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This was Carter-initiated and well-received (both small miracles) AND happened after a fairly long walk in the close confines of the jogger (taken all together, a pretty big miracle!)  

I love it when they get along!

When I was talking to my sister-in-law recently, she mentioned the idea that trying to keep your house clean with little kids is like trying to brush your teeth while eating oreos…  

I think that may be the best analogy I've heard.  (Perhaps because I've eaten a lot of oreos in my day…)

And when I was uploading pictures from my phone tonight I found these – taken not 12 hours after I finished a total hands-and-knees scrubbing of my floor to a perfect shine:  

At least I tried.  :)

Meg spent half of it dragging this pig around, putting the necklace on his nose, and patting him as she admired her work…

Carter and I pulled morning glory from our groundcover (until the last few days it blended in so well I had no idea it was so rampant!) – this is exactly how he feels about it.  He kept saying "save some for another day, Mom!"  (I was deep in thought the whole time pulling it out about all kinds of life analogies you can make with morning glory…)

And, in the middle of the weeding, we heard the road paving crew come to prep the worst spots for the big re-paving project on the main street by our house.  I think it made Carter's day to sit on the corner and watch them till they disappeared from sight… 

Overall,  a pretty good morning.  :)

18 months in just a few days, here are some of her latest interests:

poring over her shutterfly baby book and getting upset because she can't hold the baby in it;

Putting on shoes (she is really great at doing her  own sandals, but also is happy to wear any other shoes she can find);

Wants to wear a backpack just like the big kids, even if it is the size/weight for the big kids;

Is loving slides.  She has a favorite stairs/slide lap at each park we visit, and will do it over and over and over.  

Wants to sit in real chairs, has figured out how to smile for the camera, and still absolutely adores all babies, especially swaddled ones.  

She also is constantly trying to talk –  and is stringing words together like "mommy – baby – night night" when a mom has a baby with a pacifier at the baseball game; and "mommy – daddy – see-see (swimsuit)" when she is trying to tell me about Nate's swimsuit hanging up in the bathroom.  Also, she calls everything you put on your eyes "goggles" and has been known to mangle Zach's glasses on more than one occasion when they've been left within her ever-increasing reach.  

Can't believe that the next time we go to church she'll be in nursery!!

(Titan art courtesy of Emma)

(Zach pitching a strikeout)

boys hanging out during the game (their feet are pointing toward our field,  if that shows their interest level at all…)

(and yes, they do the whole cheer/song from "remember the titans" after every game. 🙂

Although I can never remember my camera (too busy remembering baseball gear, dinner, treats, things to keep Meg entertained, etc.) and I just have lousy phone pics, I thought I'd record what we spend several nights a week doing.  Zach has some great coaches, fun teammates, and has been learning and improving a ton this season.  It's been fun too to have extended family there to cheer him on!  And, the beautiful UT sunsets make the dinners on the run totally worth it.  

How much fun you can have with playdough, that is.  Carter and I made a few new batches (since I had thrown out all the old, hard playdough and keep forgetting to get more at the store) and he played with it ALL DAY LONG.  It also motivated Meg (when she woke up from her nap) to learn to climb onto a barstool unsupervised to join the fun.  Awesome.  

If this doesn't work, nothing will.  

It's always a little hard for me to send a kid off to a preschool where I know I won't have a turn to teach!  (It is a good stepping stone for me though to get ready for K…)  This year was especially strange (but probably good for both of us) because Carter's preschool has a drop-off/pick-up where you drive up and they unolad your kid for you and off they go into the school!  

He is having fun though and I think the year will be great for him.  He got the "brag bag" his very first day (took his special blanky and a juggling ball 🙂 and LOVES that his playground has a huge rocketship. 

And I love these first day pics.  All 3 are essential to paint a picture of Carter these days.  

Apparently, "clean up" means different things to different people.