Snippet for Sunday

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I --

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

I love my life!

I would rather give up just about anything (except my DH and my faith) rather than give up the chance to stay home with my boys. They are so much fun, and so unique. And the things I'm privy too, like kisses and toddlers in headphones, cuddles, watching my 4 year old's eyes light up when I teach him something new, and seeing them learning to play together and put someone ahead of yourself, well, these kind of things are, to me, the very air I breathe.

Thank you God, for cameras. They are such an amazing way to capture some of these moments, and share them with others!

Dancing to the Veggies

What an amazing thing it is to be a family!

Snippet for Sunday

Ray Bradbury's 3 Rules of Writing:
1. Write what you love and love what you write.
2. Go to the edge of the cliff, jump off, and build your wings on the way down.
3. ....be driven by love.

Fun Things

Daddy has started bringing home Happy Meals. We eat the food, the boys play with the boxes, and the toys go into our family treasure box.

M's cute self:

And here's M having some fun playing on my bed by himself. We keep a small shoebox of random toy things that the boys can play with back there, for those moments when you just need something different to do.

L went through my Deceptively Delicious cookbook, chose a recipe, and announced, " I make dis!" So we made the yogurt/strawberry/sugar frozen pops, with only one hitch: I could not find our popsicle molds. So I used our Jello egg molds instead. They're a little trickier to pour the mix into, but they were such fun. I just need a little funnel! They were such a hit! And it was great to watch L eat so much fruit!

Have a great weekend!

Everyone's Learning to Read

Phonics, anyone? Starfall.com is a great, online phonics program, and it's FREE! L loves to do his letters (see Fred/Charlie learning his letters too?)! I found out about it at Jamin's Homeschool Blog - she and her kids do some pretty fun things (I love the way everyday stuff turns into research projects - like with her vultures the other day).

...Anyways, we've been doing "Letters Game" (the phonics), and playing lots of other letter-based matching games and he LOVES it! We keep Learning Time short, varied, one-on-one, and to-the-point! Perfect for my little guy!

And here is M - he has more of a God-given pull towards the written word. It might have something to do with his greater inclination to sit still...

Here's hoping that those of you north of us are also having a beautiful day, and that those of you sitting with the Can't-Take-A-Hint-and-Move-On Fay manage to keep your floors dry!

Snippet for Sunday

"A river cannot rise higher than its source."

- Charlotte Mason

What a Great Day!

This shot just about sums up today:

The boys are settling down for their rest, and it's given me a moment to reflect on what a great day it's been so far! The morning started out with Cheerio's for breakfast (M likes his with milk, and L had his dry today). L spouted out this incredibly long sentence for him (his expresive speech is getting so much better), let's see if I can do it justice:

"Mommy, take-a pikchur Ebi eatin Cheerios plez?!"

Which, how could I not?

We were still eating breakfast when L wanted to do Learning Time. We have been doing Learning Time nearly every day, and he is eating it up. We make things, copy patterns, do concept worksheets, do occasional science experiments (like our tie-dyed shirts), and have started learning phonics on the internet.

And we found a bird nest today, which L was floored over! He is totally interested in this thing!

We also went visiting at Camp for the last day, and had fun with the office girls! All three of us really enjoyed that!

Brotherly Love

The boys have really been having a lot of fun together. We've been getting out the Legos, and they sit and build things. L's been posing to have his photo taken again, which is really great (I knew that run from the camera thing couldn't last forever)!

We put up our count-down to Gramma's chain Sunday morning. When we run out of loops, we'll be going to see Gramma and Grampa for Labor Day weekend. L has been itching to travel, so I had to put something up he could mark the time with!

My cutie-pie! Poor kid, those "skitos" tear into him like they do me. It must have something to do with our O blood....? No, that's me and L. Maybe it's just cause he pauses to inspect things, where-as L is more of a moving target? They both get such terrible whelts (welts, how do you spell that?). Anyways. Stay tuned for live action love tomorrow!

Snippet for Sunday

It takes a village to

raise an idiot.

Take My Picture, Mommy!

Okay, so I have a great shot of the swashbuckler running bare except for his hat (from the back), but didn't think it'd be fare to him to put it out there for all the world to see. I have this tiny problem with embarrasing people, especially children.

Anyways, L's actually been saying, "Take my picture, Mommy!" so I've been clicking away.

M enjoying some mushroom pizza. We have been taking pictures of our food lately, since Lindsay suggested they might help big brother eat better. I figure that I warn him of every other transition, why not food? I marvel when I watch M eat, and it's very humbling, because I know that his healthy appetite is certainly nothing I can claim as my mothering!

We used to call L "Peanut" back when he was in my tummy (before we picked a name (the week he was born)). He is something else!

And a parting grin from M! Nothing too big this week, as M and I were a bit sick, but we're on the mend today, so it's good to be feeling better! Have a great weekend!

Catchin' Up

Isn't he the daring, young swashbuckler? He was trying to give me such a look for taking his photo! Shortly after this his sword broke, and he's been filling up his job chart all week to earn another one.

Chewie (who will be 6 on August 2), looking for baby scraps (and needing a trim)...

M having a hearty snack of apples and peanut butter...

TADA!!! By far one of the coolest things daddy's ever brought home!

L with his birthday frog from his Gramma and Grampa...

M loving a box hide-out just his size...

L hanging with our new friend, Raven (Lindsay's puppy)...