Day Forty Nine

A very small crayfish that Sean found at the river today. 

Today we went to a beautiful spot on the river with COW club friends, plus Brian and Michael.  Lots of splashing around, digging in the mud, and finding of critters. 

Day Forty Eight

Our nightly routine of watching a show together up in our bed. 

Here the boys are watching Mythbusters.  Pumpkin was sitting next to them, watching along, but he moved before I took the picture.  It can get a little crowded, esp. when Gracie wants to join us!

Day Forty Seven

A surprise from our compost pile!

We noticed a vine growing near the compost pile over a month ago.  It was definitely in the squash/melon family, with yellow blossoms, but we didn't know what it was.  Yesterday I discovered these.  I'm still not exactly sure- they look like a cross between a watermelon and a squash.  I'm excited to see them, anyway.  This is my type of gardening- no work and a bit of magic!   

Day Forty Six

More of Chris's beautiful flowers. 

I'm in charge of watering them the next 2 days while he is out of town.  I hope my brown thumb doesn't do too much damage!

Day Forty Five

One cool cat!

I sat on the porch swing this morning and watched Pumpkin stretch out in just the right spot to feel the cool slate and the gentle breeze.  He knows how to make the best of every situation!

Day Forty Four

A fun day beating the heat with books and board games.  It was up near 100 degrees today.  Chris, Jack and I played life sitting in front of the fan.  It was a lot of fun, and I won! 

Day Forty Three

Blueberries!

Becky and Tony shared some of their blueberries with us.  I am so thankful!  We are enjoying eating these freshly picked ones, and have a few in the freezer for later.

Day Forty Two

Oobleck revisited

The boys tried standing on it.  If they just jumped on and off, they didn't sink in.  If they stood still they sank.  Very cool stuff!

Day Forty One

Two pictures from our trip to the park today:

Chris and I think this one is pretty.  I like the white around the edges and the water drops.  The funny thing is that I took this when Sean was holding up a cup to avoid me taking a picture of him.

This picture is the inspirational one- if you look in the middle of the picture, near the bottom, you can see a brown thing.  This is an ant that was moving a watermelon seed all on his own.  Faye noticed him and then several of us watched him figure out how to do successfully.  We were happy for him. 

Day Forty

Ok, I missed a day yesterday.  So, here are 2 pictures from today:

Jack, Sean, Brian and Michael playing with Oobleck. 

This reminds of when they played with oobleck and other materials as toddlers and preschoolers.  I guess even teens and tweens like playing around with messy, slimy stuff.

Another great summer storm tonight.  I love the raindrop circles in this picture.  They remind me of my mom telling me when I was little that the bouncing raindrops were fairies dancing.

Day Thirty Eight

The Moonflower Vine

Chris just put up the strings yesterday for the Moonflower vine to climb.  And climbing it is!  It's so neat to see how it's moved throughout the day.  I can't wait for the flowers to appear. 

Day Thirty Seven

The Archer

Here is Jack taking aim.  He really enjoyed archery and now wants to get his own bow and arrow.

Day Thirty Six

Good Friends!

This is Sean and Jack with 2 friends from our COW club, Eric and Alex (the one holding the chicken).  We had a great time hanging out at Gayle, Larry, Faye and Annika's house.  The chickens were involved in the hanging out, although I'm not sure how much they enjoyed that.

Day Thirty Five

A wood shaving pile

These are from the wood carvings that the boys have been doing lately.  I liked how they looked all piled up.

Day Thirty Four

The boys have been carving tonight. Sean carved this sword from a piece of wood he found in the backyard.  He also cut some pieces off with a saw and sanded the handles.  It's pretty cool!

Day Thirty Three

Yum!  A homemade chocolate cupcake with homemade cream cheese icing.  I made a batch to give some to Yessica, who is my mom's #1 aide.  This one is all mine, though!

Day Thirty Two

This is a picture Jack took.  I thought it was artful. He and Sean have been shooting pictures and videos the past 2 days and posting them on their new blogs. 

Day Thirty One

Chocolate!

I'm so happy I can eat and enjoy chocolate again.  A few months ago, at the beginning of my pregnancy, I developed an aversion to chocolate.  This was extremely disappointing because I had enjoyed chocolate so very much.  The morning sickness went away and I eased back into eating it; and now I like the taste of dark chocolate again.  I'm very happy about this.  The bar on the left was one that I bought in NYC, when I still didn't like chocolate but knew I would again one day.  It's a gourmet chocolate bar, which cost $8.  I tried it today and was quite disappointed.  I guess this is good news, since I prefer the Lindt chocolate bars I can get at area grocery stores.

Day Thirty

Homemade bread!

I took advantage of the cooler weather and baked bread today.  Here are 2 loaves of white- perfect for tomato sandwiches, which are my favorite this time of year. 

Day Twenty Nine

Rain! 

It's been so hot and dry lately, and so we rejoiced this evening when the thunder turned into a storm and then about an hour of steady rain. Chris and I both think the grass looks a little greener already, although that hardly seems possible. 

Day Twenty Eight

No visual for this day.  Unfortunately, the camera's battery was dead.  I took Sean, Jack, Brian and Michael to Riven Rock.  Sandra, Malcolm, Liam and Marin joined us.  There were many photo opportunities!  I've listed some of them below:

* Sean and Liam using masks and a snorkel to catch little fish by hand
* The cluster of butterflies that Sandra, Marin and I found as we were walking up the dry river bed 
* Marin's look on her face when the butterflies all flew away together when she tried to touch them
* The kids dropping huge rocks off the dam, cheering at the splashes they made
* Everyone cooling off in the pools of water

It was a great way to spend a day with temperatures in the upper 90's!

Day Twenty Seven

It was near 100 degrees again and we were lucky to spend the day at a friend's pool with good friends.  Here are Faye, Elaina and Annika cooling off on a deluxe raft invention. 

Day Twenty Six

My expanding belly (it looks bigger here than I think it really is). 

The munchkin has been really active lately, moving around so much that I can actually see my stomach move a little bit.  I'm trying to savor this time, as it is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy and womanhood.  Feeling a baby move is a feeling that I didn't think I would ever experience again.   

Day Twenty Five

Sean showed me this spider on our kitchen wall today, noting how long its legs were.  Daddy Long Legs, for sure!  Today the temp was near 100 degrees.  I think the bugs are moving indoors to cool off!

Day Twenty Four

This summer I'm reading a book a week; and this was my book to read this week.  It was a powerful book, and depressing to read at times.  But, it will stick with me and I'm glad I finished it.  The message I took from it was that we all will grow old (if we are lucky) and will have hardships that we can not control.  But, we can get through the difficult times.  And we can remember to be compassionate towards others and enjoy each day.

Day Twenty Three

I love, love, love the farmer's market!!  Here are all the goodies I got this morning. 

Day Twenty Two

Sean had a fun week at Water Adventure Camp.  He came back with a tan and a certificate of his awesome-ness, both of which he is displaying in this picture. 

Day Twenty One

Doggie Heaven~

A big field, a ball to fetch and a friend to play with.  Gracie is one happy dog here!