Um, mom...

He's growing up so fast he's got a mustache!

Oliver has started getting up from bed, right after we put him to sleep.  He gets up and insists he has to tell us something.  The night before last he wanted to tell me that, well, that - he had to think for a while - and then it came to him.  He wanted to give me a squeeze, i.e. a hug.  It was pretty darn clever/cute.  Then last night he came down and mentioned that he had had one nightmare, which was actually pretty amazing seeing as he was in his bed for only 2 minutes.  He followed up by requesting to watch some television.  The answer was a kind no, and back up to bed he went.

I remember doing the exact same thing as a child.  Getting up, telling mom I needed something when all I really was doing was staying up just a few more minutes.  I even remember hiding behind the couch and watching tv a good while before getting caught or going back to bed for fear of getting caught.

It is neat to watch kids develop and grow. It is funny how no one teaches a child to get out of bed with a faux excuse but each one comes up with it on his own and every kid does it.

A rare moment

Tired kidlets both asleep on a June afternoon. 3:31pm.

The flower garden that keeps on giving

As the summer season continues, we keep discovering new blooms.  I need to get a flower encyclopedia out to learn about everything we've got here.

Birthday fun with gazpacho

We recently celebrated Jess's birthday by visiting a good restaurant downtown.  Grandpa & Grandma watched the kidlets so we could go on our own, just the two of us (thanks!).  My favorite thing we tried was the deliciously fresh watermelon gazpacho with avocado.  I'd like to try to duplicate it in my own kitchen.  After dinner we went home and shared cake with family.  Turns out being 31 is a lot of fun (wahoo! for cheesy but very true poetry).

p.s. you will notice all kinds of paper, letters, and other such scrapes around the house in this photo.  This is our house on a regular basis, as Oliver is in the stage of creating numerous pieces each day, everyday.  I gather it up each evening and place the stuff that hasn't made it to the walls, in a pile on the counter.  I am at the point where I'll have to use the doctor's record policy, that is, only throw things out that have been around for seven years, when it comes to saving stuff.  He'll remember something that he's created two weeks after doing so, and can be bummed to discover I've thrown it out.

Hey there

Ansel is growing and growing.  This cute, smiley guy is 5 months old today.  Hooray!

Farwell Google Reader, hello new RSS reader

Today Google retires its Google Reader service.  And since pretty much all I do on the internet is pay bills, check email, and read blogs, I was sad to hear it.  True, one can still read blogs by typing in the address or using the links (if you've created them in your own blog), but I prefer an RSS feed and so I was on the lookout for one.

My sister is trying Bloglovin'.  And I am going to try Feedly.  It's an experiment of sorts, to see which works best.  Long live blogs!