The Frogs Live Better Than We Do....

Meet Lass.
I'm sure Sawyer would not have chosen that name if he knew that "lass" meant "girl". But he's probably spelling it some exotic way, like--Llasz. So that'll work.

Llasz has a pool.


And a 3000 sq. ft. home. The pool used to be in the 3000 sq. ft. home, as the dark spots can attest to, but Llasz upgraded to a bigger one.


His friend Hoppy has a balcony whirlpool.
.

These little frogs were from the Christmas Calendar. Was that this year, or last? Or two years ago? I'm always amazed at what they can find in the toy room to amuse themselves. If I'd have said, "Go play with your frogs," it never would've happened.

The Perfect Set-Up for Teasing Brothers...

Have you guys seen these?
I can never tell because we don't get all the things up here in Canada, that you guys get down there. I promise I didn't buy them. They came free with my groceries today. It would be really weird if we got Kraft Dinner crackers first. But if you guys have them already, I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about the phenomena that must surely be sweeping the nation.

All big brothers everywhere have surely thought of switching out the real Kraft Dinner for the new crackers.

So they could see this face......


If you can cause this look, you've achieved the gold standard of teasing.


Why doesn't my mac and cheese look like your mac and cheese?
He let the crackers run through his fingers and announced:
"It's not cooked!"

What He Wants to Look Like....

He found the perfect haircut in this book.
We showed the hair dresser.
.

She worked diligently.
.

And....


I think I see a resemblance.

Home Again, Home Again....

We miss it already.
.

It's hard to leave Grandma's house behind.
So we'll remember it with a few pictures.

She lives in the country.
.

Not like this. This is really the country. (and don't you SO wish those black wires weren't cluttering up this picture?)
.

And not like this, although this can be found around the corner from Grandma's house. We found it on a country drive. When you visit Grandma's, you find yourself doing things like going on country drives, and having taste tests of bread and butter pickles, and buying yarn.
.

But Grandma's yard is country enough for us.
.

You can weed the garden sitting on a milking stool. (who is that? whoever it is, they should get a ribbon for those lily- white calves).


You can jump over things...
.

And out of things. (Here's the true blue ribbon winner--perfect 10 on the toe point).
.

Or you can keep it simple. With a twist.
.

You kin fetch some ice-cold sody-pop....
.

For brother up a tree.
.

And all the while you are there, you can see touches of beauty that Grandma has placed to light up the yard.
It's a wonderful place to be.

It Went Down Main Street....

They got to do it. They got to see a parade. Since we've moved away from America it's been very important to me to instill thankfulness in my children for their beloved homeland.
.

We had a curbside seat, but had to wait quite awhile for the parade to start.
So a lot of this went on.
.

And I finally saw the camera I wanted. The Granddaddy of all cameras it was, indeed.
.

Tristan got a blister on his foot and put his shoe to good use.
.

Finally, they heralded the beginning...
.

I wanted them to see two things....


Soldiers.
I explained that these were the men who saved our country and kept it America.
.

This is what the parade was all about, for me.
And I pray for all the veterans who were so disabled they were not able to ride in a parade.
I wish I could thank them, every one.
It made me cry.
.

And I wanted them to see the pride that Americans feel for their country. To feel the beat of the bass drum reverberate in their chest, and to understand there is a reason we call it "the land of the free and the home of the brave".
.

Before we moved away, this parade may have been just a fun thing to go to. Wave a flag, look at the firetruck!
But I'll never take America for granted again.

Guess Where We Went?

A small town carnival. It was the first time for everybody.
Don't you love first-time things with your kids? I wasn't sure how they would react.
.

They laughed so hard they couldn't breathe.
I remember that feeling.
.

Sawyer liked the little kiddie rides.
.

Even though the steering wheels didn't really steer,
he didn't know, or care.
.

Where are the big kids, Sawyer?
.

Ah. The Umbrellas. The ride has not yet started. Are you guys going to be okay?
.

It looks a little ify.
.

Yep. They're okay.
.

Sawyer wasn't tall enough for the big slide.
.

So he waited his turn...
.

For this daring motorcycle carousel.
It ended up being his favorite. While the other kids whipped their brains around the bigger rides, Munch went back to this one three times.
Grandpa took us, Grandpa treated us, Grandpa loves us.
Thank you Grandpa!

Mr. Britches Drives a Tractor...

Sawyer is a heavy equipment operator in training.
To most people, this may be one of those videos of other people's kids. But we love it, because he's five, with the confidence to do whatever he thinks he can do. We call him Mr. Britches, since he's too big for 'em.

What to Do With 45 Minutes Outdoors....

I know I'll never see my boys up on the housetop learning how to roof, or their legs sticking out from under the sink learning how to do plumbing. But this is a sight that thrills my soul: God designed my husband to be an artist.

.

And he's passing it on.

.

I think they are born with a gene that inclines them toward art.

.

And if they are boys, they automatically come with a gene that draws them to tractors. It's magnetic. An irresistible force. They can't help it. If we could harness this force, we could power New York City for 3 days.

.

This is the finished outdoor sketch. Or "plein air sketch" if you want to sound erudite. (Just to show you how erudite I am, I had to use spell-check for that word). Artists do these sketches to study color, composition, and light and shadow. This one only took 45 minutes. A true easel painting would have taken anywhere from 2 hours to a week.

.

This was her first try at working on a plein air sketch.
She thought it was pretty cool that a beetle got caught in her palette of paint.
She thought her sketch was pretty cool too.