He's Got the Look!

Wright seems to have lots of admirers! Whenever we go out, people are drawn to him. The old farmers around here love his energy and interest in TRACTORS! Girls of all ages love to talk to him and inevitably come to the same conclusion-he is CUTE (totally agree)! Must be the combination of crazy blonde hair, blue eyes, and happy/energetic demeanor. Whatever it is-it's workin' for him!



Outside=Happy!


Right pointer finger-never leaves home without it!



Yep-He's Cute!

(I may be in over my head with this one.)

Just a Swingin'

Like most kids, ours love to swing. Journey has to try swinging lots of different ways-the normal sitting, the standing, the laying on your belly, laying on your back, and all kinds of other ways. She is very good at getting started, pumping, and climbing high! Wright watches EVERYTHING Journey does and tries to imitate to the best of his ability. He likes swinging in baby swings, but he also enjoys belly swinging on big kid swings! Of course, they are both big fans of the "Under Doggie Push" too! We've done lots of swinging this summer. Hope your summers have been filled with fun too.




Hanging out on our swings.



Journey flying high at Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Larry's!
She loves this "Cebulski" inspired rope swing :)


Makes her hard to catch in a picture though!!!!!!!!!



Wright's getting it figured out too!

SUMMER!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summers. It has flown by as usual-BOO! I am happy to say we've enjoyed lots of swimming and time with family and a short trip to K.C. Jeff and I just had our 12th anniversary-yet to be celebrated as our family was stricken with a demonic stomach virus that lasted a couple weeks before it was all done. I start back to work next week and Journey starts 1/2 day preschool next Wednesday (four days a week). Kind of interesting to think she may meet some friends that she'll know the rest of her school career!! Sorry we didn't make any big trips this summer-never has felt like a possibility this summer. Maybe sometime over the school year?? or next summer?? We have many friends and family across the country we'd love to see again. Miss you all!!

OH, JOURNEY!

Journey has gotten into the habit of falling asleep in our bed and then we move her to her own bed, after which there is a 50/50 chance that she will return to our bed in the early morning hours. A while back, Journey started bringing a stuffed animal or two to bed with her. Then Journey was bringing a whole herd of animals to bed with her placing each one in the "perfect" spot on OUR bed! I drew the line after she brought 27 friends to bed with us. I know, world's worst mom. . .read on!

Journey is cracking me up lately! She asked me the other evening as she played outside at dusk if I wanted to "use up the sunlight" with her. How could I refuse?!! This morning we had a storm roll through early with lots of thunder so when she got up, I asked her if she had heard the storm. I said it was a lot of "rumble, rumble." To which she said, "maybe it was my belly." Guess she was hungry!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeff and I have pretty definite parenting ways and it hasn't gone unnoticed by Journey. We jokingly say that Jeff is the "yes, yes man" and I am the "no, no girl". So the other morning I asked Journey if she had any dreams and whether they were good or bad. She quickly said she had a dream and it was GOOD. She said, "Daddy got me a TV for my room!. . .and he said the 'no,no girl' was never coming back!" Yikes! So I said, "I wasn't even in your dream?" She said "no" got a little concerned look on her face and said, "I REALLY WANT A TV IN MY ROOM!" As you can guess I said "no".

Airborne

Jeff has always been interested in flying. He has been really into radio controlled airplanes basically since we moved back in 2007. If you know Jeff, then you know he is quite skilled at building things and I believe he has definitely found a place in radio controlled airplane building. (If we could only make some money at it-but then it wouldn't be as fun right??) Jeff has built-basically from scratch around 5 or 6 planes now. He could go much more in depth in telling you how it is done, but the short version is (forgive me Jeff for the inaccuracies): he picks a real airplane he wants to build a model of. Somehow he gets dimensions and drawings from the internet I believe. He cuts and shapes the body and wings, etc. from foam. Adds the mechanical and engine parts. Does a super nice paint job on it. MONTHS LATER. . .Flies it. Sometimes crashes it. Fixes it. Flies it alot more. Starts thinking about the next one to build.


Jeff strapped our camera to the belly of one of the first planes that he built and took an aerial video of our property-I found that video before he had told me that he did it. Jeff has also strapped roman candles and sparklers to his planes around the fourth of July, lit them, and flew the plane at dusk. That was enjoyed by all! Seems like the best time to fly is in the evenings (as the wind calms down). I'm constantly amazed at Jeff's varied abilities and creativeness. It definitely fits with my "frugality" that he can build all these himself instead of buying them! And as he says, the construction phase is as much or more fun for him as the actual flying! So my husband is a dork, but we love him to pieces!!! Here are some photos of Jeff and his most recent plane.

Enjoying our Pond/Lake!

We are enjoying our pond/lake immensely this summer! I'm not sure if it is quite big enough to constitute as a lake. . . .but anyway we love it. We go on little paddle boat rides when it is not too hot-very enjoyable. It is so nice on a hot day to walk across the back yard to the sand, play there, wade in the water, or even swim a little. The sand has made it out in a small area of the water so that it is not muddy. Jeff wants to haul more sand in to beef up the sand pile again and push more out into the water to have a bigger "non-muddy" swimming area. The first picture above is just the kids playing. The sand pile is used often for general digging, building, burying, and driving of small vehicles. Second is Journey checking out a baby toad. We watched the toads around our pond grow from egg stage-to tadpole-to "froglets" for lack of a better word-to these tiny toads-Journey was quite the tadpole catcher and now no toad or frog is safe!! The last picture is my nephew, Lane, and a bass he caught out of the pond. We can cast a line in and catch a small bass VERY regularly, but every once in a while someone catches a nice one like this too! We always throw them back so come for a visit and fish with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Cute Cut!

Journey is in a hair phase of "no clips, no ponytails, no braids, no brushing!" She wanted a haircut and that sounded good as summer is upon us! Here are before and after pics. Of course I'm partial, but I think she's as cute as ever:)

BEFORE

AFTER

LOVE

I'm learning as a parent that it is a special kind of heartwarming to watch your children play together and interact (not fight). I'm glad to have caught a couple moments on film to prove to our teenagers down the road that they did get along ONCE UPON A TIME!

A Boy's First Love

Wright LOVES tractors! He gets up in the morning with his "motor" running, says "tatuh" for EVERY motorized vehicle he sees, and pushes his toy tractors, cars, and trucks around most of the day. Wright also loves to ride in real tractors as well as on four wheelers and in big trucks. Books with pictures of vehicles are favorites too. Here are some pics of Wright and Poppy Eugene's tractor. Last is a video of Wright saying "tractor"-it's amazing how he can even make that CUTE!!

WELCOME SPRING!!!!!!!!!

We are so HAPPY to have spring here. Lots of playing in the sand, swinging, and walks! All that fresh air makes for some exhausted kids by bed time. (parents sometimes too) Here are some pics from a little hike into the woods at Jeff's parents' house. Two streams coming together with waterfalls-PRETTY and FUN.