A couple precious moments...

Spaghetti night:

Look like fun?

At what point do we stop feeding ourselves with our fists,

stop smearing our faces like it's a work of art?

Gabby has always been quite dainty and clean...

compared to others her age.

But something gets into her when she eats spaghetti!

This may be hard to see or hear, but I had to capture it...

She's "reading."

I LOVE that she does this:

she pages through books and makes up her own story.

At one point she even sings,

"Cinderella, Kiss your fella, fella, fella"

3...going on 13, I swear!  I see it everyday!  yikes!

Are we ready for 1st Grade?

 I love to see my boy happy...I love to feed his passions...even if it is icky...

He spent nearly ALL day yesterday playing with is frogs and toads...

one appropriately named "Toady"

Nanny...first time touching a toad EVER!

 Notice the dirt?  he sure doesn't!

 Gabby helps...but sure doesn't touch!

We woke up in time to get a first day photo with Dad...

Owen still in jammies but wanted to show his smile!

Can you see it?

Once we were dressed...

back to "Toady"

"See his big belly, Mom?"

Gabby sure loves her brother!

"Mom! Take a picture of him in the air!"

Nope.  Didn't get it, and "Toady" landed on his back.

Silly Kids!

I was trying to get the big first-grader by himself, 

but Gabby just had to jump in!

What a pose!

To the bus stop!

I drove Owen everyday last year.

I "accidentally" found out that Owen could ride the bus this year.

No fee and I could choose the stop!

I was worried but proud.  No fears. No tears.

He even told me, "You can leave now."

I said, "Nope!  Not until you are on that bus!"

We coached him about how first graders sit toward the front.

We said, second or third seat...he obeyed!

We were not sad watching it pull away...

But even happier to see it pull up in the afternoon--

one of his best friends was in the seat next to him!

He's not alone after all!

Gabby and Me waiting for the afternoon bus!

First thing he said when he got off the bus:

"First grade is better than Kindergarten!"

Well...except that recess was (seemed?) shorter!

Tomorrow is another day...

Summer coming to an end?

 So I d reamed of snakes, catepillars, bugs, 

and all sorts of creepy-crawley things last night.

Why?

The last two nights I have watched Owen,

up to his knees in muck,

searching for and chasing...

 anything that moves!

Friday I picked up him and his friend for an adventure together!

 What would be disgusting to many,

doesn't bother Owen...

 Gabby is not so sure!

Once again, Gabby and I were the ones to almost step on a snake last night.

Owen ran over and tried to catch it...

but it was fast!

He nearly cried when it slithered and shot into the water!

 Owen was so excited to show his friend all his favorite places

It was a disappointment to not find anything at the dam...

well, anything creepy and crawly!  

 Gabby is not into bugs, but she can find a place to dance

or walk on the "balance beam" anywhere.

She finds a log that has a bounce to it and calls it a trampoline too!

 It's the tree with eyes!

 The beaver island!

 Bug containers in hand,

but nothing to find!...

Oh well,

always a new adventure tomorrow...

or today!

A mother's love...

I hate snakes...

but I love my boy...and in addition...

I love to see him smile, be happy, and interested in his own thing!

This was a first...for me and for him.

A Redbelly snake and he wanted to pick it up!

Two hours later and he is still playing.

He asked me to look up to see what it would eat...so now he is hunting for bugs!

Again...

More Summer Fun...

 The heat did not deter us from having a picnic at the dam, 

hiking down to find bugs and rocks,

and exploring a bit...

Inspecting Lunch

Owen leading Gabby on a bug hunt

Gabby loved this tree!  :-)

Rock hunting...latest "passion"

"I want to go up der--on the bridge!"

"Common Gabby!"

 But it sure feels good to get in the pool.

Gabby is into paddling and kicking...

I swear she'll swim very soon-

if only she'd put her eyes and face under the surface!

Pool Fun!

 Owen's imagination has always been great fun to watch.

He so wanted to feed the squirrels.

He realized it wasn't working to throw the acorns at the squirrels.

So...

"The squirrels are up there!"

 He and Gabby started a pile at the base of the tree.

Piling up Nuts!

 Owen even asked, "Mom, what if the acorns are all gone 

when we get done with swimming lessons?!"

 Gabby plays along, but she wanted to walk on the "balance beam" after awhile.

 Our latest "project" was learning about polishing rocks.

I want Owen to see he can do something with his interest in rocks.

So, Gramma Momma found a tumbler at a silent auction, bid, and won!

As soon as we got it, we put it to work...

Before...

 We put them in for the minimum number of days for each stage.

We also did not wash out the tumbler before the polishing stage,

so, I guess they could turn out even better!

After!

 Our next experiment is to try to tumble rocks that we found

instead of rocks that come packaged with the tumbler.

Rocks we found in MN!  Some are from Gramma Mimi's driveway!

 We will try tumbling these a bit longer, checking them more frequently,

and rinsing and cleaning when we are supposed to.

We'll keep you posted!

Summertime popcicles...always our favorite.

Time together...precious as well!

We passed!

 I know I've written about Owen's "relationship" with 

swimming and water...

I don't even think he passed his class a year ago,

but...

 No fear and no worries this year!

OK, so I guess he could be a bit bolder on the diving board-

 but I can wait for that to come on its own!

All week he was talking about going down the HUGE slide!

And, he told me tonight about how you go faster if you are on your back; 

you go slow on your butt

And then it was Gabby's turn...

I knew she didn't want to do it...

 So when she got all strapped in,

just the slightest bit of apprehension set in...

 And then the tears set in...

 Oh she didn't want to do it...

but she hung in there, climbed up by herself, let her teacher walk her...

 ok, so she got dropped in but I was so proud of her for not balking!

 So the diving board was not on the checklist...

but in the end, both passed their levels!

Owen has been on this kick about what he is able to do and what Gabby is 

not able to do.

I am annoyed...only because if  he only knew that she is already doing things he did not do until he was 5!

No, I won't compare.  Never.

And don't worry.

I don't tell him about any specific examples 

(walking, riding a bike, buckling/unbuckling seat belt, etc...) but I do tell him to consider her age and let  her learn things at her pace.

She is not less.  She is younger.  :-)

Competition...will it always be?