Garden Update

Lots of things are happening in our garden! In the spring, we put in some starter plants but there were other things we planted from seed. Above is a picture of one of the three corn stalks Chris planted from seed in his garden. This morning, we woke up to see that some corn silk has started sprouting which we assume will lead to corn cobs! Below is a cabbage plant that Chris planted the seed for...

Here is Christopher's oregano which is going crazy! I pick it almost every day and just throw it in random dishes--pasta, veggies, eggs, you name it...

The sunflowers (also from seed) are starting to form that inner layer where new seeds will be...

And this picture does not do justice to the cherry tomato plant that is all over Christopher's other vegetables. Yesterday, we had 6 tomatoes ready to pick at once and we added them to our pasta last night...

And finally, here is my monster zucchini plant that has just about taken over my whole plot! The leaves for this plant are enormous and the zucchini are small. Next year, this guy gets his own plot...

Also growing right now are small eggplants and lots of basil that we are making a pesto with this morning. Our lettuce is essentially done because when it gets so hot for a long time, it goes to seed and gets bitter. And last night, I made kale salad from the kale in both of our plots. This gardening thing is pretty fun!

J's Words

Jonathan has been talking up a storm recently! He says a bunch of words and tries to say a bunch more. Here are some of my favorites...

"Cree" for Christopher
"Hockey" for Holly
"Kiki" for Kasey

There are some that need translation...

"Dabada" means yes
"Haggadee" means, well, we have no idea but he always smiles when he says it

And today he said "Elmo" for the first time!

Swim meet

No pictures or video from last night's meet but Chris did great! He swam five events so obviously he slept in until 6:30 this morning... He earned three ribbons last night--2nd place for freestyle, 5th place for backstroke and 2nd place for 100 yd. freestyle relay. The meets are long but it is really fun cheering for our boy!

Makers Faire

We went to the Kansas City Makers Faire this morning, where we saw all kinds of cool, creative and inventive things! Chris got to build, meet droids, operate a remote control robot, and much more. Jonathan's favorite part was the super-sized bubbles!

And of course there was a very cool tricked out Corvette which Chris described as "cooler than a Ferrari."

Fun with Clowns on a Tightrope

Last night, Brian and I went to a fundraiser and won a raffle prize that included a gift certificate to a toy store and a toy called the Balancing Jester. We set it up for the boys this morning and Jonathan thought it was very cool and very funny...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M6skgIgK-I

Reading and Writing

So this summer I've been reading Moby Dick, the 670-something-page, this-is-going-to-take-you-all-summer version and Chris is fascinated by the characters when I tell him about it. I found a younger version that is more on Christopher's level and this is the first time I've seen him really want to curl up with a chapter book and just read for awhile! Also, he was inspired by our visit to the First Folio and is now writing his own play. It's called "Sharin and Rolmitoel." Here is the beginning...

Shakespeare's Folio

We took a trip downtown today to the beautiful Kansas City Library to check out Shakespeare's First Folio, which is on tour throughout the US. They had these great Shakespeare quotes that you could hold up for pictures so we picked appropriate ones for everyone!

In addition to the Folio, there was a life sized chess set outside that Chris and I played a little...

Chris and Grammy also checked out an exhibit about Shakespearean time. Chris sat on the throne as King Christopher I--very regal!

Go Waves!

The Woodside Waves had their first home swim meet tonight! Chris is in the above picture with a couple friends from school. And below... apparently it is the thing to do to write encouraging messages on your swimmer with sharpies!

Here is Christopher's freestyle event...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ay6WsmrrU

And his butterfly...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea11YVQTMAE

He also swam in the backstroke and 100 meter freestyle relay (with all 8 year olds). He got a sixth place ribbon for butterfly and a second place ribbon for the relay. Way to go Chris!

Peek a Boo

Someone is very excited about playing peek a boo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdrvPQtZaS4

Harvest

This morning's harvest...

Desk

It's Christmas in June! This past Christmas, we told Chris we would be getting him a desk for his room. Well, it finally happened! Our big guy got his very own space to work and he loves it! 

Chillin'

Although Jonathan looks like he is asleep in this picture, he is just chilling out in one of the pool swings after getting soaked in the baby pool sprinklers. (He also looks like he has mile-long legs!). It was really hot at swim practice so we went to cool off with Leatha and Jack by the baby pool. Unfortunately I did not dress J in his swim suit but that didn't stop him from cooling off a little. Then he just got to swing a little in this big cushy chair. What a life!

In other news, Chris had his first competitive swim meet last night and his times in the freestyle and backstroke qualified him for the Mo-Kan League Championships in the novice division in July. Go Chris! 

Kale Chips

Before it becomes a thousand degrees outside later, we spent the morning outside in our garden and picked some kale. We decided to make kale chips to snack on! Below is a picture of what they look like going into the oven (right) and when they are baked and ready to eat (left)!

Sunflowers

With the exception of the bunnies eating most of my coneflowers and black-eyed susans, this gardening stuff is really fun! Christopher planted two sunflower seeds back in April and look at how tall they are now! Today we had his first sunflower starting to open up...

And our second type of lettuce has been ready to pick just about everyday. We are getting all kinds of salads for our dinners!

Obviously

Because walking around with your hamper on your head is the obvious thing to do...

Upstate

We spent last week in Upstate New York with Grandpa T and Nancy. It was a great visit! As you can see from these first pictures, Chris and Grandpa went fishing three different days. They caught lots of fish and Chris got really good at casting and working the line. 

And while the boys were fishing, Mommy found a board (actually an old windsurfing board) and made it into a paddle board. It was beautiful just paddling around the lake in the peace and quiet!

We also had a chance to fire a semi-real bow and arrow at a target that Grandpa T set up for us. 

Meanwhile, back at the house... Daddy pushed J on the swing... and pushed and pushed and pushed.

Of course Grandpa took out the accordion. There was lots of dancing! And Chris played one of his recital songs while Grandpa figured out the base chords...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJEZPAVdugU

And then of course, the boys enjoyed all the dogs tremendously! And the dogs enjoyed a few belly rubs...

Teeny Zucchini

Another harvest from our little vegetable garden today was a tiny zucchini. I wasn't really sure how big they were supposed to get but based on one that fell off this morning and started to rot a little, I picked this one while it was small. Then I fried it up, Grandpa Clyde-style, and we are about to enjoy them!

How He Rolls

All the cool kids drive pink cars...

Puppet

I've been meaning to put up this picture for awhile... The last week of Christopher's school, he brought home this puppet he made in art class out of felt, paper machee and several other materials. It is Gerald from the Piggy and Gerald books and the kids put on a puppet show their last day of class. 

Garden Goings On

We have really been enjoying our vegetable garden since we've been back from Houston! The lettuce is growing like crazy so I've been making salads with just about every meal. And today we found an excellent use of our mint and peppermint--top it on vanilla ice cream and add some chocolate chips, yum!