Sweet Dreams

Tractors seem to be the most common "nap-nap" items. This one is a good bit more petite than the last...

Weekend Work

If you ever happen to need some entertainment for a little munchkin, put a nail in a piece of wood. Give the kidling a hammer, and let 'em go to town....It's guaranteed entertainment for you as well. Promise.
This weekend was simply beautiful. The coolness made for perfect working weather. So, the never ending chicken yard project was tackled...yet again. Levi was the official dirt tamper. He did a pretty swell job except for the umpteen million times that he got distracted.
We spent as much time as possible just enjoying the beautiful weather. Can you hear that sound?...It's the sound of my washing machine not getting used, the dishes not getting washed, and the floors not being swept...not to mention all the other stuff not getting done...it's a good sound.
How was your weekend? Beautiful, I hope!

Today...

Today was beautiful. It smelled like Summer, but felt like Autumn. Of course, we spent large portions of the day lazing around outside...because really...Autumn weather in August...so not something we get to enjoy very often. Still looks like summer, but, oh, my, Autumn is seriously just around the corner. Personally, I can't wait. The cool crispness is already beckoning. And, well, the blueberries and tomatoes of summer are pretty much spent, so it must be time to move along now. How are y'all spending the end of your summer?

Gettin' Messy

If you're preoccupied and you know it clap your hands....


What? You can't hear me clapping. Well, I totally am...I admit it. I've been completely preoccupied lately, and I just can't keep up. Lots of plates are getting dropped...okay, so maybe the clattering and clanging of plates is more in my head than in reality, but still I feel a wee bit stressed. Hope you'll bear with me. When the dust is settled and the clanging noises in my head have gotten a little more under control, I'll blog about it...right now I'm just trying to stay above water. Until then, my sincerest apologies if I do drop plates...on my blog and in real life.

On a much happier note...Levi painted for the first time today. (Don't flog me please. Yes, I did just say first time. I have an excuse. For quite some time there his crayon adventures were more than enough for me and every surface in my house. We had to work our way up to painting...slowly.) He loved it. Well, for about 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure his favorite part was actually cleaning up. He tried to wash EVERYTHING within reach!

Of course I took pictures...tons of pictures. I'll try not to post every last stinkin' cute one of them.When did your kidlings first get the paint experience? Hopefully, I'm not the only one whose kid wasn't smooshing paint around by 1.

Sweet Dreams

Really, kid? This just can't be comfy.
Wish I could snap a pic before he completely relaxes and lets go of his treasured object of the day. Oh, how cute that would be...except that it would wake him up.

Stash, Stash

I bought myself a new pair of shoes. Levi was fascinated....okay, so not with the shoes. Of course, he went straight for the packaging. Believe it or not, the box wasn't even the best part of this "toy". Instead he was instantly smitten with one of the inserts...now dubbed "stash, stash."

Oh. my. how this little fella' just melts the heck right out of my heart!

A New Word...The Best Of Words

Levi's vocabulary has grown beyond my capacity for lists and keeping up with it. But, until last night it was missing one very special word...


Sigh.

He could cover up all manner of sin with that one.

Invasion Of The Moths

My porch has been inundated with these giant yellow and brown moths. Can you spot 5 of them in the picture below?
The other morning I woke up to SEVEN of these things on my porch....maybe it's just the biblical number, but it sounds to me like something out of an Old Testament dream. There were 7 giant moths (moths I've never noticed hanging around until this year). They stayed all day long. Two of them died the next day. One flew away. More have come to replace them. It really sounds like it should mean something.
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Of course, I took photos of each of the original 7. Avert your eyes if you have a moth phobia. ;)

These two were on my door frame:
This one was on the opposite side of the frame:
This one was hanging out under the porch light:
And, this one on the window screen:
This one on the porch screen:
And, this one was tucked away behind the leg of a stool:
I'm telling you it was nearing eerie. Every time we walked on to the porch Levi would say, "Wow!" And, then he'd start trying to count them...."One, do, sic...."

Slumber Party

You're not going to believe this one. The other day, Levi found my drill. He carried it around all day long. At bedtime (which he calls nap-nap...same as nap time), he clutched the drill to his chest, looked pleadingly at me, and said in his most pitiful voice, "nap-nap, nap-nap." How could I resist? I let him take it to bed with him. Don't ask about the logistics of the three of us cuddling. It was uncomfortable to say the least. He even insisted on pulling the trigger a few times before he finally passed out.
Once I was beyond a doubt positive that Levi was asleep, I removed the drill. If I'd moved it a second earlier, my ears would have been assaulted by wails and pitiful pleas for "scwew-diver"....Beats me as to how the kid decided that drills are synonymous with screwdrivers.
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Haven't you always wanted to curl up with a nice, cuddly drill?

Dig Dirt

We put 'em to work early round here:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Garden Happiness

Our mint is blooming. I love the delicate fuzzy purple flowers. From a distance, they're really nothing spectacular...but when you get up close it's like a whole new, quirky, little world.
The zucchini is FINALLY producing more than just an abundance of flowers. Hallelujah! Thank you rain!! Can you see that little zucchini tucked away in the jumble of stalks? Yummy is what that is.
And, just a little gardening tip for those of you who have a problem with birds eating your fruits and veggies. Buy a whole bunch of shiny pinwheels. They must be shiny for this to work. Surround your precious babies...er, I mean plants...with all the shininess. These are actually silver on one side...
It worked for us. I like to let my tomatoes ripen on the vine, but that seems to be an open invitation for birds to peck at them. This year, no bird problems. Yippee! For those of you who cringe at the idea of tons of shiny pinwheels in your garden you might try hanging mirrors. I also tied shiny strips of some plasticy paper to the tomato cages.
So, what's happening in your garden...or even just in your windowsill?

I'm Still Here

I haven't dropped off the face of the planet. It's just that my computer has been a tad aggravating lately. And, it's been raining just about every single day...I'm so not complaining. But, I do get a bit tired when it rains this much. So, I've been napping instead of blogging. Napping and cleaning and doing pretty much anything that doesn't involve me feeling the need to pitch my computer out of the window.
Things like.....
:Stealing a few moments outdoors.
:Picking an abundance of blueberries.
:Playing chase...oh, yes, we have discovered a new favorite game.
:Counting toes and fingers..."Fife toes" "one, do, foe, fife, sic" Somehow three rarely gets tossed into the mix.
:Of course, there's always "dawing."
:And "Ugs."
:Riding, too...
:But, amidst all the cuteness lets not forget the giganto temper tantrums. We have entered Tantrumville, and I am so not excited. This morning he couldn't decide whether or not he wanted his shoes on. This sent him into absolute orbit, and he flung himself headfirst into the foot of his bed. He now has a very fat bottom lip. Lets just say, it's a good thing he's so darn cute. Otherwise, I might have to check myself into a hotel....alone.