August 2010

My superheroes! This marks the time when we learned Incredible Pizza would give us $10 per kid dressed in a superhero costume, let C. and J. in for free and charge $0.40 for A. (based on weight!). I had quite a few pizza dinners that month. You can see the "prize" each boy is holding from winning tickets.
If you ask J. what super powers he has he says, "Potty Power!" A. will tell you that Batman has a lot of cool inventions. C. just likes his cape.

Here is where I write cute little quips on what each of my boys are up to, but I've waited too long to write this and my mind is blank. Stop staring -- I just can't take the pressure!

My very first batch of homemade Peach Jam! Why -- WHY did I wait to try this until after MoM was gone??? We went to Eckerts Farm and picked peaches (Freestone, of course). We managed to keep enough of them from C. to make 3 batches of jam. I think I figured out MoMs short-cuts and general method after reading a few blogs to sharpen my memory. What really counts is that the jam was fabulous. Okay, I'm biased but Ken practically licks the jars clean.

Meet Mantis! He was our pet for quite a while. Over month, I'd guess. Ken is a very accomplished bug catcher (yes; yet another unknown talent of the hunk of man I married), and Mantis thrived under his care. A. and I were shocked to see how much such a little praying mantis (manti?) could eat. He grew and shed his skin a couple times and after eating the biggest, furriest moth I have ever laid eyes on, shed again to it's mature state of winged-praying mantis. Yep, wings.... who knew. Well okay, for those of you who grew up where bunnies and grasshoppers and such frolicked in your backyard, but for an AZ girl like me knowledge extends only as far as black widows and scorpions.

Medal winners at the local Fishing Derby! J. for the smallest fish in his age group (which... ehm... might have been put on his hook before casting it into the lake... SHHHHH!). A. for the most fish caught in his age group -- no cheating, I promise. I think he caught 2. It really was fun that they both got medals though. After fishing we walked over to the pool and played way past bedtime.

A.'s best friends and Joy School buddies moved away in August. He was pretty bummed. Me too! Luckily Kindergarten started the next month so he got distracted and made new buddies. It is so hard to say goodbye to friends!

Happy Birthday my 5 year old! I made him a science cake. He was pretty impressed with my double helix licorice, but had no idea what it was. The test tubes of candy, miniature volcano and rainbow-making crystal were the real pleasers though. A. is into mazes, balloon twisting, Earth Science and experiments and all the bases were covered with his presents.

To celebrate his b-day this year we spent the day at Six Flags/Hurricane Harbor. J. thought it was Disneyland! Poor J. was sick and running a fever that morning and we couldn't leave him with any of our friends (they have kids), so we took him with us. He did pretty well - perking up to ride some kiddy rides and drink a LOT of soda. I had to bribe A. to go on the only real coaster ride he was tall enough for (it looked scary). He was really nervous once we got on -- totally regretting the worth of 2 Starbursts-- and screamed through most of it. I was feeling really guilty for making him go by the end of the ride (I'd probably traumatized him for good), and the girls next to us were looking pretty concerned, but then I asked if he was okay. He said, "Mmm hmm. That was FUN!" Crazy kid. He didn't really like the upside down part, but he thought it was fun enough to ride again with me. (For another 2 Starbursts, of course.)