Snails & Friends

I turn my back from one minute and there is a snail on my kitchen countertop...

Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but sometimes it feels like that! O & R (along w/ neighbor friends E & H) found a snail the other day and apparently he was special enough to warrant their special attention. First he got a name: Connor Brewster Mezger - O picked Connor, E picked Brewster, and Mezger was a given because he was found at our house and therefore part of our backyard. Next he got a home - a plastic sliced cheese tray from our recycle bin filled with leaves, flowers, grass, water. At first they were content to watch him suction himself to the clear lid, but soon that wasn't enough. Can you see the trail of slime??? Look hard, its there.

 After a little disinfecting I was happy to move this party outside.

Maggie begging me to take her picture.

 Rebecca begging me to let her drink my sparkling water. (Or just drinking it without asking.)

Then E & H came over to reunite with their pal Connor Brewster.

 Snail break for a little sisterly huggin...

On H.

 On E.

 E & O discussing snails and legos and which is cooler?

 Everybody's interested...because somebody (small) did his business (not small).

 Such good times.

 I have to admit he's kind of cute. As long as someone else is holding him.

 Having a chat w/ H.

 E thinking about the meaning of life.

 Not sure what this face means, but its not the first time I've seen it...

 And I'm sure it won't be the last.

 Picking leaves for CBM's new home (temporarily in a zip lock baggie) at E & H's house.

 I never get tired of the cheese face.

 Getting Maggie all riled up making animal noises.

 Don't have one for snail? Just growl.

I guess the end of mosquito season means the beginning of snail season. And I'm okay with that. :)

Six Years Old + Four Boys = Pure Awesomeness

We gave Owen the chance this year to have a "normal" birthday party - the usual themed gathering of family and friends, OR a sleepover with just a couple of little boys. He chose sleepover! 

Even though he's had lots of experience sleeping places other than home (thanks to so many awesome local family members and friends) we realize that this isn't standard for a lot of 5 or 6 year olds. We wanted to do our best to make sure everyone had a good time at possibly their first sleepover (added perk: we keep our sanity), so we kept it really small. Owen invited 3 little boys over and of course there had to be a theme...

WE'VE GOT THE TENT, MARSHMALLOWS AND STICKS. 

BRING YOUR SLEEPING BAG, 'CAUSE OWEN IS SIX!

The boys started off with a little archery practice.

About that time Daddy got home to give some instruction.

 Before long it was time to put up the tent (background) and eat s'mores (foreground).

 While they waited on our elaborate dinner of hotdogs and tator tots they painted wooden snakes and played with a new (birthday present) lego kit from one of the little boys. They were all so excited to build the batmobile together and about 1.5 hours later they finished it! That's teamwork! They also chased each other around with another great birthday present - a remote control snake (these kids sure do know Owen!)

Left to ride: O, H, G, N.

S'mores!

In the tent with their flashlights.

 Ready for a little "Planet Earth" - they watched the cave one which has some icky/spooky parts (bats, weird worms that catch things w/ saliva, etc.) so we kept talking throughout and making sure they were all okay with it -- at the end one of the little guys said it was "okay" but he wanted to watch one with some "big predators!"

 The light show before bedtime.

 The craziest part was when we said it was bedtime they went from wound-up and crazy to crashed out and silent in a matter of minutes. It was seriously too easy. (One little boy went home before the movie - he had never spent the night away before and wasn't quite ready - which his folks prepared us for.)

 My favorite part was breakfast...

 Owen was told to come outside for a little surprise...

 He had to work for his food. And so did his friends.

 You can eat your donut. But you can't use your hands.

 H getting smacked in the eye.

 N reading for it!

 Success! If your donut fall on the ground you get to eat it - victory!

 A little more tent time before the parents came.

   I am fairly certain Owen and his buddies had a great time. I am 100% certain that this may have been one of my favorite birthday parties. Yes - birthday party season for us runs June through October so by Owen's I'm a little worn out - but even if this one hadn't been so easy - it was so much fun!!! (Rebecca and Maggie got to have their own special little night w/ Bee and JoJo which helped us just focus on the boys and that was a huge help.) I am already thinking of other excuses to make people eat food hanging from string in the backyard....

Happy Birthday Party Day Owen! SIX!!!

Girls Start School Too!

While Owen starting kindergarten has been the predominant change around our house, the girls have started back at school too!!! Rebecca goes Tuesday through Friday and Maggie goes Tuesday and Thursday. They both have teachers that have been at the school forever (like all our teachers) but are ones we haven't had before. They are both super sweet. They both have lots of kiddos from their previous classes in their class so its new but not that new.

Both excited for their first day!

Maggie insists on carrying her lunchbox - she drags it - all the way to her classroom. The school director told me good job for letting her do it herself...I'm just thinking about how the lunch box isn't going to make it through the year!

Maggie has a new appreciation for bows in her hair which I fully support because it masks the fireworks hairdo a little bit.

Rebecca's favorite thing at school so far (no surprise) is the art center that has rolls of different colored tape.

My girls. :)

(And Tues/Thurs mornings to get stuff done!!!) Everybody is happy. :)

baseball?

It does not come naturally for me to encourage sports with our kids so I'm glad Kyle steps in. Owen did soccer last spring (and loved it) but has recently expressed some interest in baseball so we borrowed a friend's kid-sized mit and the boys have been playing catch in the backyard.

Intense face.

Throwing is easier than catching!

While they played and I took pictures, Rebecca gave me a "tattoo" with wet sidewalk chalk on my leg. Who knows where Maggie was when all this was going on. :) That's about par for the course around here...

Garden Days

Going from a co-op preschool where we're super-involved to just dropping your child off to school is a little bit of an adjustment - I'm not complaining - it's just different not being able to picture what's going on and what he's doing all day! Owen's school eases us parents into elementary school (much harder for us than the kids) by making kindergarten a half day (which is great and also presents scheduling/carpool challenges) and by including us as volunteers during center time, garden days and other special activities throughout the year. 

I was the "Garden Helper" a couple of weeks ago and had such a good time. Every Monday Owen's class goes to the school's Science & Nature Center w/ Mr. G (former farmer - the real kind - turned amazing teacher) teaches these kiddos all about how God designed the world to grow - and how he gave us the job of cultivating it - and the hard work that takes! 

Owen with his partner for the day (and a carpool buddy of ours) - D.

Walking across the bridge.

Mrs. Adams' class with a few of their Logic School buddies

The Learning.

The Working.

Kindergarten has a pie-shaped plot that they'll use to grow carrots - so today's job was tilling up the soil to get it ready.

I know I'm biased but I think Owen's class is filled with the funniest, sweetest kiddos ever. What a treat to see them in action.

*A week later I got to help out during Center Time for a (messy!) art project. My two favorite parts:

1) Being greeted - Hello, Mrs. Mezger! - in unison by all the kiddos when I walked in. I didn't realize they would all stand up and greet me that way. Super fun (and maakes me feel old). One sweet boy jumped the gun and popped up and yelled it out before everyone else - I think he was just excited he knew what to do!

2) Being reminded by another little boy that I promised him he could come over to our house to jump on the trampoline sometime. They.do.not.forget!

Owen and I also went to the Fall Family Social last Friday night - just the two of us (since Kyle was working the girls stayed home w/ a sitter). We got a real sense of what a fun thing it is that his school goes all the way through 12th grade. The FFS is basically a big carnival/pep rally/gathering right before the first football game. We had a great time running around and finding all his new little buddies. P Terry's. Face painting. What's not to love? One little boy in his class (the one who reminded me about my promise) was without parents for a time so he was our little sidekick which made for quite an adventure. Boys are funny, that's all I'll say.