back to school

Here's how you know its time for your kids to go back to school (six days and counting):
You notice your nine year old is only wearing one sock.
You mention this to your nine year old; he shrugs.
Five hours later you notice that your nine year old still has just one sock on.
You mention it again; he shrugs and smiles.

I'm curious to see if he will still have just one sock on for soccer practice tonight or if he'll have enough motivation to put the second sock on. 

Boono

Aside from coloring, playing with play dough is Lillie's new favorite pastime. She calls it "boon-o" and tries to eat it. She does need a little help with all the gadgets she wants to use it with, but she has the cookie cutters down!

Comfy reading

Great shot of Isayas reading in the afternoon! It seems super uncomfortable to me, but he stayed liked that for awhile.

Travel

We live in the good of friends who travel! Some friends just brought back some buckwheat tea from China and it is tasty! Since there isn't any English on the package I followed the picture to steep it.

Dinner

Waymond went to a soccer game for a friend's birthday tonight. He left the house at 3:40pm, which just left me and the kids for dinner. This is a snippet of dinner time!

Our chalk artist

We have a budding chalk artist on our hands! 

Isayas' rocket

Isayas made a rocket out of paper and blue tape yesterday! Ermias wanted to set it on fire to see if it would launch. Sadly, I wouldn't let them learn from that mistake! I just told them what would happen.

New Laugh

The boys have taught Lillie how to have an "evil laugh." She will pretty much do it on command or when she hears one of the boys do it.

beach photos

We all had our sweatshirts on. It wasn't a warm day so only toes got in the water.

 There was lots of digging in the sand by everyone!

 The boys were trying to stand on a log.

 It is hard to tell, but Ermias is sitting on this fallen tree. He's on the left.

Vacation

We took a long weekend to visit some friends on Whidbey Island. Everyone had a great time! We will have sand in our van for months!

Lunch

Ermias is enjoying Lillie's new food & dishes!

Eyebrows

The boys had some fun with a few fake eyebrows this afternoon.

New food

Grandma Jani sent some plastic food and dishes with Grandma Connie. They are a BIG hit!

 Ermias said, "this is actually fun." I think he'll be playing with her.

 She served everyone coffee/tea! 

It's hard to get a good picture of her because she is always on the move.

Another year older

Isayas had a great birthday and is having a great time with all of his gifts!

Thanks to everyone!!

Waiting & Birthdays

Grandma Connie & Nollie were due in this afternoon and the kids patiently waited for them outside. Isayas played with his new birthday things.

Happy Birthday Isayas!!

BlueBabies

As I've said before, Lillie LOVES blueberries (which she calls blue babies). And, now she likes to pick her own. :o) She's getting much better at finding ripe ones.

 Isayas is so kind to share the ones he picks.

Friday fun

Drums are played at our house a lot during daylight hours!

 And, mostly by this boy! He is going to be a drummer!!

 The boys found a mini ping-pong set I bought awhile ago and got it set up while Lillie was having a snack (so she wouldn't be right in the middle).

school shoes

The boys picked new school shoes (Ermias on left & Isayas on the right)! I was totally surprised, but it was a painless process. Lillie sat in the shopping cart eating Happy Puffs and wanting to try on all the shoes. The boys browsed around, picked the ones they liked and tried them on. However, the bad thing about getting shoes at the end of July is that they have to wait until September to wear them!