Our neighborhood had a small Fourth of July celebration that included breakfast and a kiddie parade. What a small pleasure!!
Jake (they joined us), Jonathan, and Caleb in the parade
Ready, set, GO!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
In The Neighborhood
It is no mystery that we have some serious love for our previous neighbors. I have posted many times about the lovely people from our little neighborhood in our previous home. It would seem a "pie in the sky" hope to find another lovely neighborhood. It seems that the unlikely did occur. No one can replace Ruth and Keith and company, but it is surely a wonderful thing to have such a homey place to call our own.
Our neighborhood had a small Fourth of July celebration that included breakfast and a kiddie parade. What a small pleasure!!
Our neighborhood had a small Fourth of July celebration that included breakfast and a kiddie parade. What a small pleasure!!
This Makes Two
We had a playground at our previous house that was left by the people from whom we purchased the house. It was unstable, so Jamie and his dad spent a whole day securing it. If you know Jamie... that playground would have survived a hurricane when he was done.
We left that sturdy gem when we sold the house last September. We love to be outside and the house we purchased here didn't have a playground. It is certainly not a necessity, but it is a rather helpful amenity. Enter: construction of playground #2. It seems silly to mention the fact that it was hot since it has been a scorching summer since late June, but it was quite hot. And, the backyard has shade until 9am or so and then after 4pm. No shade in the middle of the day.
The project is complete and the boys love it! Many thanks to Bruce (Jamie's cousin) and Nate (my brother-in-law) for their help!
No photos of Nate helping as it was HOT when he showed up, and I was busy keeping track of the boys.
We left that sturdy gem when we sold the house last September. We love to be outside and the house we purchased here didn't have a playground. It is certainly not a necessity, but it is a rather helpful amenity. Enter: construction of playground #2. It seems silly to mention the fact that it was hot since it has been a scorching summer since late June, but it was quite hot. And, the backyard has shade until 9am or so and then after 4pm. No shade in the middle of the day.
The project is complete and the boys love it! Many thanks to Bruce (Jamie's cousin) and Nate (my brother-in-law) for their help!
No photos of Nate helping as it was HOT when he showed up, and I was busy keeping track of the boys.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Ten Years... Almost
However, we did miss those little gems. We were scheduled to return on a flight that left at 3pm. Instead, we got up at 3am on the day of departure and took a 7am flight home so we could see them. And, it wasn't the mama who initiated that decision. That daddy loves his boys just like this mama does!
Here's to ten more years ~
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Summer Chaos
Busy + Our family = Our summer.
This conclusion is supported by the fact that I just posted pictures from a month ago. It seems as though things have been kind of wild since we moved into this house at the beginning of May. So many things have been delightfully fun, but we seem to be struggling to catch our breath after all of the frantic activity.
Some fun things from the boys that will all too quickly slip my mind:
Caleb:
- "I not a cute boy. I a Calenator."
- "I go to fwimming wessons next year."
- "Jaje, I go wif you!"
- "bwess my gammie and my gampie. They pway wif me."
- Learned how to pedal his tricycle by himself.
- Always holding between two and four hot wheels cars in his hands: when we go to the pool, to the store, to church, in the car, to the park... all of the time.
Jonathan:
- Conversations with him, and between he and Caleb are such a delight! His little brain thinks of the craziest things, sometimes.
- He learned how to swim, really swim, during lessons this year. He went off the diving board without a hesitation and told me that the next time he went off he was going to run and jump off the end. We spent a lot of afternoons at the pool with him jumping off the edge and swimming like a wild man around the pool.
- He also figured out how to pump his legs on the swing in our backyard (photos of the playground project to come) while Jamie and I were on our tenth anniversary trip (photos to come of that, too!). Maybe Grammie and Grampie taught him? Maybe he figured it out?
- He is also a terror on his bike. If possible, he likes to go faster and faster all of the time.
These boys have such a sweet and spicy friendship. Sweet because they play together, watch out for one another, and love each other dearly. Spicy because they can fight like crazy.
This conclusion is supported by the fact that I just posted pictures from a month ago. It seems as though things have been kind of wild since we moved into this house at the beginning of May. So many things have been delightfully fun, but we seem to be struggling to catch our breath after all of the frantic activity.
Some fun things from the boys that will all too quickly slip my mind:
Caleb:
- "I not a cute boy. I a Calenator."
- "I go to fwimming wessons next year."
- "Jaje, I go wif you!"
- "bwess my gammie and my gampie. They pway wif me."
- Learned how to pedal his tricycle by himself.
- Always holding between two and four hot wheels cars in his hands: when we go to the pool, to the store, to church, in the car, to the park... all of the time.
Jonathan:
- Conversations with him, and between he and Caleb are such a delight! His little brain thinks of the craziest things, sometimes.
- He learned how to swim, really swim, during lessons this year. He went off the diving board without a hesitation and told me that the next time he went off he was going to run and jump off the end. We spent a lot of afternoons at the pool with him jumping off the edge and swimming like a wild man around the pool.
- He also figured out how to pump his legs on the swing in our backyard (photos of the playground project to come) while Jamie and I were on our tenth anniversary trip (photos to come of that, too!). Maybe Grammie and Grampie taught him? Maybe he figured it out?
- He is also a terror on his bike. If possible, he likes to go faster and faster all of the time.
These boys have such a sweet and spicy friendship. Sweet because they play together, watch out for one another, and love each other dearly. Spicy because they can fight like crazy.
Parties and Fun
We spent the rest of our trip in Iowa with Jamie's family celebrating Grandma Judy's 70th birthday and all of the Guild cousin birthdays. Grandma Judy was quite surprised by her party, and a great time was had by all...
John Deere
We have a four part DVD collection of "All About John Deere" documentaries. The boys love it. They know all about Johnny Poppers, two cylinder, four cylinder, combines, and so the list goes. It was a special treat to visit Grandpa Joe's (Aunt Amy's father-in-law) farm and ride on his collection of old and new tractors while we were in Iowa!
Daddy and his boys
Sofie and Jonathan
Grandpa Maynard and Caleb
"Grandpa Joe" and Jonathan
Sofie and Caleb
Drew and Jonathan
Sofie, Drew, Jonathan and Caleb
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Family Time
Bruce, Jonathan and Caleb
Uncle Bruce and Caleb
Grampie reading with Jonathan and Caleb
Uncle Bruce came from Minnesota to celebrate his birthday with all of us while we were in Iowa. A bit more activity and excitement than is usually present at his celebrations, I imagine.
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