Fun in the sun...

We had a low-key day today. We knew that today would be one of our last frivolous weekend days for a long while as Kailin starts Cricket School next Saturday and Sunday school next Sunday so our weekend mornings are all spoken for for the foreseeable future. We walked Sugar (who then pooped out for the whole rest of the day), I did the grocery shopping ALONE(shockingly, Kailin was offered the opportunity to go with me and chose to stay home with Daddy and Colby...will wonders never cease?!), the kids had a nap, and then I herded them outside to play in the water table. Steve ran off to do an errand. (Steve says Colby looks a lot older in this picture - I said it's because his hair is pasted down - and his hair is NEVER pasted down!!)

The kids were having a good time and Colby was allowing his sister t repeatedly douse him with freezing cold hose water. That boy is a saint!! I got out the camera and snapped some shots. Anyone who knows me well knows that my photographic forte (or tendency anyway) is the extreme close-up. I took plenty of those with my long lens, but this is my favorite picture of Colby from this afternoon. This expression was just priceless! He later tried to drink from the hose. Kailin told him this was not acceptable and instead filled the back of a plastic dump truck and told him to drink from there. What a loving sister she is....ha!

Kailin was just having the time of her life flinging the hose around (I left it on a slow run to avoid having to traipse over and back again every five minutes to fill the water table). I wished I had the short lens on the camera, though, when she took the hose and delightedly....well.... let's just say that she made the Fleet company proud. Ha ha. Not quite, but it was quite a sight for sure!! She giggled and so did I. I bet it was quite a shock - cold hose water!

I had such a fun time sitting outside with the kids - soaking up the last bits of summer sun. Sure I know that we'll have plenty more warm days before Winter is nipping at our heels, but with classes starting next weekend it feels like the true "free as a bird" summer days are over. I'm not sure why I feel that way, but I do. I was glad to enjoy the time with them today (and then of course we came in to change and make dinner and they both got ornery and I was thrust back into counting the minutes until bedtime. Ha ha ha!), and I'm glad I went back into the house to grab the camera.

A noteworthy day...

Today was noteworthy - little snippets here and there all day long that stuck out to me.

Dakota starts school next week and as I watched him and Kailin sitting on the couch this morning next to each other I thought about how things will never again be quite the same after Thursday. So I snapped the shot to the right to remind me of Kailin's early friendships and of the days when she had a full time playmate and was able to just be a kid all day long. Not that she won't be a kid all day long anymore after Thursday, but she'll have just the Wonder Twins and me for entertainment in the mornings come Tuesday and although I can't seem to articulate it, it'll be different.

I've also been thinking a lot about the relationship that has formed between the Wonder Twins. They don't have the social skills that the older two have, yet they can be so tender with each other (see picture) and then other times...not so much. One thing you can usually bet on, though - where you find one, you will find the other! Colby does not play on the stairs, but Dawson does - so if Dawson is on the stairs, you can bet Colby will be right behind him. Dawson doesn't play in the cupboards (or the dog bowl) but if Colby does, you can be sure Dawson will be right there with him. If Dawson wears one sock, so does Colby. I'm going to be curious to watch their friendship blossom as they get older. Now if I could just get them to stop sharing cups....

Kailin was singing today and the song went like this...."It's raining, it's pouring....the old man didn't get up til the next day...." I thought it was cute. Steve informs me that this evening's version was "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man bumped his head and he wouldn't wake up...." There's also a racy version of Ring Around the Rosey that goes like this, "Ring around the rosey, *sses, *sses, we all fall down!" Hmmmm... hope that one doesn't last too long! ha ha ha.

She was also trying to convince me that a Jack in the Box was actually a weasel which tells me that she doesn't get the difference between the name of the item and the song it plays - but it's darn cute! She wanted to play a pretend game this afternoon and I was amused that it turned out to be exactly like her Cariboo game except that it was called "hugs" (but didn't involve any) and she advertised it as "hugs" and was almost angry when I didn't know what to do to play it. It got quite intricate with her telling me which "stack" of cards was the old one and which one I should be drawing from. That girl's got some imagination!

Well....I had finally had enough of the "wings" over Colby's ears and got out the clippers. I think he is adorable with his new, short haircut. He wasn't too sure at the outset, but then decided it felt okay and giggled through most of the haircut. I know the "before picture" isn't as clear as I'd like, but his fuzz was getting long. It needed to go. Yet it felt a little weird to throw it out after we were done.

In news for me, I've decided to make a little business out of designing the invitations, announcements, and thank yous I've been doing for my own family. Some of the graphics designers who have been so nice to allow me to use their graphics have asked for copies of what I make. I'm happy to say that one of the designers I sent one of my invitations to gave me some very positive feedback and is planning to use my design for her own sister's baby shower! I was very flattered! I'm still undecided as to whether or not I'll put up a blog with my stuff on it or just go word of mouth, but I'm excited to be doing something I enjoy and hopefully making a little extra money doing it!

If the shoe were on the other foot...

That would be just fine for Colby! The boy is INFATUATED with shoes right now!

I've had to box up our normal pile of shoes near the front door. Although it doesn't bother me in the least to have him don a pair (mismatched or otherwise) and tramp around the house, he comes UNGLUED when they fall off his feet. Given that almost to a pair they are at minimum several sizes too large for him - that happens quite a bit. We're not talking about an average, run of the mill, frustration tantrum. We're talking about a golly-whopper, put out, put upon, the world is ending RIGHT NOW tantrum over it EVERY TIME!!!

Anyway, it is hysterical to watch him carefully put on Steve's hikers - which are nearly knee boots on him - and clomp around the house with a Cheshire grin on his face. His true favorites are Kailin's pink glitter shoes, although I have yet to capture that on film (oh, but trust me, I will!!). He'll wear any shoe, any size, on any foot. Friday morning he put Kailin's old, lime green Mary Jane Crocs on. He had them on the wrong feet, but they fit well enough that he kept them on for quite some time. Kailin declared that they matched his outfit (they did indeed) and that he should wear them all day long. I thought better of it and had him change before we went out. ha ha.

His speech is really coming along. Doggy is now pretty clear as is Daddy. He's working on Bear, and seems to be calling Kailin, "K K". We think we heard "thirsty" earlier today. He's making a lot of syllables - even if they don't coordinate with the right ones and he's starting to mimic a little. I'm sure it won't be long now and I'll be wondering why I was so anxious for him to talk!

Smooth sailing....

I'm sure I'm the only one who does this.... but I get really annoyed with shaving my legs in the summer. (I'm sure I'm NOT the only one with that opinion, though!!) I get so annoyed, in fact, that I find myself assessing the probability that someone will NOTICE my unshaven legs on any given day before deciding whether or not to go ahead and shave them. Then inevitably the day comes when I can either stand it no more or I determine that the probability of someone noticing is in fact GREAT and I do the deed. More often than not, I then spend the rest of the day wondering why I don't do it more often as it is sort of freeing to have the freshly shaven (which spell check has just informed me is not in fact a word - but I'm leaving it. Shaved just doesn't sound right) legs. Maybe it's only freeing BECAUSE I let it go so long. Now there's a thought!!

I have similar feelings about unloading my dishwasher. I've determined that it only takes me about 5 minutes (or less) to empty it and I very much enjoy the feeling of having a clean kitchen counter. Yet I'm compelled to procrastinate every single time. Another unsolved mystery of my life -- and don't get me started on what happens when the dryer is full of the last load of clean (and dry) clothes....

Perfect, perfect today...

I was blanching, slicing, sugaring, and freezing the very last of the second batch of the peachy, peachy goodness the other day. I was thinking about how the fruit never tastes the same when you get it out of the freezer. You have to put sugar on it (even if it's just a little bit) before freezing it unless you can it (which involves cooking it) or use dry ice (which involves a lot more money than I'm willing to spend at the moment). That changes the flavor and no matter how you preserve it, the texture is never quite the same. At first thinking about it made me a little sad - that it will be a whole year before I have peaches exactly this good again.

And then I realized that there was a greater lesson for me to learn. My peaches and strawberries were like days. They're perfect TODAY. Just as they are. No matter how good I make my memories, they can never make tomorrow (or next week or ten years from now) be just like today. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the peaches made me decide to put greater focus on enjoying each of life's moments in the here and now. Maybe be a little more care free with my kids and maybe spend less of the day worrying about bills or meal planning or plans for tomorrow. Whether or not I'll be able to implement my plans has yet to be seen, but I figure that thinking about it has got to be the first step.

Mr. Potato Head

Steve calls Colby "Potato Boy" or "Spud" a lot. I'm not sure why. I inquired. He's not sure why, either. It makes me laugh.

The real reason for this post, though, is to document that Colby is learning the parts of the body. He got belly button quite awhile ago and then feet (because he loves to play the "stinky feet" game). Now he's added ears, eyes, nose, and mouth to his list of accomplishments. It made me think of Mr. Potato Head and voila.... a post was born!

Larger than most

I had both kids in for well-checks yesterday.

At 3 years old, Kailin weighs in at 33lbs and 39" tall. Colby is up to 27.5lbs and 33 1/2" tall at 18 mos. They're both at 75% for height and weight. I find it interesting (although I guess not surprising given God's plan) that we would end up with not one, but two taller than average Asian kids!

Maybe I won't always be the Jolly Green Giant in our family! ha ha ha.

I thought I would share the portraits we had done last month. Kailin was, of course, sporting a lovely scratch across her forehead.