Last day of school last week! We looove Ms. White! She is going to move up to teach first grade next year, I would be really excited if D. were to have her again as his teacher...

House update: Had some folks come see the house today. Unforuntately, backyard was too small. O well.... NEXT!!

History repeats itself.
SOMEBODY was put in timeout yesterday.
SOMEBODY got bored while there.
I was cleaning up in the breakfast room today because we were informed that someone wants to see our house. I turned the timeout chair around and found this:

I think the curls give it away as to who done it...

What's new in the neighborhood? Well, let me show you....

Today was a big day for us. We put our house that we have loved for 8 years on the market. Last weekend we made an offer on a house and this week it was accepted. So, the wheels are in motion.
We have been talking about looking and have actually looked on and off for about 8 months. We set out with firm minds that it would have to be AWESOME for us to leave what we have.
It would need to have this....or have to have that...etc.
At one point we even toyed around with the idea of buying land and building.
But, last week we went, and by we I mean all 5 of us, went to look at a house. We all fell in love with it. Even the boys. We made an offer that evening. By middle of this week it was accepted. So, now we need to sell ours. I love this old house. It has tons of characher. My babies learned to walk here, fell down stairs here, learned to ride bikes here, had birthday parties here..you get the idea. so, while I'm excited to begin this new journey, there is part of me that gets a bit teary.
With that being said, it is time to "detatch" ourselves from our house.
So, that is what I did all day today. Packed up personal items like pictures, books, memories, and I also de-cluttered. Packed up toys, stuffed animals, junk in general.

We need to create as much space as possible so that when someone comes to look, they won't be caught up in all of our hoarding, I mean displaying of things that we love....
The youngsters and I went to rent a storage unit this morning, and then we began the process of packing items to put in storage. Sister even got in on the action.
I like the added touch of her bicycle helment.

Here is what she chose to be placed in storage... a couple of puzzles, some beanie babies, a pink pony, and a magna doodle.

Swing batter, batter, batter...sa-wing....
One of these days, I will snap the picture and actually get the ball in there...
This was the game where both boys had to play and their games were 30 minutes apart. So I had just enough time to snap a few pics of D. and scoot on over to C.'s game. When Coop and I got to his game, I went to get some shots of him in the outfield and got a nice little warning on my camera screen..CHANGE BATTERY PACK. Ummm....wow. Never fails. Do you think I had an extra one in my pocket? Of course not.

D. loves to be catcher.

I tired three times last night to post..and there were some technichal difficulties...and i was too tired to mess with it, so i shut it all down. So, new night, same post...hope it works..
Here's my seasoned Cougar Miler..as always I reminded him to start slow...as always..he took off like a shot!

I see a similiarity in my boys and running. Do you see it? If Coop trips and falls he's going to chomp right thru it! HA!! They both had the Tongue of Concentration.

4 th lap, final lap..his body is wearing out, he's hot, he's tired BUT...the tongue is still there with him!

My work here is done.

And they're off!
Big D's first Cougar Mile..

When he started he was all over that track...left, right, middle, right, left, elbows nudging others. He was everywhere! And enjoying every minute. He's had to sit and watch Coop do this for 3 years so he was READY for his turn!

The "Tongue of Concentration"...

Run Big D Run!!
My big boy.

Cougar Mile. The kids practice for this all year. Its kinda a big deal. It is part of the Presidential Physical Fitness blah blah blah.... Anyway, they have to run a mile, 4 laps around the track. Depending on their time, they will either recieve a medal for National or Presidential time.
Both boys got Presidential Time!
They were we proud!

1 mile in 8:45

1 mile in 8:05

Their number 1 fan...

Bowhead..

This girl of mine is very independent. (I have no idea where that trait came from..) Anyway, I took a break from our play-doh party to go re-boot my washing machine (put dirty clothes in..) when I was coming through the den I heard strange noises coming from the kitchen. Knowing that my independent child was probably up to something I grabbed my camera. As I came around the corner I asked her what she was doing. That quick thinking ( which is kinda scary that a three year old is this quick..) grabbed an orange and pretended she was up there for it, when in all actuality, she was getting her "coffee cup". She had pulled a bar stool up to the counter, climbed up the stool and onto the counter.

After she got down she went to get her "coffee".

Then back to work..
See her "coffee" cup next to her on the floor? Just to be clear, that is NOT a sippy cup. It is an insulated coffee cup from Starbucks! It was a birthday present from our neighbor. And let me tell you, she LOVES her coffee cup.

A little while longer the boys came home from school and got in on the play-doh action.

We got sod. Lotsa sod. We HAD dirt. Lotsa dirt. 3 kids+ lotsa dirt = continuous dirt trail through house. YUK. On Saturday, J. got us a pallet of sod and we went to town. We laid it down in the backyard, we laid it in the side yard, and in the front yard.

Look at all that dirt. I shudder when I look at it. We also repositioned the landscape timbers around the swingset and poured mulch under it.

After we got the kids out of the tub tonight, J. went outside. I opened the door and told him he really needed to change his white socks to black ones as he stood there to water his grass...

Yesterday morning the sister looked at me and asked, "Where are my boys?" I told her they were at school. Then, she looked at me with the straightest face and said "Lets get this party started!"
Really. She said that. I said, "Ok! What do you want to do?" Her response was "Play-doh!" So that's what we did. We had a play-doh party!

Not only was RA unsure of the bunny, she also was a bit wary of the whole "hunting of eggs". So, her bubbies helped her out.

She finally got comfortable with the whole idea and branched away from them.

Just in time too ,I might add. About the time she felt ok with the whole hunting business, it was announced over the speaker that the "big kid hunt" was ready to begin...
so the boys headed to the pasture.

I literally laugh out loud when I look at this...I barely made it out of the way before they all trampled the very spot I was standing on! C and D are leading the way...
Look at the looks on their faces..that is priceless. You can't tell me that an almost 9 year old doesn't like to hunt eggs. That boy can talk smack all he wants..the proof is written all over his face!!