blue lips

Lotsa smiles and blue lips in the chilly pool lately, but the boys are always up for a dip in the pool. Pool rats already this year!

games

It's game stop Frrriday! Some of the favorites and few new ones that Keaton can keep up with around here. 

Castellan came from xmas time and got lost in the big toy shuffle and is just now getting some attention. It's a good strategy game that Keaton can still play randomly and sometimes luck out.

Squishy sand pizza parties are a big hit around here.  He can make those sandy pies all afternoon!

Zingo with letters (and the reloading tile container) is a fairly new edition around here.

Aiden made up his own card game called Battle Cards and he and daddy worked to refine it and make it run even smoother.  Keaton thinks it's really funny to call the joker card the Harley Quinn card.

Keaton and the BopIt have a love hate relationship. He likes to team up with me, and is learning to recover when he doesn't quite get with the rhythm. It's like an exercise in frustration literally.

Zooreka will probably be a favorite around here for many years to come. It's really fun for Keaton to genuinely play on his own now.

These tiny magnets make symmetry and tessellation into a fun game.  Aiden likes to alternate with the person across from his to match each other.

PigzUp has a fun flipping card component and a fun challenge to stack the tricky pigs as fast as you can. Funny felt eared wooden pigs are always going to attract attention around here ;)

parade

The summer season start was celebrated with the neighborhood parade and party at the pool.  This year we watched from the front yard where the little cars gave us a good show and the clown came to say hi - and scooted off when Keaton pretended to be a circus lion and scared him away.  We then walked down to the pool for the cookout and the well loved snow cone machine.

soccer

Soccer season ended with a flourish of medals and patches on top of the very coveted little kicker shirt (which has an adorable little ball next to a big smiley ball).  In their matches, Keaton would get right in there and was actually scoring goals...usually in the right net.  He said he wants to sign up again tomorrow... Lots of things happen tomorrow, like he will tell you that he turns five tomorrow, how about more like ten months from tomorrow?!

franklin

Aiden picked Benjamin Franklin to do his big Biography report this year. He wrote a nearly ten page, handwritten report after reading his nonfiction book about Ben. Then he set out to tell the story (without reading notes!) with a visual.  Here is a rough version of his final report and I wish I could've seen what he actually shared with his class. He came home with a pep in his step, so I'm really glad it went well for him and he had nice comments from his teacher and classmates.

Biography Report from LB on Vimeo.

tidbits

Little bits from the last couple...

The top left is a common sight waiting at the bus stop in the morning.  Aiden finds a shady spot to read while Keaton tries to hug it out… I think they are both going to like it when they get to stay home together.

J's new baby a M usic M an M ajesty something or other in A rctic D ream - which appears to be a different color depending on the angle and has a laser etched part that is pretty schnazzy.  This is an early present for something really big that is all but official around here…to be continued.

Keaton's Magic Kitchen class continued with a chance to make fresh whipped cream and fruit salad followed by marshmallow spiders.  His teacher is a hoot, but you should've seen all the kids faces when she suggested smearing cream cheese all over their coveted marshmallows.

Aiden worked so hard on his huge Biography report and here was the start of his poster.  I'll have to get a picture with the finished project… and maybe if I'm lucky he'll let me tape him practicing.

I've been working on some new knitting projects.  My very enthusiastic helper was a stand in for a swift while I wrapped my yarn into a ball. He literally woke up asking to help me hence the rosy cheeks and jammies.

Keaton would like everyone to know that his daddy long legs make him longer than the ukelele.

This crazy eye guy (too much pool time that day?!) with a french fry smile.

11 years!

Happy 11 years being married to this guy!  I'm feeling all schmoopy this year and can't stop sifting through old pictures... Aiden and Keaton are jazzed by the recline function on the outdoor furniture...a loveseat!...that I got for my guy to sit in the screened in porch and read (gotta convince him to work from home as much as possible)... I think I'll make some Del's frozen lemonade from the batch of mix (I think it's a year's supply!) that my guy ordered to reminisce on our time in RI. So romantic, eh?!

big game

We won some really nice Orioles tickets from Keaton's school auction again this year.  But this time Aiden picked me to take him! He busted out his Os gear and super fan was ready to go. The sea of orange heading into the warm stadium was amazing. Game time temp was 87 degrees in the bright sun, but we were both pumped up by the electric energy in the stadium - There is just something about live games! We cooled off with some ice cream in a hat (which he brought home to his brother) and some frozen lemonade. 

Aiden wanted to stay the whole over 3 hour game and was convinced that the Os could come out on top, although sadly they lost 9-5.  I think nearly every point was earned off a home run though, so that made a really excited game!  We played a game trying to predict the play and whoever earned the most points would win the difference, so Aiden left the game $7 richer.

The highlight was towards the end of the game when people started clearing out, Aiden busted out his dance moves and made it up on the Jumbotron at least twice.  I just happened to be taking his picture one of those times, although there is a big bar through the monitor screen - you can still kind see us in that photo below.  He was pumped!

school cool

Keaton's preschool 3 day 3 year old class ended this past Friday. They had a popsicle party with bubbles and games on the playground to celebrate. That same day they harvested the lettuce and radishes that they'd planted earlier in the spring. The classroom clean up that went on all week was pretty much finished so the classrooms were packed up and everything scrubbed. The best place to be was the playground on the nice breezy afternoon.  We all said goodbye to Keaton's teacher as she moves on to a new position next year.  These Ladybugs are excited to be Dragonflies next year - many with the same teacher that they had in the 2s who now teaches the 4s.  

That pointer finger to read the words is a big hit.  They did a science experiment with floating and sinking in salt and normal water.  Keaton loved telling Aiden about it after school.

interview with KC

One word to describe you would be: Happiness!

Why do you like being a kid?
Because it's just fun because I get to play

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?
Lion because they're strong and they eat good stuff and I like meat

Tell about a funny time in your life.
Oh you heard this one before, daddy asked Aiden to come over here and he walked around and then he looked at a gorilla sign, and then he said ahhh, and then he just walked over because it wasn't real

What is your favorite thing to do? Why?
My favorite thing is to play exactly! with Aiden!

What do you love most about your sibling?
He plays with me exactly!  Imaginext super heroes and nina turtles exactly!

What was the nicest thing you did for someone?
Let people know the time

What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now?
Typing in stuff on the computer since I'm going to be an officer, you know a professor officer!

What is the grossest thing you can think of?
Picking your nose

What is your happiest memory?
Playing by myself at home

new fun

New fun includes walking on the ceiling thanks to dad (no foot prints yet, phew) and water canons at the pool (so, so many kids had them, I give it a week until the pool bans them). In the mean time, these guys laugh pretty hard when they dodge each other's squirts.  The water is warming up over there and we are pool rats already this year.

sharing

Keaton's class had a big book of all the kids sharing throughout the year. His teacher gave us all the pages at his last day on Friday.  She also passed along all the remaining art projects. She created butterflies with all of them wrapped in a blanket "body". Then she asked them what they would say when they emerged from their chrysalis and Keaton said, "What the?! Goodness!" Phew, glad he stuck to his "polite words" as he calls them.  He will miss being a ladybug but on to the dragonflies!

visitors

Visitors this week including really great old friends and a slimy frog! It was fun to meet up with friends and break out of the normal routine around here. I ate well at two of my favorites, Founding Fathers and True Foods.

brothers

These huggie guys want to give a thumbs up to Friiiiday!  It's Keaton's last day of school, but three more weeks until Aiden is freeee for more brother hugs/head locks on the couch alllll day long.

putters

These guys have shared a mystery virus that Keaton dubbed the cruddy, but in between their cases of persistent coughing, we made it over for a first putt of the season. Keaton is getting the hang of it and hits the right direction most of the time. Aiden teased me by being pretty tricky with the water features, but didn't fall in. The favorite was the waterfall where the ball takes a ride and ends in a hole in one!

strawberries

We checked out a new strawberry patch (because the grumps at our usual place were waiting to open until after Memorial Day - when the humid funk was going to take over the wonderful weather) The strawberries were berry good, but the brother banter was even better. They really got along with the chickens with their funny squawks. Keaton named his strawberries and was especially fond of "baby" and didn't want to transfer that baby strawberry to the big container. Some names I can remember bubba, cutie, big guy, gunther, dusty and creep... He rattled on and on about those guys. My goal to avoid overpicking worked out and I think we came home with the perfect batch. We topped off our visit with an ice cream under the farmhouse trees.

pool is open

The pool opened for the season and Aiden was the first brave guy to make it in the chilly water.  He was even game for going back the next day and this time Keaton gave it a shot. At one point Keaton was sitting quietly at the edge of the pool and told me that he was just waiting for it to warm up. Sorry bud that's going to be a pretty long wait. Many people were taking that polar plunge, and the pool was probably busier than it will be all summer (minus the summer kickoff party next week). My favorite parts were  some warm up cuddles with this guy...

games

So many games in the cycle even with nicer weather...

This Egyptian game was a surprise hit, and even J was into playing it a bit. You sorta role play as a Pharoah.

Aiden made his own game called Doggie Ding Dong that had every different type of dog he could think of and all the dog care items to go along. There is some subtle dog desire around here because there are so many new puppies.

Matryoshka Robots from Keaton's party I find played with all over the place.

Katatu is another advanced tic tac tie type deal complete with cute magnetic crickets and bees.

Keaton just started enjoying games that Aiden loved like Boggle!

It doesn't matter how hot it is in the humid sun, these guys are committed to play a whole giant chess game.

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel has snuck back out into the game rotation!

Goldie Blox and the Spinning Machine is a fun creative "engineering" game and it's fun to hear the stories they come up with as they get the spindles spinning with the cute little characters - even a sloth!  It comes with a story book that kicked off the fun.

Goblet Gobblers is another popular modified tic tac toe where the bigger guys can layer on top of the littles - strategy!

tidbits

This week was just a little off and ended in poor Aiden losing his voice and being out from school for the first time this year. He's well enough to tear through nearly every unread book in the house, but he's mostly been laying low.

Keaton's Variety Zone included a Little Chef's class this week, where they "cooked" up these crazy cheese, pretzel, raisin, and cookie creatures.  The "cookie" was ground up graham cracker crumbs (banging those was a highlight) mixed with apple juice and powdered sugar - sounds strange but was actually pretty tasty.  He even got a set of supplies to take home and cook some for his brother and dad.

We made it over to Ted's for pot pie and milkshake night. After dinner, the boys were pretty gung-ho to play chess in the humid sun.

I finally finished the summer top my friend started with me as a knit along last summer!  It's just in time for this summer ;). It's a really nice, lace weight bamboo yarn in pretty much my favorite color, slightly variegated which causes the striping.  The pattern has tiny pleats along the chest and it really fits nicely. Aiden was pumped and clapped for me because it's the first time that something I knit fit well ;). I thank the nice pattern.

David Letterman closed out his last show this week and it feels pretty anticlimactic... Peaboy showed up in the final montage and it turns out his very first top ten list was about peas. So how are we supposed to ever eat peas without longing for Dave again?!

recital

The third recital for Aiden featured a few duets and dual duets (two people each on two pianos) playing classic and classical piano songs. We've had Aiden practicing pretty independently and keeping up with his assignments on his own, which inadvertently led to him not knowing about one of the songs he was supposed to play during the recital!  I literally opened the program and asked him what's that song?!  And his dad ran back quickly to get the music at our house… Luckily, he had it pretty well polished and pulled it off just like he'd been playing it over and over. That kid never gets his feathers fluffed and didn't seem too phased by it. Ah, the beauty of being a first grader…no stress. Next time I'm going to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

These four kids played Simple Gifts after practicing together twice!  The teacher said that this is the best they'd ever done:

Recital Quartet from LB on Vimeo.