We've Got a Name

It's the unofficial official name. The boys and I came up with it at lunch. They were pretending they were cookies and frosting. I said where are the sprinkles? So it evolved that they were both cookies, I was the frosting, and Baby was the sprinkles--and Daddy Scott would be the one to eat us because we were so yummy. So from here on out (until birth) Baby will now be called "Sprinkle."

Sara--because Jimmie is just not right. ;-) And you can tell that to all of those Pennsylvanians.

Playground Romp

There was no way of going home without a stop on the school's newish playground. Notice there is only one of McCance. He doesn't stay in one place long enough to take many pictures! The first picture of Bradford is his "I'm-trying-so-hard-to-look-at-you-but-this-is-so-fun-I-can't-focus-on-anything-else" look. And the katydid--spotted by McCance--was the only wildlife we saw the entire afternoon.

Sunday Afternoon Hike

Step 1--Show children what Poison Ivy looks like

Leaves of 3, let it be.
("Stay on the path. Don't touch *anything* green without asking!")

The 3 Boys

Checking out the trickle in the creek

Fuzzy Moss

Obsessed with the walking stick

A giant Sweet Gum

Upon closer look, this tree had been hollowed out
by lightning at some point.

The hollowed out part.
Can you make out the cobweb in the foreground?

Wild flower identification, anyone?

We drove an entire 5 minutes to do a little family hike. For those of you who live near Athens, just park in the lot of Oglethorpe Ave. Elementary School (not during school hours, of course) and you'll see the beginning of the trails next to the playground.

When Mid-Spring Comes

we'll have three!
The heartbeat was simply lovely.

Sunday Morning

McCance and I stayed home from church this morning. Neither of us were feeling 100 percent, so we decided to spend a little down time. McCance tried out his new gifts all by himself. Pink Moon Sand, which is a lot like building a sand castle except the molds are a lot smaller. And finger paints. Here is one of his masterpieces.

McCance's Other Birthday Party: Part II

After enjoying the Insectival, we headed back home for some birthday lunch and cake and more time with friends. These friends are really more like our Athens family. . . I think McCance had 6 or 8 mini cupcakes. Michael and I lost count. They were good cupcakes though, if I may say so myself. (McCance was in charge of the sprinkles.)

McCance's Other Birthday Party: Part I

The entomology department at UGA helped sponsor an event at the Botanical Gardens called the Insectival. We attended with the boys and met their friend, Rachel, and her mom, Bekah there as Part I of McCance's other birthday party. He had wanted friends over for a party, but I postponed the friends' party so we could focus on Grandma and Grandpa time. McCance built a pink (of course!) cootie bug, and Bradford used a microscope for the first time.
The highlight of the Insectival for Bradford and me was the release of around one hundred monarchs in the garden. The black mesh cube was full of them. Once it was opened the air was full of orange spots fluttering about. The photo didn't do it justice, so use your imagination.

Scott really liked the Madagascan Giant Hissing Cockroaches and learning more about them. I do *not* like cockroaches, but these really are cool. I even held one!
McCance, well, I think his favorite part was that Rachel was able to join us. She lives out of town now, so we don't get to see her as often as we used to. (He also liked the fantastic display of magnificent butterflies and colorful beetles.)

Salsa

Scott's co-worker, Ms. Moore gifted us some lovely tomatoes and peppers, including jalapenos. Normally when I get a gob of tomatoes I roast them into a lovely marinara with fresh basil, but I wanted to work in those beautiful jalapenos so a fresh salsa was the result. Originally I had planned to can it, something I'd heard about and kinda watched from the background a lot, but never done. In the end it worked out better to freeze it this time. We've already eaten several jars already with a little help from some friends.

A Sunday Hike

Today was the day that we arranged for Scott to do the spraying that kills yucky insects (and good spiders and bees and such too, but my heebie jeebies seem to be getting worse, so please forgive me for hurting the good ones as well.). Not a fun job, but it had to be done.

The fun part was that the boys and I climbed in the van, along with Adelaide and drove about five minutes from here to hike and run in the park which is along the Middle Oconee River. Both boys fell in the water while playing in the shoals at the creek area. It wasn't nearly as cold as Lake Michigan so they really didn't mind. We saw a brown toad, two young Five-lined Skinks, and several wildflowers. You will enjoy the photos more than my descriptions.

First Day of Class

Friday Bradford had his first day of Spanish School, as he likes to call it. Spanish School is actually a group of homeschoolers (co-op) who meet together for some fun times of learning that would be a little more difficult--or not quite as fun, perhaps--to make work one-on-one (or two or three, depending). Spanish is just the first hour. The second hour Bradford's Kindergarten group is learning about community helpers. Sometime this month they'll have a visit from the firefighters and some police officers!

McCance is in the preschool class. (They don't do Spanish, but he gets to do the DVD with us at home and loves it.) He thinks he's big stuff because his 4 year old friend, Scott, is in his class. I do think I might be a helper during the second hour of his class. Since our friend, Leslie, only teaches the first hour his confidence in being away from me turned into some heavy tears and crying. He did absorb something though. They learned about the first day of creation and talked about how God made them and their muscles. He's been talking a lot this weekend of his "hard muscles." So I know once we get into the routine he will come to enjoy his time.

Lunch with Daddy

Thursday we met Scott during his lunchtime. Since he eats at 10:45 a.m. we just brought snacks. The boys are always thrilled to see Daddy in the middle of the day.

Legos Galore

Yes. Yet another post about Legos. Grandma and Grandpa H. brought some more Legos to add to our collection, which is now big enough to house in one of those Lego rooms in a children's museum. We now have two large containers with the basics, one for people and animals, one for wheels, one for windows, doors, and trees, and another for specialty parts (as we call them.) Thank you to Aunt Judy and Scott's cousin, Matthew, for keeping these in the family!