Not Impressed

Here lately the boys feel the need to constantly be all over the cat; petting him, carrying him around, pulling his tail, batting at his paws, etc. Odie is pretty patient with them, but he also lets them know when he has had quite enough of the "loving".

Kaleb has taken to building Odie his own house using the ottoman and pillows. I tell him that I don't think Odie really needs his own house, but Kaleb insists that he does and that he likes it. He starts out building the sides, and the carries Odie over and ever so gently places him inside the house, and then puts a roof on it. Kaleb is always very proud of his houses and lets you know that Odie loves his house. I'll let you judge how much Odie loves his house, I'm pretty sure he is not as impressed as Kaleb is.

The master builder at work.

Odie already inside his house, waiting for the finishing touches.

The pleased homeowner, enjoying his peace and quiet.

Here's wishing you time to do nice things for others, whether they appreciate it or not.

Oh, Back to School, Back to School

The boys are both now officially in school. Amazing how fast time has gone by, my little guys are now in 1st Grade and Pre-K.

Here's wishing you lots of learning and fun with new friends this school year!

Swimming Lessons

It truly is amazing the difference a week of swimming lessons can make. We went from one Sunday neither boy would jump off the top step of the ladder because they didn't want to get their faces wet, to the next Sunday jumping off the deck and diving under the water to retrieve toys.

Many thanks to my good friend Annette for teaching them. They are completely different boys in the pool now. Everyday they can't wait to head out to grandma and grandpa's to go swimming and it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince them to get out of the water.

Julian getting dive sticks off the bottom of the pool.

Julian jumping in.

Kaleb bobbing under water.

Kaleb showing off his backstroke.

 Here's wishing you a fun way to cool off this HOT summer!

Off the Grid

This past weekend was dubbed "Off the Grid 2012", aka our annual trip to The Country Cabins in Hiawatha. (See last year's post here.) We were hardly off the grid, but it is so nice to get away for a couple of days and relax with friends, and kids really look forward to getting to spend a couple of days with their friends too.

It was really amazing that somehow we had gorgeous weather too. Highs in the upper 80's to low 90's instead of the 105 to 110 degree days that have become the norm here lately. We were able to spend a lot of time outside and even got to enjoy some yummy ice cream cake to celebrate Grace's birthday.

These guys are pretty serious when it comes to playing washers. They get right in there with the big boys and they mean business. Amazing how fast time flies, here in a little over a week we will have a 1st Grader and a Pre-schooler on our hands.

Here's wishing you time to slow down and get away from it all, even if only for a couple of days.