Soccer!

Is there ANYTHING cuter than 5-year old boys playing soccer???

Go, Will, Go!!!

Get the ball!!!

Will as Goalie - no one scored while he was in there!!!

I ask you again: Is there ANYTHING cuter than 5-year old boys playing soccer???

Pride and Prejudice and Neglecting your house

I have a confession to make: I am a read-a-holic. Whew, that feels good to get off my chest. :-) Nothing makes me feel more like ME, then curling up with a great book and tuning out the rest of the world. Unfortunately, little boys don't take well to being neglected, and my home is in a state of dissaray that reflects my reading compulsion.

This week, I have been reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I just could not put it down! Last weekend Warren and I watched the new version of the movie (well, 1995), and I loved it so much, I decided that I needed to re-read the novel. I guess that when I read it in High School, I wasn't patient enough to enjoy it. All I could think about was the fact that it was written in a strange style, and I remember thinking it was b-o-r-i-n-g. This time, though, I just loved it! I loved the language, the subtle sarcasm, the romance - I loved everything about it! I am embarrassed that I have not fully appreciated Jane Austen up to this point. I look forward to re-reading her other novels with as much enthusiasm!

I am also frequently reading books along with, or pre-reading books for Matthew. He is a voracious reader. He reads very quickly, retains everything, and can read at about an 8th grade level (I am guessing). He loves fantasy books, and I secretly love previewing them for him. :-) Between this and last week, besides Pride and Prejudice, I have also read both Angie Sage books, Magyk and Flyte, and also read the first book in the Gregor the Overlander series. Matt has kept pace with me, reading each of these books right after me.

I guess my home can suffer, if the trade-off is children who love books and reading as much as I do!

My babies are in school!!!

Yesterday Nate and Drew started preschool. They were SO excited to finally be heading to their own school. They kept wanting my reasurrance that 'pwe-skool is not for mommies'. I had to repeat each day that they would be going to preschool without mommy. Preschool is just for little boys and girls. I think they were really worried that I was going to cramp their style by staying with them. :-)
They both did so well. I was a bit worried because Nate has been going through a phase where he cries when we drop him off at the nursery at church. School was different, though. He was happy and excited to be there. I could tell from his expression that he was a little nervous, as well. But, no tears. They have each marched in with their class with no glance back at their mommy. It's strange that the very same experience can make you want to smile, and cry at the same time.

Nate outside his school on the first day 9/6/06

Drew outside his school on the first day 9/6/06

Our landscaping saga continues

My sweet husband, Warren, is a firm believer in the Labor Day holiday. He thinks it is meant as a weekend to labor. Each year, we end up tackling some massive house project that we've neglected throughout the rest of the summer......because it was just 'too beautiful to stay home.' This year, while we were out enjoying our weekends, the front of our house just got worse and worse until at last, something HAD to be done. Last week we got going, and this Saturday, we woke up at 6:00 a.m., determined to make some headway on our yard. We decided to pull the red bushes out, and thought that would take all day. Well, luckily for us, it did not take all day. In fact, they were out by 8:00! So, we decided to forge ahead with our project and see if we could get some DIRT delivered. See, the right side of our home has settled quite a bit. The ground slopes, and was so low that the base of the porch didn't touch the dirt. This has been creating a perfectly cozy hideout for the rabbits that plague our neighborhood, eating any plants we might have had remaining in our landscaping. So, I call the dirt guy, give him the measurements of our beds, tell him what we need to do, and he tells us we need 10 yards of dirt. Of course, since we don't deal in quantities of dirt on a daily basis (unless you could what we wash off our boys every evening in the tub), we had no idea if 10 yards was a large bit of dirt. Well, let me tell you, it is a LOT of dirt. A whole dump truck full, to be precise. W-A-Y more than we needed, or could possibly use. My wonderful husband moved dirt for 12 hours straight! I would like to say that I was a lot of help, but, really, it was him who took wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow to each of our flower beds, around every tree, and everywhere else we could think to dump some. Eventually, we decided to shovel it out onto our front lawn. We have a sloping spot, where the grass always dies, so we decided to fill it in, and re-seed over it. The result is: two front beds that are way too tall, 1/2 of a former lawn covered in dirt, no bushes, flowers, or other plants, and an absolutely filthy driveway and walkway still covered in several inches of dirt.

Today I called some professionals. :-)