A Lady and Three Men

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Family Fun Weekend!

This weekend was spent hanging out together and having some FUN!

Friday night we celebrated an excellent first week of school with a home-cooked Mexican feast, and a few episodes of our favorite TV shows.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Fernbank Museum in ATL, then back to Covington for dinner at a BBQ joint right off the square, ice cream from Scoops, and movie night.

DINOSAURS!

Daddy and Ellis taking a closer look...

Boy FEST - dinosaur bones...

Ellis and Mama being silly...

Boys wandering and enjoying all of the exhibits...

Dinosaur eggs...

Wandering through the Georgia exhibit...

Ellis enjoying the underwater section of the kid area...

RF found a periscope!

Daddy and Ellis hanging together...

The boys LOVED this bridge in the kid area...

Being a silly boy at dinner...

And today, RA and RF went to see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at a movie theater in Athens, while Ellis (and the puppies) napped and mama had a few minutes of a completely quiet house.

It was a great weekend. A great weekend indeed.

Monday, August 1, 2016

First Day of the 2016-2017 School Year

Today was the first day of school for the boys.

After a summer of no-schedule/minimal structure, I was on pins and needles all day curious how their day was going. A reassuring text from their school director about lunch time let me know that day one had gone well so far.

Their smiling faces and great reports from their teachers this afternoon let me know that their first day back was a success. We celebrated a great first day with a round of vanilla milkshakes --- the boy's favorite.

We started the morning earlier than usual, about 6:00AM. Ellis has enjoyed sleeping until 7:30 or 8:00 all summer, so he wasn't too excited about his early wake-up call. RF bounded out of bed happy as a lark. Breakfast, a little morning cartoon time, dressed, teeth brushed and ready to go by 7:00. Yawn...

A few minutes before they left (RA does morning drop-off and I do afternoon pick-up) I tried to get the traditional "First Day of School" photo...and Ellis did this...

Then Ellis decided to sit in the rocking chair, but refused to look at the camera...RF was trying to cooperate as much as he could, but his brother was 'being aggravating, mama."

I finally got Ellis to look towards the camera - not at the camera, just towards the camera - while RF did a cheesy grin...

Then Ellis ran across the room and wouldn't cooperate at all...

Calling it a win --- Ellis decided to smile, but RF was looking down...

At least they were both standing up...

First day of preschool...

Sunday, July 31, 2016

A Morning Walk and RF "The Photographer"

RA and I decided to take the boys and all three dogs on a walk this morning. We drove the short drive to Oxford College and set out to enjoy the morning before the heat became too unbearable.

RA was in charge of the puppies. I was in charge of Ellis and RF was in charge of Gracie.

The puppies enjoyed themselves --- wandering and smelling. Gracie wandered too, mostly without someone holding her leash (cough, cough --- RF), but luckily she isn't one to run off. Why wasn't RF holding her leash, you ask? Well, because RF believes himself to be a budding photographer wanting to photograph everything.

Photos taken by Mama...

My boys and their puppies heading out on a little walk...

Beagles walking nicely on their leashes...

Photos taken by RF....

A caterpillar/slug thing...

"I wanna take a picture of your foot, Ellis."

"I'm taking a photo of my own shadow, mama!"

This one really was taken by RF --- not too shabby of a photo...

And then he took a photo of this random flag and drain cover...

And this tree trunk...

And this hair tie...

And that "cool fan looking thing"...

And this Tweety-bird lanyard...

"Look how pretty this grass is, mama!"

He's a budding photographer, for sure. :-)

A Mickey Mouse Party!

Our littlest man turned two last week --- TWO! We spent his actual birthday together, hanging out and had a small, low-key get-together last Saturday. Happy Birthday, Ellis!

His morning began with the traditional breakfast --- cinnamon rolls in the shape of a "2"!

Apparently, Ellis was upset that I hadn't started decorating for his party yet, so he took it upon himself to begin the process...

Headed for birthday lunch, indoor playground time, and ice cream at Chick-Fil-A...

Yummy!

Such a cutie...

Wednesday night we had a pasta dish for summer (Ellis LOVES noodles) and finished our family meal off with some Mickey Mouse brownie cupcakes...

After we sang Happy Birthday to Ellis, RF reached over and said, "Happy Birthday, little brother. Happy Birthday." Heart. Melting. Into. A. Puddle. All. Over. The. Floor.

Cheesing it up for the camera --- COVERED in cupcake...

Saturday afternoon we hosted a small get-together for family and a few friends.

Nana and Babu got Ellis's slide set up...notice that cute shirt? TWO spelled out in Mickey Mouse fabric --- MOMFAIL - it lasted all of about 5 minutes before the letters started peeling off. Not sure what I did wrong, but it was cute while it lasted...