Summer Fun

Playing with fire for the fourth of July


"Swimming" in the almost-too-small-pool.


Jack spends most of his time by the pool, not in it.


Shannon pretending to be an elephant:


Shannon pretending to be a monster:


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Jack's first word is . . . .

Ga-pa. Yep, that's right. Even though he's been saying "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" for a long time, and I'm pretty sure he's been saying "num-num-num-num-num" when food is coming, his first official word is grandpa!! Dad heard it yesterday when he came for lunch. I heard it this morning when I was dropping the boys off. And Mom heard it at some point today too.

He's still not walking, though. He could do it if he just decided to, but he finds speed crawling gets him there faster. And, boy, can he fly on his knees. :)

a little praise for my wonderful husband :)

1) Sean has been smoke-free for about 4 months!!! YIIIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Quite by accident, he quit smoking. :) How, you ask? Well, one weekend, he got sick. He slept most of the weekend. He woke up Tuesday morning thinking he was feeling pretty good. So, he had a cup of coffee and a smoke. And, he hurled for the next half hour. I don't think I've ever seen him look so green. But, he couldn't touch them again. Thank goodness for puking!!

2) This weekend, I went away for a girls' weekend with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law. I had a great time, especially because Sean was such a wonderful papa to his little boys. When I came home, he was a relaxed, contented father--not grinding his teeth and watching the clock. He even put together our bike trailer and took them for a ride--which they loved even with the 15 mosquito bites they came home with. :)

some photos for ya

a funny shannon quote

Okay, I couldn't resist on this one, which probably isn't as funny to you, since you can't actually hear Shannon talking.

I just went into Shannon's room, which is currently a mess. His friends Luke and Reagan are coming over for a couple hours this morning, so I said to him, "Shannon, you better pick up a little in here because Luke and Reagan are coming over."

Shannon responds excitedly, "Oh, yah yah, I gotta clean up this mess or it hurt someone."

He proceeded to pick up some books, but he picked some out and said, "No, mama, Luke wanna read that one."

lovin' my dry basement

So far, in this year's flooding, we've been enjoying a very dry basement. And, now that the rain is done for a few days, I don't expect that we'll have a problem. If we were going to have a problem, it would be sewer back up. But, we've made it through some seriously heavy rains without a drop in the house. I do not envy those who have not been so fortunate, nor those who live in the heavily flooded areas. It's going to be a very yucky mess to clean up.

Jack would rather eat dirt than chocolate

Chocolate vs Dirt: Now that spring/summer is finally here, we've been spending a lot of time outside. And, whenever Jack is out, we keep a close eye on him as he still desires to taste everything he touches. When he manages to get a taste of dirt, he doesn't crinkle his nose up or immediately spit it out. He seems to think, "that's all right." On the other hand, if I feed him some chocolate, he contorts himself until he has rid his mouth of every last bit. This fact was most evident when he violently refused his birthday cake, which was chocolate. But, I've tried chocolate chips, pieces of candy bars, even a tiny chip in a spoonful of ice cream. And, the reaction is always the same. As soon as he tastes the chocolate, a completely disgusted look comes over his face, and he sticks his tongue out repeatedly until the flavor is gone. He even shudders. Hopefully, when he gets older, these reactions will be reversed. :)

Jack loves to snuggle, especially right after he wakes up from a nap. I'll walk into his room, and he's standing at the crib rail. He's either already holding his blanket, or he'll reach down to get it. Then, he holds his arms out. When I pick him up, he lays his head on his blanket on my shoulder, and he stays there for about 5 to 10 minutes. I love it.