Our little lady is getting BIG!

LATE this evening, as Lisa and Gab-I'm sure not tired at all, nope, not at all!-riella spent some quality time with the Sax school supplies catalog, it was suddenly quite apparent that she was growing.

Sometimes these things just hit us.

2nd Grade Bro and pre-Wrastlin Sis

Ben started 2nd (gulp!) grade today, and it started out with a some philisophical pondering on new classmates, the ironic combination of excitement (to start 2nd grade) and sadness (being away from Gabriella and the rest of the family). As I (for once) lay quietly and listened, Ben talked about making friends with new people in his class -- after all, one of his best friends last year was new in his class. He speculated about who he might play with, and how he's known one gril who was in his preschool, kindergarten, first, and now second grade classes. We joked: Was she following him, or was he following her?

Lisa started today as well and spent the day organizing her closets, completing bulletin boards, having a lunch date with Ben. She pointed out that he's now part of the oldest class during his lunch period. Just two years ago he was one of the youngest.

Recently, Lisa purchased a playmat for Gabriella. We're pretty certain that we missed the ideal window, but she's making her own fun and getting a head start on a wrastlin' career (and a nap).

Sporting Smiles and Bunny Ears

Lisa and the boys went swimming with Grandma M at Aunt C's apartment pool on Tuesday and had a great time. Gabriella especially enjoyed her extra-poolicular role as "Fuzzy Pink Bunny"...

Pileup, by Ben

 

Yesterday, I called Ben during the day and asked him to select one or two pictures from the plethora of pen and ink creations that he's produced over the past couple of weeks. He said he would just make a new picture, like Richard Scarry. Lisa tells me he sat down for about 15 minutes and drew this montage of an unfortunate, but generally happy (they're smiling!) encounter involving more than a dozen Busytown autos and a train. Note the police officer in front who attempted to bring the train to a stop with a handheld stop sign. His car took it on the chin instead. Fortunately, Mr. Fixit is on the scene, albeit colliding with the other end of the train. Which begs the question, "Is Mr. Fixit the repair man version of an Ambulance Chaser?"

Look closely and you'll see, among other things, a China van and an Egg car, and Mr. Sun joining the fun as he blazes along the great cloud highway.

-k

Saturday Morning ReVisited, by Josiah

Drawing is a passion for the two boys in our household. Ben and Josiah both LOVE to draw, and some days it seems like they LIVE to draw.

This morning as the boys enjoyed their Saturday morning Tom & Jerry and miscellaneous other cartoons ritual, Josiah decided to capture the characters in a tranquil interior scene. In the his drawing (above) you should be able to find: Jerry the mouse and his friend, Tom the cat and his friend, a sofa/couch, a chair, a table and chairs, a lamp (with pull chains, added as he was telling me about his drawing), a stove, a bed for Tom (large) and Jerry (small), Spiderman and a web.

Late Summer Boys' Baseball Outing

Last Wednesday, the boys, Todd, Grandpa and I checked out the cheap seats (I had several IowaCubs freebie tiks that I collected at Taco Bell over the summer) at Principal Park (home of Sec Taylor field and a Cubs farm team) in Des Moines. The weather was perfect, the Cubs won (11 hits, 5 to 2 was the final score, I think), and Ben and Josiah were happy to be there.

We enjoyed some of the frosty chocolate malts with wooden spoons that I remembered from Iowa Oaks games of my youth, in addition to nachos, and got a kick out of the T-shirt and Hot Dog cannons that made the rounds a couple of times during the game. The sponsored race vignettes caught our (and especially the boys') attention too--both on the scoreboard during the animated QT micro-treats race, and on the field when Tacito and two other snack food mascots raced a silly, knock down, run around in circles race from 1st to 3rd base to earn free treats for some lucky section in the stands. Good, clean, fun and we could almost taste the apple pie.

The weather held out until after we filled the tank with $3.36/gal gasoline (whee!) and pulled onto the interstate. The rain dumped on us just north of Des Moines and lasted for a few miles. We had just passed Ankeny and were considering pulling off to wait it out, when the downpour let up. Great timing!

Gabriella's new toy

Since Gabriella has become so rolly-polly lately it was time to get out a new containment device, er, toy. We put her in her Excersaucer and she lunged right for the toys. It is really holding her attention, especially the dangling "E," which she loves to explore with her mouth.

Gabriella's 4 month pictures

These pictures were taken right as Gabriella was 4 months. I think they capture her expression very well, especially the second one. I am hoping to fiddle in photoshop with one and get rid of the background and print a few.

These photos reminded me of some I took of the boys when Josiah was a little older then Gabreilla is now. Similar profiles, and such a sweet look on little Ben's face.

Blurry Black and White

Rainy Day Photos

This morning I took the boys to the 10AM showing of Racing Stripes at the local dollar theater. It was the perfect way to spend a cool rainy morning; just us, and a theater full of other moms and kids with the same idea. It was right in the middle of Gabriella's nap time but she eagerly watched the first half hour, entranced by the sound, color and movement on the big screen. After a short rendition of her Sleepy Song (aka fussing) and a couple of shushing bounces, she fell asleep on my shoulder, waking up just in time to see the zebra in the final race scene.

Afterward we ran some errands downtown then headed home for lunch. When lunch was over, I noticed that everyone was clean, awake, and in a good mood, so I talked the boys into taking a few pictures with Gabriella. I had to promise to only take 20 (or 54), to let them pick all the poses, and to finish off with a silly picture. Here is my favorites, and theirs. I took them all without a flash, so many of them were blurry. I will try again on a sunny day and continue to let the boys lead the poses, as it is much more enjoyable for them and therefore much better smiles.

Swimming in Newspaper

While I was making lunch today I heard the sound of papers moving. I assumed it was one of the boys reading a book in the living room. Then as the sound changed to papers being shuffled I decided I'd better take a look. I came into the living room to find Gabriella not only off her blanket, but she had pulled the newspapers out from under the table and had several sections laying around her. She was moving her arms swiftly back and forth and appeared to be swimming in them with a very satisfied look on her face and black ink all over her hands.

Ames Family Fest

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Ames Family Fest at Banshell Park. The boys had fun trying games at the booths, and playing inside the inflatables. Ben was a great help with Josiah leading him through the mazes, holding his hand down the slide and encouraging him to be brave. The lines were short, so the boys were able to go again and again. The boys loved sitting on the stage and watching Silly Sally perform, and well as the musicians.

After spending several hours in the sun, we cooled off at Temptations with an ice cream treat and enjoyed looking at all the amazing specialty candies we never knew about before. Great stocking stuffer ideas.

The boys and Kevin spent the evening at a concert. The took earplugs and came back with a door prize. I guess Kevin will have to tell about the rest.

Family Fest continued

Gabriella spent most of the afternoon hanging out in her carseat in the stroller playing with her toys. She was shaded, and entertained, but eventually we did get her out to "play"a bit. Here she is with the boys sporting a clown nose from Silly Sally.

Josiah's Dinosaur

The Mega Fort has been morphing from one object to the next the last few days. First a dinosaur, then a robot, then I had had enough of them upstairs. He moved them downstairs and started making smaller sculptures by putting the blue disks together to make wheels. This way he created dogs, cats, and a cart for a horse (he was the horse) all in a gestural line that rolled across the floor. The reminded me of Alexander Calder's wire circus sculptures. So much imagination!

Pirate Spaceship

David, Kari, Lexi and Todd stopped by for a visit yesterday. I loved visiting with them, and watching the babies interact. The boys loved having time to really play with their aunt and uncle- racing cars on play station, sharing their handmade books, drawing, and building a pirate spaceship with them. It was quite a play date!

Science Center Trip

We spent last Saturday at the Science Center with the Falk's, and Tyler, Sarah and Eliza. There was lots of running, looking and exploring.

Uncle Tyler, Aunt Sarah, "Aunt" Sandy, and the kids trying their hand at fishing.

Gabriella playing with the magic glowing ball of electricity... aka Plasma ball.

Josiah after building the keystone arch, right before knocking it down... again.

Ben creating tricky paths for a ball to follow.

Science Center Trip Continued

Josiah and I were buddies in the discovery room.

Here we played in a hollow log. It was hard to get in, and even harder to get out!

Next we made up a little play with Ben that involved swimming, eating plastic food and lots of introducing of our characters.

Then we created a wall of long necked robots, and one robot dog.