What have Mister and Sweetie been up to?

I've been neglecting my "mommyblogging," which means I haven't been very good at documenting what the kids have been doing, not only for our own records, but also for our family, all but one of whom live far away. So here's a recap of what Mister and Sweetie have been up to during last few months:

Both had birthdays and parties galore (it's all a blur to me now since I was trying to finish up my diss while throwing shin-digs, making cakes, and wrapping presents). Here's Mister and company at his Secret Agent/Spy party, with the birthday boy posing for his secret agent ID, then the whole group decoding one of the clues to find the "bomb," then trying to destroy the bomb before it went off, and finally blowing out the candles on his cake.

At Sweetie's requested Superhero party, we decorated bats and spider cupcakes, navigated the obstacle course to rescue the stuffed animals stuck in the net, and did other various super-human feats.

Before we left for the East coast, both kids had their last day of school. (Mister's last day was also water day, hence the swimsuit.)

Mister finished up another action-packed T-ball season:

Once we came back, we've been trying to keep busy in ways other than fighting (which is harder than you'd think). Here are some of those ways:

Making our own bouncy balls

4 Weeks of Swimming Lessons for Both:

Bear-Catching (first picture is initial booby-trap, followed by dinosaur decoy, dressed in Mister's own clothing to confuse the profusion of bears we seem to have in our house, and finally Mister, hiding behind the dresser with his gun).

Selling the family food storage from the shop in the open door-way. (I highly recommend the chocolate chips and applesauce--I bought a few of each myself.)

And that's about it for now (at least that's about all the pictures I can manage to upload at this time). Consider yourself good and updated!

Like Father, Like Son, Like Daughter

J spent Father's Day afternoon finishing a paper for the graduate-level accounting class he's taking. (He needs only 3 more credits for his CPA.) Since Mister and Sweetie do everything they can to try to be like their dad, they broke out their Cyber Spy Notebook and the old laptop that won't even turn on and sat next to him, typing away. There's nothing I'd like better than for them to keep imitating their dad as they keep growing up.

Poem of the Month: June

I've been trying to post for 2 days now, but blogger isn't letting me. Don't know why, but maybe it has something to do with images, so I'm giving a non-image post a shot. I seem to have missed the poem of the month for April and May, so this is kind of a catch-up because I meant to post my favorite new Easter-type poem in April. It was published in Segullah, a journal by and for LDS women, and is written by Melissa Dalton-Bradford. You can read it and other great writing here. I'll also copy it below:

Early Harvest

by Melissa Dalton-Bradford

Midsummer. Eventide. Live waters.

You: broad-backed bundle of golden sheaves

hewn down,

washed,

rushed

headlong through death’s threshing current.

You: pre-ripe, holy harvest

wrested from these, your people;

gathered to those, your people

who attend from iridescent pastures.

You: Firstborn son,

First fruits of my womb,

Firstling of our flock,

First raised of our labors . . .

Enfolded now in the arms of the

First raised from the dead,

First lover of the flock,

First fruits of the tomb,

Firstborn Son . . .

O, Son!

Sweet, sacrificial fruit of my flesh,

Preserved in spirit

Till that first morn when you, our first reborn,

Shoot forth

’Mid spring. ’Mid song.

Parker Fairbourne Bradford, age eighteen, died July 21, 2007, after plunging twice into a rural river’s deadly undertow to save a friend who was drowning. The friend lived, but Parker never regained consciousness after 38 hours in a coma.

Signs of Summer

1. Lazy days, nowhere to go but swim lessons, 2. New corn on the cob, 3. Ice cream cones for FHE treats

I'm not the only one who's been doing some "writing"

Mister and Sweetie have been hard at work on their own creations. And I must admit that their work is much more brilliant and profound than my own, as you can see by this sampling of text:

It's pure genius, isn't it? Another superior attribute of their book is that it has visuals, whereas mine only has a few tables and charts. Notice the map of our house above the text and all of the pictures below. I am looking mighty fine riding Splash Mountain with them, riding scooters with Mister, playing the Ladybug Game, reading to them in bed, and bending over to kiss Mister goodnight. Unfortunately, in the latest additions to the book, I am no longer a stick figure, as can be seen in the drawing on the blue paper with the flowers. I'm now very round with a little stick figure inside me. Maybe one day I'll achieve "stick" status again, but it's not likely to be for another year, given my past history. I'll let you all know when their book is published since I know the demand will be high.

 

1.  Budding artists and writers at work, 2. Leftovers for lunch, 3. Sleeping in.