Will Pictures

Here are some pictures that Will took today while we were waiting in the car for Dad. If you've noticed that most of his pictures are taken in the van or from the van, you'd be right. It's a good way to pass the time!

In this last video, I've been totally busted. I told Will to go tell his Dad that Max is crying. Since he couldn't find Damon, he took care of the problem himself, which is why later on we found Will's glasses in Max's crib! What am I too busy doing that I can't go pick up my baby? Blogging.

(I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt the other day that said, "I'm blogging this." And I thought, I need that! Except I really don't wear t-shirts - they are unflattering on an already unflattering body.)

EEK!

Waiting...

Here's what everyone did while waiting for the Iowa Homecoming Parade to start:

talking to Em:



Candy bags are ready, and no I did not catch Sam in mid blink. He is trying to pretend I'm not taking his picture. If he closes his eyes, maybe I'll just disappear.Waaa! When is it going to start?!
Oh, that's better...

Getting to Know Each Other

Great Grandma and Grandpa Quint getting to know their newest great grandson.

The Brown Family Stunt Show

Friday when I went up to the school at recess I ran in to Jack's mom, who is one of Will's good friends in his class. She said, "So, Jack tells me that Will is having a stunt show at your house at 4:00 on Saturday? And we're supposed to come?" Oh man. All week Will and his neighbor friend Alex have been practicing stunts on the swing set and on their scooters in preparation for a stunt show. They made signs for our mailbox that said, "Brown Family Stunt Show - 4 pm on Saturday" and put invitations in the neighbors' mailboxes and evidently invited school friends! I told him I didn't think it was a good idea to invite people to something that you're not even sure is going to happen. And he said, "Oh, it's going to happen." Hmmm. What I ended up telling Jack's mom, was I didn't really know if we would even be home on Saturday, and that if Jack were to come down, he might be awfully disappointed by what it actually was. She said that if we did end up having it, to call them around 3 and see if they were home, and they'd come down. We got home from mini-van shopping at 3:30 on Saturday, and Will, who all afternoon had been asking me what time it was, suddenly decided that he was going to cancel the show he'd been planning on all day due to a lack of equipment. (When I asked what he was missing, he refused to tell me on the grounds that I would think it was silly, so who knows what he thought he needed.) Once Alex got a whiff of the cancelation, he convinced Will that the show must go on. They mustered up a few last minute audience members: me, Max, Damon, Sam, Alex's Dad and sister, and Nicholas, another boy from down the street, and the show started at 4 :30. (I hope I don't get in trouble with Jack for not calling him.)

Wow. I didn't know that my son was quite that flexible. It cracks me up that Nicholas thinks he's avoiding being in the video, by crawling on the ground! Ha!

The old "Look Ma, No Hands!" trick:

Somehow, the boys have managed to create not just one, but two flat spots on the Big Wheel tire, yet still don't mind riding it! Do you get that the wheel is not turning for most of the way down the hill and that he's skidding?! No wonder it has some flat spots! I'm surprised you don't see smoke or flames coming out behind him. This takes me back to the good old Clearview Heights days. And the thumping sounds it makes as you ride it are classic. And Sam ... poor Sam. He doesn't stand a chance - his feet just can't keep up. You know from the get go that something bad is going to happen - and it does. Luckily he landed on his bottom and is none the worse the wear for it.

Clock Mystery

Will went around and unplugged all the clocks in the house in an attempt to make the electric meter outside the house stop running. It was quite the "mystery" (not really) as to how come the clocks weren't working because no one would 'fess up to it for awhile. Will and Damon had just had a conversation about what the electric meter does, so it wasn't that big of a mystery. Will's rationale for why it couldn't have been him who did it was because he knew you'd never be able to make the electric meter stop because the refridgerator is too heavy to unplug. (This only makes me wonder how far did he go in his attempt to unplug everything, before he gave up?!) Plus, what a stupid thing to lie about! He later 'fessed up and admitted he was afraid he was going to get in trouble. He wasn't in trouble for unplugging stuff, we were just curious why. But now lying, on the other hand...actually I think he got off the hook on that one.

Watch Out, Girls

Today Sam, Max, and I walked up to the school to drop off something in the office, and we decided to play a bit on the playground before going home. Sam rode his bike which requires pushing it most of the way there due to the big hill, but then you get to ride down the hill on the way home, so it's all good. I made it very clear he'd have to push the bike himself, because I was pushing the stroller, and he actually did a really good job. Since it was almost time for recess, we decided to stick around and see if we could find Will. We visited with a few other moms who were leading the Lemme Running Club. In addition to their 2nd graders, they each have kids Sam's age. So Sam had fun hanging out with Audrey and Parker. The three of them were encouraged to do a lap of their own for the running club. One of the moms even gave them each their own punch card, which he was very proud of. (Each time a lap is completed, the kids get a punch, and after so many punches, they get a cool little plastic shoe charm for their chain necklace/bracelet.) So the three of them set out on a lap clear around the edges of the soccer field. Sam and Audrey held hands almost the entire way. Later on watching Sam and Audrey on the playground, once again holding hands, I witnessed Sam plant a big kiss right on Audrey's lips. (She is pretty cute.) Once home, I asked Sam why he was kissing Audrey and he said, "I just love her!" Watch out girls - Sam's on the prowl.

Vote Now!

I was just browsing a neighbor's blog, and noticed a new element they had recently added to their template - a place to take a poll, ask whatever question you want, and it tallies the results! How much fun! So please take the time to answer my question on the right, and look for more polls in the future!

Will Goes to the Farm

On Sunday we took a day trip to Damon's uncle Terry's farm, where he has an annual BBQ for friends, neighbors and family. Will had fun taking pictures of everything that interested him. Here are some pictures that he took on the way there:Pictures Will took at the farm:

Some people came by airplane. Terry has a mowed strip of runway, and has his own small plane. That's not him:
Should I be scared that the sun looks like an evil-looking eye?!
Grandma Vicki:
If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this next picture was of Damon's dad, except I've never seen Larry wear a cowboy hat, or seen him sing or play the guitar! But it's actually his brother Terry. I didn't think that they looked that much alike, but obviously they do!

There was a karoake contest, with trophies and everything:

Every year Terry's band puts together a little concert of country music. This video that Will took shows Terry singing and playing the guitar. Hope it doesn't make you sick - oh, that sounded bad - not the singing, but because of the camera motion! (He hasn't learned the art of the slow pan yet.)

Brotherly love:

Doesn't Will take good pictures? The only one that's mine is the first one, the rest are his. Here are a few more that I took:

All About Will

We had Lemme's Open House night last week and got to see some of Will's work and look around his classroom. One of the highlights was getting to real his All About Me book.

The first page says, "When I wake up in the morning I get ready for school." These pictures are so detailed. Click on them if you can to get a better look and you'll notice that the first picture is of Will in the bathroom (orange walls and the three bulb light fixture) with his toothbrush. The second picture is him sitting in our kitchen eating breakfast (the checked chair rail should have given that away). He even drew the chandelier and an outlet on the wall behind him. The third picture is in his bedroom (the wavy stripe) getting dressed. And the fourth picture is him getting his backpack off of the stair railing.
"When I put my clothes on I like to wear my comfy clothes." Mom, this one will make you proud. He calls this one and only outfit his "comfy clothes." It consists of black sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt that my mom painted a space ship on. He's been known to put these clothes on in the dead heat of summer on days when we're just hanging out at home.
"When I look out my window I see birds and trees." (His teacher thought he'd written 'deer' because he made his 'b' backwards. This tree is full of nests with eggs and blue birds. Can you believe the detail?!
" My house is white." There's our tree swing!
"I like to play my video games." This is most surely Lego Star Wars on the screen, although I can't say for certain. "I live with my brothers, my parents, and my dog." We are all nicely labeled and wearing our favorite colors. Max is in his crib.

"My favorite toy is my Larry Mobile." (from Veggie Tales). I didn't know that this was his favorite toy. It looks exactly like it, and this was drawn at school from memory. Larry Boy is inside.

"My favorite food is macaroni and cheese.""I like to go to my cousins' house." Will and Jack are playing swords, Noah is on the right. Miss Lily with her pigtails and diaper is on the left.
"My special friend is Tyler." Which is an interesting choice, since in the past Tyler has been known as the class bully. I should probably find out more about why he wrote this. They're sharing something, not sure what it is."My favorite animal is a sea horse." Isn't this the cutest little sea horse you've ever seen?! I think we've also got a puffer fish, a couple of clown fish and of course, a sword fish."When it is time for bed I have my bedtime snack. " Once again he has drawn an outlet on the wall.
Did you learn anything new about Will today?

Curly

See how curly Max's hair is when it's wet?! (He just got done with a bath.)

Sam likes to tell Max secrets.

Soccer

Will is doing a great job and having lots of fun playing soccer with the Iowa City Kickers. They have a game every Saturday morning through October, and practice once a week on Tuesday nights. It's convenient because since the team is all Lemme students, their practices are up at the school, so Will practices while Damon and Sam hang out at the playground. They get to wear these cool reversible shirts. (The other side is red.)

His team consists of all Lemme 2nd graders, so it's lots of fun. Here's the whole team: He's usually a defender, although he occasionally plays forward, and has gotten to be the goalie once as well. Always the individual, Will insists on wearing his shin guards on the outside of his socks, despite that I've pointed out to him that everyone else has their's on the inside. (The elastic straps must hurt his legs?) Here are some action shots:

There's this cool statue by the entrance to the soccer complex:

Here's what Max and Sam did at the soccer game today: