because it was the first monsoon of the year

We sat on the front porch and watched our two run around the yard; looking for worms, chasing birds, and feeling the rain on their soft, pale faces. Marnie, looking up with each raindrop, hoping to see who "spilled" it on her (her words).When the Ice Cream Truck came tinkling down our street, Britt's face lit up and he disappeared into the house to raid his stash of one dollar bills. We waited patiently for the kids at the far end of the street to get their sugar-fix, and then it was our turn. Britt chose a Ninja Turtle and MJ had to have a Powerpuff Girl. After Britt gave Daddy detailed descriptions of every frozen confection that was available and an explanation for why he had chosen the one he had chosen, we sat back to enjoy the momentary quiet that settled in as the kids enjoyed their treats. The rain trickling down...
Britt (conscious of the scattered nature of the Arizona monsoon) suggested that we drive the half mile down the street to see if it was raining at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It wasn't. He decided to make some rain of his own. Not surprisingly, this resulted in him soaking his sister. Grandma appeared with a fluffy towel and wrapped it around her. Marnie meandered over to Daddy's hammock chair and flashed her sweet grin, meaning, "If you pick me up right now, I'll hold still long enough for you to snuggle me." He did.

MJ's word of the day

excuse the hair... she discovered that she can take her pigtails out. dang.
Yesterday we were visiting at my folks' house, looking through photo albums. Marnie started to point out every time she saw Uncle Beau. Then she wandered around the living room and did this...

She's not the only one counting down the days till Uncle Beau arrives home from Afghanistan safely. :)

I'm guessing she heard about this and can't wait to try it for herself...

{this video is from when Beau was home on leave, September 2008}

out by the lake, where the sun shines from above and below...

MJ learned a new word that day... DUCK! And she yelled it at full volume every time she saw a duck...which was about every 2 seconds.



MJ could have picked "wow-wahs" all day.


And Britt was determined that if he blended in with the tall grass, one of the blue dragonflies was bound to land on his finger.

a conversation

Britt- "Momma, how do you spell LOVE?"
me- "L O V E"
Britt- "hey, how do you spell so much?"
me- "well, I've been spelling for a long time."
Britt- "yeah, but how do you spell so much?"
me- "like I said, when you practice spelling so often, you get better and better at it."
Britt- "no... how do you spell SO MUCH."
me- "oh... S O then a space, then M U C H." {sheepish grin}

why he needed to know...


you may remember her...

"I dare you..."

"...to take this Dilly Bar away from me! I waited patiently for Britt to leave it unattended, and then climbed all the way up here to get it... just TRY to stop me!"

play ball!

We celebrated Justin's last day of school (and a day of beautiful weather) with a game of baseball. Britt was up to bat for about 95% of the game, Justin and Jordan took turns pitching, and Marnie (and her baby doll) played second base. I was the photographer/Marnie's baby-holder. By the time Britt is old enough for T-ball, he's going to be ready for fast-pitch!


Britt's about to tag second base here, as Justin chases the ball into left field. I think this one was an in-field home run.

He hits so hard that he broke a ball!


It wasn't too long before Marnie remembered about the hole in the fence and decided to quit playing ball and start watching chickens.