Mechanic's Assistants

Todd's getting the Jeep ready for the replacement engine to go in very soon.
After more than a year of waiting... saving... waiting... saving... and finally getting a good deal on a used motor, we're all pretty excited to see the Jeep back on the road :-)
And things always go faster with small cute assistants standing by. How cute are they??

Posted by Bree

Nice Try

He tried to dodge the camera



on several attempts.

Nice try but I win :-)

Posted by Bree

New Bike

We probably won't be seeing much of the scooter anymore ...

now that we have this!!

She wasn't quite ready for it last year, but now her legs are longer and stronger so she can keep up with Evan.

And she's pretty thrilled --

with herself and with the bike.

Posted by Bree

Look Closer

Our family values certain things.
One of those things is details.

Life is so full of small things worth noticing and remembering, and we have made it a part of who we are as a family to simply look closer at things. To look longer at stuff that, I imagine, most people don't even see at all.

In the woods the other day, the kids were surrounded with the hugeness of trees, beautiful landscapes and views, deep ravines and the speed of their own swift feet.
That alone could have carried us through to the other end of the path and we would still have had a lovely memorable time.

But then we stopped in a clearing to just linger....

and look closer....


The kids slowed down, they started looking down and eventually even sat down.

And soon enough they found things.

There were beads scattered all over the dirt, at least a hundred of them about a quarter inch around, and the more they looked, the more beads seemed to turn up. The kids half-filled a small jar (which Evan had found earlier) and their excitement continued. The tiny beads were simply everywhere and we could have just walked right over them just like so many probably did before us, if we hadn't looked closer.
We will always remember those hours spent finding beads and collecting them and wondering how they ended up there, if any were buried deep or lost in holes and how many different colors we would end up with....

This kind of special, out-of-the-ordinary discovery is what makes real and lasting memories for us.

But, it only happens when we take time to look closer.

Posted by Bree

A Letter

{A letter for Uncle Chris from Evan --
adapted from a conversation at lunchtime
after Uncle Chris went home}

Dear Uncle Chris,

I only have one word to tell about this morning when you played with me: Fun! You rode bikes with me, climbed my tree with me and pretended Star Wars with me. You even let me knock you out with my pretend blaster over and over and over and over and over.....

I love when my dad rides bikes with me, but you know, his bike has never turned into a spaceship until you got on it. Wow! We were both flying a million miles an hour!!

Soaking each other with squirt guns was a great way for us to cool off from being soooo sweaty. I love playing with you, but I don't love sweat.

Oh, and I usually never let anyone else climb my tree. It's only for bests. And, even though this is still a secret and I don't want to tell you yet, you are one of my best friends. Only you and Jed are allowed in my tree because you are both bests.

And I love you because you make me laugh and have fun and you are funny and weird like me :-)

Love,
Evan
P.S. Can you bring Ajay over each time you are here and make him do a loud burp again? That's so funny!

Posted by Bree

Time Well Spent

Yesterday after dinner, we went to a park to wander in the woods. The kids hit the ground running (and riding, in Evan's case).
There wasn't much slowing down at first, except when a spectacular view emerged...


or a giant tree with a hole at the bottom begged to be touched.

Mostly Todd and I played catch-up with two eager and swift-footed children who sped ahead and waited for the slow pokes to join them.
The ravine we passed had this huge tree across it which both kids walked with Todd's help. Chloe's level of bravery is moving up these days.

Once some of the initial energy had been burned, the kids started noticing the details all around them. Sticks of unusual shape, twigs to be collected, the bark patterns on familiar trees, small tunnels on the path...
Every so often the path would veer off down a cliff. Some we were able to navigate with these two. Todd has always called Evan a mountain goat since he is a natural climber.


He's really at home in the woods ;-)
Yeah, you knew it. She had to try too.
Things started getting a bit silly towards the end as it was getting later. It was past the kids' normal bed time and we had been out for over an hour with no end of the trail in sight.

Even though it was late we didn't hurry out. There was so much to soak in. Sounds. Sunrays. Peace.

And so many things still to climb on ;-)

Can you believe they posed for this one, unprovoked??

Although with the end in sight they quickly zoomed off again...
And we went back today (while Todd was at work) and spent three more hours there.

It is our new favorite place to be.

Posted by Bree

Don't You Laugh

Before: Miss Grumpy Pants




After:
Miss Goofy Giggles


* * * *

All it took was:

"Don't you laugh....."

Posted by Bree

Daydreaming

Daydreaming about...


... space shuttles and satellites orbiting our earth

... having a tomato sandwich for lunch

... wandering through giant redwood forests

... how fast a maple seed falls from our tree

... lego star wars creations to make later

... why Darth Vader chose the dark side

... how a landspeeder works

... driving a car of his own

... the barn kitties we visited last night

... the birds pecking around in the yard

... what's going on under the ground below him

... whether we could eat the leaves off the lilac bush

... when Chloe will be done with the watering can


These are just a few of the things he will ask questions about later today, I'm sure of it (some of them he already has). He still asks a minimum of thirty questions a day, and it is always interesting .... a true reflection of his daydreams .... a peek into his fascinating little mind at work.

Posted by Bree

The Curls

Evan's curls are back in full force the longer his hair gets (again). He has requested no haircuts this summer so we'll see how that ends up. The bigger and messier it gets the more I always like it :-) But it does border a bit too much on girly at times, so I don't know how long I'll actually let him grow it.


And check out the new curly head in the family:
Her hair has always been a bit on the wavy side but this is starting to look an awful lot like curls to me. Her hair is really getting long too! I keep saying I'm going to trim it to smooth out the ends, but I can't bring myself to do it... it's so pretty! And now with the curls, well, this girl might never see the scissors.

Posted by Bree

Lost

Lost in Lego Land


Posted by Bree

Popcorn

The puff-balls were in the kids' easter baskets this year. They keep coming up with creative ways to play with them. Here's one of my favorites.

Popcorn from Bree Monde on Vimeo.

Quiet

After spending the morning hours cuddling and playing games on the floor together, we all found a spot to sit alone and cozy up with some books before making lunch.

And it was quiet.

So unusually quiet.

Chloe chose her collection of "Thomas the Tank Engine" stories. Evan chose a Bill Peet book "The Ant and the Elephant" and also the "James Herriot collection." I picked up my copy of "Healthy at 100" and read a few more chapters.

I love mornings like this.

Posted by Bree

If I Tickle Him

I can make him smile
for a picture
:-)

Posted by Bree

Girly Giggles

I forgot I had uploaded this one months ago --

Girly Giggles from Bree Monde on Vimeo.

Can I Help?

Posted by Bree

Bloom

She is growing into a little lady.


A skirt,

long flowing hair,

sparkly shoes,

a pink shirt!!





Even a purse...





... in which there are matchbox cars.



Almost there.

Posted by Bree

Car Wash

The matchbox trucks and cars in the outside collection have seen better days, so I thought, last night, why not give them a scrub down. Evan and Chloe never turn down a chance to play in water -- a bucket and a couple of old scrubbing toothbrushes and they went to work cleaning.
Mud splats were flying and water was dripping everywhere! They were soaked and dirty and pretty happy, and the cars were actually getting clean!

They were soaking themselves and loving it, and uncovering each truck from it's muddy cocoon was like opening a Christmas present!

But the story doesn't end there, no sir. When Todd brought out another bucket of clean water, that left a perfectly good bucket of muddy water just sitting there ... so ....



... over it went, into the dirt patch behind them...

along with all the newly cleaned trucks.

Posted by Bree