under the sea...

I came across this photo in a pile of C's papers. I don't what excites me more...the fact that he loves art, or that he loves everything that deals with the ocean. He just makes me proud, and puts a super huge smile on my face. He told me for his birthday, he was going to draw a picture for every kid in his class. Not sure how they'll take it, but I thought it was very thoughtful of him.

Oh, and he found one of my watercolors that I did with my class last June, and copied it. I am pretty darn impressed. Here's the original.

swim time...

We finally did it. We joined the swim team. First it was E, then out of boredom from have to watch sister, C decided to join, too. They're both loving it, and really got a kick when they got to jump off the diving board. Might I add this was both of their first time jumping off the diving board. Crazy C tried doing a canon ball, but ejected out of ball formation just before impact. Smart boy, I say, smart boy! E just walked right to the end and hopped on in, like it was no big thing! Proud mommy moment, for sure!

mantis...

Sheesh! I have clearly been dropping the ball on these posts. Trust me...life has not been boring or really stressful. Well, I say that last part now because I have a breather for a moment. So, to vent for a moment... I have once again over committed myself in the name of my children. In addition to working and leading a cub scout den, I have now managed to sucker myself (by my lovely daughter) into being a Daisy Scout troop leader, and have forced my children to join a swim team that I have somehow managed to volunteer for their apparel orders, team building activities, and am currently seeking a fundraiser idea. As Kathy Griffin would say, "Holy shit balls!" Okay...got that out. Now, let's get back to being happy!

The end of Summer/start of Fall is always an interesting time out in the garden. The sunflowers are drying up, producing seeds for the many winged visitors who come to chow, the tomatoes are finally producing (which is a personal joke in itself, because no one in our family even eats tomatoes), the cooler weather flowers are starting to bloom, and the praying mantis' (or is it manti?) are out in full force and larger than ever!

So, meet this gal. Totally assuming it's a chick since it's so huge and I know their male counterparts are much smaller. You know, those males have got to be smaller and more agile, so they avoid becoming her meal after consummating. I digress... So, this gal surprised me while I was out watering the bushes. She was running for her life and drowning fate, apparently. she startled me enough to throw down the hose, run in the house, take a breath, then grab the bug box.

After a few hours of torture by my camera and the kids, I popped open the lid to let her free. the only problem was she didn't want to go. Going back a few weeks when I tried to help one out and it flew right at me, I wasn't going to repeat that mistake again. I waited until it go a bit chilly, hoping the cold would slow her down (which i think it did), opened up the top some more, and she cautiously creeped back into the bushes. I'm just hoping I don't have a target on my back now.