Brotherly Love

 We have plenty of days (or plenty of instances every day) where these two just aren't getting along. Then we capture moments like this:

 Daniel says quite often "I love my baby brother so much!"

Sweet, but it almost looks like they're plotting something...

The "Harvest"

 We had our usual small garden this year--we just don't have enough garden space in the sun to grow much. Despite a summer full of much cooler weather than usual, our tomato plants are exploding right now. Here's what we've harvested from our little garden:

 Lots of tomatoes!! Since only Chris and I eat fresh tomatoes, I spent some time over the weekend making fresh tomato sauce and putting it away in the freezer for later.

 Two pumpkins! Daniel planted his own pumpkin plant earlier in the summer and very diligently took care of it. We had three slug traps surrounding it, as well as a broken eggshell barrier around the plant to keep the slugs out (a bit overkill, maybe, but the plant survived!). Since we like to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out big pumpkins, these pumpkins were planted to make pies and muffins out of.

The proud farmer. He's already asked when we can make pies out of them, but I think we'll keep them intact a bit longer so we can admire Daniel's hard work. :)

First day of pre school!

Daniel had his first day of Pre-School on Tuesday.  He loves the St. Alphonsus School, the Montessori classroom, his teacher, Ms. Blair, the other students, getting to wear a backpack, and everything in between....except one thing: Nuns.

Apparently Daniel was terrified of Sister Mary Anna, the sweetest, most gentle looking nun in her twenties you've ever seen.  Considering Daniel is around religious all the time (Chris works for the Dominicans), we're not sure where this came from.  Please pray for Daniel and poor Sr. Mary Anna, who was heartbroken Daniel was scared of her.  Perhaps Daniel will give her a second chance on day two?

Daniel with his backpack, ready to go!  He's getting so big (sniff).

Mom and little brother Matthew say goodbye to Daniel.

My own name tag?!  Awesome.  Note: no Nuns were present during the taking of this picture:)

Big Weekend

Saturday was our 6th wedding anniversary and the start of the new Husky football season. We celebrated all day long!

 After a nice dinner out Friday, we stayed the night at a hotel downtown. This is the view from our room.

Next morning...Pike Place!

 Anniversary breakfast: fresh mini-doughnuts and coffee.

 Back home in time to get our gear on and watch the big game.

 Matthew is already a husky fan.

 Special occasions call for "special tv dinners".

We recreated one of our favorite go-to meals from our honeymoon in Europe, with groceries bought at the market. It was definitely a hit with everyone!

Red!

Daniel and his friend, Reb, at Reb Robin.

The never ending song

I sung Daniel the never ending song the other day, you know:

"This is the song that never ends!  Yes, it goes on and on my friend...some people, started singin' it not know'n what it was, and now they're always sing'n it forever just because.  This is the song that never ends..." and on and on and on....

Well, I was singing it in the car to Daniel - over and over - and finally I couldn't take it anymore and had to stop.

Daniel hadn't been saying a word, then this:

Daniel: "Uh, Dad?  If it's the song that never ends, why'd you stop?"

Touche.

A Day at the Fair

 Mommy and the boys went to the Thurston County Fair with Grandma today. It was lots of fun visiting Mommy's old 4H stomping grounds. Daniel is already looking forward to going back when he's a bit bigger so he can go on the rides with Daddy...

 Meeting a pig named Bacon. 

 What a funny llama!

 Matthew teases the llama by blowing raspberries...he apparently hasn't heard that llamas spit when they feel threatened.

 Taking a break from the animals for lunch!

 Both boys loved the cows. There was lots of "moooing," especially from Matthew.

 Petting a chicken.

Newly hatched baby chicks!

And the best way to cool off after a long hot day at the fair? Sno-cones!

Rub-a-dub-dub

 These two boys sure love the tub!

Got a new camera!

We got a new DSLR Camera the other day and love it. Enjoy!

Diet motivation

During prayers the other night:

Daniel: "I'd like to pray for Lovey, Lovey's parents, my Brother, my Mom, my Dad, and the baby in my Mommy's tummy, and the baby in my Daddy's tummy."

Diet time.