Balloons for a Boy...

...that was so well-behaved during his grandma Cheryl's retirement party back in late May. Austin loved those balloons as long as he could, before they expended all their power of staying afloat in the air. I love the post-processing on this photo and wanted to share...

Sunday Afternoon - Ethan

This fabulous August afternoon, while Austin was independently playing in the sandbox, Ethan and I hung back a few feet in the shade and hung out. I had my camera. (Don't I always!?) I took the opportunity to snap a few shots - of Ethan, and of he and I together. I find the timer on the camera takes better pictures than my husband (sorry, Michael, but its the truth). Gotta take advantage of the self-timer! If your camera has one, USE IT!!! :)

Yes, he's crawling on all fours! Yikes!

This one is my favorite of the two of us!

:)

It Has Been a Long Time...

...since I have seen either one of these women; particularily Miss Tiffany. Her mom Lori entrusted me with parts of her life many years ago as the official babysitter for her...I got the pleasure of knowing Lori as she works with my mother. I believe Tiff was around the innocent age of one when I met her. A few years later her older sister Brittany came into the picture and I had two lovely girls to love up. And did I ever! I do get the chance to see Lori when I venture over to Point and dash into Fleet and I'm lucky enough that she works when I'm there running around the clothing department looking for her...but it has been awhile since I've seen either of her beautiful daughters. Brittany is off frolicking around Florida (lucky girl!) so I missed her tonight. It was a treat having Tiff and Lori over...I'll take any of the Firkus women when I get a chance! (And Kenny too! hehe)

The Long Thread

In perusing the web tonight, I came across this fabulous site for 50 crafts for kids.....I think I'll have to knock a few off the list with the boys! They look rather interesting, and fun!

Just...Ethan!

Just hangin' in the grass...

After Sasha dropped her stick on his toe....

Ahh...all better, I think.

Who Ate the Fruit From the Fruit Bowl...Who Me? Yes You!

It's a never ending problem with that first-born child of mine....yes, it's true. A problem...sort of. Yes, it is.

I have been striving to get Austin to eat more fresh fruit...so I keep the fruit bowl stocked. The only problem with doing so is Austin can hop up on the chair and select his fruit of choice, and take a huge bite out of it. Or two. Or three. Then he decides he really wanted the peach instead of the pear, so he returns the bitten-into pear to the fruit bowl and sinks his teeth in to the peach. After his taste buds are satisfied, he decides its time to play, and so he puts the peach back...

...alas, I have bitten-into fruit in my fruit bowl!

It's For the Birds

Austin loves to go to the Wildwood Park & Zoo, so on Thursday we ventured over after I picked the boys up from school. We had a bag full of bread/buns to feed the geese and ducks that inhabit the ponds there. I used to feed the ducks and geese back in Stevens Point growing up...and loved it. Why not share that with my boys? Ethan got the comfort of the stroller, while Austin found joy in carrying the bag of bread. We first paid Ms. Grizzly a visit. She is a brown bear that was stirring in her sleep while we watched. Austin had to growl at her a few times, to see if he could wake her up. He was unsuccessful. Austin looked the other way and spotted a pond full of ducks and geese so we had to feed them as Austin sensed they were hungry and we had their lunch in our bag.

We strolled around the zoo part and saw the owls, the eagle, the hawks, the falcon, the cranes, the prairie dogs....there used to be monkeys there but I don't know what happened to them. Then Austin fed more ducks and geese to finish our stash of bread goods off, and we headed to the playground to play. Ethan even got in on the action on the teeter totter, of course with mama's help.

Create!

Awhile back Austin and I were reading a book....each double page spread was full of a certain color...and 'hiding' on the pages were objects, so I ask Austin.....'Where is the frog?' Or, 'where is the yo yo?' He couldn't find the yo yo, so I pointed it out. He said, 'No, that is "create!"' Hmm...huh? Ahh....on the PBS station 'Create' their logo is the spiral, similar to the one on the yo yo in the photo.....smart kid!

(Ok, this is frustrating. At times it works, others it doesn't...what is up with that? The original file is not like this! I want to know why it keeps flipping some images!)

My Girlfriend

Sasha is 6 years old....she is the only other female in our home. I am outnumbered - married a guy, have two sons, and our three cats are males. Humpf. I think we'll always have a female dog if we ever have a dog; I can't see owning a male. I wonder of one of these days we'll have a daughter? If not, my boys will have to promise to try hard and deliver me a granddaughter some day. But not too soon. They have lots of living to do before that can happen.