Real Life

Before school started we took yet another road trip to finish up the summer! We visited Phil's sister Amy and her family who live in Michigan. We had a great time!

Now our sweet, wonderful hubby and dad is back in school! The boys cry every morning when he leaves, but he's been managing to study at home after class which has been good for us all! The boys have even learned to leave him alone! It's better for Phil because he has to spend less time setting up and packing up, less worry about food, and when he does take the occasional break, it's with us! I am so proud of Phil for all he is doing!

Elijah and I are going to be doing a little preschool together, and for a while, his friend Ayslin will join us! Preschool starts September 1st and I am so excited!

Bye Bye Bats!

After finding poop outside in the back,
A poor chipmunk gave its life in a trap,
Sixteen bats left their nest with a flap,
Never to return.

Professionals came and sealed their fate,
By putting a screen over their front gate,
Then, waiting until it was sufficiently late,
Let them all escape.

In our attic they had made their abode,
And regularly dumped us a toxic load,
Boy am I glad they have hit the road!
Never to return!

Portraits of our Boys

We were a month late, but we decided to try to do Caleb's "one year" portraits by ourselves. Phillip took the pictures, and we thought we'd share them with you. There are quite a few of both the boys as well as just Caleb. They're pretty cute and handsome, don't you think?! We're hoping to get some printed out soon so we can send some actual pictures on to many of you. Let us know if you have personal requests... :)
More posts about our trips, etc. to come. Sorry to jump around but I thought you'd enjoy these.

The Drive...

So as many of you know, our family had the wonderful chance to spend a large chunk of time recently in Salt Lake City with our families. We opted to drive, which allowed us the chance to visit a lot of historical sites along the way, as well as have our own car for transportation while away. True to our form, the volume of things we brought with us was, let's say, "substantial" despite having improved our efficient packing skills from past trips.

It's always hard to know what to bring. Do you leave home the multiple Costco boxes of diapers you've already bought if you know they won't fit when you get back if "technically" you have "room" for them? :) Well, packing became an artform (by force) - both going to and coming from Utah. We're proud of how we did though. School books, the jogger stroller, and too many other large things made the full trip, and coming back to WV we even brought an acquired-on-Craig's-List-for-a-really-good-deal play set and MORE! We're nuts. This video was taken just as we left a wonderful family reunion 2 hrs from Salt Lake when we really began our return trek. Take a look...

LOTS to come very soon... :)

Here's a good representation our lives for the last while. We're excited to update all of you on our family adventures! Coming soon on our blogspot blog...

Spelling and Crawling...

Elijah has been working hard on his letters, and loves reading the first two or three "BOB" books (some great books that introduce a few more short words each book). Every chance he gets he is writing an "E" for someone. He's putting together a LOT of things with regards to reading, and you can see it is obviously exciting for him!.

Nothing needs to be said. How cute is HE?!!!!

"You Can't Hide Anymore!" and "Best Friends"

This morning, while Mary was on the phone, Caleb suddenly vanished and we heard him start crying about something UPSTAIRS. He's made it up some of the steps before, but we've always caught him and brought him back. Today, he made it UP the stairs, down the hall, and into our room before we knew what had happened!

Just a few minutes later Elijah ran up the stairs and Caleb could hardly contain his excitement. He was almost hyperventilating as he starting cruising on up. We only caught the last few steps, but it is sure fun to see such an adorable kid having the time of his life!

These two little guys just can't get enough of each other. They really are best friends... (I think here in a few months we may hit an even higher level of synergistic energy. We can't wait!)