Our Big Backyard

Today was a special day for Gordy and Grayson.

They befriended an injured moth, and caring for it became the highlight of our day.

Our research revealed this to be a Polyphemus moth.

This poor little creature brought absolute fascination to our boys!

The boys readily accepted responsibility to care for this ailing friend.

An ice cream pail became the moth's home, and the boys gathered leaves for the moth to munch on and sticks for it to perch upon.

I'm sad to report, however, the odds were heavily against Mr. Moth -- right from the start.

As of this evening, he was down to only one wing, and at last check, he appears to have finally succumbed to his injuries.

Throughout the day, I've tried to prepare Gordy & Grayson for his impending death -- I hope the boys won't be too upset about his passing tomorrow morning.

Circle of Life.

Stories in the Sunshine

Gordy and Grayson play hard, but they need their little breaks from running, chasing, digging, splashing, and jumping. Here they are, kicking back for some outdoor reading time. Gordy's enjoying the field guide book, Birds of Idaho, and Grayson is really into A Potty For Me and Five Shiny Stars. Grayson throws in a little extra talent below with his 2-year old rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," while swaying in the hammock.

Personal Pan Pizza Party

Memorial Day Weekend was a special time for our family ~ not for having gone camping or traveling somewhere exciting. We were all home together for three whole days in a row!

The toughest part of our current living situation (staying at our cabins until we buy a new house in town) is that Gary spends a total of 3 hours commuting to and from work each day, which really cuts into our family time.

So...having three days together was fantastic!

One of the fun things we did together was to make personal pan pizzas on Sunday afternoon after church. We would like to thank Tony & Jen for giving us this super fun idea! The boys LOVED making their very own pizza pies!

After spreading tomato sauce on their pita bread, the boys put their favorite toppings on, not without sampling them too, of course.

Gary planned and supervised this entire activity with much patience and grace...

...even when the smoke alarms went off, which happens nearly every time we open this oven. Either we have a super-sensitive smoke detector, or our oven needs a good cleaning. The boys know the drill -- wave a towel or magazine to stop the annoying screeching sound.

Gary cut the pizzas....

...and Voila! Delicious personal pizzas, each made to suit our own, individual tastebuds.

Scrumptious!

Gordon's Last Day of Preschool

Thursday was Gordy's final day of his first year in preschool. It was also my last helper day of the year, which was fun. We brought the cupcakes mentioned in my last post to celebrate Gordy's summer birthday with his school pals.

Playing during free play

Gordy and his good buddy, Ethan during circle time

Gordy's share day

Gordon brought Grayson's dump truck for share day.

We are so proud of our big boy, Gordon! He has grown and learned so much, and he's made many new friends at preschool. Congratulations, Gordy ~ we love you so much!

Betty Crocker Night

Last Wednesday, the boys and I baked up a batch of confetti cupcakes with cream cheese frosting ~ summer birthday treats for Gordy's preschool class. Gordy helped me mix up the batter and bake our treats while Grayson napped, then after dinner, we decorated some samplers -- to make sure they tasted alright for our school friends. ;)

Frosting our delicious treats

Adding some special decorations

Yep ~ our cupcakes passed the taste test!

Special thanks to Daddy, who frosted and decorated all the remaining cupcakes for Gordy's classmates when he got home from work while Mommy did some other chores.

Bedtime Stories

Picking out bedtime stories....

That's quite a stack of books, guys! We'll be up 'til midnight....

Ready to cuddle up and READ!

Portrait Proofs ~ Grayson 2 Years Old

Grayson did such a wonderful job at his photo shoot last week; seriously -- he followed Tina's every direction amazingly and flashed his most endearing smiles for every shot. Honestly, I was prepared for a much less pleasant experience. We had all his proofs taken in about five minutes -- unbelievable! Gordon was also amazing during our outing; no doubt they earned those strawberry sundaes at McDonald's afterwards.

Just look at him -- he is growing up so fast!


These are all my favorite poses....

And here you can see how much Grayson has grown up since his 1-year portraits. The photos on the left were taken last year, and the pictures on the right are from last week.

Where did the year go...?!

It All Depends....

This isn't my proudest admission, but I learned on Sunday that forgetting the diaper bag isn't the end of the world.

Shortly after pedaling into Placerville on Sunday afternoon, I noticed the familiar odor of poopy pants coming from our little Grayson -- almost exactly the same time as I realized my oversight -- I had forgotten to pack the diaper bag into the bike trailer. Oops!

The little mercantile usually stocks a few packs of diapers, but as luck would have it, they were fresh out. To my good fortune, they did have wet wipes in stock...but zero diapers. My options were to clean him up, pack the boys into the bike trailer again, and head home right away (knowing this would not make the boys happy at all), or come up with plan B.

We went with Plan B: Adult man-sized Depend undergarment!

$2.00 got us this enormous diaper...plus a gigantic laugh session!

Grayson was oblivious to our giggle fits and to his enormous undergarment. It wrapped around him twice ~ but his ice cream treat was all he cared about.

Here's the result: a little bubble butt on our baby, and tender tummy muscles from a good hearty laugh for the rest of us.

So anyway...there went my chances for Mother of the Year, but now I know that I can improvise, should I ever neglect to grab the good ol' diaper bag again.

Adventures in Placerville

As members of the Placerville Historical Society, we were asked to help clean the museums for the Memorial Day Weekend festivities coming up soon in town. So on Sunday afternoon, we packed up some sunscreen and water bottles and rode our bikes into Placerville.

For the second weekend in a row, we enjoyed having company at our mountain getaway. Gary's brother Tom, who just recently moved back to Idaho from Arizona, spent the weekend with us and joined us on our bike trip/cleaning task in Placerville. We enjoyed his company, and hope he can visit again soon!
It is very enlightening to be a part of the historical society; we get to learn about the history of the Boise Basin and see all kinds of antiquities from Idaho's past. Pictured below is the inside of the original mercantile in Placerville, now one of the two museums.

Tom helped entertain the boys on the front porch while Gary did a lot of dusting inside.

It was a beautiful, sunny day! Ice cream treats and cowboy boot removal were necessary for staying cool.

Gordon & Grayson perused old-fashioned toys from yesteryear.

Gary swept off the porch of the Magnolia Museum as well; I enjoyed referring to him as Nels Olson from 'Little House on the Prairie,' keeping the mercantile tidy.

My cruiser bike, parked in front of the the Magnolia Museum

The bike ride home lulled Grayson to sleep.

(My next post will explain that giant diaper you may notice peeking out of Grayson's shorts).