There's This Thing Called Tact...

And then there is Zoey's way of telling Ross that his breath is not so minty-fresh:

"Daddy, it smells like there is a salami in your mouth!"

Hanging on to Summer

We had some of our warmest weather of the summer last week. We took the kids to an outdoor mall in the evening. They played in the fountains and Ross and I listened to the live band. It captured the goodness of summer... I wanted to hang on as long as I could...


I know most are ready for their kids to be back in school, but I am not. I just love not having the schedules and busyness that comes with the school year. I love the warm days and summer nights. Staying up late, being spontaneous to adventures, and just hanging out enjoying each other...

I have to keep it to myself though.

The kids are excited and I am glad for that.

I think part of it is that I am sad to see them getting older! I do have to remember though, that each phase of their life is more enjoyable to me and Ross than the last. Whenever we want to freeze them, and hang on to that moment, they change, and we just fall more in love. It is fun to see them mature and grow, and to have neat conversations which reveal their personalities and their minds. And although what lies ahead is beyond my comprehension, I know it will be sweet as well.

In the meantime, I will be outside... soaking up all possible rays of sunshine...

Extra! Extra!

Check out this link of the kids in a local paper. This was at the park at the beginning of the summer.

Here She Is...

Our Big Second Grader!!

Zoey + Ali = BFF

Zoey and her dog-cousin Ali... best buddies

Boys and Their Toys.... Chopper Update

For those of you interested, it is moving along! At least that is what Ross tells me. And now that his little helper (i.e. Max) has joined the fun, Ross gets to spend even more time in Mantown/The Chopper Room. If I don't get wife points for having that in my house, I don't know what does...

But seriously, Ross has really been having fun with Max lately. They are bonding over it all. Max will spend hours with him down their just chatting away, pretending, and playing with tools.

The two hard at work on either side:


Serious work, they tell me...

Sunsets and Clouds of Love

We are very blessed in the fact that we can watch the sunset from our house or our deck pretty much every night of the year. Although it certainly cannot compete with sunsets over the Pacific that we watched so often in California, it definitely has its place. And we make a point to enjoy it whenever we can. Sometimes, we get some pretty ones, that can't quite be captured on camera, but I try:


And sometimes we get pretty pictures in the clouds... Zoey quickly saw the hearts, can you?

Grandparents Visit

I have been behind on the blogging... When Grandma Bette and Grandpa Bob were here, we were lucky enough to celebrate Grandpa Bob's Birthday!! So we all went out for a nice dinner!
One side of the table...


And the other...

And here is a picture of the group of us, before they headed out:


Thanks for the visit!

When Life Hands You Cucumbers...

Have a Spa Day!!

Our friends have a garden and have shared some great stuff with us (thanks W fam). Well Zoey wanted this crazy cucumber, so they obliged, and she was very proud of it! But, once it was home, I didn't know what to do with it... it wasn't really a good one to just eat, and Zoey wasn't quite ready to toss it...

Enter SPA DAY!! She and I had fun, and rejuvenated!!

Mini Golf

We have been having fun this summer going to a fairly local putt-putt golf course. We went with Grandma Bette and Grandpa Bob while they were visiting.


There is also a big, long slide and some old tractors to play on as well...
Here's Max smiling at the end of the slide.


And the tractors...

funny kid quotes

Just wanted to remember some of these funny things...

Max loves loves loves slapstick humor. Give him a cartoon with a guy falling down, and he is in heaven. He even cracks up over the yellow caution signs they put on floors when there is a spill (check it out, next time you see one, a guy is falling, and that is right up his humor alley). Even when he was just six months old, we would take Zoey sledding at a nearby hill, and he would crack up at the kids who fell!! So, the essence of Max's sense of humor was summed up when he told us the other day, quite matter of factly, of course, "When guys fall, it is so funny!"

I will note... he is very sympathetic though, if someone were to get hurt, he wouldn't laugh.

And for Zoey... We were in a parking lot and a car (something like a Chevy Malibu) drove by with the BIGGEST wheels I have ever seen on a car that size. They were shiny chrome, too and gave the car so much ground clearance that it was ridiculous! Ross told us all to look at the car and Zoey said, "Yeah... that car looks SWEET!"