New Hairdo

(updated with a better picture of Jake. Corbin wanted to stand beside him and did that on his own. He is saying "cheese".)

Jake saw this kid yesterday with a mowhawk and said he wanted one. This other child had shaved sides, but I didnt' do that in case Jake didnt' end up liking it. I wanted a second option to just shave off the top and let it all grow in. He has wierd eyes in this picture, but the only one that turned out to sort of show the mowhawk.

PVC pipes are fun!

One of the kids had this idea, I think it was Jake. He and Corbin and I were in the yard playing, and they do all kinds of things with these pipes. Dirt through them, water through them, and now golf balls. So we made this aray of pipes connected to slide the balls through and into the little pool. It was really fun to do and fun to watch them playing.

money

okay, I try very hard not to live my life ruled by money. Try not to be lulled into thinking that everything wrong can be fixed by money. I try not to keep up with the "Jones's" as the saying goes. But sometimes I get bogged down by it.

I start thinking of all the things I would do for other people if we had the money. I would love to buy everyone a great birthday gift for them every year. I would love to give a gift certificate to a friend for a message or special spa treatment when they are going through a rough time.

I would love to move, not to a gigantic house (unless we won the lottery-ha!), but just to a different house with more land. I would love to have air conditioning that really works. I would love to fix our wall paper that is torn in places, and redecorate our bedroom (the only room in the whole house that hasnt' been touched).

so what got me thinking??? This is how we have to turn on our oven:





Yup, get Ben to take out the drawer, then he does some things underneath, and it runs for a little, then come back to do it again if your dinner needs some more cooking.


Oh yeah, one of the stove knobs fell off and INTO the oven, therefor is cooked beyond recognition (yeah, one of the few times the oven actually cooked something).


Okay, end of thought process, I AM gratefull for all that we DO have and how very lucky we really are. I am glad we have these nuances to keep me grateful for what we are blessed with, especially, each other.

Kyle

Kyle has been wanting to mow the lawn for some time now. Ijust hope that desire remains when he is big enough! Here he is with safety glasses ( and no shoes, that would be Ben) and a weed wacker just his size. He is on cloud nine!











Here is Kyle taking something apart again! He has our old weed wacker, and descovering what makes it work (or not in this case).



































Here is how Kyle reacts to mosquito bites. He has the same skin as my dad and I, and all three of us have horrible mosquito reactions. poor guy!!

baby bird and broken tree

in the same spot as the ladder, we found a baby bird. we got to feed it a couple of worms and that was so neat. Right in this same spot, is where the neighbor kids play a lot.

Found that a large branch from one of our Mulberry trees had been broken off and lie in the neighbor kids play area.......argh!

irritated with neighbor

Okay, this is the neighbor that their kids TOLD dh that they stole a toy from our yard. So, yesterday, this is what we find leaned up to the back of our fence in the easement ..........

Kyle said they were playing in the dirt (him and a few other boys) and that one of the boys threw dirt on his head. WOW! I had to get a picture before washing his face off, poor guy, it was getting into his eyes. Although not the only child to have a dirty face (and body!). :)

Camping 3

Here is Kerc with dd2 and Geofizz with ds.

















Here is a close up of Kerc's dd. Look at those eyes!


















Random shot of us all enjoying the kids in the little pool.
The kids loved it as much as the dirt (considering it was
about 96 degrees!)
















ND's dh, he was always laughing and smiling.


















From left to right: ND, Eksmom, Balancin1, 2babybees, loftmama, Patti in back, Runningmommy in front / green, Geofizz, Kerc

Camping 2

Dirt, bugs, tents, heat, running, and great friends !

This is how we spent our weekend! The "Running Dingos" met at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. I met this wonderful, amazing, inspiring, supportive, group of women over the internet through an attatchment parenting running thread. We decided a few months ago that we wanted to meet in person, picked a date and location, and we were set.

I have been in awe of them online, and now to meet them and their families in person, just more amazed at what beautiful people and families they are. Thank you to each one of you that made the drive (some of them spent days getting there from accross the country) to spend your precious free time with us.

Safe travels home to you and I look forward to our continued friendships!

Kyle and Jake got tool boxes from Santa at Christmas. Corbin, being one, didn't ask for one (need one). Now that he is almost 2 and doing everything his brothers do, he wants a toolbox and tools that go in it.

So, he found this pumpkin himself in the garage, and made it into his toolbox, carrying it around like the other boys were doing yesterday. Kyle shared some of his tools to put in Corbin's tool box too. Way too cute.

The picture of Corbin between the vehicles, is of him watching two kids (teenagers) walking down the side walk. He was up in the yard, then ran down the yard, in between the vehicles to watch what they were doing. It was cute to see him so curious, and carrying his pumpkin/ toolbox. :)

Hope you also had a wonderful, adventure filled day, even in your own yard/house!!

kids workin' in the yard

Thanks Mrs. Marquita!!

Our neighbors, Jim and Marquita are the best!! The are the nicest people we know. We are so lucky for them. So the other day, Marquita gives Kyle and Corbin new t-shirts. All three boys have gotten some before. He is a picture of the cool shirts (and how fitting for Kyle's to have a lizard).

our new pet lizard

all right, he is not real. but he is a lot of fun!! Kyle got him from the library reading program. The lizard is the size of Kyle's hand, then you put it in water, then he keeps growing. I had to put him in three different containers because he kept getting so big. No name for him yet. :)

a broken fan......or is it?

My dad has had this fan for most of my life, if not all of it. For the last four years or so, he has had it in his basement, where he works out, cooling him on his treadmill (yay dad for working out all the time!!). It finally quit working. When Kyle found that out, oh boy, did he want it so that he could take it apart! He loves to take things apart to see how they work, and loves working on things, and LOVES fans!! So we were visiting dad and grandmother on Sunday to drop off a bicycle for his neighbor (who is earning his Eagle scout by finding and fixing up 60 bicycles and donating them, wow! this kid is like 14). Kyle picked up the fan that night, and came home to promptly work on it.

and guess what?? he got it running again!! here are some pictures of his work in progress. The last one is the fan partly cleaned. He is cleaning it from top to bottom then it will reside in his room to be his personal fan. Dad, your fan lives on!!!