Piano Man

In the kitchen with Kylie

Kylie helped her dad in the kitchen mincing bacon for a special he was running that night.  She was so thrilled to chop bacon after watching it done so many times on cooking shows over the years.  I get a kick out of those little things that thrill.  She did an excellent job at it as well!

mincing

Bath Time

Shea helped to give Wynn his bath and wash his hair...

bathtime rain

Flutterbys

Shea was gifted butterfly larvae (caterpillars) for a birthday gift. (Thank you Gramma Jamma and Boppa!)  We all had a great time watching the caterpillars grow larger right before our eyes and then suddenly there is a chrysalis!  From there we waited and before long, tada! butterflies.  We even got to watch one fight its way out of its chrysalis (we missed that sight last time)!  Amazing!  We released them after two days with our friends helping along the way.  The butterflies scooted out on their way before I got a picture, but what fun we had!

watching butterflies hatch

welcome!!

Goodbye!!

Kylie spent several weeks reading through the many series surrounding Laura Ingalls Wilder, her mother, grandmother and he own children.  She loved them all, especially The Martha Years.  Kylie has decided to create a performance based upon The Martha Years.  She has made many notes, enlisted the helps of friends and family and has started on the script.  Below are some photos from her notebook:

casting lists

Act I, Scene I; Wynn did a little "editing" for Ky.  Whoops!

costumes (Ky's favorite part!)

Pretty neat, Kiddo!

Hand Washing with Love

Dolls don't see much play at our house.  Kylie is an animal gal; a lover of stuffed animals as well as real ones.  She always has been.  Add in two more boys and there you go!  The other day, however, the latest American Girl Doll catalog came and out came the dolls and all their special accessories.  Shea was up for the action.  At his request we set up a clothes washing station.  He washed, rinsed and dried his doll's clothes.  What a great daddy-in-the-making!

I took this shot of Lucas, Shea's doll, given to him by Kylie several years back, and Brian's "dolly".  Okay, it's a Godfather bobble head, but Brian loves it and I like to tell Wynn it is his daddy's "dolly".  (I am sure all this will catch up to me one day too!  lol)

In the garden with Shea

When Brian built our garden beds, Shea asked if he could have his own garden space.  The result was Brian building him a 2x2 raised bed for his very own.  Shea planted a cherry tomato, cucumber, watermelon, parsley and okra (the last at his daddy's request!).  So far, so good!  The parsley was visited by a neighborhood bunny, so we had the fun of watching it re-grow from a mere stem.  The watermelon is trailing off behind the garden over the bushes.  Tomatoes are growing larger by the day and, as a family, we enjoyed his first cucumber at our dinner this evening.  Farmer Shea!