Cornelius Rainbow Dragon had his stuffing knocked out of him through another unfortunate Scissor Incident. Now Cornelius’s carcass is one of Wesley’s favorite dress ups. If he squats down to half his size, he can become an adorable, cuddly dragon.
This is Piper dressed up as a doctor, cape included!
We fostered a dog for 2 months, and Piper was pretty smitten.
Classic Wesley—clothing at odds (shorts and a hat/scarf combo) with the implements to be helpful and destructive.
I’m not buying school pictures this year outside of class photos, and I didn’t dictate anything outfits for them to wear. This is what they came up with on their own:
We finally got a weekend at the cabin and took along Parker and Cecily—my niece and nephew make great accessories at the cabin.
In between showers, we adventured down to “our” beach. I’ve never seen the tide out so far! Left behind was sand so goopy that only lightweight kids could partially walk on it without sinking to their knees.
Cecily and Parker were not impressed…and were the only kids who didn’t have to be hosed down later.
The others played and shlopped for hours.
I had to zoom in, as I am too big to take on that goop and win!
That’s Wesley, Piper, and a neighbor friend—somewhat a female equivalent of Wesley, but better adjusted.
And here’s the rest of my heart…
Wesley starts first grade.
Piper, 3rd.
4th Graders don’t need their moms taking pictures of them. Perhaps, especially, when said mother is doing something like this:
Did I mention that for the first time in ten years, all kids are in school full time this year?!?!?
My first day of school:
1) Take kids to school and click my heels in celebration several times.
2) Help host the First Day of School Welcome and Coffee.
3) Help a group of PTA-ers put together Back to School packets.
4) Have lunch out with a group of friends at a local Japanese steak house, including a celebratory cocktail.
5) Return to PTA work.
6) Pick kids up from school.
And it was lovely, lovely.
With Kyla’s and Dwayne’s birthday 7 days apart, it’s irresistible to not combine the family birthday parties.
Luckily, I have ways of saying “I love you” that don’t include homemade birthday cakes, especially when Cold Stone makes such great cookies-and-cream frozen masterpiece.
We began with sipping cocktails while admiring the trellis Dwayne had constructed that weekend (more later), and had dinner on the sunny front deck, with cake and presents.
The Wesley-Parker entity read Piggie and Elephant books together.
Happy birthday, Beloveds!
A beautiful day in late summer
+
a few hours of Mama free time
Time to clean the neighborhood drains
It’s not a pleasant job, but it can be satisfying taking out wheel barrowsful of smelly debris.
Piper came to my rescue, though! On a warm day, she put together a repast for me, packed it in a basket, and engineered a way to drag it behind her bike up to where I was working.
Thanks, Pipes! I love and appreciate you.
