Play Time

J is dramatic.  Everybody in the family knows that.  So taking part in the children's theater this summer was a natural fit for him.  

He played Toulouse in "The Aristocats."  He was a tough-acting, orange kitten.  

He learned his lines very well.  And everyone else's.  Seriously, if he was old enough he would have been a perfect Edgar, the butler.  

Pretending to drink milk laced with sleeping pills.  (Mean ol' Edgar...)  

He is a typical 5 year old boy when it comes to dancing!  Uncoordinated and oblivious to the fact while he gives it his all. lol  But cute as all get out while doing it!  

I predict more summers will be spent participating in children's theater.  I hope he never outgrows his outgoing personality.  

Karate Promotion

Somebody earned his yellow belt!  J has really taken to karate.  It has most definitely helped his sense of balance.  

Proud boy!  (And deservedly so!)  

Swimming Lessons

J took a week of swimming lessons this summer.  He made a cute little friend.

After some initial fear, he enjoyed being in the water.  

At the end of each day, the children went off the diving board.  Again, he had a fear (understandable) but after a while he was getting into it.  

Victory!  On Friday, after the last lesson, the children were treated to ice cream from the snack shack at the pool.  

Mr. GV went along on the last day and hung out with J.  I love this dive---J was completely letting go and trusting his "Big Guy" as he refers to his Uncle sometimes.  

A couple of happy boys.  

Stomp

This CCFC (cheap crap from China) is so much fun.  It's a Stomp Rocket, and J has the best time with it.  He gets adventurous and jumps off the steps to give it a really good boost.  

Taken on the same day, but otherwise totally unrelated to stomping, this is the magnolia tree that we planted when it was about 6 feet tall.  It was a gift from our realtor when we bought our house.  They are slow-growing, long-lived trees, but it sure has grown quite a bit in the past 11 years.

Art

J loves to do art.  Especially when it involves stampers and glitter. 

The beauty of a child's face is art itself, isn't it?  

Whenever I have a random item that has outlived its purpose, I'm always thinking "Hmm....can we use this for art?"  The 'yarn' you see below is from a rug that unraveled.  And now it has a slot in our art supply hanger (shoe holder.)  

Around Here

Just a few pictures from around here:

We harvested our first watermelon for this season.  Unfortunately it must have been too soon, as it was most definitely not ripe.  Oh well, perhaps the rabbits/turtles/other critters enjoyed it, as Mr. GV disposed of it by throwing it over the fence in the backyard and into the woods.  There are several baby watermelons growing so hopefully we will figure it out soon!  The banana peppers are just fine though.

The garden has gone crazy.  There's greenery everywhere.  

I've been getting a fairly steady stream of cucumbers, some of which I am sending over for my nephew's lunch.  

I've been soaking some beans (chickpeas in this case) and used them in 3 different dishes:  chickpea salad, teriyaki chickpeas, and as an addition to vegetable soup. 

I shelled some purple hull peas we got from the local organic farm.  Love that place.  If only they had continued their CSA....Anyway, we ate half and half went into the freezer for later.  

I've been making Mr. GV's bottled tea.

I had honeybees visiting in my backyard!  I'm sure you've seen articles that state the honeybee population has been declining, so I was glad to see them. Here they are sucking a hummingbird feeder dry of its sugary solution.  

I've been trying to get clothes hung out on the line more often.  We had rain almost every day for weeks and it was just difficult to get them out there.  I'm still lazy sometimes and use the dryer--I'll admit it, but I really am trying when we have dry days now.  

I attended a Bingo fundraiser to benefit a local humane society.  My mom met me there and we had a blast.  We've been a couple times before and never won.  This time we each won twice, so that was a pleasant surprise.  

One rainy morning I stayed snuggled up in bed with Milo and read through some old magazines.  I've been meaning to get through for a while.  They are now in my car and I should be taking them to the library tomorrow!  

Graduation!

Somebody graduated!  And this time it WAS this one, at his preschool graduation...

No idea why he walked in like this, but he did it his own way.

With his teacher and his diploma.

His teacher asked if anyone wanted to say the prayer before we ate, and this boy JUMPED at the chance.  He is not shy, not one little bit. We all held our breath, because with this one you never know what is going to come out of his mouth.  But he did such a good job and we were all proud (and relieved!)  

My guys having a nosh after the ceremony.

Our little family with the graduate!

And now on to bigger things for our little guy!  

A birthday

A while back, somebody special in the family had a birthday!  

And no, it wasn't this one!  

It was my sister, S, who turned a nice round number!  

We all got together at my house for a celebration.  

And to catch some cardboard on fire.  Note:  only light the cupcake on the top tier if your cupcake tower is made from paper.  Ahem.

I don't remember why his eyes were covered, but I'm sure there was a very good reason!

My middle sister, S, brings such joy to our family!  She is fast with the witty remarks and is such a caring person, and we are lucky to have her as part of our small, tight-knit family.  Love you, S!  

Thrifting

Just a couple of thrifting photos from this summer, when we had an overnight trip due to one of Mr. GV's organized bike rides that was a wee bit far from home. 

Some shorts and shirts for J

Some goodies for my house:

Hamper with tag still on it, originally from Pier 1 Imports, $3.

Dymo tape $1.99

Glass canister (can always use these in my kitchen) $2

Whisk $1

Glass loaf pan $3