Too Funny for the Sidebar

Though this little gem should technically go in the "Toddler Talk" section, it was just too funny not to give it a moment in the limelight.

As Andy and I were chatting during dinner, Porter, deep in thought, suddenly said, "You know, Dad, you really need to get some hair for that empty spot on your head."

I wanted to include with this post a photo of my dear sweet, good-humored husband's receding hairline, but I didn't want to risk the brightly-wrapped "To: Jen" gifts under our tree.

Merry & Bright

Christmas is in the air and on our to-do lists, which has left little time for blogging, but we've had a recent development this past month that is too monumental to go undocumented:

Miss Nora Lynn is walking and talking and oh so cute.

She melts my heart.

I'll post video clips of both the walking and the talking soon. Meanwhile, here's a snapshot of Nora in action.

The mischievous grin is all-too-common with this little gal, and Andy is already fearing the teenage years, as Nora is much more "passionate" than Porter was at this age.

And speaking of Porter, here's a few shots of his recent antics (from Atlanta...better late than never).

At the Atlanta Aquarium with his cousin Taylor.

VERY nervously perched in a Lawrenceville fire truck. (For a kid who eats, sleeps and breathes cars and trucks, I was amazed at how nervous Porter was to actually be inside of one.)
At the musuem of natural history...as a dinosaur.

And back in Cedar, chatting with Santa.

Throughout the entire month of December, Porter has been asking for the same thing: "a car that I can climb in and that drives itself." Anyone who knows me knows that powerwheel toys are not my cup of tea, and I was getting really nervous for Christmas day because I didn't want to disappoint Porter on the first Christmas that really counts (until now, the Santa concept has been a bit over his head). Well, I lucked out: when Santa asked Porter what he wanted for Christmas, Porter simply replied, "a new toy." THAT I can do.

Brrr...

We're back in the Beehive State after heading south for Thanksgiving for a Burt family reunion, of sorts, in Atlanta, and I'm not liking the chilly reception. Funny to think that just one day ago, 45 degrees and breezy was enough to send us back in to the house and wishing we'd lugged coats along for our southern adventure. I'm left wondering if I could handle a muggy southern summer for a seemingly fair trade-off of a frost-free winter. Hmm...

Photos will be posted later with all the trip details, but for now, a few highlights:

1) A quick flight from SLC to Denver with the added bonus of sitting next to a very kind woman with a service dog. Porter was in heaven and my hands were free to entertain Nora (good thing since Andy's seat was seperate from the rest of us).

2) A scream-free 3-hour flight from Denver to Atlanta, thanks to Sony, The Lion King, the candy industry and Enfamil.

3) A surprisingly smooth family portrait session, considering all the little kids were under the age of four and all of the original Burt kids (four boys) balk every time a camera comes near them. Fingers crossed I get the prints in time for Christmas cards!

4) Conning my siblings-in-law into a few hours of card sharking.

5) Home cooked meals every night. Not looking forward to rejoining the what's-for-dinner team.

6) The Atlanta Aquarium. Amazing building. Loved the fishies; hated the crowds. Pictures to come.

7) 30+ minutes of Nora cries on the way home from the aquarium traffic with a capital T. Almost worth it for the 2-hour nap that followed once we got home, though.

8) Walks around the Burt's idyllic Americana neighborhood, with my husband and without kids, filled with hoop dreams about the future.

9) Thanksgiving Day: friendly southern greetings on my morning run, chatting with Lynn in the kitchen, prying Porter from a basement full of musical instruments and mathchbox cars to watch Santa in the Macy's parade, homemade cranberry sauce by the bowlfull.

10) The entire town of Lawrenceville gathered around a giant Christmas tree, singing carols to usher in the Holiday season on Thanksgiving night.

11) Elf and Twizzlers

12) Black Friday Shopping with my sisters-in-law (and without kids or husbands!)

13) Dinner out for the non-grandparented grown-ups (I promise I do love them, but again, without kids!)

14) Pictionary. Surprisingly, the men dominated in a battle of the sexes, says the girl who is used to wiping the floor of all competition when paired with her own mind-melded sisters and mom. Andy was happy to finally prove that our reigning success was to the credit of shared life experiences rather than supreme artistry.

15) Church outside of Utah. So sweet and humble (even when you have a very rambunctious 11-month-old).

16) Sister-in-law Crystal's birthday and the hot fudge and whipped cream topped ice cream cake.

17) Flirting with my husband (you can do that when the kids have two very adoring grandparents and one super-uncle Jeff to free up your brainpower and attention).

18) The Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We had the run of the place on a Monday afternoon. Porter's favorite: the $1.50 plastic spider he got in the gift shop on the way out. Go figure.

19) Stone Mountain.

20) Two final impromptu dates with the hubs.

21) A final pizza & movie night with Grandma & Grandpa that included The LIttle Mermaid (my fave) and Nora's first steps.

22) Teething that started the night before our 6 a.m. airplane departure (teeth three & four for little miss Nora).

23) A very loud, chaotic and sleepless flight and then drive home, followed by very sweet Nora squeals when she saw her toy Zebra on our living room floor.

Thanks to Bryan, Lynn and Jeff for putting up with us, our noise and our picky eaters (Andy & Porter). And thanks to the rest of the Burt gang for joining in the fun. Missing you all already.

Daylight Schmaylight

Anyone who is close to me knows that early rising is not a problem for me. Nine o'clock feels like I've slept the day away, and I prefer to get up and get going.

That said, anyone who is close to me also knows that Andy is my polar opposite in every way, including in sleep philosophies. Usually, I heckle and complain about the imbalanced morning responsibilities in the Burt home, but without any real fervor because I know I'd be awake - with or without kids.

That all went out the window last Sunday.

You see, I do love waking up early, but I love it because it's my only time to be completely alone. I get up, creep out of the house and go running or to the gym, and if I'm really ambitious, I may even hit the grocery store all before my kiddies and/or husband begin to stir. For a working mom who spends the rest of her day putting out fires under tight deadlines and then comes home to cooking and cleaning and bathtime and playtime and and and and and, that one unfettered pre-daylight hour is a mirage of bliss amidst the hurricane of chaos that is life with small children.

Enter Daylight Savings Time. With the back-turn of the clock's hour hand, my early-morning solitude has been snatched from my fingertips, thanks to a too-early rising sun and two rooster-minded children whose eyelids snap open with the break of day. And with that backwards step in time, I am becoming increasingly desperate for a solution and find myself wishing P and N had inherited their father's sleep habits instead of mine.

Beginning Sunday morning, and continuing every morning since, Nora has awoken promptly at 5:15 a.m. After some ignoring that turns her whines to screams, and then some rocking and shushing, I can usually get her back to sleep (and mind you, I am not usually a rocker and shusher; I prefer the cry it out method, and until now, my kiddos have been model children in the sleep department). By then, Porter and his tattered green blanket have stumbled out of bed with demands for a cartoon and breakfast. And just like that, 5:00 has turned in to 6:30, and I'm left recalculating my morning plans...I can brush my teeth, pop in my contacts and throw on some running garb in five minutes...the drive to the gym takes another five...and I'll probably be waiting for a treadmill for at least another five minutes after I arrive. Is the 20 minutes I'd then have at the gym worth the effort? Should I risk being late for work for the 300th day in a row (basically, since Nora was born)? Can I find the time and energy to cram some exercise in this evening instead? Will I ever be able to take a one-hour morning spin class again? Should I risk the cesspool of germs that is the gym daycare and commit to an evening workout while Andy is coaching? Could I realistically squeeze a run in to my lunch hour, and then would I really want to do the whole shower, make-up, hair routine for a second time each day? After a baby and then a foot surgery, will I ever get back in to running shape? Do I care? Should I care?

Yes! This is me taking a stand against Daylight Savings Time. It throws order and predictability to the wind and makes me cranky, flabby and jumbled. Anyone else out there wishing they lived in Arizona or Hawaii now that the clocks have jumped backwards?

Snickers, Starburst & Swine Flu

Looks like I should have rapped my knuckles against the desk as I blogged last week of our almost-brush with the swine flu because just one week later, Porter got hit hard by something that walked and talked enough like swine flu to warrant yet another nasal swab for the Burt kids. And though we're still waiting on the final test results, we're pretty sure the flu season's biggest bully decided to pick on us after all. And, of course, just in time for Halloween.

And now you ask, what do you do with an almost-four-year-old who has been inquiring about trick-or-treating every morning for the past three weeks when he suddenly gets hit by the plague of the 2000s?

Load him up on liquids and medicine; use trick-or-treating as a bribe for a follow-up doctor's visit, an extra nap and a plate full of fruits and veggies (for good measure); and be overly cautious with your trick-or-treat buddies to the point of asking them to sign a wavier acknowledging their willful participation in Halloween festivities with a swine flu-stricken child.

Thanks to the miracle that is Tamiflu (and the go-ahead from our pediatrician), Porter's immune system threw a hail mary in the final hours before dusk on Saturday. And with an extra layer of clothes, a stroller ride from door to door, and fingers crossed, our little monkey thoroughly enjoyed canvassing the neighborhood for sugared bliss with his pal Spiderman.

A big thanks to Wesley's parents for having the foresight to get him immunized before Halloween. Spiderman is impervious to human germs anyway, right?

Beyond trick-or-treating, we enjoyed our traditional pre-sugar frenzy pumpkin-shaped pizza, and while the moms and boys hit the pavement, Nora and her pal Viv manned the candy bowl at home with the dads.

Unfortunately, Andy started feeling worse and worse throughout the evening, and we forgot to get a family Halloween pic. But we did manage to snap a few of just Porter and Nora before the festivities began. It was so much fun when they first saw one another in costume; they were both so excited, especially Nora, who giggled and climbed all over her big brother.

The ballerina-bunny (cut me some slack, this was my first Halloween with a girl and there are too many pink, ruffled options to choose just one) conquered the much larger but more gentle monkey, and with any luck, we'll be able to same the same of the Burts over Swine Flu very soon (Andy's still hanging on to a sore throat and wall-shaking cough).

Happy Halloween!

The costumes are nearly ready, the candy jar has been filled multiple times, and the pumpkins have been picked.

Now on to the festive greetings.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Up next: a little carving, car decorating (for a trunk-or-treat contest) and on Saturday, trick-or-treating at last. Happy Halloween!

Wolf!

What do you do when your pediatrician cries H1N1 wolf?
Hole up in your house for a week, of course.

That's right, the Burt clan narrowly escaped the swine flu pandemic, settling, instead, for the regular old flu this past week when first Nora and then me and now Andy fell in to its cloudy-headed, sore-throated haze. And though we can't claim the now infamous H1N1 as our attacker (Nora was young enough that she got the official test), we sure have been hit by a mean little bug.

If I had pictures to post, you would see red-eyed bleariness and clammy pallors. And if I had video footage, you would hear a little nine-month-old whimper that would break your heart. Instead, I've only got these words (because who is really brave enough to take pictures of their sick, pajamaed selves?) and a little whining that all our big plans for SUU's Homecoming weekend and Cedar City's annual Sheep Parade (all this Saturday) have fallen to the wayside to make room for our first bout with the 2009 cold & flu season.

Influenza - 3
Burts - 1 (miraculously, aside from a runny nose, Porter has stayed fairly healthy and chipper)

Fall Leaves & Failed Photoshoots

If you've never been up Cedar Canyon in the autumn when the leaves are turning, you're missing out. The entire mountain range is covered in deep green pines trees and bright yellow aspens and from the valley, it looks as if the usually red rock mountains have turned yellow for a few weeks at the summer's end. Beautiful.

So since we've been back in Cedar (2 1/2 years now for anyone who's counting), I've been pestering Andy for family photos in the fall leaves. But between soccer every day in the autumn, the shortening daylight, a few moves and a pregnancy, the autumns of 2007 and 2008 have come and gone with nary a photo. But now, with two fairly compliant kids, a little color-coordinated shopping and big promises from my photographer-slash-husband, I was sure 2009 was our year to shine amidst the golden-hued fall beauties (heck, I even picked outfits that would coordinate with the colors in my living room/family photo gallery).

I was wrong.

On the great fall photo expedition of 2009, the weather was perfect and the sun was just right BUT we forgot the tripod and so our "family" photo was short one husband/dad. I know, I know, that's why they make the self-timer. Hindsight. I was ok with that though because Andy had promised to try again this week (which is why I posted nothing of our thwarted efforts last week). Unfortunately, the leaves turned more quickly than I remembered from years past, and the zillions of tiny yellow aspen leaves have already faded not even one week in to October. Alas.

All is not lost though, as we did have a nice little picnic in the mountains overlooking Cedar City and snapped a few individual pics of the kids for posterity (after all, both kids were clean and color-coordinated). 

Here is Porter's best pic (when we ask for a smile lately, we get a half-smirk, half-grimace so the thoughtful, unaware Porter proved a better subject).

And here is Nora's.

And just because she's so darn cute as was her shirt (I get so sad when you have to retire your best baby finds every three months as they keep growing), here's one more of little miss Nora Lynn. She was mesmerized by all the bright trees and though usually talkative, I don't think we heard a peep out of her the entire evening.

So looks like it's back to the old drawing board for our holiday cards and living room walls. Here's hoping 2010 proves to be a bit more kind to our photographed selves.

Fight like a Girl

Flu shots for the kids? Check.
Hand sanitizer for the diaper bag? Check.
breast exam for the mommy/aunt/grandma/godmother? ...

Swine flu is small potatoes compared to breast cancer.
It only takes a minute to fight like a girl
(and you won't even break a sweat).
Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month (and every month to follow) with a quick self exam. Early detection is the key to victory in the battle against breast cancer.

Saw this clever printout and am wishing I were this creative. To better see the details, visit the Worldwide Breast Cancer site.

What gets me out of bed at 6:30 on a Saturday morning when, ironically, my early-rising kids are still peacefully snoozing? Our very favorite Cedar City tradition: Skyfest.

I don't know if it's the excuse to start my day with liquid chocolate; knowing that on this one morning, I can go out in public with a ponytail and no makeup without feeling like I need to conjure a lie involving early morning workouts at the gym; or, more likely, the magic of a balloon-filled sunrise, but Skyfest eve brings holiday-esque anticipation in the Burt home year after year (excluding Andy; apparently he has hard time channeling his inner child when it's still dark out).

This year did not disappoint, and from the Lions Club pancake breakfast to the thwarted photo attempts, I'd say our early morning venture was a success. The highlights included...

1) No less than 37 photo opps ruined by a last-minute turn of the head (and an ugly orange cone that I somehow failed to notice until now);

2) The only time I will ever be ok with my son shoving an entire syrup-soaked pancake into his mouth with bare posing for photos, it can be hard to see your fork through from stabbing to mouth when you're picnicking in a field of hot air balloons),

and 3) Having a child old enough to articulate all the random thoughts that stem from this once-a-year dreamworld experience. This included naming the balloons as they rose off the ground. Without further ado, meet

the boring balloon (he said it didn't have enough colors)

the circus one (I'm guessing because of the flags)

and, my personal favorite, the bumpy peach.

For the grandparents, this was the best shot I got of Porter. One millisecond before this, he was smiling into the camera, then a balloon launched just behind me.
Nora, who has not yet mastered the art of selective hearing when it comes to parental requests, did a little better (unfortunately, the big orange cone struck again).
In all, a great way to kick off the weekend.

Wedded Bliss times Six

That's right, last weekend marked year six for Andy and I.

Clearly a weekend worth celebrating, September 12th also marked the first night I have been away from my kids that did not require a hospital stay since Porter was born (It was wonderful - I slept in until 10:30 Saturday morning!).

That's right, my sweet-when-he-wants-to-be husband surprised me with a weekend getaway that closely mimicked a little trip we took nine years ago, when we were dating. And when I say surprise, I mean I came home from work Friday, and our babysitters (we love Aunt Crystal & Uncle Layne) were already there, with a list of instructions on the kitchen counter (not that C&L needed it, but Andy knows his OCD wife all too well). Andy was packed and an empty bag was waiting for me in our bedroom with a packing list that read, "one cool weather outfit, one hot weather outfit and some good shoes," and after a quick change and kisses for the kids, and we hit the road with our windows down and the radio up (at least until I started yammering on about how great it was to get away and didn't Andy agree and by the way, where were we going and did you see that cop on the side of the road and is this a new CD and did you see that deer and was Andy sure I only needed outdoorsy clothes and I hope so because I didn't bring hair spray or cute shoes...).

Don't we look foot loose and fancy free?

We snapped this shot just before heading off for a night hike to do a little stargazing (and to revel in the child-free silence).

In all, we hit two national parks (Bryce Canyon and Zion), one gas station, five rock shops (turnaround is fair play: Andy's sly romanticism earned a long-awaited trilobite for our newest home decor), two beloved restaurants (Ruby's at Bryce Canyon and Oscar's in Springdale), one candy shop, hundreds of bugs, and came close to hitting a family of wild turkeys in our whirlwind 24-hour celebration, and we came back to our little home in Cedar and our two cute kids to begin the seventh year of our version of wedded bliss.

And just for fun, here's an engagement pic of our much younger selves.


I would have posted a wedding pic but, sadly, my wedding photo album seems to have gotten lost in the move last year. So all I have now to mark this time is the proof CD from our engagement pictures session. Boo. If any of you have pics from our wedding six long years ago, we'd love to get copies.

Eight Months and Crawling

What better way to celebrate your eight-month birthday than to start crawling?

That's right, the youngest Burt is officially mobile.

And though it starts off in the standard crawling position, Nora's swagger is unlike anything we have ever seen.

Instead of pulling her legs forward once she moves her arms forward, she pauses for a little yoga, 

And then moves her legs forward as she flops down.

A little flirting, and then she starts all over again.

July Faves

PORTER

• That you call your little sister "Missy" in a sing-song tone and peek over the top of her crib to rub her hair every morning. (In later years, I'll remind you of this and you'll sneer. Oh, please don't grow up.)


• When coaching you on sharing as we drove to your friend's house, you said, "But Mom, what if fighting is just who I am?"


• That you say "amn't" instead of "aren't" or "not".


• I put you in time out, hovering over you with my best angry look (you tend to try to sneak out as soon as we turn our backs), and you first said, sweetly, "Talk to me, Mommy." When that didn't work, you crooned, "Please stop blinking at me and say something." How can I stay mad at that?


• That you wake me up in the morning by, literally, creeping into my bedroom and tapping me softly on the nose.

NORA

• That even at 6 months old, your babbling is distinctly feminine.


• That you purr like a cat when you're especially content.


• That you sleep in the exact same side-lying with legs splayed position that I sleep in.


• That your tip-toed, finger-tipped push-ups will turn into crawling before we know it. (This also makes me a little sad; where have the past 7 months gone?)

ANDY

• That you came back to us after a week in Denver that was filled with soccer, friends, undisturbed sleep, and no dishes or laundry.


• That you try to get me to like video games by refusing to play your newest game without me, but then you heckle me relentlessly the entire time I'm holding the paddle.
• That you have not once told me to stop complaining even though we are now more than two weeks out from my surgery.
• That you seem to be the only person in our house who has not heard Nora say "da da."
• That between our crazy-but-cute kids, the ten different soccer teams, two houses in two years, two surgeries, backyard landscaping and a demanding wife, you somehow managed to finish round one of your grad program...with a 4.0!

ME

• That I somehow thought foot surgery was not a big deal.
• That I surprised my husband and our friends by knowing the lyrics to handfuls of random country songs during our card game music challenge extraordinaire (Thanks to Melinda and Mandy for years of exposure in middle and high school).
• That after all my hard work, I have yet to see anything besides a marshmallow-sized bell pepper come out of my garden. My grandpa had a green thumb, my grandma has a green thumb, and my mom has got more fruits and veggies than she knows what to do with. What happened to me?

Our Little Kitten

No, we did not get a pet.

We've got a Nora.

But for the past couple of months, she could pass as both, with contented coos akin to happy-cat purrs.

See (er, hear) for yourself.

This will go on as long as we leave her in the bath, though I did find that she is not shy in fron tof the camera at all, and every time I pulled out the video camera, the coos quickly turned into smiles, kicks and flirting.

Wild enough now?

A week ago, we joined my family on a trip to the zoo in Salt Lake. Though fun, Porter wasn't quite as animated as we had expected, repeating, "Hmm, not wild enough," at every exhibit we visited (including the bears, gorillas and tigers).

Our solution? How about a jaunt around our own backyard.

Where you can enjoy:

breakfast with a rabbit

(spotted from our dining room while noshing on oatmeal)

a picnic with a tarantula

(literally, mid-bite I spotted this hairy beast just feet away on our patio)

and after dinner, a good old fashioned hornet attack

That's right, unbeknownst to us, a colony of not-quite-killer killer bees took up residence in the hollow post of our iron gate. Andy found it when he opened the gate to take out the trash and was attacked. Two stings to the head and three to the arm later, and we now know you can remove wasp stingers by rubbing the blunt side of a butter knife across the protruding stinger, in the opposite direction of its entry.

We also hear rumor of a lizard who may or may not be lurking around our flagstone patio. Once we verify, we may begin charging admission.

Clinton Kelly?

As I walked through the door from work a few weeks ago, Porter looked me up and down, then asked, "Why are you wearing THOSE clothes?"

I responded, "What's wrong with these clothes," and he replied, "They look like safari clothes not work clothes."

Apparently my brutally honest three-year-old could host the preschooler's version of TLC's What Not to Wear. Ouch.

Any Relation?

Shopping in Cedar

Since Cedar City's shopping scene consists of a couple country-style mom & pop shops and a Wal Mart, much of my window shopping and eventual spending is done online. And today, I'm oogling some oh so fun stuff that unfortunately, I have no real need for (or room in the summertime budget).

Alas.

But if I did, this is what I'd be ringing up right now.

Am buying a bookshelf off of Craigslist this afternoon, and am seriously considering painting the back interior this same aqua color. Though I will [heart] this buffet until my dying day.

Hello pretty! Oh, to have these to wear this Fourth of July (and every other day this summer).

Just because I still don't have any rugs in our kitchen & dining room, and it's driving me bonkers. So may be I DO NEED this one. Yes?

I know, a little funky, but I think I could make it work. J'adore the colors...so wrong, they're right!

And this dining set (it actually comes with four chairs) was actually on our to-buy list, but then I found a super good deal at Home Depot on Some patio furniture, so the fun retro splurge got booted from the shopping cart.

Jenny likee!

June Jewels

I stole this idea from someone else's blog but the sentiment is all mine. I think it's a fun way to keep track of the small joys in our family and to also give a little more meaningful look into our everyday life.

So without further ado, my favorite moments of June...

PORTER

• You were so excited when you discovered a bunny on our back porch (wild, no we did not get a pet) that you were speechless, and just very quietly giggled with a nervous grin on your face.
• I also love that you were so careful not to scare said bunny even though we were inside and it was outside. You tip-toed back and forth from the kitchen to the living room and whispered for a good hour. (How is it that you can be quiet and thgouhtful for a nameless wild creature but peace during your little sister's nap time cannot be found?)
• And your chosen name for our two-day visitor? Hoppity.
• Your squeals while blowing and stomping on bubbles.
• That you are too timid to sit on the kitchen counter, pedal your big wheel, play in the creek or even run through sprinklers, but are perfectly comfortable introducing yourself to strangers everywhere we go.

NORA

• Your squeals and grins every time I turn on the bathtub.
• That you'll talk to yourself in your crib for hours (ok, a good 30 minutes) in the morning before you ever cry out for us to come get you.
• That you may be the only baby on earth who loves baby food green peas and yet, you will not touch rice cereal.

ANDY

• That you built a patio for me out of rock you gathered from the mountains with your own two hands.
• That you knew exactly what parts of "Up" made me cry before you even looked over at me with your half-smirk, half-smile.
• That you agreed to a chaotic Fourth of July party at the Burt home on the tails of what has been a VERY busy month simply because you know I can't let a holiday go by un-celebrated.

ME

• That I pick the hottest day of the summer thus far to bake homemade pizzas and sugar cookies in the same evening.
• That I have not yet killed a single plant in my garden.
• That I thought I LOVED basil, added ten basil plants to my garden, and now find myself googling "recipes with basil" every-other day to use it all.

Down time with the Burts

So as our first summer in 3 years that does not include new house painting and a move, we've been surprised at how much fun summer with the kids can be. Though we've not done much in the way of big adventures as of late, we're enjoying the backyard, walks around the block and evenings with at least a little bit of down time. A few snapshots of any given night at home with the Burts.

Porter loves his hair best after he's just gotten out of bed and it's still fuzzy, and will spend the morning "making it fluffy" and talking to me while I get ready for work.

Nora loves to take baths more than any baby I've ever known. As soon as we walk in the bathroom she starts to squeal and kick, and she's happy as a clam until I pull her out of the water. She calms down once I start to goop on the lotion, loves to roll around wrapped up in her towel, and gets mad when we reach for the diaper and PJs.

Between homework and coaching, Andy's summer hasn't been quite as relaxing, but he's been a trooper, and on top of mowing the yard faithfully (and humoring my environmental whim with the push mower), he's proven himself quite the handyman. In the past two months, he has constructed a flagstone patio, built a workbench for my garden, built two decorative wood benches for our backyard, installed a custom drip system to my garden boxes, cleaned out the garage, and helped our neighbors build custom shelving in their garage (he did ours last summer). Eeek...guess I should ease off on the DIY to-do list for a while.

Best summer in three years. (Knock on wood.)