Favorite Gracie Photos So Far

Ben spends more time in the cage than Gracie!



She knows to sit right under Ben's chair when he eats. It's like a tornado of string cheese and Cheerios, any dogs dream.



A Bubba/Gracie snuggle

Last days of break

Perhaps Ben should wear his helmet all day.



On campus being butterflies.





Sharing snacks





PS, it is 10:03 am and Lily is still sleeping!!! She was so tired yesterday, so must be catching up today!

Park

So, I've decided to stick to the little park for a while. It seems that boys come into the world lacking a very important thing: FEAR. My son has figured out that he can access ALL of the structures at the park, including those with very high drop offs that freak his mother out to no end. He will climb to the highest point faster that a grown woman can get up the stupid spiral stairs with the really low ceiling. Forget the silly shaky bridge where Lily spent her fist 2 years rockin' out. NOOOOOO, go up higher to that big giant spiral slide (the slirly slide) and no, don't bother to sit down and scoot your way down. No, just run. Run right down until you crash and fly down the remaining slide while your mother throws up out of extreme fear. Then, do it again and wipe out and as you run off the edge, smack your face on the opposite side of the slide, nearly flipping over the other side (probably 10 feet, or more, off the ground). Oh yeah, and crack up the entire time you do it. You little punk. While it still has drop-offs, the little park is smaller in every way. It's easier for me to run around the main play structure to block a launch. The slides are smaller too. Rachelle got to witness the run down. In fact, we watched as he ran all the way down the small slide howling with laughter. It was pretty funny to see him move so fast with no control. He made it all the way down without falling though. He's a madman. He runs a lot now and sometimes makes this face like, oh man, this is fast, I wonder if I can stop!! Instead of gradually trying new things out, this kid just pushes everything to the limit and deals with the fall, if it happens. Can't wait for 16!

This is the little slide he ran down

Welcome Baby Owen!!

Our dear, dear friends, Shaun and Nikki had a baby boy on Wednesday. Well, Nikki did the work. Shaun was there! Nikki is my new hero. Twenty-one hours later, welcome to the world Owen Sidney Desmond, you nine pound bundle of deliciousness. (Shaun hates when I refer to babies as food) We got to go to the hospital and meet Owen on his very first day on the outside. He is perfect in every way and we are just so happy for all three of them!

New Dog

This is the newest addition to our family! We adopted our neighbors dog. They "won" her at a golf outing. A local shelter auctions off a dog every year at the outing. Kai's dad Erik tried to win her but was outbid. Erik asked the winner if he could pay him to take the dog and the man just gave her to him. They have another big dog and having 2 big dogs in a small house was too much. They let Kai name her Sugar Train. It sounds like an adult film to me, so we're open to suggestions! She has yellowish eyes, so we thought maybe Skutt Farcas?? Noooooo, too evil. She is the sweetest dog and has taken to everything we've taught her. Lily was afraid of her for the first day and by day 2 said, Sugar, you're my best friend. Ben loves her and shouts "DAG" when he sees her. She knows to sit under his chair while he eats, so they're tight.
I had to get Ben new crocs yesterday because he'd outgrown most of his shoes. I bought some cheap Target crocs and within an hour, they were ripped. Someone asked, oh, the new dog? No, Ben. He pops off the strap with his beaver teeth and ripped it. So, essentially, we have 2 puppies. I ended up getting him real crocs and they are much thicker and holding up well against Ben. Oh, I also have been experimenting with the name Gracie. I know Flynn's have a Gracie dog, as does Oprah, but I doubt they will be running into one another at the dog park.
Here's a picture of our new pup:

More helmet love

The kids are loving their helmets.....and their bike rides. But mostly their helmets. We're having a sort of dry run this week before the new semester starts. It's going to be the craziest one yet, but we're trying to go into it with a good attitude. Lily was so happy to start school again, though Ben wasn't so jazzed about it. He spent the first day chanting, "LA-LEEEE, SISSSSSSYYYYY, LAAALEEEE". He's pretty sweet.

Lily had her first braids, which she calls "braves". She loves them, though the top hair comes out after about an hour and is all over her face. I am already fantasizing about the beautiful french braids and crowns my mom used to put in my hair!!



Some bike and helmet action:





Lily chooses her own clothes most days and I am continually amazed at the number of patterns she is able to wear at one time. It's dizzying. With the hair and the outfit on this particular day, I felt she could have been a regular on Laugh-In in her past life.



Ben is super into his trucks today. He's lining them up and pushing them around going eeeeerrrrrggggghhhhhh. AND, Lily calls bulldozers "buzz-overs".

The Dude Abides

We went bowling on Matt's b-day (New Years Day) and had a blast. Matt had some serious birthday luck (er, I mean, skill) and he beat everyone. He had the highest scores I've ever seen him bowl.....all like 4 times we've bowled together in 10 years. You can be sure we will be bowling more often. In fact, I'm checking into a clear ball with a rose in the center to go with my Big 'Ern comb-over.

Chris in his bowling shirt



OVER THE LINE



Matt and Chris, seriously, he only owns that shirt for bowling. (another Caucasian, Gary?)



Me, Laurie and Rachelle. Poor pregnant Laurie and Nikki sat it out and refused a lane specifically for squat-n-roll. Plus, we kept calling security and accusing them of smuggling bowling balls.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Matt the cookie monster. Seriously, he has a problem. This is him snuggling his hoard of cookies that his mom sent.



We got him a seat for the back of his bike. Now we can all go on a ride, or he can pull both kids. Lily picked out a PINK helmet and the seat came with one for Ben. We had to give Matt his gift early to eases the helmet tensions. (I.E. Ben refused to take LIly's helmet off and is currently still wearing his 5 days later)