ten

my pumpkin.

the crawler in action

TOUCHDOWN!

yay! Alabama! Crimson Tide...

chipmunk

"if you think my hands are full, you should see my heart."

my how things have changed in the past month!
you are now crawling! my 1st crawler! phew.
you have been pulling up for a while and waving for about a month. it's quite similar to the "hail Hitler" salute, actually. it's too cute! you like to play shy and tuck your head into my neck and then all of a sudden throw that hand up and wave.
you love to clap, and say "Da Da", what sounds like "Yes", "Mamamama", and a host of other things that just make me melt.
your biggest giggles are saved for your brothers. and the respect and adoration is still mutual there.
we love you so!
happy 10 month birthday!

Here they go again on their own....

{i'm in love w/ this new template! wonder if i could find wallpaper just like it for my house??}

well...school's been in session for about a month now and i'm just getting around to posting pics. both boys seem to really like their teacher and class so far. s started off the year with a bang by winning a summer reading award. all summer his driving incentive was a giant chocolate bar. who does that remind me of?

the boy read a lot and not only got the coveted chocolate bar, but a gold medal, bible, certificate, and gift card to Books A Million, where he promptly purchased 5 Star Wars books without wavering in question of how to spend the $25. we have a slight obsession.

needless to say, we are very proud of his reading! his best gal pal E won an award, too! therefore, how else to celebrate than with more chocolate in the backyard...cupcakes from Edgar's!

i was nervous about how g would do at school. he would happily stay home w/ me everyday. he's such a young 4 and while he shows different types of independence than s did at the same age, he's still so little to me in many ways. he has a super bubbly teacher and i'm sure that has helped ease him into school life. boys don't give you much in the way of details of their day...if i'm going to get anything out of them, especially g, i have to ask him before asking s. if not, he'll just repeat to the detail everything that happened to his big brother at school!

my heart goes out the door with them each morning and many prayers are offered up for their influences, love for others and safety. this raising them to leave thing is hard! not sure the school administration would like a disheveled mom in her pajamas peeking in their classroom doors each morning, but i am so tempted!

new photos

just posted some new photos here.

cleanliness is next to godliness

trying to get the boys to wash their hands long enough to indeed kill any bacteria harboring there is not an easy feat. i've tried having them count to 25 and many other things. this at times has worked for sumner, but grayson is another story. he pops in and out of LaLa Land so frequently, that i have to be a little more creative. i'll send him to wash his hands, go about my business and then realize 10 minutes later he's not back and the water is still running. he's lost in thought or is watching the waterfall that is cascading down his hands (immediately after putting the soap on them!)

and there go our efforts toward water conservation.

so, i read a tip the other day that said to have your child sing the Happy Birthday song two times through while washing. this is done in hopes to keep them on task long enough to do the job.

this is what i heard grayson singing in his bathroom today:

"happy birfday to you, cha! cha! cha!
happy birfday to you, cha! cha! cha!
happy birfday, dear shelby, (our babysitter)
happy birfday to you
ahhhh-men. "

i think it worked!

a great summer

we had such a fun summer! here are some of my favorite snapshots from our months out of school!
hopefully i'll have back to school and other vacation pix up soon...