Bikes

The Day the Training Wheels came off.

Early November 2011.

He had it figured out pretty much right away... once the decision was made there was no backing out. All the tough confidence building was long accomplished by this point.

Nothing is Gonna stop him now. About a month later he figured out how to stand and travel on a skateboard too.

Much of October

Much of October. Life in general has been same old same old, with some homeschooling, bike riding and costume making thrown in.... oh, and lots of whining.

Grady (and training wheels) with a new friend Bryan.

Here Cora gets a moment to shoot everyone with the Storm Trooper gun. You can see the grin from the back of her head.
I took the kids Crabbing for four hours one Friday. The guy next to us caught 13 crabs while we caught two, so it was a slow day. Surprisingly, they loved every bit of it, except when the wind blew really cold. I cooked up our catch Maryland style and melted some butter.... and they all looked at me like I was crazy. More salt next time, but they did come around and eat 'em.
We refurbished a bike for Grady, and though the bike may not have been worth the paint and tires, Grady was worth it... and the family learning time was worth it. It was the process... and this bike fits him better than his starter 10" bike.
A Friday School lesson for just us... Gak! Just mix food dye, cornstarch and water. Solid... Liquid... Solid...
While I worked on bills one day the kids reversed the legs on their table and chair just for kicks.
Cora full body hugging Chester on a perfect fall day. He was chewing a bone at the time, best dog ever!

Halloween Gingerbread houses. We went in on this together, the kids threw in their spending monies just cause it looked like a lot of fun.

Uh Oh!

LOOT!

Before we left we remembered to get a picture this year. Cora was a Flower, Grady a Storm Trooper. I was a Biker Chick, which fit cause I rode the kids around in the bike trailer.

LOOT!

Grady nearly did this all on his own. Awesome right?!

Fickle Halloween!

Cora: "I wanna be a storm trooper"

Me: "Like Grady?"

Cora: "just like Grady, I wanna be like Grady , be a Storm Trooper"

*later*

Me: "You wanna be a storm Trooper, like this, here I have some things to make that..."

Cora: "NO"

Me: "No?"

Grady: "Cora wants to be a storm Trooper"

Cora: " No Grady, I wanna be a Flower!"

*later*

Me:"Here Cora I have something to make you a flower cost"

Cora: "NO! I don't wanna be a Flower!"

Me: "We are running out of time what to you want to be?

Cora: "I don't want to dress up!" (or Cut pumpkin, etc)

*later*

Cora: "I wanna be a storm Trooper!"

What is Tenn Hundred

G: Mom what is ten hundred and ten hundred

Me: Well actually honey ten hundred would be one thousand. 1,000 plus 1,000 is two thousand...

*short while later*

Grady: ... and 4,000 plus 4,000 is 8,000

Me: Yes Grady

Grady: So what is 8,000 plus 8,000

Cora: Its numbers!

Grady: No Cora!

Cora: It's numbers Grady!

Grady: CORA!

Me: Yes Cora it is numbers... Grady it is 16,000

G-Man

G: Look at me mom!

me:(Thank God!!!)

G: I can swing my self!

me: Look at you, bet that feels Great. (thank God!)

A Look back...
In The Penguin Hat.
Here are videos of both kids when they were each six months old. Actually they are only about 1 week apart in age in these videos.

End to Summer

As Summer winds down...
Grady turned a broken down yard car into a sprinkler...
We stopped by Cumberland Falls in Daniel Boone National Forest...
Cora tried pretty successfully to use chop sticks for the first time...
Grady harvested and dried out his corn crop... and we successfully popped it for breakfast...
Cora and Grady and Chester made a huge mud field in the back yard...
We thanked and thank again all our friends and family for making the birthdays so much fun...

Cora and Chester keep breaking the rules and playing in the resting garden bed...
Chester discovered the joy of popping birthday balloons...
Cora ate a delicious and messy dark chocolate covered Graham cracker... and School started up...

Welcome to Home school Kindergarten...

Grady begins reading practice on Starfall.... and plays with Friday School project slime.

Friday school is on Fridays in rotating houses where different mommies host a project or lesson.

Tuesdays Grady takes Yoga, Thursdays Spanish. Wednesdays might get busy soon too. I'm also thinking about joining a Monday Geography Club to rotate along with our Monday Library days. Last but not least Grady and I have discovered Dreambox... a terrific online math curriculum keeper that gives mom progress reports... he has completed half of Kindergarten already! yea!

Cora is getting two year molars and potty training some, and Grady's bottom front teeth are getting wiggly from time to time.

The BIG August DOUBLE Celebrations!
Double the DOUBLE, two kids, at least two parties and special occasions to celebrate the big 5 and big 2.
River Dogs, Cakes with Family in Md and Big Friend Party at Rolly Pollies! (A Huge Success)

The goody bags were made by Grady... and

Celebrating with Friends was a total Blast, thanks to all who came.

The Importance of band-aids.

CHESTER:
We loved him at first sight, so handsom. Then it turned out his new home was full of people allergic to dogs... don't blame them they had a lab for 12 years or so and never realized why some one always had a cold.
He fits right in here and seems content. He was a rescue who needed rehoming. He came to us as Buster. We tried on the name Chopper, and Chops... then Boomer and Butcher. Then somehow Chester and we all seem to like it, maybe it will stick.

As Summer wears on...

There has been a lot of relaxed discoveries inside and outside. Most recently we had an adventurous boat ride with Jennifer and Lindsey.

Swim Lessons

Grady will begin swim lessons today. He has expressed some trepidation. I know he will warm up to it. He is really ready for "knowing" how to swim instead of pretending. At the water park a week ago, I kept finding him in 3ft water. He disobediently went to where he felt most brave and challenged without a clue as to the real dangers.

After six months Cora has finally gotten her second Canine tooth. those suckers take a long time on her! She is also a sentence talker now who has started potty training/awareness with ease.

Both kids really love their gym class. Second session started last week. Cora and her airplane arms are so cute. Not to mention constantly breaking into song with another rendition of "Little Teapot".

Our Fathers Day get together.