Family goes camping

And survives! We tried our hand at camping this weekend with two 4 year olds and a 2 year old, and I'm happy to say that we enjoyed it enough to do it again! We drove about an hour north of us to Lake Allatoona and planned to stay Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday (though with the food we packed, we should have stayed a week)... however, the weather had other plans. After fierce storms that began around 3 am, we learned that our tent is mostly waterproof and that the boys will mostly sleep through torrential rain, wind, lightning and thunder, even in a tent. I should also mention that we went with our good friends Karin & Paul--parents to Evan's [girl]friend (and future wife, according to Evan), Tess.



The campsite was perched on a spot overlooking the lake.







 



Grant spent time exploring with his magnifying glass and "nature collection" bag.





Thanks to Karin for the goodies--mini pumpkins, glow bracelets and magnifying glasses.



As it turns out...

Canning [mildly hot] peppers is not an appropriate preschool age activity. Apparently, it's not appropriate for adults who don't read thorough instructions either.

In my attempt at involving Evan in "fun" household projects, I made a huge mistake. I let Evan handle the peppers and mid-way through the canning process, he touched his face and tongue. Actually, I'm not sure if he touched his tongue or tried a taste of the pepper. Either way, it resulted in crying, frantic clawing at his tongue, and gurgling milk all over the kitchen floor (milk is acidic and supposed to relieve the burning). 20 or so minutes and a PB&J sandwich later, he felt MUCH better.

As Evan went off for his to quiet time in his room, I sat down to do some work--which is when the burning started for me. My fingers, nail beds, face, lips and eyelids were on fire! I spent several minutes applying milk on my face and hands... mmmm. I'm pretty sure I have a dried milk mustache on my eyelid as I type.

Don't let my mistake be in vain--let this be a lesson to you all: buy your peppers at the STORE!

I might be biased...

But isn't this the cutest little tush you've ever seen?! I do believe those are the smallest underwear on the market. Jason and I laugh every time we have to fold and put them away.

Soccer!

I'm way behind on posting, but about 3 weeks ago, Evan started on his first ever soccer league team! It was a rocky start (we have had some issues with Evan and male-ego-competitition/mild aggressiveness), but it is now great! Last week, he scored two goals in the game and was thrilled with himself.

(PS- to those that read these posts via Facebook, sorry for the repetition; I keep the blog for my records and to keep non-FB family/friends happy!)

Overheard

Grant: Evan!

Evan: What?

Grant: Evan!

Evan: What?

Grant: Evan!

Evan: WHAAAAT?!

Grant: Because!

Sometimes they share

Brotherly love waxes and wanes in our household on an hour by hour basis. When it's good, there's sharing, reading together, sitting close, having adventures and even helping each other retrieve a lost toy or climb a step at the park. When it's bad, well, there are lots of tears. As the mom, I play a big part in cultivating their sibling relationship, but at the end of the day, it's up to them. And if, at the end of the day, all I have is one little moment that shows just a smidge of love (see below), then I am happy. For me and for them.   

The desk

There are a handful of things I owned and treasured as a child that my Grandma saved back to give to me later in life -- and I am so happy that she did.