It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Gorgeous Fall Day

Today was one of those gorgeous days complete with endless blue skies that just begged us to get out of the house and do something. We found a pumpkin patch nearby and Gabriel had a great time riding the hay wagon, inspecting "poh-kins" and climbing hay bales.

Gabriel - dancing his heart out!

Carefully considering a possible candidate...

And so it begins...

A great soccer legacy continues.

A star is born.

Or, at the very least, we have found a way for Gabriel to be rowdy and noisy for 60 minutes somewhere other than the living room. Yes, soccer season has started and this year, Gabriel is old enough to play. He will be making his debut appearance as part of the U5 recreational soccer scene.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present...

the Fall 2008 Lake Cities DRAGONS!!!!

(Look out, Beijing!)

The mighty Dragons, hard at work on their dribbling skills (also known as "Red Light! Green Light!")

And, of course, like all good athletes, the Dragons know to help clean up after practice.

The boys of summer ...

June ... Gabriel became a cowboy chef and a superman who yescues people. Michael turns 19. What? Did I just type 19? The last teenage year. Some days I feel positively crazy (as in "insane") when I tell people I have a four year old and a nineteen year old. Then the other day, while I was pondering the notion that the next time we celebrate Michael's birthday he will be twenty, it dawned on me...

this time next year I will be saying "I have a twenty year old and a five year old."

Now for some reason that sounds REALLY insane.

Anyway - on to why you're even here. The pix!

Gabriel as superman... that blue cup is some sort of weapon.

Probably a plasma cannon.

Our little cowboy chef. He really loves helping in the kitchen.

And the Big Brother turning The Big Nineteen.

Michael requested my home made angel food cake for his birthday. He got his wish, and 19 sparkling candles that kept re-lighting - thus his laughing grin in this birthday dinner pic.

Gabriel's Summer Faces

Snow Day 2008

Birthday Number Four!

Peanut Butter Boy!