Tiger Swallowtail

This caterpillar is a tiger swallowtail. When it becomes a butterfly it will have yellow and black stripes all over. He has what looks like eyes on his back, which are just spots to make him look bigger than he actually is. He was super cool looking. Our friend Christine Smutney has helped us to identify countless insects this summer.

Posing

The kids were in a posing mood. They got themselves all ready and then called for me to take their picture. I thought that was hilarious!

Bathroom in progress

Our bathroom being redone.

FOX

Garett feeling proud of himself for writing FOX with floam.

Luna Moth

The cool Luna Moth that hung onto our front door for 2 days. It was sooooo cool! It was enormous.

Nightmares

Marissa awoke in the middle of the night screaming. I have never run to her bed so quickly! I was so scared. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I look in her bed, and she is sound asleep. I ask her if she is okay- she opens her eyes and cries, "Gawett was eating my cwackas". She was having a nightmare that Garett was eating her crackers.

Brothers

The Blue Dragons vs The Yellow Giants

BLEACH?

Tate's Trash

Tate created a way to bring the trash can back up from the curb. He took string and attached the trash can to the Gator and drove the trash can back up. He felt pleased that he had wiggled his way out of a chore.

Fire! Fire!

Two boys very proud of themselves for arranging the firewood in such a way as to actually produce and sustain a fire. These boys worked their tails off finding the perfect wood and stacking it like they had "seen Dad do". They gave me "instructions" on how to pour the lighting fluid in and how to "light" it. The fire actually worked and they got to roast marshmallows in the middle of the day on the hottest day in July we have had thus far.

Marissa amusing herself with my camera at Garett's game.

The Dodgers

Tate's t-ball team.

Hot

 Oh, did I mention hot? T-ball gets very hot for a 3-year-old bystander.

T-ball

The season finale of "Island Lake T-Ball" happened on Wednesday night. The boys got terrific trophies and both made outstanding hits on their last night of t-ball. Marissa is thrilled not to be drug all over Island Lake for ballgames. The bleachers lose their thrill for a 3-year-old!

Armed with nothing but creativity (because we had no fabulous desserts in the house), Dad created a banana dessert with leftover Hershey bars, Gripz cookies, chocolate syrup and CoolWhip. Garett was very pleased with how Dad whipped up this fabulous creation!

I have no clue which of my children snuck the camera up to the top of the playset and took this picture. I am comforted, however, that my laborious efforts were documented. Now I can feel good about taking off Saturday for a manicure. Ha!

Caught red-handed climbing up on the island! Well, at least it was milk and fruit instead of milk and cookies.

Chores

Tate's creative way of picking up his 4 pairs of shoes he had laying around the house.

Skylar's visit

Skylar visited us for the 1st time ever!!! He was such a happy baby and loved to explore. He found lots of playmates with Tate, Garett and Marissa. Their favorite activity was searching for opportunities to scream, "Skylar alert! Skylar alert!" if they saw him climbing the stairs or putting some foreign object in his mouth. Fortunately, Skylar has great moms who don't need much alerting!

Diggin' for Dinos

Kevin playing Diggin' for Dinos with the kids.

Little Ballerina