Rain. What is it Good For?

Well, you could argue that the rain is great for greening up foliage and I would agree with you there. But, in this instance, it was great for livening up some kiddos that had been cooped up in the house for about 2 weeks. All the precipitation made for some great puddles in our back field....and that made for some really happy boys!

I always like playtime that can also be considered exercise. These guys sprinted at least a hundred times through all the water and they loved every second of it.
They brought out their fightin' faces to go along with all of the screaming, shouting, and laughing going on. Either G ate alot for dinner or it's been a while since he spent time in the bathroom because he's packing a little belly that he usually doesn't have. Not sure what's going on there!

It was a little bit of bad timing in that our field has just been mowed leaving lots of little grass clippings in the water. It was on their faces, bellies, and lots of other unmentionable places!

The fact that the water was only about 12 inches deep at best didn't keep them from jumping in like they were at the pool. 

I'm glad to see the sunshine back but the rain made our grass green and plush, my bushes 3 feet taller, and put smiles on the faces of these three monkeys. 
You can't beat that!

Yep, It's Bendy

The boys got off the bus yesterday and Grant could barely contain himself with urgent news for me from school. He threw his backpack down, pulled out his notebook and reached into the zipper pocket to pull out an "important" booklet. My eyes nearly rolled out of my head when he handed it to me........Fundraising. Uuuugghhh. I despise... deplore...feel the utmost of hatred for fundraisers. I hate it double time this year because now I have to work for TWO kids. They both quickly let me know that I HAD to fill out the booklets with seven names and addresses to which a magazine order slip could be mailed to. That's a total of fourteen names, you see. If both kids took back their booklets the next day they would receive the most awesome, most needed, coolest thing ever:

This stupid 6 foot bendy pencil.

Or as I would rather refer to it: Child's Death Wish ( child strangles while playing with stupid, free,  entirely too long, bendy pencil), or New Gadget to Put Your Brother's Eye Out With (the boy was fine until brother wildly spun in circles with bendy pencil and whacked him in the retina).
Grant actually wanted to use it to do his homework tonight but I spent 3 minutes trying to sharpen the dumb thing to no avail. Grant was offended that I used the statement "useless piece of junk" in the same sentence with his 6 foot bendy pencil. I explained to him that that was three minutes of my life that I wish I could have back. He didn't get it.
The bendy pencil is also great for getting tangled on your feet causing you to fall. Seriously, if you are tripping on your pencil, you probably need to get a different pencil.

My  sincere condolences to those of you that are getting the fundraiser in the mail. Some of you are getting two...... because really, who can think of 14 different people? And tonight while the children sleep, I'll hide the pencils. Then tomorrow I'll toss them directly into the garbage truck when it comes by. Then after that, I'll conveniently forget what happened to them.

FOUR!

The past couple weekends we have taken the boys to the golf course to play "real" golf. The first weekend we made it through 9 holes and the second weekend we played a modified 18 holes. One highlight is getting to cruise in the golf cart. I taught Cade how to drive it and came close to being permanently maimed only a handful of times. Cade took his game pretty seriously. He watched intently as Bobby did his shots and then waited for instruction on which club he should use next.

It wasn't exactly a quiet round of golf......slightly distracting to have this threesome monkeying around in the background as you drive the ball. We're still working on the understanding that the course is similar to the library.....you must use your whisper voice even though it's outside.

Cade admires his shot.

I even got in on the action. I'd love to get the hang of golf but right now it nearly makes me lose my religion or stab my thigh with a divot remover. I'm working on golfing patience and after I master that I'll work on the skill part. I'm pretty sure I'll never get the skill until I get some golfing outfits. New sport means new sporty wardrobe, right?

Grant did well, bringing a pretty fluid swing to the course. I didn't catch an action shot of that but I did get this one and it was too cute not to add in. And also, it's a pic of the only tree on the course that did not get peed on by one of my offspring during our outing. Seriously.
After a couple of holes he decided that he could pretty much do without putting. The next weekend when we went he decided he was going to do ONLY putting. I think he dismisses whatever club is not cooperating with him.

Rhett is Mr. "I don't need nobody's help. I ALREADY know how to do it". Obviously he does based on the following picture....... club extremely high in the air, eyes focused nowhere near the location of the ball, and hips wide open. Yeah. Clearly he needs no instruction.

Oddly enough, he managed to hit it which did not help my cause of convincing him to let daddy help him.

We couldn't pass up throwing a couple rocks into the pond. I was standing nearby ready to tackle Rhett if he decided to chunk a club in the water. I definitely wouldn't put it past him. He's not one to be trusted, you know.The boys are holding strong that golf is one of their favorite games to play. Based on our two experiences, I have a feeling we'll be spending more time on the course. In the meantime I'll be researching cute golfing outfits and I'll peruse ebay for a stylish bag with some clubs. Or, maybe I'll just stick to driving the cart and making sure the boys are inconspicuous in their tree marking. Someone's got to do it if we want to maintain our membership!

And Today Makes All Three!

Rhett was so pumped that he got to return to school today. It made him feel so big that I had to get HIS backpack ready on Monday night just like I do for his brothers. He got a "new" backpack and "new" napmat this year. Both are actually hand-me-downs from Grant but he didn't seem to mind.

I had Grant's initials removed and had Little Buddy's put on the pack. It turned out nicely thanks to my handy friend, Leigh and her nifty machine!

The only thing that would've made this day better for him would have been for a big yellow bus to pull up in front of the house to pick him up and deliver him to school. Let's not push it......just a couple more years to go!!

When I dropped him off he used my line, "Well, looks like it's just you mommy!" and I said, "looks like it! What in the world am I going to do all day??" He replied, "I guess what ever in the world you want to do! Just don't be playing with my uno cards while I'm gone.......or any of my toys. " I don't think he has anything to worry about. BUT, if anyone should ever call me on the days all my kids are in school and finds that I'm playing a one sided game of UNO, fighting an imaginary opponent with a lightsaber, or making "vroom, vroommm" noises while pushing matchbox cars across the playroom floor, please call the authorities. I may have officially lost my marbles........

First Kicks

Little Buddy made his mark on the soccer fields for the first time ever this weekend. The day started off right when he got his uniform just before the game and it was blue from head to toe. He took one look at it and responded "totally awesome" and was ready to hit the field.He was in his ready position from the get-go. I was unsure how he was going to do being that in a previous practice he cried and had to sit out for a while because "everyone was taking the ball from him and hurting his feelings". After a little discussion on the ins and outs of soccer I think he got it.He did a great job getting the ball and attempting to dribble it (even if it was soccer in slow motion). He stole the ball several times and even ran to protect his goal when the other team was near. I think his late October birthday is serving him well in this three year old soccer division.He scored five, yes FIVE, goals in his first game ever. He was SO proud of himself and had a great time playing. I think his team pulled out a win but I can't be sure. The other team had "black haired kid" that Rhett said was pretty tough to beat and he scored quite a few for his team as well. Rhett put on a great first showing and I'm so glad our money paid in appears to be a good investment. I keep having flashbacks of when we paid 85 bucks for Grant to play as a three year old and we were forced to sit sideline and watch for a full season while he twirled circles with his jersey pulled over his head and picked bugs out of the grass.

Way to go Little Buddy!