Guests

We have a few guests living in our planters on the back porch. I don't mind these guys. I do mind the spiders that think they own everything. I don't want them living in the planters. The others are more then welcome to stay. The spiders, I make them find a new home.

Climber

We've had this wall up in the garage for about a year now. This is one of Hannah's favorite things to to when she and Cody get home. He spent some time last weekend changing the holds around and creating new routes. Before, she would spend most of her time on just one part of the wall. She was upset at first that he made changes, because it was harder. That lasted about 10 minutes. Now she's all over the place She climbs everything. She's figured out how to climb the fence. The crazy thing is that she does it naturally the way a climber would. I told him the other afternoon that he'd created a monster. He looked at me with a grin and said "No, I've created a climber."

Photos with baby

Our nephew is 3 months old. I can't believe 3 months already. He changes so much from week to week. We aren't lucky enough to get to see him everyday, but pretty much once a week. It's been almost a week and I miss his rolls and his baby smell.

Aunt Fofo, these are for you. He wanted me to tell you that he misses you and Uncle Paul. He can't wait to see you in a few weeks. Oh, and then be uber cute in his tux at the wedding.

Uncle Cody is very good at getting him to go to sleep. Actually, he sleeps really well all the time. The kids sleeps 8-10 hours every night.

This little girl loves him lots too. She'll help protect him. She loves him and treats him like a little brother.

Told you he could

He's getting so much faster, better, and more confident at tying his shoes. He went from it taking about 20 minutes one week ago to about 5 minutes this morning. Cody had also told him that when he got better he would be able to tie them with his eyes closed. Guess what he started practicing yesterday? Yep, tying with his eyes closed. Forget waiting until he he's got it down pat. He does the two bunny ears method. Cody can take full responsibility and credit for this one, since he showed him how. Before he and I met I had never seen anyone tie there shoes this way. Little did I know that my oldest younger brother ties his shoes the same way! It was pretty funny Sunday night when we all discovered this.

Wilkernix

Cody thought I should change the title. He likes "Wilkernix" better. I didn't know he read my piece of space, but I thought, just in case he did come back, I would change it. I like it better too :)

A boy and his bike

Eli has been working on this for about a week. I wouldn't use the word hard, because he really hasn't been working hard on it at all. He works for 5-10 minutes each day. Cody will go behind him and hold onto the seat, and Eli pedals. The minute Cody takes his hand away Eli hits the breaks and stops. He's pedaled on his own a few times, twice I think, and then he stops. Frustrated isn't really the word (for Eli anyway). We just keep trying to encourage and maybe after another week or so he'll see that he really can do this.

School Pictures

I'm truly amazed at how much they've grown-up and changed the last year. We are raising little people with their own thoughts, and opinions, and more defined personalities. It's pretty cool...most of the time :)

School Days

Hannah's first day of school is today. This morning started day 1 of 180 that I have to get up before 5:30 so I can get myself, 2 kids, a fiance (I don't really have to do much for him, and he makes my coffee and I love him for that) and a dog all taken care of before 6:45. This morning it was earlier. The first few days we have to be at the bus stop 10 minutes before, I guess just in case the bus is early and not 10 minutes late. We had a new stop today, notice I just said today and not this year. Last year we just walked across the street. This morning, at 6:35, we walked to the entrance of the neighborhood. And then we waited and wondered why none of the other kids from last year were told to come here and what time the bus would really come. The bus came at 6:55. The bus driver said, "you're at a different stop this year!" I then asked the bus driver, "are you still picking up across the street from our house?" She said she was pretty sure she was. Great! Eli and I started walking back to the house. Cody's job was to see if a bus picked up in front of our house and he was doing a great job on his assignment. I talked to one of our neighbors (who lives closer to the new stop then we do), her girls are getting on across the street. Awesome! The bus picks up in the same place as last year! Hannah will not be getting on the bus where the transportation office thinks she should. We came to the agreement that walking across the street will be MUCH easier!
Eli's first day of preschool was yesterday. He had a blast. He is going 5 days a week this year. He's pretty excited about this. He was always disappointed that Hannah got to go more days then he did. Now he's just mad that he only gets to go for 3 hours and Hannah gets to go ALL DAY! I wonder if he'll think the same way next year when he's in Kindergarten and going all day. Guess what he did this morning? He tied his shoe! So awesome! We are super proud of him! (I did take pictures of them, but I didn't have time to upload them this morning...I'll put them up tomorrow.)

Teachers

Sometimes, as an adult, I wish I still had the freedom and the lack of inhibitions to just roll down a hill. In a skirt no less, with a crowd of people around, and a mother who didn't think this far ahead and remind her to put on her bloomers like she does when she wears a dress to school. If I thought like they did maybe fear wouldn't set in so often. I would go ahead and take a picture of the sunset or whatever food I find that looks cool and/or pretty, and tell the people around me to eff off it they find it weird. I would be able to speak my mind better and more clearly. I would be able to say more often what's really bothering me. Wait, aren't I the one who's supposed to be teaching them?

Finishing the shelves

We got the kids a few shelves for each of their rooms. Hannah's bedroom is very girly, her walls are pink and green, so we opted to paint one shelf white and the square boxes pink (to contrast the green wall). In the boys' room we opted to stain the shelves a similar color to their bunk bed. The kids got to help to do this. They had great fun doing this. I haven't found anything crafty or hands-on or cooking related that they don't enjoy.

I love our backyard

We made the backyard even better over the weekend! We (and I use that term loosely, I only helped the second day hold up boards) put the fence up at the end of the summer last year. You have to let it sit before you can stain or paint it.

We opted for stain. There was much moaning and groaning about the price (way more then we were anticipating) and the work. We (and I really mean we) worked really hard on Saturday. It was a very long day and Cody is paying for it now, his back is making him suffer.

So worth it now. It looks great. Now we just need a table for the patio that's big enough for all of us to sit at.

Oh, I forget to tell you...this is all that's left. ARE YOU KIDDING?!?! 35 gallons of stain and there's a 3'x4' area that didn't get covered. So now we have to get one more gallon to cover this spot. Since he has to do this he's decided to stain the swing set too. He said it makes the yard look bad and it stands out. Go for it my dear. I'll follow behind with the roller, because I can rock the roller!

Just some randomness

The baby's a ham. He's started doing this when we take pictures. I don't really understand why. It's not from lack of attention. Jeez, all three of these kids are rotten. The best part is that I (we) know they are rotten, but still some of the best kids on the planet.

This dog, oh my. Some mornings I think this dog will be the death of me. The mornings when I'm trying to get myself and the kids ready after getting up just a few minutes later then I should; these are the mornings when she decides to snatch stuffies off the kids' beds and run around the house with them, not listening when I calmly (but firmly) say "drop-it" over and over again. Threatening to disintegrate them in front of their owners does not create good vibes between Maggie and the kids. They tend to get a little upset.

Then she does stuff like this and all is forgiven. She believes she is really one of our kids. She even believes she should sit in the chair like a big girl. Patience, she's still a baby. Another year and (so I've been told) she'll be an awesome dog.

School starts next week. I can't believe summer is almost over. We get to meet Eli's teacher tonight. The rest of the week should be pretty quiet. This weekend, I'm going to call it 'the weekend in which I will spend a small fortune'; shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, school supplies, clothes, and I'm sure they'll come up with other things that they just can't live without will have to be gotten. Since summer is almost over I'll start a countdown to our mini vacation to Chicago. Should be lots of fun :)