"A smile from a child is packaged sunshine and rainbows"

Bridger (5 1/2)

• Started talking with a faked accent once we hung out with some friends from Germany. Dropping down to a lower pitch at the end of each sentence, and calling me "Mama".
• Will always choose jeans if given the option. He only wears shorts when I'm doing laundry.
• Sometimes comes home from school with his shirt on backward, even when he left for school with it on straight. Sometimes he doubles up on clothing, wearing two shirts and two shorts.
• Obsessed with finding pets!
• Has a knack for story telling 
• July 27, after Kindergarten summer program, I asked what he learned at school today? "We learned that deer eat strawberries. So we caught one and one boy got to keep it for a pet. But the thing is, we had to put a leash on it so we could pet it..."
• Did you like your teacher? "Yeah, she's super nice. She knows how to make wood."
• Did you sing songs? "Yes! Lots of them! We sang 113 songs!"
• Did you play at recess today? "Yeah! And I made a friend! He has black hair. And we ran lots of races! Three... no, 10 races! And I won them all!
• Other good sayings of his
• Aug 7 "After I play at the park, and I feel under my arms, it feels like slugs!"
• "I don't want Sawyer to grow up! I just want him to stay like this forever! I love his little hands!" 
• Aug 20 "When I'm a dad I won't clean my room. I'll play all the games and eat candy all day long. And I'll never get married." 

In his box was a toad and almost ten slugs he and his buddy caught.

Fishing!

Myra (3 1/2)

• Likes to wear clip on earrings, but only on one ear.
• Learned how to ride a pedal bike (no training wheels)
• Very good at helping mom fold laundry (while watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood)
• So excited for Pre-School!
• Loves friends!
• Asks me every night "What month is it? What do we do in (September)?" She always wants to know the next days plan before she goes to bed. And one thing isn't good enough, she needs to hear a list.
• Talk, talk, talks
• September 29, dinner conversation led by Myra "You are the moms and dads but I am the Queen! And queens don't eat at night! They only eat grapes, and cheese, and chicken... but not curry! So I am not going to eat that!" ... "I looked at my watch and it said it's not time for dads to talk."

find the Cicada badges

Sawyer (16 months)

• Fascinated by airplanes flying by. He points at them and babbles something that must mean airplane to him, and once when I was holding him, he pushed my chin up to make sure I was seeing it too!
• Loves to give kisses. Sometimes he surprises me with an open mouth.
• Wakes in the morning yelling "Mama, Mom! Mom!" and if I am slow in coming he yells "Mommeee! I duhn!" 
• Has such a happy disposition! Can laugh on demand, just make a silly face at him and you'll hear the cutest giggles.
• Learned how to climb atop our tall chairs. Now there seems to be no keeping him on ground level. The only place he wants to be is sitting on top of the table or counter top.
• He has started carrying an apple around with him all day. This started when I purchased five bushels of apples and left the boxes in the garage. He will carry an apple all around the house, in the car, and once during the entire shopping trip at Costco, never releasing his grip. When he is at home he goes through several, so by the end of the day I have gathered a small pile of apples all partly nibbled on.
• Loves to drag his blankets out of bed
• Loves dogs (common to all my kids)
• Jabbers all the time... He knows what he is trying to say and repeats the same phrases over. If he gets hurt or offended he runs to me and tells me all about it. When he finds his words he'll really have a lot to say.
• Has started throwing tantrums... gets offended, and throws his pout pout on the floor.

End of summer fun:
Bringing the messy challenges home