Gym Boyfriend and Rose Hill Friends

 Frank's pool is one of the boy's happiest places in the world. Probably because he lets them do the stupidest stunts with his toys. He has always been the 'shark' in the water that attacks the boys...I thought this year Obe Wan would give him a run for his money, but because my eldest doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body and doesn't know how to use his size to his advantage, Frank still took them both down! It was super fun to watch. Maybe one year they will gang up on Frank, but for now, they let him win! I think it is also a respect thing. They look up to Frank as another family member--I would say glorified Uncle. He spends time and money on them both--not to mention the harassment he dishes out. There are those few people in life that God gives you that aren't family, but at the end of the day, they are closer to you than some of even your family. We are blessed to have Frank in our lives. Who would have thought the old guy at the gym who RAN while watching the History Channel would become such a good friend? HA! Who knew?!?!

Unfortunately, I didn't capture the picture where the boys had three rafts piled on top of each other and they were sliding off that one. We took one of the Arheart boys with us and that added another level of fun! Too bad there weren't that many warm days this summer! It was the coolest summer I can remember. It was also the summer where I bought a pool pass--never again will I do that.

At the Andover Y with our RH peeps! 

Special K one year later

 I don't think I need words for these pictures. The little puppy is gone....the puppy however is still very present in her actions! She is a beautiful and wonderful golden! Both shots are taken at the Arhearts home--I think I will try to get this picture every year of her life. One was in May and one was in July--the mums reflect they weren't liking the warm KS heat.

J-Bird and his love of tumbling

I haven't quite figured out why J-Bird loves this, but he does. He will spend hours on the trampoline perfecting his stunts. I wonder if this is influenced by YouTube, but who knows? I don't really have an idea on this one. It is a costly, not going anywhere sport for him. He is going down to once a week as I can't be in two places at once. ObeWan has Spanish tutoring at the same time J-Bird has his tumbling lessons. He will get to do one a week, not two. He is handling it okay as he didn't have ONE free night of the week. It was exhausting to both of us! 

Picture Day on the Knobs!

 My preppy little boys got 'un' matching Under Armour shirts for their pics. I had bought these at the Outlet mall in hopes they would wear them this summer when we had Tobie pics, but unfortunately, her prices have jumped a bit too much for me to do every year. I have a camera--I can just take their pictures. Or not?!?! I ordered LifeTouch pictures and that will work for this year. You can really see the size difference in the two of them when they stand next to each other. J-Bird is in the 50% for his height and so is Obe Wan, but since he is in 6th grade (and should be in 7th due to his age) he is actually short. SHHHH- we won't tell him that. ;)

My Fundraising quest: Capeless Crusade

I am the Fundraising Director for our Middle School. The main fundraiser is a Walkathon which we do in the fall. Each kid is asked to get sponsors for them to 'walk.' There were four tiers of donations in which the kids could get free stuff! For $5 a kid got a superhero dum-dum. I made (with the help of some amazing mommies) 1,000 of these suckers! Every Friday the kids who have donated $5.00 or more get their name in a candy drawing. 

You can check out the fun on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HHMSPTO/

I made the shirts for J-Bird's teacher! The teachers can win the Superhero shirts. I am enjoying doing Iron-on Vinyl. It makes everyone's day when they get a special t-shirt! This is a good way to see what goes on at the boys school too. You don't have to have a FB account to see everything that goes on at the school. I like this as I don't ever want a FB account again.

The beasts of the Knobs

 

 It is always fun to drive down the road in the Knobs and see the wild life. I still haven't gotten the red fox to stop and pose long enough for me but I did manage to get these deer and these dogs!  We are watching precious 'Tinkerbell' for my Father while he is away in Japan and he requests pictures. Whatever. I figured I'd add her to the blog too. She is an attention whore, but in a different kind of way than Special K!

Middle School times two!

Well, at the end of July my two babies are officially both in MIDDLE SCHOOL. We have a 5th and 6th grader. One who is grinning from ear to ear because he is so happy to go to school and he other one who 'is much more interesting on the Internet.' I think there expressions truly capture their attitude about school. They are such polar opposites. Obe Wan is now measuring 5'3" and is taller than his Mama. I got to ask him to get something off a high shelf the other day and it was bittersweet.