Connor

General's brother Connor is staying with us for a few days. 

Cole promptly sat down and started reading him a book about dogs when he arrived. 

He also took a front row seat to watch him drink. 

And found him a snack of cheese all by himself. 

He's been an easy houseguest. We All enjoy having him around. He looks and acts so much like General it's kind of like nothing's changed. Are we ready for another dog? Don't ask Marc or Cole. Mama's not ready!

Kids Playing

Guess who's on the other side of this door making Cole light up and laugh so!

Hope!

Oh my goodness! They were both laughing super hard. It was so funny!

And here's the hidden counterpart herself!

So fun to see them playing together!

Brad and Kathryn's Epic Visit

Oh you guys! We just had a wonderful visit from Brad and Kathryn! I hope I can adequately communicate how awesome it was. 

One thing that kind of put a damper on things and overshadowed the entire visit was that Brad, just moments after arriving, slipped and fell down our back stairs into our basement (with his plate of nachos and all), landing hard on his back. He was super sore all week and walking and sitting gingerly and couldn't play like he wanted to. But he never complained. I felt so bad for him. And he had a cold - so his cautious big sister wanted to keep his germs away from her babies. So, all in all, that was tough. But he made the best of it. 

Here he is sitting on a hard chair outside icing his back - wanting to still be a part of the action, even though it was painful. Poor guy. 

So, enter Kathryn...

She was the rockstar sister in law that took care of all of us! She compensated for Brad's injury by mowing the lawn,

Going on bike rides with Cole, cleaning up the dishes tons of times, taking Cole to the park, playing in the sandbox (while Brad stood there with them), holding big girl Hope, and cleaning and tidying more than I even realized. 

It was sweet corn picking time, so we went out to one of Marc's farmer's fields and picked and picked away. Brad stayed home with a (supposed to be) sleeping Hope and kept her happy and occupied until we returned - Even though he had to keep her on his lap. 

Kathryn and Cole were picking buddies 

Cole sampling the harvest - nothing fresher than that!

Is he a farm boy or what? His daddy is proud. 

We got a LOT of corn. Shirley joined us and she particularly likes to get a lot and "put it up" in the freezer and give it to her kids. Kathryn was a good sport to give up nearly two hours to help shuck and clean and take the corn off the cobs. What a process! Brad again stayed home with Hope, nice guy, while she slept. 

We had corn for supper, just hours after it was picked, and Brad couldn't get over how good it was. I think the three empty ears on his plate spoke for themselves. 

We went to shaved ice!

Cole and Kathryn shared lots of sweet moments. She is so good with him! And Brad does well too!

They chose to stick around to go to the library for Learn & Play before heading back home. Hope was sleeping, so Kathryn stayed with her and Brad went with us. It was so fun to have him there! They LOVE it when men come play! It was hard with his back, but he joined in as much as he could. Cole loved having him there. 

And while we were gone, somehow Kathryn managed to magically clean up my entire house - vacuum, move 6 huge bags of hand-me-downs out of the living room, empty and fill the dishwasher, clean up the toys upstairs and down, strip the bed - as well as get them all packed up and ready to go. I was flabbergasted. It was such a gift. I just relished it this afternoon after they left and during nap time - I could just rest. It was so nice. 

Since they've left, Cole has talked about them a lot. "What Brad said? Oofball?" "GOOFBALL!" And tonight he tried to gargle his water in the bathroom when he was brushing his teeth "like Krathryn". Couldn't think of too many better people for him to emulate! What a treasure!

Thanks for coming guys! It means a lot that you made time to get out here! We love you!

(Hope to write soon about mom and dad's visit last week and Norma and Abby are coming next weekend!)

Moving On Up

Cole has wised up and started building with his MagnaTiles up on the table to protect his creations from his baby sister's explorations.

He's also learned to put triangles around the base to keep his structures from falling over. He came right down after nap and started building. 

Shoes

I asked the kids if they had their shoes on to go on a walk/bike ride to the mail yesterday morning. Cole got his and thought Hope needed some too. She was a good sport. 

She looks so grown up!

Box Fun

Cole had the best time with this (super skinny, big) box. He had some snacks and finished his meal in there once and loved closing the flaps and having me ring the doorbell. He even tried to tape it up like a package. 

Look who he talked into joining him...

She wasn't quite as much of a fan as him but was a good sport. Oh, it's the little things...

Now I'm Leery

The other day the kids and I were jogging on our normal route and came to a spot notoriously known for having loose dogs. We encounter dogs every time we run. We had even come across another dog just blocks before. They always bark and often run after us, but I have always been of the attitude - don't pay them any attention, don't show fear, and they'll leave you alone, they're more scared of you than you are of them.

But this day, one of them bit me! I yelled at it and told it to go away and kept jogging. After a bit, I got to thinking that maybe I needed to do something and called Marc. From that conversation I ended up calling the police and going in to their office since I was walking by. 

Lest your begin to think it was a huge, viscous dog (like Julie did), let me set the record straight. It was a little long haired terrier-type dog, but it did get a good little  bite out of my calf. 

Here's the picture of the "evidence", before the EMT cleaned it up. 

Here's my huge (awesome!) stroller in the sheriffs office. Note Hope is still in her jammies just contentedly watching me give my first ever police report. 

I called Shirley and she met me there. I didn't know what I was going to get into. But it didn't take long and we were on or way. The policeman came by the house the next day showing me a picture of the dog and asking if it was the right one. It was. I haven't heard anything more. 

The bite is healing fine. A little bruised around the outside. We decided not to go check for rabies since we had no reason to believe the dog had them. The thing that makes me most upset is that now I'm afraid or at least leery, and I hate that. I don't want to be. 

Now I know why Dad gets so nervous to run where he doesn't know the dogs...

Crabapples

Today at the park Cole collected a bunch of crabapples. He wanted to bring them all home but we compromised at two. 

He really wanted to see what was inside them. So, that was the project we could look forward to after he ate his supper and we put Hope to sleep. 

What's inside? I had no idea. His prediction: eggs (I think he thought they would crack like an egg.)

Come to find out, they have some sort of hard center, but you could cut the flesh off the ends. (Notice my unsuccessful cut through the center...)

It had a real earthy, green smell. Cole, what do you think it smells like? - poop

Early stages of the Scientific Process at its best! His great aunt Cindy would be proud. 

Hope Milestones

This little girl is waving. It's just about the cutest thing. 

She also started saying her first consonant sounds. And wouldn't you know - It sounds a lot like "da da". 

Pool Party

Well, that was one of the most fun nights we've had in a long time. When he found out how inexpensive it is to rent out the city pool for a party, Marc had the super fun idea to do it sometime, just for fun! And that's what we did tonight!

We kept it simple (no meal, easy snacks) and short (6:30-8:00). We invited everyone we knew and did it on a Sunday night hoping to catch the most people and it worked! We had 7 or 8 families end up being able to come and lots of kids - maybe 30-35 people!

What made it fun:

-we are all good friends, or at least the wives are, so it was comfortable and a fun time to be with the husbands/daddys

-Shirley kept Hope, so I got to just be free to play!

-Cole is really confident with his floaty this year so he requires a lot less hands on attention. 

-and nearly everyone got in, like really in - hair wet and all, AND jumped off the diving boards - EVEN the moms. Whitney, the pool manager said it was the most active pool party she's seen.

- and everyone said they had a really good time and was glad we did it. 

It was so fun!

Look at the moms on the diving boards!

Marc and Cole are in that crowd of people in the deep end under the diving boards. 

Obviously, I got MY hair wet...

If you ever need a borderline outrageous (who rents an entire pool for no reason?) yet wildly successful, fun idea, Marc's your man. He has the fun ideas and then I make them happen (if I don't squelch them with practicality first). We make a good team. 

Walmart Carts

Look at these cute kids riding in the cart on our way into Walmart. They loved facing each other and kept each other company throughout the store. 

We have used one of these big carts before but this was the first time Hope was out of her car seat carrier. It worked great!

I'm not for sure, but I think it's been months since I've been to Walmart. Thank you Amazon and dollar general!

Yellow Squash

I have been watering a friend's garden the past few days. I was hesitant to volunteer to do it because I didn't want to add one more thing to go and do, but it's worked out great! They have a trampoline and tree house/play set that Cole's been enjoying while I water. And Hope has been content to watch from the stroller. I've been pleasantly surprised that the mosquitos haven't been bad (with all this rain, we've had a ton!).

But another benefit was that she said we could take the produce that was ready. So, I roasted up some yellow squash for Hope (and the rest of us) for supper. She (and I) liked it. 

C-O-L

Cole brought me this toothbrush the other day and told me it had his name on it. I was kind of skeptical. But look! It does!

C-O-L...

Beginning stages of letter recognition? Maybe!

Princess Hope

I don't put Hope in dresses very often, for the same reason that I don't put her in shirts that don't snap between her legs - I hate the constant tugging and pulling down as the shirt/dress creeps up. 

But, I did today for church. As Cole, Hope and I were sitting on the floor by the front door checking out the aftermath of last night's rain (we have gotten SO much lately!!), I asked Cole what he thought of Hope's dress - was it too small, too short?

His response - "Hope, you look like a princess!"

Made my heart soar. I told him he should tell her that whenever he could - that girls need to hear that often from the men in their lives. He was smiling from ear to ear. 

Here's a picture of her in her dress (it looks shorter in the picture than it was, and she does have bloomers on.) She was over-ready for a nap, but I wanted a picture for this story so bad. 

Here's her big brother, her hero, trying to comfort her. 

Those two...