Little Minds

A collection of a few cool quotes and ideas the kids have about life:

Garett was teaching Tate about who our "ancestors" were. "You know, Tate, our ancestors like Momo" (his grandmother).

Tate was teaching Garett about where bacon comes from, "Basically, Garett, the pig is all bacon except for the eyeballs and the boogers."

We were driving by Sikorsky, which is a plant that builds helicopters- namely the President's helicopter "Marine One". Garett yells out, "Hey Mom, that's where they built George Washington's helicopter!"

Tate was trying to make a canal at the beach and figured out how to do it, he said, "Garett, guess what- I might accidentally be a genius!"

The kids are very into giving and revoking "Permanent" membership into their clubs. For instance, Garett will give Tate "permanent membership" into his club and then Tate will bug him and Garett will tell him he is not allowed to have "permanent membership".

Little Mozarts

Monday, August 28th- Our kids rediscovered the beauty of pot and pan music. It was a beautiful harmony.

Tinkertoy Playdate

Everyone was proud of their inventions when we got together to play for once last time. The Wilkey kids- Shawn, Cara and Ryan.

August 23rd- Garett wiped out after a full day at the beach.

The Oyster Festival

Milford held their annual Oyster Festival on Saturday. Who minds crowds, overpriced food and rickety carnival rides when your kids are tired and hot and don't want to walk? Okay- we minded a little. So, when some stuffed character hands out free musical instruments to the children- we had to snap the ONE joyful moment of the afternoon. Here it is...

Tate's Tree

Coconut Head

One of Garett's favorite ways of making fun of you is by calling you a coconut head. When he saw a coconut at the produce market- he just had to have me buy it. So, we drained it, cracked it and played with it. Their favorite part was actually becoming coconut heads as demonstrated in these pictures.

Tinkering with Toys

August 17th- Tate invented a tool for getting his wallet off the top of his bookshelf.

Garett's not-too-lacking self-esteem

August 20, 2006-
At dinner we were talking about the things the kids were excited about/nervous about going to school this year. Tate was nervous because he thought the kids would make fun of him because he was so "skinny". Garett, on the other hand, did not have personal insecurities. He said, "I'm afraid that when I walk into the room, all the kids will be so excited to see me and be paying attention to me that they will get in trouble from the teacher for not listening to her because they just wanted to talk and be with me." Tate's comment to that was, "Well, Garett, you just have to try hard not to be fancy." The picture here is one of Garett playing in his dad's old basketball uniform.

Hold a Toad

Friday, August 11th- Kevin caught a toad for the boys on a walk and the kids were "toad-ally" excited to hold him. They were thrilled with the idea that toads pee on you when you hold them.

Science Experiment

Monday, August 7th - The boys were interested in doing science experiments all day. I found a concoction of perfume, nail polish remover, hand sanitizer, shaving cream and water in a cup in the bathroom. So- we decided to make a balloon blow up with baking soda, water and vinegar. The scientists were pleased with their creation!

Sickday

Marissa ran a little off- course I'm afraid. Tate chased after her and tried to show her where the track was- where the other 2 year olds were racing.

Racing

Thursday, August 3rd- The Milford Roadrunners sponsor a kid's track meet every Thusday night. They have the kids run in several races by age in heats: 60 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards. Tate ran in the 60 yard dash and came in 2nd place. He concentrated very hard and ran like he meant it. He was proud of the outcome. Garett, however, who can "run" on the emotional side quite often when he doesn't win- ran and completed each race...barefoot. Okay, okay. So it wasn't part of the plan originally. I sat his socks and tennis shoes out and said to get in the car when he was done. He got in the car alright- but with his sandals on. The sponsors said that lots of kids run without shoes on, so he did. (Although, I will say- I did not see "lots of kids" running without shoes on- only one really cute one named Garett.) I was super proud of his determination to finish each of his races.

Cucumbers For Sale

Tate and Garett decided to have a cucumber stand today. Tate wrote out the sign and gathered all the cucumbers from the garden. Garett got the Mason jar and the American flag to "flag" people down the street. Since the heat index was about 100 degrees and it happened to be the middle of the day- we didn't get a lot of foot traffic on Chestnut Lane. Our postman and neighbor each donated $1 for 2 cucumbers each. Tate and Garett each earned a $1. They want to go to McDonalds's tomorrow and buy an ice cream cone. Marissa was napping during the sale but I have a feeling she will want a "bite" of the profits tomorrow.

Swimming Lessons

August 2nd- We've been doing swimming lessons everyday for 4 weeks! The boys are doing so great swimming and learning about water safety. Most importantly, they have learned the art of "cannonbombs". You might call it a cannonball with a lot of extra water flying around. They go to the 12 ft. deep water everyday after their lessons and practice their jumps and then swim back. Tate has learned how to swim the length of the pool and back- although somedays he does it alternating between his tummy and his back. I have had lots of fun talking to friends while the kids are in lessons and playing with Marissa in the water.

Chores

July 29th- The boys got on a huge cleaning kick tonight. They decided to double-handedly clean the kitchen. They scraped the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the counters and swept the floor. They even put the leftovers away.

Make your own pizza night

July 28th- Give my kids a ball of dough and they are entertained for....well, at least 15 minutes. Playdough, breaddough, pretzel dough, pizzadough- it doesn't matter. Garett especially loves it. His favorite thing to do is to get the tortilla press and flatten it to a pancake. He also likes to toss it in the air and catch like the pizza boy.

Taking it easy on your tummy...

July 27th- Garett wanted rice for breakfast this morning. He said that his tummy wasn't feeling great. He said, "When your tummy says take it easy- you should take it easy. But when your tummy says take it hard- you can take it hard". He said that with a smirk like he knew exactly what he was talking about.

69 Chestnut Lane

69 Chestnut Lane is officially for sale. After 2 years, we are saying goodbye to good friends, the beach and the best climbing tree ever. Kevin has gotten a good job near Chicago (in Schaumburg, Illinois) and we will head that way as soon as our house sells. As soon as the realtor came and put the sign in the yard and drove off, Tate singlehandedly pulled the sign up and tossed it on the ground. He figured if there was no sign, then there was no selling the house (he hasn't learned about the MLS yet).