ARRRG! A Pirates Life!

Storm was in town for his Birthday this year and he had a Pirate Party to celebrate! All the kiddos were dressed up as little scallywags with kerchiefs on their heads, eye patches, swords and compasses. It was the cutest thing! I took a few snap shots, but Sean has way more than I do. Here are the few I took...
The kids had to "walk the plank" to receive their compass' and "Pin the Treasure chest on the map" to get threir swords, both of which they needed for the "Treasure Hunt."

Captain Storm gets blind-folded to play pin the treasure chest on the map!


The crew wait for their turn at the map!


Pirate Cordel placing his treasure chest.


"Bottoms up, Matey!"


Little looters relaxing in the shade dividing up the booty!

Three Bums in the Sun

Alas, the joy and freedom of being so young that you are allowed to play in the water stark naked on a hot sunny day. I say enjoy it while it lasts because, like summer days that fly by much too quickly, so do the days when running around buck naked is considered cute and innocent rather than offensive and just cause for therapy, like it would be for most adults!
HAPPY SPLASHING!!

Dr. No

With the word explosion that Sydders is going thru, one would hope that Cordel would be as accommodating. However, he is staying true to the 4 going on 5 standard and keeping his vocabulary pretty minimal---mostly consisting of huge NO's and I DON'T WANT TO's. Sheesh, the kid is cute as a button, but sometimes I would cheerfully sell him for a quarter! All joking aside, he is actually a pretty good kiddo. He turns five in Sept and unfortunately cannot start kindergarten for A WHOLE YEAR!! He misses the stupid dead line by TEN DAYS!! The child can read. LITERALLY READ. Can anyone honestly tell me that being a measly ten days older would truly make a difference in his readiness to go to school? Anyone? Quite frankly, whole system of determining when a child can enter school is is SO inadequate. It sucks. Giving a child a simple test to decide if they are ready seems to be more logical, because we all know that just because a kid magically turns five doesn't necessarily mean they are ready any more that Cordel being born in the month of Sept means he's not.

Ok, I'm done ranting. Look at how cute he is, tho. Would you buy him for a quarter?

She speaks

Sydnie, at age 2, speaks in complete sentences. She says things like "Mom, can I bring dis widdle puppy to gwamas house? Peeze?" And the I say "Sure!" and she says "Yea!" Or, when I have my music playing, she'll say "MOM!! I no like that song! I want Lady GaGa!" And yes, she specifically asks for Lady Gaga. Now, I remember thinking that Cordel spoke well at that age, and he did really, but Sydnie just has the concept of launguage down pact. Perhaps one day she will have the desire to put words to paper like her mommy. She also has adorable little phrases like "hot corn" for corn dog and "jammy ons" meaning my pajamas are indeed on, and "I lub, lub, lub Daddys boat" which we all know is an out right lie. She hates it. And of course theres "Boo back" which means scratch my back and "Boo back a belly" which ironically means "No, scratch my back under my shirt, not on top." Don't ask, because I don't know. She has also been known to make song requests including "Dance, Dance" which is, of course, Just Dance by Lady Gaga and "Down, down" which is actually Right Round by Low Rida. I know, I know... Not age appropriate, but hopefully she won't know what that song actually means for a very, very long time. Don't judge me. I can't help how cute she is and that it makes it next to impossible to say no. Could you say no to that face?

Summer update!

Well, well! How time does fly! It's now the middle of July and I cannot believe half the summer is gone. We have been, well, busy doing nothing, if that makes sense! We have been going out to that Bay a lot and really just spending time hanging around the house playing. The kids love playing in their pool and swinging on the swing set. I have been thankful for the playroom in the basement--- comes in so handy on those super hot days!! Shane is working steadily, for which we are grateful. I am enjoying my writing class so much and so far have been pleased with my work. My instructor quoted my last assignment as "publishable" with a few minor changes! Needless to say, I was SO elated!!
Plans for the next few weeks?? Well, we are all excited for Storm's Pirate Birthday Party on Wednesday. ARRRR! I can't believe he is turning five. We are going to Lagoon next week when we take Tyllan to the airport to fly home to Florida. We will miss him terribly, as always. And then it will be time to start thinking about Cordel's B-day. This year we are having a double party with Isabel. I'll give you one hint to the theme of the party: He lives in a pineapple under the sea....