Counting Cookies

Welcome back!  We had a stellar weekend, and I trust that the rest of you did the same.  A special 'yippee-ki-yay' to BrAshley for their exciting news of another little Crow on the way.  Good times ahead for them.

Brandon and Sarah are back to occupying the basement after a weekend of camping in Pensacola.  They came back with sunburns and bugbites, so I think they're happy to be indoors for a while.  We missed them while they were gone. Craig had just gotten used to playing video games again with somebody who really understands them.  I mean, he was great about playing with the kiddos, but there's only so much 'Sonic the Hedgehog' a grown man can take, right?  He and Brandon usually have a few games a week that they battle out with.

 Oh, to think of if (yes, if. . .they're looking for jobs here.  Keep your fingers crossed) and when they have to leave. . .I don't like it.  I really feel like they're part of us now.  We went out with the boys for a little while tonight while they worked on their bike ramps.  Poor kids, bike ramps to them mean finding the biggest piece of log you can and mounding dirt up all around it.  Here's some pics of Brandon trying his best to understand and help Ryan try to make this idea work:

Notice Ryan scratching his head as if even he's not sure what in the world he's trying to do.  The idea really didn't work.  I mean, he never even tried it, so the plan was scratched.  He was either gonna lose his bike tire or his head, and I don't think he really wanted to be without either.  Maybe we'll try plywood next time.

I took this pic of Gavin and I just think its cute.  No story or anything behind it, just a classic 'Gavin' face:

You may not think this is a monumental, blog-worthy event but to me this was just super-exciting.  I had just gotten through cleaning up from lunch, when, HARK!  There's a Bambi in the backyard (or maybe Bambi's mom?).  I've been waiting since we moved here to catch a deer back there, and today he must've noticed our corn gettin' all tall.  I sure hope it comes back.  Isn't there something just all peaceful about seeing a deer grazing through where you live?  I realize you have to look closely to see the deer in the picture below, but just look for the ears. 

Today's Daisee moment. . .Well, back up a little.  Daisee doesn't care just a whole lot about toys.  However, the kid LOVES a book.  We read all sorts of books.  One of her favorites is a book written by Eric Carle.  It's a counting book, and she pulls it out during every little sit-down session we have.  You know how sometimes you tell your kids (or your husbands) something over and over again and you think they never hear you?  Well, undoubtedly they do.  We rarely finish an entire page of a book before she's wanting to flip it to the next one, so I always assume she's just doing the in-one-ear-out-the-other thing.  Nope.  Check this out:



My girl is countin' down some oreos.  She started this yesterday with a stack of styrofoam cups.  I wanted to catch her doing it, but she got bored with the cups once she spotted the oreo package.  My mama bribery instincts kicked in, so I went with it.  Next week we'll see how she does with the x + y thing.  I mean, if we can supposedly teach our newborns how to read with a bunch of flashcards, then surely my almost-two-year old can figure out simple algebra, right?

So, that's it for day number 178 in the year 2011.  A whole day is gone.  Have you done with it what you wanted?  I think I have.  We played, did some math,  had a meal together, played some more, and gave hugs and kisses before bedtime.  Can't get much grander than that.

Love,