Randomness

I think this should be titled

"The Optimists"

Of course, they had to take a turn at the darts too.....

Little kids riding the rides on the midway....

Our kids watched their first demolition derby this summer...

Other than the unbearable heat, I think they enjoyed the fun.

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Working on some fine motor skills........

Grant has really taken a liking to these things lately.

It's good for him too.  It makes him concentrate on using those fingers more.

This is one of the big kids.  Grace and Grant don't do patterns very well yet.

Look at the concentration on this guy's face!

He's serious about these things.

Here's the pattern maker.....

Getting ready for hunting season.....

or maybe for the draft....

Tinkerbell flew in for a visit one day.

Tinkerbell looks a lot like my daughter Grace!

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Grant had preschool orientation today.  He met Mrs. C.

She remembered my threat from two years ago.

I told her if she quit after having Grace two years ago that I would be on her doorstep every monday and tuesday morning this year dropping grant off at her house for homeschool preschool sessions.

She heeded my warning and stuck around for the extra two years.

She can retire with my blessings after she finishes this year with Grant.

I love her.  I think she does a great job preparing these little ones for the years ahead.

Plus she does it in such a sweet, easy going manner.

Grant met a couple boys that will be in his class this year.

It's funny now to sit in the orientation and watch the first time parents trying to take it all in.  I was 'that parent' when we took John and Emily in for orientation some eight years ago.  My how time mellows a person.

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Good night!

Twist and Jump

The kids had some fun with the twister game.   

The only problem was that 'someone' wouldn't wait their turn.

 

The someone I'm speaking of was not Grace or Grant though.  They were the spinner and the caller.

Remington was the trouble maker. He wouldn't stay off the mat.

He kept nipping at Emily and John's hands and legs while they were trying to stay in position.

It added a whole new dimension to the game.....

one I'm not sure the kids appreciated much.

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Later we moved the party outside for a while.....

Grant was delighted to have a bicycle to ride at the farm.

But even more delightful than the bike itself....

was the little ramp that the guys built for him to jump over.

And jump he did!!

over and over and over....

Goodnight, all!

Perverts in Norway

To whom it may concern:

Find somewhere else to feed your perverted appetite.
It's not hard to trace IP Addresses.

Go somewhere else....like off a cliff, please.

Thank you

Slurp!!

Preparing for launch

opening the cargo hold doors....

engage suction mechanism.....

and 

GONE!

I think someone needed a bath after dinner.

Preparing for Preschool

Grant and I have been working on his fine motor skills a lot more lately.

There is no doubt he prefers to be outside riding bikes and chasing frogs, but the reality is he is starting preschool this fall and he has spent almost no time with a pen, pencil, crayon or marker in his fat little hand.

A newly purchased Thomas the Tank Engine coloring book is helping to remedy that situation.

He and I are coloring, printing and drawing a lot more lately.

I remember sitting for mind numbing hours doing these things with John and Emily because they LOVED anything involving seatwork, paper, pencils, scissors, glue, etc.

How ironic....now I'm BRIBING my youngest child with coloring books to even sit for a few minutes and color with me.

My how times change!

He is improving though.....

I think Mrs. Culver will still have to do a little work refining his pencil grasp though!

I figured I'd leave something for her to work on this year!

Grace wanted me to take a picture of her new paperdolls dressed in their ballgowns.

You didn't think I could get by buying Grant a new coloring book and not getting Grace something too, did you?

Stuff

Happy 50th (plus) birthday, Dad!!

I never did get to talk to you yesterday.  I hope Mom treated you nicely for your special day.

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Rest In Peace

We'll miss you little mouse without a tail  friend!

2009 - 2011

Hey, two years is all they're supposed to live.  I think we did pretty good keeping him alive that whole time!

Emily already has a new friend picked out.

They're getting acquainted and becoming close friends already.

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Wanna take a guess???

I walked into the house and down the hallway and was stopped short by this sight.

He was getting things ready to cut a hole in the hallway ceiling to install a whole house fan. 

I just thought it was funny.

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I told Grace to go put clippies in her hair one morning.....

She obliged.......

Do you think it's possible to 'overdo' clippies?

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It poured rain one morning while we were at the farm.

Of course that is an invitation for a kid to go play outside in the rain.

and play they did!

The downpour didn't last very long

But it left enough puddles to make an hour of fun painting things with water from puddles.

Grace painted the wrought iron while Grant painted dogs on the garage wall...

John added a celtic knot on the wall.  He learned to make these in sixth grade art.

The trash bags?  Those are there just because I'm too lazy to carry them one at a time to the barn where we put them.

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OK, one more time just for a laugh.....

What would have made it REALLY funny would have been pulling the ladder out from under him and THEN taking the picture.

I think I chose wisely when I resisted doing that!