Eye Spy 2

I saw a grey hair in my eyebrow this morning. That's just not right!

Marshmallows Coming Your Way

M is the Den Master for our Cub Scout pack and we had our first meeting last week. The big activity for the meeting (besides me leading a song for thirty boys and thier parents!) was to make marshmallow shooters. Never heard of them? Well, take a look at these nifty little things. M cut the pvc pipes and together we sorted them and put them into kits for each boy.

Here is T testing out is shooter at the work-table before we headed outside.

Here is R shooting the other team outside.

The boys that were left in the end decided to all attack M (in the middle) :>

That's What I like To Read

I opened my email this morning to see this wonderful note from R's teacher:

Mr. & Mrs. Smith,

I just wanted to send you a quick email before I head out the door about R. He is SUCH a wonderful listener. Whenever I have asked the students something from the previous day(s) he knows the "exact"
words that I have used. He is by far one of the best listeners/rule followers in the classroom. Also, he is a very hard worker!

It has been a great two weeks in class. I am very glad that R is in this classroom.

Sincerely,
Miss S

Ya gotta love that, right! What a nice teacher, to send a little note like that! (It's nice to see that his wonderful photographic memory is alive and well in the classroom too!)

School Days, School Days

Two boys all ready for the first day of school... T is in first grade and going to all-day school for the first time (taking a lunch and everything.) R is in third grade and in "upper hall" for the first time. I took the morning off to take them to school on the first day. R said, "See ya later mom, I can do this on my own" and took off towards upper hall. My heart broke a tiny bit knowing that he's so big and doesn't need me as much as he used to. I asked T if he wanted me to walk him to his class room or did he want to go by himself. "You can take me there and hold my hand too, it's crowded in here." My heart soared --- yay, I still have one that needs his mommy! I have a feeling that next year, both boys will proudly and bravely walk to their classrooms without me. I guess it's just another step towards their independence, of which there will be many in their lives.

Shady Shores 2007

Remember two years ago when we had a great time on Labor Day weekend at our friend's cottage at Shady Shores?(see link below:)http://keepingupwiththesmiths.blogspot.com/2005/09/cottage-life.html
Well, we got to do it again and it was great! My friend who used to work for me at my old job was there (his cousin owns the eight adorable little cottages all in a row) and we got to see his sister and cousins and their kids, just like we did last time. Here's our cute little cottage. It's about 400 square feet, with two small bedrooms, bathroom, tiny kitchen and sitting area. Isn't is so cute?

We all had a great time -- kayaking, swimming, sand castle building, and boogie boarding (M and the boys did this one, not me). Oh, we also collected Petosky stones -- a cool stone native to the area.

Below is a picture of T catching a wave with the kayak. The waves were about 2-3 feet and the boys were thrilled. When there were no waves, T would paddle way out far (it was pretty shallow) saying that he was going to go all the way to Canada!

All of the boys had fun body surfing or boogie boarding. I love M's face in this picture and I love how R is looking at M with a big smile on his face too.

Cowabunga, Dude!

All of the kids at Shady Shores (there were six kids) helped make the breakfast and deliver it to each of the cabins. They used the tips that they got to buy ice cream on Sunday afternoon. R was very proud that he flipped the pancakes all by himself and said that he'll make pancakes any time I need them at home! (Thanks to KS for the photo below, which he emailed to me at the office today.)

T was one of the official dish washers. I hear that he only broke one glass in the process of washing dishes for 25 people over two days.

At night we would watch the moon-rise and then have a bonfire. In the mornings, M and R watched the sunrises. The weather was perfect -- sunny and 80 degrees the whole time. We always had the entire beach to ourselves. It was such a wonderful, beautiful, relaxing vacation for all of us!