letting go...

Yesterday after school Fritz and I sat down to the computer to do a little online shopping.  His shoes are too small.  What he most needs are shoes for school that he can get on and off by himself easily.  Now, I have never found it an easy task to find cute boys shoes, they are somewhat few and far between.  But that was when only my opinion counted...which seems to be no longer true.  The boy has some serious sartorial taste.  His favorite picks?  Honestly, the ugliest, light up sketchers (a brand I've never even considered buying, snobby, yes?) I have ever seen.  We scrolled through 30 pages of shoes on zappos.com and enless.com and I tell you that he hated every suggestion I made and I hated everyone he made.  It was comical.  We haven't come to a consensus yet, (believe me it won't be the sketchers!) but I am starting to see that this is an end of an era.  Let loose the grip, mama...I'm my own man.  

game day

It was one of those moments where I could burst into tears, heart full of pride and joy to see these two boys loving life and learning something new.  For one hour last Saturday we had our first two soccer games and it was the most fun I had all weekend.  

nightly battle

Fritz' rebellion of choice at the moment is over food.  What to eat, when to eat...mostly what NOT to eat and when NOT to eat.  He threw such an animated fit about it the other night he flung himself off the picnic bench and fell flat on his face.  First nose bleed...check.  

center of attention

and rightly so...

dutch baby

 Just check out this cutie bug.

labor day @ Sparks Lake

What a grand Labor Day weekend we enjoyed together!!  Baby Dutch was in residence at Sunriver (he brought his parents as well), there was lake picnicking, paddle boarding, and the ubiquitous watermelon.  

 Dutch just after his "picnic" by the lake.

 Uncle Michael on his inaugural paddle board ride.  He was a pro.  

 Wally on the sidelines.

 Grandaddy took his first ride as well.  Because we are all naughty and mean little children we were razzing him from the shore, laughing and hoping for a splash down.  But of course in true Grandaddy style, he was a natural.  He also repeatedly beat everyone at golf for two weeks.  Show off!  

 Can't ask for more than unlimited watermelon trickling down your chin.  

 Everywhere we go we continue to find monkeys in trees.  

 The cutie pants family with their own baby monkey.  

man of the moment

Love that Cousin Dutch!

tumalo falls picnic, take 2.

We just had to take Gramma and Grandaddy up for lunch at the falls.  It is so beautiful!  

first practice

And so it begins... real-life soccer mom. 

sneaky boy

One August morning I woke to the squeaky sound of the spigot and caught this boy tip toeing around the deck.  He was up early, so rather than wake us he thought it a good idea to do some chores.  Because big kids water the flowers for their moms.  Can you believe this kiddo?

summer lovin'

Snack in a box.

 Art in a box.

 Grandparent love.

 Chalk art masterpiece.

granola for grandaddy

Sometimes if you grumble enough in front of the right folks...you just might get what you want!  That is if you have industrious little grandsons.  

out for a spin