Sweet Honey of a Summer

Brian & the boys (minus Paul) got home from DC where they were helping Lauren & Ryan move. Not all of the Cheez-Its from the car ride were eaten & they became our afternoon snack. I came into the kitchen & what did I find? Paul up on the counter, dipping Cheez-Its into a bowl of honey. He thought that was quite tasty!

I'm glad everything got moved in. It would have been fun seeing everyone, but I'm glad at least half of us got to go and help. And thanks for not telling me about the bump on James' head until after he got home.

We are looking forward to a full week of school, with all the associated homework. As a recap of summer and a hope that summer will again return, I wanted to do a quick list of some of the things we did:

We dutch ovened:

We gardened:

We watched movies:

We swam:

We canoeed:

We camped:

Summer, we welcome you in 10 months. Give us a year to grow up--but not too much.

Kick...Ball

Paul knows a good many words. Actually, Paul can copy a good many words. There are only a handful which truly make up his vocabulary. "Again" is one, plus "mom," "dad," and the siblings. "Bus" is making its may up to the top as well. But by far, Paul's favorite two words are "kick" and "ball." Usually together & in that order. This phrase is heard over and over in our house & yard, anywhere he sees a ball, and, I'm sure, in his dreams.

This phrase, has many purposes. Sometimes it's his rallying war cry. Like Boromir's horn, he shouts "kick...ball!", calling all to join him in the fight. Yesterday we had an errand at Target. Does your Target have big red concrete balls in the front sidewalk? Our does. Crossing the parking lot Paul glimpsed one. Summoning all his strength he ran as fast as his legs could go across the lot. "Kick...ball!!" Luckily he hasn't perfected his kicking aim. Others have kicked concrete and not lived to tell the story.

Other times it's a warning. Get out of the way because I'm going to "kick...ball"! You better duck because somewhere a ball is getting kicked. And don't watch out just for the giant size soccer ball that can only roll to you, look sharp for a golf ball to the head.

Mostly it's a pleading question. Will you "kick...ball" to me? Or, can I "kick...ball" to you? And especially, can I have the ball in the middle of the huge bin at Target to "kick...ball" down the aisle? I admit, it's a little hard to resist the puppy dog eyes, and harder to stop him from pulling me out the door to play. At the pool, I end up fetching the ball out of the water just so he can throw it back in.

I have a feeling some type of ball sport is in store for this little guy. Balls of the world, you've been warned.

Back to the Bus

Roaring up the hill, the yellow school bus officially declared our summer is over. Of course, there are no complaints from the kids in our house--so far.


Scot is ecstatic to begin 6th grade. He is looking forward to a locker & being the oldest in the school. I can tell he's ready to begin because he's been watching NOVA clips on pbs.org for the last few days. He's fascinated with fractals & the idea that chimps use tools to get their food.




James will be in 4th grade. Last night we played "Upwords" for FHE (a variation of Scrabble). While he did not win, he made an incredible come back with some awesome word combinations. Can you get "remodel" from "yokel"? We had a fun time & it was reassuring that all our minds had not gone to mush.



Maggie is now a 1st grader. We took her supplies yesterday during the open house. We saw her new desk & who she sits by. She took a piece of paper & pencil to draw a map of the classroom. Her favorite thing in the room was the seashell calendar at the front blackboard, which she drew completely before we left.


As we took pictures this morning, I asked what their favorite activities were this summer. Their answers:

Scot--having Paul move into the boys room & getting his bike fixed
James--no homework
Maggie--camping
Amy--having help cleaning her room-- "it was really hard"
Paul--doing things "again...again...again"

We have done a lot of fun things. Swimming, camping, hiking, gardening, reading. Cleaning, lawn mowing, gardening, preserving, gardening, edging, gardening...ok, so it all wasn't fun. But we got a lot done!

The One That Got Away

All the rain these last couple weeks has given me the necessary excuse of avoiding the garden. Unfortunately, besides not weeding & watering, I also did not look closely for zucchini. This one takes the prize for the biggest one yet. Brian made this deal with the kids: whoever could eat just one zucchini by themselves wouldn't have to eat any more for the rest of the season. Then he showed them which zucchini they'd have to eat. No takers, but they are all very excited to turn this one into zucchini bread--and lots of it.

Birthday Delights

We celebrated Brian's birthday with a backyard bbq with friends. The Ritzmans and our fun neighbor family came over to enjoy playing in the backyard and some good grilling by Brian.

The end result was cuban-style grilled pork chops and new potatoes from the garden.

We had planned to play with Paul's new birthday toy, an animal water park, but the timing wasn't right. We waited an extra couple days to have a hot summer day. Unfortunate for Paul, he was taking a nap when we tried it out. Hey--we were just working the kinks out for him. :)


It's so fun to celebrate close birthdays. We sent out best wishes to Grandma Charlotte by splashing in the new wading pool!


The best tribute to our country's birthday were our cleomes (or spider plant). They were in full bloom and really seemed to be exploding on the 4th of July.Even though it was a rainy day we got to enjoy the best amateur firework show ever. The neighbors up the street put on an incredible show. It reminded me of blowing up old tin cans on the porch in McCall with my dad--not quite the same caliber, of course, but definitely that same spirit of celebration!

Make a Wish...

Forgot to post this video of Paul blowing out the candles. By the 2nd candle Paul was out of breath and Scot ended up blowing from behind him (so as not to hurt his feelings that he wasn't kid enough to get them both).

All Smiles

The reason for the last post about the shoes was, of course, because Paul got some really cool new shoes for his birthday. Can you believe my little guy who could never get a drink without clinking his front teeth on the glass now skids around corners like he's a Mariocart classic roadster? Those new shoes are going to get a run for their money!

In honor of his never ending smile, pleasant "OK"s, and gracious "thank you"s, Paul got to blow two candles out of a smiley face cake (which Scot made).

Paul surrounded by presents. Yes, they are all in white paper--but the girls colored the outsides to make each unique.

Happy Birthday!!