Good News, Bad News

The good news... Marianna saw Dr. Polly (a retinal specialist) yesterday and was told her retinas haven't changed in the last year. Yeah!

Bad news....lost another pair of glasses yesterday.  That brings the total of missing pairs to four.  Two lost in the last week!!  Where are they going to?  I'm beginning to think the chickens are eating them. (They're eating everything else around here...including my ripe tomatoes, right off the vine.)

Gotta love that girl

 

 

 

 

Therese

 

has been

 



 

 

having a

 

 

really, really

 

 

good time

 



 

with my camera.



The REAL Back to School

After yesterday's post, I thought I'd better redeem myself before the school district comes knocking on our door.

 

See, they're all working very diligently.

 

 

 

Gabriel is thrilled to be "doing" kindergarten.

(Sheesh, where'd the time go?  Seems like he should still be a toddler!)

 

We've been studying bugs, lately.  Excuse me, that's "insects"

because we have learned that "bugs" are

a specific term for some insects.

 

Our budding entymologists managed to kidnap (or would that be bugnap?)

an unsuspecting grasshopper.

We later moved him from the glass jar to this

luxury native habitat...

 

 

so he could be observed.

We were rewarded with an up close view of molting.  Pretty cool!

(Couldn't have PLANNED that, if I'd tried!)

After which, Mr. Grasshopper was freed to live another day.

* Note: No critters were maimed in the creation of this post* 

 

Back to School

After only two days of our planned school schedule, we've already deteriorated to this....

 

Life is just so much better when you can sleep outside and cook your breakfast on an open fire.

So it wasn't my idea of a healthy start to the day.  You saw it in that first picture...marshmallows!!

 

They had marshmallows for breakfast.

 

And oreo cookies....with milk, of course (see, there's something healthy)

Come on !  You can't deny the happiness on that face.



Doing a little sugar-high dance.

 

We still managed to get some "real learning" in.  At least they all did their math... I think!

(photos courtesy of Johnny and Therese)



To Kick Off Our Labor Day Weekend...

We had thirty-some guys over for a PARTAY!  Yes, it's true.  Joseph called last Monday

and asked if we would be willing to host the entire 3rd floor of his seminary for their floor outing.

We said...sure...bring it on!  Then he called to cancel, two days later. Oh, but, wait...then he called back to ask could they still come? (and that was only about 24 hours before the outing was supposed

to take place).  Ah, well.  It's all good.

 

We ended up with a perfectly steamy afternoon on Saturday and started up the

fun with a little shoot-out.

Nothing like a high powered rifle to separate the boys from the men.

What would a day at our house be without at least one game of volleyball...

or some good old guitar blues?

Marianna let her toes do some tapping to the music.
(Note the Crocs on the wrong feet. Typical!)



Quick shot of Dan grilling in a downpour.
(The much needed rain we've been praying for.)

Boys will be boys.

The calm after the storm.

Some high stakes card playing on top of the water cooler.

And finally.... Francis Joseph meets Joseph Francis.
(I really should post the story behind Francis' name sometime.
  Without the guy in the awesome Hawaiian shirt, our Francis would
be answering to Thomas or Phillip right now.)

The Enticement of a Pop Can

Marianna has discovered that Francis will shimmy toward any shiny object.

Not officially a crawl just yet, but he's getting closer everyday.

Celebrating the last of summer

...or maybe not.  In Minnesota, you never know about the weather. But after last week's heat wave, we're ready for a cool down.

Just hanging out

He prefers chewing on his toes

She started watering the flowers and ended up watering me

....then there's Joseph,

 

 

 getting his car all beautified for another school year.

 

And one last get-together before the big guys head back to school.

 

 

Little People