Not so patiently waiting for Mom to finish

(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Andrew's Muddy Buddy

(c) 2009 Scott Everett

The girls after the Muddy Buddy

(c) 2009 Scott Everett

MCE post-run

Not a happy boy

Of course, a juice box can cure just about any ill.


(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Nice clothing!

Many of you have seen this photo before, but for those who didn't, let me explain. On Sunday, Liz went up to Cedar Hill State Park to do a "Muddy Buddy" 10k. She finished it with a smile on her face. Immediately after, she took Andrew on the Mini Muddy Buddy, a 200m obstacle course with the mud pit at the end. Even though he doesn't look happy, he's still talking about it.

Next year, she's doing the laundry.


(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Here comes trouble

(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Andrew's reward

A couple weeks ago, we started a chore routine with Andrew. Excepting for a couple missteps, it has been a grand success. We promised him an allowance, which he put toward the purchase of a new toy airplane. We also generated a grid of the week's chores and let him put a sticker each time he completed one. I think that was more motivating than the airplane.

Here are some photos of his new toy and an audio clip of him telling me a story about this very plane and a race it was in.









(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Little boys and their trucks.

And chocolate milk rings, too.




(c) 2009 Scott Everett

What is it about this bucket?

It rarely holds Legos; usually a child.




(c) 2009 Scott Everett

More craftiness

(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Matthew and Mommy in a tree

Well, Matthew was in a tree.


(c) 2009 Scott Everett

We asked Andrew what his favorite part of camping was

The top 2 are included here. I'll leave you to guess which they were.




(c) 2009 Scott Everett

Matthew's first camping trip

We took the kids camping this weekend. This was pretty much a dry run, so we only spent Saturday night out at the campsite just so we could see how they fared. I don't know why we worried about it. We should have known that it was going to go well. Andrew's been before and loved it and Matthew just loves to be outside.

We did find out some things, though. The dog doesn't care about anything else when we are doing something; as soon as he's left alone when another dog is around, he becomes dominant/non-aggressive. He's an odd creature.

We also found out that Andrew has gotten much less shy recently. I wasn't there when they got to the campsite, but by the time I did, he had become good friends with another 5 or 6 year old camping with us.

And finally, we confirmed that Matthew has absolutely no control over his own legs. Apparently, as soon as he wakes up and is vertical, they start moving and don't stop until he lays down to sleep. That child walked around the campsite constantly. He had a blast and found any number of things to play with, but he never stopped. At least he can sleep just about anywhere, too.

We are hoping to camp more next year, so we'll have to try a couple days out there soon.





(c) 2009 Scott Everett