Random Shots

The final day of August has arrived.  There is always a lot that is happening around here.  There are always pictures taken that have stories behind them that I had hoped to tell. So here are a few random shots from August and a small story to go with each one.

I know I have a few of photos that are similar to this one.  Colson loves donuts and many times after church we will stop and get each boy a donut.  They always pick out the chocolate one with sprinkles. Colson LOVES donuts and usually won't share even one bite.  As you can see from the picture, he always has "leftovers" on his face.  So. Darn. Cute. 

We had an extra bike over for Karin to ride when she was here.  After she left, Cannon got to ride with Chris when he took the bike back to the neighbors house.  (This was the motorcycle she actually bought from Dan and Claire.)  

A little treat after swimming!  Every once in a while, we will stop and get an ice cream cone or a hot fudge sundae after swimming.  I remember how hot it was on this day and the ice cream tasted so very good! 

Colson has really enjoyed using scissors and cutting up paper into little pieces.  He has improved his cutting with how much practice he is getting!  lol!  

Enjoying every moment!

Ice Cream Social

Tonight was the annual Ice Cream Social at school where we get to meet all of our new students and Cannon gets to meet his new teacher!

Cannon was nervous this morning.  Nervous for the unknown.  But after meeting Mrs. Webster and spending some time in his room, his nervousness has turned to excitement for the new school year!  Cannon found his cubby, found his seat and saw some friends from last year!

I met 23 of my 25 students today and it's going to be a fabulous year!  I'm excited to have many students I taught in first grade!  I can't wait until Tuesday.

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Anderson for being here to stay with Cannon after I had to leave to go back to my room.  They hung out in the classroom, got some ice cream, played on the playground and finally made it back to my room.  Thank goodness for them!

Great afternoon!

Cannon hanging out in his new classroom!

A bit blurry, but it's all we got for now....Cannon, Mrs. Webster and Colson!

Cannon showing off his skills on the rings!

Grandpa helping Cannon across the bars. 

Having ice cream in the gym.

Enjoying every moment.

Drawing

Cannon has loved drawing for a long time. 

Colson is just learning how exciting it can be. 

I love how creative each boy can get.

I love how proud they are of their drawings. 

I love how they like to share their pictures with us.  

Warms my heart to watch them.

Enjoying every moment. 

Just the Two of Us....Colson and Mommy

Cannon is spending the weekend with Granny Joy.
Chris left early this morning for his ride to Milwaukee.

So today Colson and I got to hang out.   It was great.

We made pancakes together.
We sat and snuggled on the couch.
We went shopping.
We played with trucks.
We read books.
We drew pictures.
We played ball.
We went to a wedding!
We spent an hour at school.
We played with legos.
We ate ice cream for dessert!
We laughed and sang and had a blast!

We loved every single minute of it!

Enjoying every moment!

The Scoop

We are into the last couple of weeks of August and we are starting to pick up the pace around here.  Lots of last minute fun outings planned, along with swimming lessons and normal everyday adventures around the house.  Add to that getting my classroom ready, building a deck, getting ready to send Chris off on his week-long trip to Milwaukee and preparing for company.  Whew!

Here's the scoop on what's been happening:

Chris has started to build a deck off of our bedroom. He's talked about his for awhile.  He wants a spot to sit and relax outside of our bedroom but also a shaded area under the deck.  This will be a bid project because it will entail taking out our windows and putting in french doors, adding stairs to the deck and then tearing apart our lower deck and re-creating the outdoor area.  I'm so excited for this but I am not one that can see the finished product and have a very hard time making decisions.  So I am counting on Chris to pull this one off.

The boys have been enjoying a few play dates with friends, seeing movies and enjoying being outside at home.  Cannon has been to Brayden's house and vice versa.  They have played hard and loved each other's company.  We all enjoyed the $1 summer movies at Regal Cinemas.  Colson only made it through a portion of one so I let Cannon go with Jessica the next time.  Cannon and Colson have been playing a lot on the big toy, spending time pulling around the wagon, running through the sprinkler and riding bikes.  They love being outside.

I have been working on getting my classroom ready for another year.  This year I don't feel the immense pressure that I did last year when I moved rooms and changed grade levels.  It was nice to have most things in place and just have to move around some furniture.  We haven't received our final lists so I have a lot to do when I get that.

Chris is getting ready for his motorcycle ride to Milwaukee.  He leaves Saturday morning and will be gone until the following Sunday night.  He'll be riding with Sebastian and some other people from the Harley "family,"  many that he doesn't know.  They'll take five days to ride back, party for three days and then fly home.  It should be fun for him!

My parents are coming for a visit and to watch the boys when I head back to work officially next week. They will be here late Saturday night for a weeks stay and then will be leaving on a cruise to Alaska!  I'm so excited for them! We're looking forward to having them here and I'm looking forward to the help since Chris will be gone.

There is lots more going on.....working on catching up on Project Life; scheduling a painter to come and paint the trim on the house; planning out and freezing some dinners for when I go back to work; trying to clean; thinking about school shopping, etc.

Enjoying every moment.

The Sandbox

My boys are in heaven.

The neighbors put in a sandbox for Cannon and Colson and tonight they played and played and played.

They got totally sandy.
Their feet were black.
They had sand everywhere.
They were so incredibly happy.

I think the boys will be spending a lot of time in Greg and Brenda's backyard from now on!

Enjoying every moment.

Celebrating 17 Years

Yesterday was our 17th wedding anniversary.  It's hard to believe it's been 17 since the day we got married.  It really doesn't seem that long ago.

So today we spent the day together....just us....no kids.


Granny Joy came to watch the boys and Chris and I left about 9am this morning on the Harley, headed to Leavenworth. It was a nice ride over, except for a bit of traffic.  We headed over Blewett Pass, which is a pretty drive.  You see so much more on a motor cycle than you do in a car.

We spent the afternoon having lunch, walking around, browsing shops, people watching, and eating frozen yogurt.  And...Chris got the tattoo that he's been talking about for months.  A chain on his ring finger, in place of a wedding ring.

About 5pm, we headed out of Leavenworth, this time on Highway 2.  Another very pretty drive along the river and then over Stevens Pass.  We then took a left off of Hwy 2 and headed through Duvall, Carnation and finally into Snoqualmie.

We stopped at the casino for dinner and ate at the buffet.  It was very good but over priced.  Chris had a salad, New York steak and potatoes.  (baked and mashed!)  I had the salmon, veggies, fruit, and a salad. You can never leave a buffet without having dessert, so we did.  It was so very good and then we were so very stuffed!

We are so blessed to have this day together.  We did what we wanted. Ate what we wanted.  And didn't have a schedule or a time when we needed to be back.  Just a perfect anniversary day.

Enjoying every moment.

Seattle....Here We Come!

Thanks to Heather and her family pass to the Pacific Science Center, we enjoyed a great day in Seattle!  I forget how much there is to do downtown and if the kids were older, we could have stayed longer.  

The boys, especially Evan, Cannon and Colson, really enjoyed the science center and the exhibits.  We only got to see about half of them, which means we'll have to go back again soon to explore the other half!  The big hits" were the Butterfly House and the Trip to the Moon.  We saw hundreds of butterflies and one even landed on Cannon's shirt!  The Trip to the Moon was a presentation geared for young children and it was shown on the round ceiling of the room.  We saw the sky, moon, stars, clouds, earth, astronauts.  The boys even joined in for a little dance with their shakers.  We all enjoyed it.  

After the science center, we rode the monorail to Westlake Center and had lunch.  The monorail is always a huge hit.  Another favorite thing to do is to stop by the candy store in the mall.  Each boy got a baggie and chose some yummy candy to put inside of it.  They ate their candy while waiting for the monorail to come.  

Such a fun day!  The boys were fabulous.  Everyone had a great time.  Thanks, Heather!

Enjoying every moment. 

Colson's Pictures

Colson loves the camera.  He wants to take pictures.  He wants to look at the pictures that are on the camera.  He likes to push buttons and turn knobs.  (Gulp!)

Yesterday, Colson was in one of those moods where he wanted to take pictures and then have me take pictures of things.  I'm trying hard to teach him how to aim the camera at what he wants to take a picture of and also teach him which button to push. It's still a work in progress!

However, he was having a great time telling me what to do.  ie...what to take pictures of.  We both did a lot of laughing and had fun looking at all of the pictures we took.

Here are a few pictures that Colson took:  

Here are a few pictures that Colson had me take.

Enjoying every moment.

Jet Boatin'

Warm, sunny weekend.
Mayfield Lake.
Jet boat.

All of that adds up to some fun times out on the boat!  We had a great time cruising the lake.  The boys never blinked an eye at how rough the water was.  They enjoyed hanging their feet off the side of the boat. Cannon liked floating on the tube.  Colson loved sitting in Chris lap and "driving" while Cannon actually got to drive by himself.  He was very proud of himself!

Enjoying every moment.

Parade

We haven't been to a parade in I don't know how long.  Colson has never been to a parade before.  So we were excited to hear that we would be going to the annual Loggers Jubilee in Morton.  We spent the weekend camping at Mayfield Lake and had a great time, as always.  Saturday most of us headed into town to look through the swap meet, walk around town and then enjoy the parade.  

The boys LOVED the parade!

Heck, we all loved it!  

Everybody lined the streets with their chairs and the kids sat on the sidewalk.  Many of the floats threw out candy and by the end of the parade, the boys had collect a full bucket full of candy!  But that wasn't their favorite part.  They both enjoyed seeing the big rigs and logging trucks.  That was a huge it.  They also loved seeing the fire trucks, the horses, the big forest grapple and "Tow Mater" who made an appearance!  

I'm hoping that we will be back to enjoy the festivities next year!  

Enjoying every moment.