Momo sent a big box of army gear to the boys and a handmade tutu for Marissa along with books and other fun things. It was like Christmas in September. We were sooooo excited as you can see with these pictures!

The 1st day of...Homeschool.

The Bristol Renaissance Faire

The Magician

...and the crowd went wild!

A Dual

There was this fun dualing arena at the Renaissance Fair
 where the boys were able to fence... each other! They each got 3 balloons stuck to their helmet. The first boy to pop the other boy's balloons won. Tate was the 1st to pop all 3 of Garett's balloons- but Garett won the crowd over by being the 5 year old with a lot of spunk! Oh, and they had to wear this Medievel costume which was totally heavy and hot. I was proud of their spirit. They had a blast!

Venus Fly Trap

We had read a book about a Venus Fly Trap which was super cool. Then a sweet lady from church gave us a kit to plant our own carnivorous plants. We were so excited to see our plants emerge. You have to plant it in a special soil and keep it in the refrigerator for about 8 weeks. Well, we were about 3 weeks into it when I shoved something in the fridge and tipped the whole pot over. Yes... the carnivorous plants and ALL the soil was dumped all over my refrigerator! Well, we were at the store a few weeks later and saw a Venus Fly Trap for sale. You can imagine the joy! The 1st day of our little Trap's life here- he was fed a whopping 5 live flies. He (Tate)also caught an extra 10 and put them in a container to save for the next day. How does a 7 year old trap a live fly? You've got me! It is the neatest thing, however, to see the traps close on a fly.

Warriors

The kids were being warriors. They came up with these costumes for fun.

Entering School Store

School Store

To generate a little excitement for the new school year, we held our 1st Annual School Store. It was a tradition in Kevin's family to have a school store before school started. Kevin's mom would go to the store (ALONE) and buy the needed school supplies for the kids. Then the kids would "shop" from the things she had purchased. I can see how that makes sense. Our kids were thrilled with their choices and I didn't spend a fortune or buy lots of things that were not necessarily vital.

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