgot about them this year until I happened to need to go to my friends house to pick something up. On the way home from her house, I drove past the patch for the first time in months. Low and behold, the sunflowers were back! They were *almost* past their peak again, but I managed to get my stuff together and convince C to get out there and pose for me. When I got home that evening, I was a little bummed because most of the shots were slightly out of focus. See, I guess I was a little nervous about trespassing and being on the side of a busy road, that I quickly took some shots and didn't really watch what I was doing. I loved the way they turned out, but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind (ps-that's another 30 year old dress).

A week later, I decided to take C back out and try again. She was a little resistant at first (i.e. she was holding out until I promised lollipops and various other candies) but finally agreed. When we went back, the sunflowers were not looking as good, but I got what I wanted. Mental note for next year, think about this towards the end of July when the flowers are at their best. These pictures were taken two nights ago and I'm sure if I drove by the patch today, the sunflowers would be wilted over and not worth photographing.

This makes me smile

I just love this little kid :)

Call it mommy goggles, but he's just so stinkin' cute and he makes me smile.

Look who

can tie their shoe! Miss C finally figured out how to tie her shoe this week! We were getting hung up on how to make it work after doing the "bunny ears". For some reason, her little fingers just couldn't get those bunny ears to work right. We'll after trying and trying and trying this past week, she finally figured it out (I told her to cross the bunny ears and make a mickey mouse face--so the hole would be big enough to put the ears though. Sounds hokey, but it worked). She even tied her own shoes this morning as she was getting ready for camp (I of course had to double knot them). Who is this big girl?! I mean, first no training wheels, then swimming on her own, and now tying her own shoes. Next thing I know she'll be off to college :)

Lot's of stuff going on around here between swimming lessons, daily dance recitals, camps, etc. I'll try to get it all blogged soon. For now, the shoe tying pics. She wouldn't let me take video of it, so this is all I got.