Not So Fast, Football Season!

I did say that our pro baseball team was a little less exciting than our Little League but I do still like watching a really good game. Saturday night was perfect weather and the home team was smokin'! We had no idea Greg's parents were there until they showed up on the big screen - hand-over-heart, singing the National Anthem. According to me, the real bonus of the evening was the fact that they had extra good, extra seats!

 

To Joshua, however, the highlights of the night were of entirely different matter. What's that he's looking at, you ask? The crickets he found, of course.

 

And then there was the petting zoo. Of the exotic birds, the monkey, the lemur, the pigs, and the snake, the dearest of all was this tortoise. I really thought he was going to fall on his knees and beg me to bring it home with us. Missed a good homerun hanging out here watching a turtle.....

 

By the end of the night we'd had a few juicy, carcinogenic hotdogs, yelled and laughed, and won a really fun game. Oh, and PaPa also caught a t-shirt from the mascot.

 

It ALMOST fits -- could've probably stashed a good turtle in there, come to think of it.

Last Minutes of Summer

As fall approaches you commonly get asked, "How was your summer?". And I've been honestly answering that it's been just right. Doesn't it always seem that you either overbook your summer or don't plan enough? You either do so much that you miss all summer is suppose to be, or you're pulling your hair out by July wondering if school is ever going to start. A little something adventurous and a good amount of nothing seemed to find us every day this time. Perfect!

Last minute savorings have included:

Doing a little card-trading in the neighborhood (with big brother standing guard).

 

Going to a back-to-school party with the greatest 3rd grade class ever! We missed you, Jordan.:(

 

And harvesting a pumpkin! Yes, we grew A pumpkin. All along I've been praying, "Please, Lord -- one pumpkin. I'm a terrible gardener but, please -- one pumpkin." Yes. And that's not a pointy head that Joshua also grew. In fact, he's been traveling around with 3 bouncy balls and one inside door key in his hat. Explanation for the key? If someone comes over and wants to play hide & seek and locks themselves in one of our rooms.....well, they will not have outsmarted Josh.

 

He is going into the 3rd grade, you know!

Hmmm.....

The windowsill in my bathroom has become the collective spot for all things 'shell' over the last year or so -- including snail shells. Nothing alive is suppose to go there. The other night we caught Joshua going into the bathroom with a fresh whole piece of lettuce. He just wanted to see.....

 

This is what I found the next morning. Think one of these snails is still kickin'?

Needing a Building Permit

The summer is almost over and there are still some VERY IMPORTANT things to do. Constructing a giant fort in the living room was apparently on that list. When Josh asked if this was an ok project to work on I said "Sure!" and gave him 2 chairs and a blanket. All my dining chairs and blankets later, we finally had a respectable hideout going. I left Josh to the interior decorating and felt like I needed to probably do some building inspecting after hearing him call out, "Good thing I have a large collection of key chains!". Turns out, they are handy in securing your lighting. Who knew?

I know Greg is going to love this when he walks in tonight!

 

 

 

No, Greg probably won't love it but after he gets the tour he'll be like I was -- fondly sentimental of when I was a kid and use to do this stuff. DO put this on your 'must' list soon.....even if you don't have children! Your inner child will thank you for it.

Happy 1st, Ladybug!

I love these two pictures.

 

 

Here's why. It was my niece, Kierstin's, birthday yesterday and a very large crowd (much like the one taking pics in the nursery window exactly one year ago) gathered to celebrate. Poor girl, you just wonder what little ones think at that very first birthday party. What a bizarre series of events. First, everyone gets in your face and screams "Happy Birthday!" the moment you wake up from your little unsuspecting afternoon nap, then they all eat a big meal of yummy stuff that you can't have, but 30 minutes later they put this gigantic, lit up, squishy thing in front of you that ONLY you can have. It makes them laugh hysterically and also sing very loudly. Later, after a very obnoxious cleanup with a dish rag, they set you in the middle of all these BIG, BEAUTIFUL boxes and bags that look like so much fun to play with......just to end up throwing the great stuff away while sticking you with the -- what do they call it? -- toys!

And all the while, what a girl really wants......is to swim with her cousin!

 

On another note, here are all my Banks family sisters-in-love (preferred over law) at the party. They're sweet and beautiful and wonderful, I must say!

 

Among the other guests from the day, these girls above gave their share of slobbery birthday girl kisses. Another bit in the bizarre, but not so bad afterall of a thing called a "birthday".:)

Dang!

Incident last night with my child that is allergic to oral hygiene:

Me: Josh, you look really down and discouraged. What's wrong?

Josh: I got distracted a few minutes ago and brushed my teeth way too long.

Welcome Home, Boy (pt.II)

A couple years ago, we found out we were moving to a new state. For financial and convenient reasons, we ended up having to sacrifice the outside space of our new home. We wondered how Kodiak would fare in his small backyard and it was obvious very quickly that this was not going to work. Barking at 5:30 am is not cool with new neighbors and neither is the fact that we had the ONLY big (AKA: real) dog anywhere around. What to do? Well, Greg's parents, who live in our vicinity, offered to take him for us. They had the open spaces we had left behind and it just made sense. The buzz of all things new kept us distracted from missing him, and we did visit often.

But....over the last several months we have noticed his pace slow a bit. Instead of having an incessant need to fetch a ball, he seemed more content to just lay at our feet. And though we fixed as posh a dog pad as we possibly could for him, the weather was getting noticeably tougher for him to handle.

Then one night, after watching 'Marley & Me', it occurred to us that, after all these years, Kodiak no longer wanted to be away from Joshua. He no longer needed acres to run and jump in. At almost 11 years old, he was ready to be our inside dog again -- he needed to come home! If a rotten dog like Marley was as treasured as he was then our faithful Kodiak certainly deserved all we could give him!

Welcome home, boy.

 

Now that he's back with us, we are enjoying what a great decision this was. And I can't tell you how happy Kodiak's "little brother" has been about all this! They love to go throw the ball around the yard - perfect solution for someone who has an uncontrollable need to throw and someone else with like need to catch....

 

And doesn't this say it all? What's a tent in the living room when you have a dog you can sleep next to? I'm not sure who's more content.

 

The only down-side is now someone ELSE is missing him!:( He made a really good grand-dog....

 

We are thankful for all the years of our life that we have had Kodiak. He has been an integral part of the twists and turns, the tears and the joys, that have ended up being our story. A story that, as a dog, you just take for granted. But I guess, sometimes, I do too.....until I start telling it.