September 2012

The big news for September?  Justin started kindergarten!  It is only a half day program here in Idaho so we still get plenty of time with him at home.  Ryan misses him, but the mornings go by pretty quickly.  Here he is on the first day of school.

Ryan does enjoy some alone time with Mommy.  Here he is riding around the block while I run beside him.  There are quite a few ups and downs that I don't really notice when I walk.  Somehow they are much more noticeable when I am pulling him along or slowing him down.

The boys both got the chance to play soccer.  Ryan did pretty well.  Unfortunately, when other kids would start to have separation anxiety he would join in.

Justin with the ball!  He has two practices a week plus games.  It gets old fast for me, but hey.

This playground is quite close to my parents' house.  Ryan and I spent an entire morning here while Justin was in school one morning.  Ryan loved it, but of course Justin was jealous when he found out.  We even got to see fire fighters practicing with their hoses.  One came over and gave us some stickers.

Of course why play on the playground when you can walk on rocks?  My boys can always find something to do.

I said it was too cold to go swimming, but that doesn't stop us from getting wet.

The boys take a rest at a table along the world's longest boardwalk.

Ryan was "helping" my mom to clean things.  He decided that his job involved filling up things with water and pouring the water somewhere else.  Many containers were filled, including his shoes.  It is amazing how much fun kids can have with water.

Justin got to help my dad stain the ladder.  He had so much fun with the project.  The quality of his work was questionable, but his method was quite entertaining.  I don't know if anyone has ever danced around so much painting a ladder.

The marbles were left out on the floor and Justin couldn't resist sorting them.  Ice cube trays are so much for for a lot of different things.

Leaves colored Fall colors and sequenced from largest to smallest.  Ryan's cutting isn't exactly on the lines yet, but that's okay.

The boys had so much fun this month with Tinkertoys.  They even enjoyed playing bird family with the big red plastic part stuck on a stick making up a bird.  There were various family members, but usually a Little Sis.  They boys made all sorts of swings, beds, forts, boats, and more for Little Sis.

September 2011

We got to spend the first part of the month in the US.  We got back to Namibia and the boys experienced severe jet lag!  We didn't get a lot done this month, but hopefully October will be better!

This was a great book to read BEFORE and AFTER our trip to the fire station.  No, I don't know why blogger insists on rotating this image this way.  It is not this way in any other viewer.  Go figure.

These were some fun fire related books as well.

Justin and Ryan made these fun little fire trucks, complete with ladders that move up and down.

How cool is it to try on a helmet? 

Evidently the helmet is not as scary as the fire pole.  Justin and Ryan both chickened out of the chance to go down the fire pole.  Justin went last year, but claimed it was scarier this year.

Getting out of the truck after a fun ride in the fire truck, complete with lights and siren!

Before the fire truck ride the boys got to spray one of the hoses.  They have some pretty good water pressure!  A fire fighter assisted them so that the water didn't get too out of control.  I don't have pictures because I was trying not to get too close.  The water sometimes strayed a bit...

Justin has become a lean, mean reading machine.  When I showed him the October book order, he chose over $100 worth of books.  I told him he could only have $23.  (I figured with $23 I could fudge a bit with the numbers if needed without him noticing.)  I put each book he wanted on a piece of paper along with the cost and a face rating to indicate how close to his reading level it was.  He was able to make his choices without whining. :)

We planted some things out back and labeled them.  We will see what grows.  (Again with the sideways picture, hmmm)

Justin and Ryan had a lot of fun with rubber stamps, scissors, and glue.  Here is one of Justin's creations.  This picture is

We did some Johnny Appleseed stuff this month.

Some of Justin's favorite books to read this month.