summertime

Yesterday was a hot one, so the boys did lots of playing in the big ball sprinkler, eating popsicles, and water color painting. Chris loves to paint very meticulously and fill in the entire paper, and Nate likes to make squiggles of different colors.

Today we went and played with Henry and Wendy at a park near their house. (their NEW house, actually!) It was so amazing...it seems that Henry was just JUST a tiny little baby, and now he's almost shoulder to shoulder with the boys. We had lunch at their house then headed home with a lollipop for dessert. Portland Parks and Rec. had a table with markers and masks at the park, so the boys decorated them and decided that they wanted to wear their masks home in the wagon and scare the drivers along the way. Such a scary lion and tiger. :) grrrrrrrrr roarrrrrrrrr

Arch Cape

We just returned from our 3rd annual trip to Arch Cape with the cousins. We all had an awesome time doing a whole lot of nothing. The weather really cooperated and we were able to get lots of fun beach time. This year we made fires on the beach (thanks Dan!) which the boys loved because they were able to poke their long sticks in the fire and then snuff them out in the sand...just like real firemen! Of course we threw rocks in the river, explored starfish and anenomes in the early a.m., and dug big holes in the sand. Grace, Sophie, Dave and Mark all donned wetsuits and did some boogie boarding, too. We also went on an adventure to Oswald State Park to see the surfers. We can't wait until next August to do it all again!

Chris the writer

I just can't help but share this picture. Chris and Nate are really into doing 'school' things, since they are starting preschool this Fall. They love everything to do with drawing, coloring, learning and carrying backpacks.

Chris was writing a thank you note to Auntie Leann, and he wanted to write his name. As you can see at the top of the paper, he wrote his C, H, I and an S (gotta love that S!)Of course he wrote it right to left but that's perfectly o.k. for a 3 year old's first attempt at his name. Being the first grade teacher at heart, I of course, just love this! He also drew a couple of L's for Leann, a Z for Zoey, and an M for Mama.

I love my boys. They amaze me every day! xoxoxxo

John Finn's Farm

Well, we finally went to John Finn's farm today. The city folk went country. We've been talking about it forever, so this morning we made the trek to Ridgefield. It was well worth the drive.


We got to meet his horses Annie, Swinger, and Zeus. The boys got to feed the horses some big carrots, sit on the saddle, and even take a little ride around the barn area. So much fun! But the fun didn't stop there----- We also got to climb in the hay loft, find the chicken eggs in the coop, hold a chicken, walk in the woods, swing on an amazing tire swing, ride his tractor (at least pretend to ride it!) Then we went into John's workshop where he gave Chris and Nate their own horseshoe with instructions to hang them upside down so that they can catch the good luck. He also showed us big nuts and bolts. The boys loved every minute of being on the farm. We sure hope that we will be invited back someday.

Big Tim

We've had big Tim here for the weekend and the boys just love him! He is so good with them.....willing to make cool train tracks, play with the cars, go to OMSI, etc. It's so nice to see them feel so happy with someone other than the usual mom/dad/aunts/uncles/cousins. Thanks for coming to see us, Big Tim!

handshakes

Dan has been teaching the way to give a correct handshake when meeting someone. They've actually become quite good at it! These are the easy steps that they will tell you about.....

1. palm to palm

2. get in there

3. squeeze the hand

4. ask "how you doing?"



What little gentlemen. :)



Nate went to swim with Dan this afternoon to make up for his awful time at swim lessons on Wednesday. We're calling it summer school. Hopefully this week will go much better. Chris stayed in the lessons the whole time last Wed. We were very proud of him with all of his kicking and blowing bubbles.

Will makes 7...on the day before 7-7-07

A new cousin was added to the brood! Cousin Will was born on Friday, July 6th. He is absolutely adorable! Looks just like Uncle Mark.

Of course, Susan just couldn't stay away from a new baby, so the Cotters loaded up and headed south to meet the little guy. This made for a fun weekend with the cousins (which the boys always just love, love, love!) We bbq'd and did a little birthday celebration for Ella, since she will be turning 5 next weekend. Lots of playing in the pool to keep cool. Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan came over, too. Fun times!

Happy 4th of July!

What a hot day it was today! We went hiking with Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan at Tryon Creek State Park this morning.....we saw a horse on the trail and a banana slug. I kept reminding Uncle Greg ( a true 'hiker') that our rendition of hiking wasn't as extreme as his.....lots of looking at things and stopping along the way. He assured me that it was fine that way. :)

We came home and the boys took a big nap. Tired legs! We played in the neighbor's pool and bbq'd. A nice, mellow 4th.

Last night we had dinner with the Perry's. It was fun to be on their big deck which overlooks all of Portland and play in their inflatable pool. Good times, with hot summer nights.

Oh yah, one funny thing today. I was cleaning up the dinner dishes and Chris and Nate came running into the kitchen from outside. "We need paper towels!" they both were telling me frantically. "Why do you need them?" I asked. "Because Daddy said SHIT!" :) Well, really a cup of milk spilled all over the patio....but to 3 year olds, it was because daddy said shit. too funny.

where did the last month go?

I've been so bad about posting! Here it is, July 2nd and I have not written for over a month!

The boys are doing great. They started swim lessons at Dishman, and so far they hate it and they love it. Kind of depends on the day. Chris does NOT like to do the hokey pokey in the water. Nate hates water in his nose.

They got some cool new haircuts from Mimi. They can wear it spikey which is very fun. I never remember to do much to their hair, since 9O% of the time they have a hat on their heads.

They are doing to reading program through the library. They earn prizes for time spent with books. They love coloring in their own spaces after we read. The big prize at the end is a t-shirt. Very exciting!

We will be getting a new cousin on Friday. Aunt Deenie is scheduled to deliver baby William on Friday, July 6th. We can't wait to meet the little fellow and show him some 'boy' stuff. We needed another boy cousin!! :)

i berry love.....

Nate's latest saying is that he 'berry loves' things. (translates to i very much love)

"I berry love sneaking!"
"I berry love Aunt Deenie."
"I berry love swimming."
"I berry love my mommy."

very cute.

Happy Mother's Day!

What a lucky mama I am. I truly have the cutest boys in the world. We went and stayed at the Tolovana Inn at Cannon Beach this weekend. It was a great time! Played in the sand, flew the kite, swam in the pool, sat in the jacuzzi, ate, drank, went to throw rocks at Arch Cape. Both boys really loved running on the beach. Chris and Nate got to sleep together in a big bed. Very exciting!

I got a beautiful locket for Mother's Day with two adorable pics of the boys. I love it. Thanks, Daniel! I love you, too.

pure boy

This weekend Nate and Chris were completely 'boy'. On Friday, Dan bought them their first baseball gloves. They were soooo excited and worked on learning how to roll the ball right into the glove. They also wore baseball jerseys that they had received for their birthday. They were in hog heaven. Chris was also searching for bugs. Between the two of them packing their new gloves, lying on the concrete searching for critters, and their number shirts, I could hardly stand it. They're growing up so fast!

They also helped with the finishing touches on their new tree house. They helped drill, weave the rope, add the flag, telescope, and pirate wheel. What a great space for their 3 year old imaginations. Good work, dad.

Fishing!

We took Nate and Chris fishing at a trout farm on Sunday. It was great fun, and we caught 8 fish! Daddy put the worms on the hook, and pulled the hook out, but the boys did all the reeling.

The old lady clobbered and cleaned the fish (Chris did not like that!), then grandma fried them. Both boys ate some of the fish, Nate was more fond of it than Chris.

We will definitely go fishing there again! This is the stuff that memories are made of.

Easter

Happy Easter! We went over to Mark and Claudine's house, where we were joined by the Cotter family, Uncle Greg, G'ma, and G'pa, and Sookie. It was a good time. The boys LOVED finding the eggs. Can you say sugar?

I got idea!

Bedtime for the boys always ends with this little rendition.

Nate---"I have idea! I make 1,2,32,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26, purple donuts!" (o.k., great idea. Chris?)

Chris---"I have idea! I make 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 26, 15, 19 muffins and cookies"

o.k., great idea. Good night, I love you!