E in the Tree

I looked out the front windows this morning and saw this. . .  when I asked him what he was doing, he said it was his "panther impression."  It reminded me a lot of a "little" something we used to call . . .

 "the Ethan Cat"

Ethan's been spending a lot of time up in trees over the past week.  He's always wanted to climb trees but we didn't have any in our old neighborhood that were big enough to support a boy!  I even had to reprimand him for climbing trees at the bus stop the other morning, and we had to make a rule about no tree climbing before school.  Here he is out in our front yard yesterday. . .   a close up,

 and the perspective from the ground.  Can you still spot him?  I'm trying to remember he's a good climber, but I'm still a little nervous about all this climbing.  He respects my fears and doesn't go TOO high. . .

 Chandler discovered mail box climbing, and has been perched a top our mailbox for many a biking break ever since.

Cookies on a rainy afternoon

Gordon tells me that my transition to private is unacceptable.  There MUST be a new post.  So, I live to please!  Here is a fun little moment of baking fresh cookies here at the blue house.

The kids are completely fascinated by the fact that the oven light works!  A glory they have not previously beheld, as ours was broken when we came back from NY.  And, just for the record, those are the cutest curls I've ever seen.

Glorious Cookies!!!

rachel.e.wilde@gmail.com for access. . .

Going Stealth

ATTENTION!!!

Friday I'll be getting all stealthy with this blog and you will need to sign in to read. I know what you're thinking! "But I'll never remember to check it because my feedreader won't pick it up!!!" Well friends, I have a solution!

I have created a new blog, at http://rachelsfakeblog.blogspot.com This is the blog you can put into your feedreader. When I post a anything new on my REAL blog, I'll also post the title and a link to it on my FAKE blog. Your feedreader will pick it up. Then just click the link and sign in if you haven't already and be able to hang out with us once again.

Isn't that brilliant? Thank you Val for the idea!

So please add http://rachelsfakeblog.blogspot.com to your feed reader RIGHT NOW!!! Do it now!!! :)

If you'd like to be invited and haven't yet sent me your email, please do. . . you can leave a comment or send it to rachel.e.wilde@gmail.com.

See you soon!

Rachel

Go Chandler!

I looked out the window yesterday after Gordon and Chandler went out to play, and look what I saw! On his first day trying, he's got it! We're still working on braking and controlled stops, but we're getting there!

Thanks for chasing Chandler all over the neighborhood daddy!
We even had some other neighborhood kids who needed lessons come out with their two wheelers. Gordon spent almost two hours doing lessons and even bike repairs for Chandler and other neighbors. It was so fun! And Chandler was the champ!

Off they go. . .

It was a big day for the boys starting at their new school today. And true to Oregon form, there was plenty of rain to celebrate. Here they are, eager to meet the bus. . .

And then off they went, down the street.

I met the boys at school and helped get them settled into their classrooms, which didn't take long. Here's to hoping for a wonderful year!!!

On School Day Eve

Tonight was the night before school began. We decided to start a new tradition based on an idea I've seen a couple of times on a blog I frequent. A back to school feast. We chose a theme based on a favorite scripture, only had foods that the kids love, and talked all about the school year, goals, why we love school, what we're nervous about, etc.

The schollars got paper crowns representing their year in school, and Emilee got one because she is the princess, of course!

We followed it all up with chocolate cake and back to school blessings, another tradition we have always held.

We are all so excited about tomorrow!!!