Swing fun

Here are some fun shots I took the other day of Asa, Marlow and Eliot riding recklessly on their tire swing. Tire swings are great, especially if you can find a really high branch to hang them from. Ours hangs from about a 40-foot high branch, so the arc of the swing is very long.


Click on the picture above to open a new window (or tab) which will display the whole tire swing set.

(In case you were wondering where Ezra was, you can see him climbing on the swingset in the background in a couple of these...)

School

Well, school is in full swing now. This is Ezra's third week (first grade) and Asa's first full week (kindergarten). The first two weeks he only went three days total for phase-in. Asa LOVES school. The first two weeks were hard because he wanted to go every day. Ezra seems to be getting into the routine and enjoying it more. I really like both of their teachers. Asa got the teacher that he liked best so I was glad for him. He also has one of his good friends, Aidan, who lives down the street and goes to church with us in his class. Aidan's mom and I worked out a carpool plan for afternoon pick-ups so now I don't have to go to the school every afternoon and wait in line, which is super nice.

Joseph took some pictures of the boys on Asa's first day. They look so grown-up in their uniforms. One cool thing is Asa loves to tell me about his day and what they did and what he liked best. Ezra has never really liked me asking questions about what goes on at school and volunteers very little information. But Asa telling me about his day sparks Ezra to remember things he did so then I get them both talking.


So far I have enjoyed the time with just the two little ones. I have walked some with them, gone to Rembrandts after walking the bridge for muffins and tea, grocery shopped and hung around the house. Marlow gets really excited when I tell her it is time to go get the boys. Unlike Asa who doesn't know what to do with himself when Ezra is away, she plays well by herself.... but not so well with Eliot. She tends to just tell him "No!" a lot and take toys away from him. She was nice to him today though and let him sit in the wagon with her for the walk to Bible Study. She enjoyed handing him animal crackers on the ride over. She really likes feeding him and always wants to feed him his yogurt or whatever he is eating. Thankfully he isn't too opinionated yet and doesn't mind who feeds him just as long as he gets the food.

Marlow turns 2

Marlow had her second birthday. We had a little birthday party for her and invited over a few little girls she knows (most of them conveniently had older brothers for the boys to play with). The kids played in the yard in our little pool and on the slip'n slide. At one point I looked around the yard and there were kids in the sandbox, some kids swinging on the tire swing, a game of tether ball going on, kids in the pool, some playing on the swingset and a couple kids in the tree house. It was nice to see the various play areas of the yard being used by a fairly large group of kid so well. We played and ate dinner outside. We used our new large picnic table Joseph built (sorry, I forgot to take a picture), and it held the crowd pretty well. I made a big taco salad, big fruit salad and hot dogs for the kids. It was pretty hot out so we came in for cake and ice cream and opening gifts. Marlow had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the attention. When we set the cake in front of her and started to sing she just beamed and then started to sing along.

She has learned from the boys that it is special to get to lick the candles off after you blow them out and she was very happy to lick her two candles.

And just so you don't think I am giving my little girl "boy" stuff -- I bought party hats that just said "Happy Birthday" and I also got out the left over Justice League hats from Asa's birthday for anybody who wanted one. And Marlow, being the little sister of two boys who play "guys" all the time, wanted a superhero hat.

The hats were actually quite a bit of fun, all the boys were trying to see how many they could get on their heads. Asa chose one of each. Marlow thoroughly enjoyed her birthday party and is eagerly looking forward to her next one...anytime she sees cake she says "My birthday cake." And I have to tell her, "No, your birthday is over until next year." It is kind of a tough concept to get, she just says, "Oh" and looks a bit confused.