More Picasso than Pele

Today marked the first day of Noah's soccer clinic at the Y. He was interested -- but prefered to watch the other kids or kick with me on the sidelines. As we left he said, "mom, today I watched, next time I'm going to play with the other kids." Either way...it was fun to be out there with him and we learned some games that we can play at home with Miles. Definitely worth it.



After soccer we swung by a paint-your-own pottery place to check it out. Noah was immediately entranced and probably could have stayed for hours. He painted a couple of dinosaur figures while we were there -- and he insisted that we select his 'pieces for next time' before we left. It was definitely a top-notch adventure spot for him!


The boys spent the afternoon running around the house all 'suited up'. Noah wore homemade Buzz Lightyear wings. Miles made them especially for him and made himself a bolt-of-fire ("because, mom, fire is so much faster than Buzz!").

A fun Tuesday!

A Day At The Races!

Our dining room is barely used --- so it was awesome to mess it up today. While Griffin napped, Miles, Noah, and I set up some tracks that we haven't played with in months. Nothing better than being reunited with a forgotten toy!


Noah confirming that his hands are free of paint (our last activity). Let's roll!


Tracks are set-up, Miles (the pirate?) ready to enjoy the races!


On second thought...simply watching is boring, let's shake things up a bit!


Now let's try removing the rubber tire from the car to see how wide I can stretch it across my face....(can't imagine that will even shrink back to size!)


Noah was happy just to turn on the car, place it on the track and then grab it when it came back around. Pure delight!

Again!

With almost every pool in Charlotte closed, it was a huge treat to join the Williams this afternoon for some September swimming. Their neighborhood pool has the best kids' slide in Charlotte and today was one of those days when everyone kept yelling, "let's go again!"









Looking forward to next summer already!

Go Panthers!

Old Skool Afternoon

Family time at Latta Park!



It was an afternoon of much swinging...including old-skool, underdog action.


A new sheriff's in town....


As I snapped the camera Griff turned his head to eat this random toy that he had just discovered on the ground. Nice.


Taking a spin on the motorcycle...


After the park, we treated ourselves to donuts at the local Greek Fest. Noah is pictured here 'frozen & in shock' at how amazing they taste. Worth e-v-e-r-y calorie!

Into the Groove

We're getting into the groove of our new schedule...early to bed (we aim for 7pm), early to rise (6:30am) and two boys in school every day. Miles is the constant -- and Noah heads to preschool MWF mornings and Griffin goes to our church's playschool T/Th mornings. Its proving to be a great schedule. Everyone is enjoying school and Noah and Griffin love their 'solo-time'.


Miles hopped off the bus (the front seat!) happy everyday. Each day, we walk home and then stop in the garage to enjoy a popsicle, talk about the day, and read his homework book a few times. Today's daily scoop: "I made a friend on the playground today!" I savor these moments with Miles.


Miles drew this picture of himself at school. I love it for a number of reasons: Miles depicted the outfit he was wearing with such detail, the hands he drew are humongous (which seems to be his artistic trademark), he added flecks of green in his eyes (he is dying to have green eyes like his friend Evan), and most importantly -- he has a smile on his face.


Noah's class started talking about Creation this week. His teacher asked each child to tell the class what that they are the most thankful for that God made. She told me that the the first 6 kids said "animals", then the rest mentioned other inanimate objects. When it was Noah's turn he said, "my brother Miles. I love it when he plays with me." Needless to say, hearing this story made me cry. I'm so thankful for my boys!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Griffin is officially walking! We started gymnastics today and he loved it. He is an active little boy and loves to be outside (from the moment he wakes up). He has a spirit of optimistic determination (practice-practice-practice!) and he flashes us his best accessory -- his smile -- often. It will be a fun year watching his personality bloom!

Happy Birthday, Shannon!

Your laughter is contagious and you have such a zest for life! Enjoy your weekend celebration! We love you, Shannon!!

Boys!

Who Needs Hair Gel?
Me: Noah, can I have one of your french fries?
Noah: Here you go, mom. When you're done eating it, just wipe your hands in your hair.

Remind Me Never To Ride That Bus or
Look What Cool Tricks They Teach You On The Bus
Me: Miles, I put some tissues in the side pocket of your backpack, so that if you ever need to wipe your nose on the bus, you'll have a tissue.
Miles: Mom. I don't need that.
Me: Well, let's just leave them there 'just in case'.
Miles (sounding very upbeat & helpful): No. If I need to wipe my nose I'll use my arm. OR, I could pick out my boogie and then roll it between my hands into a ball and then throw it.

Ain't it the Truth
Me: Noah, please stop crying. You've been in the bathtub for a long time. Its time to get out.
Noah (crying): It's not time yet!
Me (pretend crying): It's not time yet!
Noah (very definitively): Mommy, you can't cry! You can't cry because you don't LOVE to cry the way I LOVE to cry.

More Holiday Fun

I love family friends and we spent tonight with two of our favorites -- the Hulls and the Williams. We can't help but have fun when we're together. As we left the Hull's house tonight, Noah said, "mommy, next time, can I bring my toothbrush and sleeping bag so that I can just sleep here?"




The kids lined up after I invited them to "join the batman club!" (Idea lifted from Uncle Jason. I use it regularly.) One of these days the kids are going to demand that something actually takes place in this club.



Miles and Griffin LOVED playing baseball. (Noah was too busy playing with the ninja turtle toys inside to be bothered.) Miles, the perfectionist, initially opted not to play. After several practice swings, he was able to hit the ball. He was ecstatic and yelled, "I did it! I'm good at this game!" Griffin kept Mike busy -- at 15 months he's already a sports fanatic.


Hayden running the bases. He has an amazing swing!


Cutie, Ryan. Aka Mr Social.


Could Noah's smile be any wider? We took about 15 family pictures (thanks, Trish!) trying to get a good one. The only constant: Noah's awesome smile!


These silly boys told ridiculous jokes to each other over dinner (Ella was far from impressed).


But she did enjoy her share of brownies (as did we all!). Yum, Trish!

Enjoying the Long Weekend!

Good neighbors, good food, good fun. Gotta love it!

Male DNA = Big TV?

Given Miles' new crack-of-dawn schedule, Noah was ready for preschool 90 minutes early. In between slurps of his cereal milk we had this conversation:

• Me: Hey Noah. You're ready for school really early today. Maybe you can watch one show before school.
• Noah: Mom! I want to watch Monsters' Inc!
• Me: No, honey. That's a movie. We can watch that on a long trip - like in the car on the way to the zoo.
• Noah <in an appalled and informative tone of voice>: Mom! You can't watch Monsters' Inc on a tiny screen! You HAVE to watch it on a BIG TV!

This, from a 3-year-old. Good grief.