Art

Britt definitely got Justin's art skills. If he had gotten mine, he wouldn't be able to draw a stick figure. :) Drawing is his absolute favorite thing to do. He loves to draw animals and superheroes. He loves to draw so much, that if he's being naughty, a quick "do you want to have your markers taken away?" gets him to change his behavior in a hurry.

 This post is dedicated to a few of the art pieces which currently adorn our fridge/walls/doors.

 Justin drew a great white shark for Britt, and then Britt mirrored it in his own Picasso-ish version.

A few characters from The Muppets

A tiger thinking about what he's going to have for dinner, and saying, "mmmm...tasty."

A praying mantis

Marnie has been working on her drawing skills too. A few nights ago she drew this lovely portrait of her Uncle Jarret on the back of a paper plate. Looks just like him, eh?  :)

Another little person, by Marnie

bubble princess

the difference 2.5 years makes

I love to look at baby pictures of Marnie.
Who would have guessed that this plump, squishable, raven-haired, caterpillar...

...would grow to be a tall, graceful butterfly, with honey-gold curls? :)






She's still squishable. :)

blue and white

Let the journey begin...

Our baby boy is a kindergartener. Shock of all shocks: I haven't cried today. I'm basically the queen of sentimental bawling-- we're talking can't get past page 3 of Love You Forever without getting teary-eyed. I did have one little moment of tears a few days ago, when I said something about his little classroom having his name on his cubby, and that unforgetable feeling of wearing your shiny new shoes and meeting the kids you'll be spending the next 10 months with. Wondering who your best friend will be, if you'll be one of the smart kids in your class, if your teacher will be nice, if you'll like it once the new wears off... It's such a fun and unique time in a kid's life. I thought I'd be sad at the idea that he's taking his first step away from us, but I feel just the opposite. I'm so proud of the awesome kid he is and I can't wait to let him share his awesomeness with his teacher and the kids at school. It helps that he's so ready to go to school...so ready that this morning he was dressed (backpack and all) by 6:15. School doesn't start until 8:00, so Justin talked him into taking a shower to kill some time. After he got out, he told me, "mom, wanna know how you can tell I'm excited? Because I even scrubbed my armpits and my uterus." (*note to self: review anatomy with Britt) :) I can't wait to see what his teacher thinks when he casually uses words like; paranoid, suffer, awkward, impressive, convenient, infinitely, delicate, and...casually. So, kindergarten, here he comes!

We went for a hike.

We explored
and ate lots of trail mix
and crossed little wooden bridges
and saw tall pine trees
and played in sand
and caught a horny toad
and made some wonderful family memories.









I'm so glad I brought my tripod so we could get some pictures of all of us together. Well, all except Griz, who would have LOVED the hike. We had to leave him home though, because he couldn't come with us for our other activities, and would have had to wait in the (very, very hot) car.






Afterwards, we surprised the kids and took them to race go-karts. We're really trying to make the most of the last few days of summer break before Britt starts school (on Thursday!).