Corn as high as an elephant's eye.

A weekend trip to Colby allowed the kids some time to play and explore Uncle Dave's farm. Gus and Bea picked pumpkins, juggled potatoes and laughed hysterically at Grandma D's gigantic cucumber.

Sweet dreams, Tickle Monster.

A few months ago, I fell in love with a new children's book called: Tickle Monster. Of course, the packaging sold me instantly before I'd even read a word.

The box or "Laughter Kit" is unfreakinbelievably cute. The Tickle Monster gloves are beyond soft and A-A-ADORABLE, with perfectly placed holes for fingers to do some serious tickling. (Although, I never get to wear them, because Bea insists on being the Tickle Monster every time.) And the book is just a great, great story. Lots of good rhyming and silly words. I never get tired of reading it or hearing my 3-year-old giggle uncontrollably.

I think it's especially adorable when I go to check on my little gal after she's gone to bed, and I find her still wearing the big, blue, furry mitts. I hope she's laughing in her dreams too.

Hopscotch.

This cracked me up.

On occasion, my husband has been known to enjoy a beer and a stack of saltine crackers. (Like, 3 or 4 times per week.) And, on occasion, he's been known to drop a few crumbs. (Like, on himself, the chair, the floor or sometimes all three.)

So the other night, while I was picking up his saltine snack trail, I came across this precious gem of a crumb, in the shape of a heart!

Awwwww.... what could be more sweet and lovely than this adorable heart crumb? Oh, that's right. Maybe if Eric would have picked up his own crumbs? 

But I won't go there. Oops. Too late. I already did. ;-)

3rd Grade Gus

The t-shirt says it all: Go!

Gus was ready and rarin' to go back to school this morning. He'll be one of 24 kids in Mrs. Schroeder's 3rd grade class at Gammon Elementary. Twenty-four? Sheesh. Good luck with that.

So long summer, it was fun while it lasted.

Baby Shower Bonus

Besides the extra-fabulous Big Ball Toy Rocker that Eric made for last week's baby shower, I forgot to mention the completely silly items I created: One dozen, Jackson Pollock-inspired burp cloths!

The momma-to-be had said that her theme for the baby's room was "Abstract Expressionism." 

Uhhhh... excuse me? Huh? Abstract what?

But of course. That makes complete sense for a mother that works in a contemporary art museum. So I channeled my inner Pollock and splatter painted these burp cloths in the backyard. (Non-toxic, watered-down acrylics. I promise. No harmful chemicals or dyes were used in the creation of this gift.)

Quite genius really, if you think about it: When the baby spits up, you'll never be able to tell if it's urp or art!

Teresa got a big kick out of them. I think the rest of the ladies at the shower thought they were a little weird. That's cool. I'll take weird over boring any day.

Happy burping, Baby Veazey!

There's a Bea in the pool.

Slowly but surely, our little girl is learning to swim. She took lessons for 2 weeks at the YMCA and will now dunk her head underwater and float on her back. Still not quite ready to graduate from the "Pike" class, but she'll get there.

Eric rocks.

In case you might not already know this, my husband can build ANYTHING.

So when I asked him last month if he could make this replica 1960's Big Ball Toy Rocker for my friend's baby shower, I knew his mad woodworking skilz were going to make me look good. And I was right. The mother-to-be could not believe her eyes when she pulled this gorgeousness out of the box. Her reaction (and the oohhhs & ahhhs from the shower attendees) was priceless.

It's so beautiful, it looks more like art than a toy. (Even more appropriate, since the mother works at the Ulrich Museum of Art.) To create the curved seat and base, Eric built two arched forms, laminating and bending thin sheets of cherry wood over each. Then, he hand-turned the rocker arm and big orange ball on his lathe. Easier said than done. Lathe work is tricky.

I just love it. And believe me, if we had the space in our house, I'd have him build an adult-sized one for me. ;-)

Our Kit Kat Kid

Happy 9th Birthday to Gus!

Today he will be sharing his Kit Kat cake with 100+ friends at the North Branch YMCA Summer Camp. You should have seen the swarm of kids when we walked in this morning.

All summer, the counselors at camp have been playfully teasing Gus by asking him to "show us your muscles!" So I made a giant cardboard cut out of him "flexing" as he towers over his cake.

After all, GUS stands for Growing Up Strong!