smattering of cousins

i just stuck my SD card into the computer,

and it pulled up 236 pictures and videos.

236! 

where have i been??

(pay no mind to the date on the pictures... clearly a little off!)

i scanned through the lot, and there is just so much.

particularly the number of

up-close and personal face shots

of a smattering of the cuz.

enjoy :)

love from the webcam

wednesday in the park

little t rex

shu & aunt amy

came to a very important decision.

a halloween decision.

he would be, wait for it,

a t rex.

(shock! gasp!)

special Shout Out to uncle keith for converting the costume to a T Rex!

we went to kristen & jeff's again this year,

& we're pretty convinced the shu

will never see their neighborhood the same again.

while kris & i manned their driveway

(wrapped in blankets & heating pads next to a fire pit, thank you!)

mark & jeff took the kids out.

the pirate, the eskimo & the rex

all kinds of ready

the costume was so awesome.

we particularly loved the way it jiggled when he ran.

here's what mark saw all night:

he had a blast.

after nearly every house, mark said,

he would run down the driveway yelling,

"i got another one!"

cracks me up.

handing out candy/red zone hilarity

**for those of you who can't get enough

(grandparents? aunts? calendar-makers?)

there is an overflowing bucket of october pictures on shutterfly right now.

if you'd like a link, leave a comment or email me,

& i'll hook you up.

escaping the heat

sometimes you think

cramming a handful of cousins

into varying vehicles for a Free Summer Movie

is a pretty genius idea.

until you get to the theater with 5 minutes to spare

(see earlier "cramming" and "handful" and "cousins")

and get turned away...

No Room in the Inn Air Conditioning.

but we kids can find joy and festivity elsewhere--

even when slightly overdressed for the party.

i beg you to click and enlarge this picture. my brave boy :)

madi tries to encourage the shu

steven

starting to enjoy himself

steven, of course

our little logie

miss madison

logan bobby, afraid of no thing

this is the bean in a nutshell

there you go, buddy. its meant to be enjoyed, not endured.

lessie

the crew, minus one pair of shorts.

mark's half

this past sunday,

mark ran the cleveland half-marathon.

so did my sister, kristen.

her husband, jeff, ran the full.

The Nana and i gathered up 5 kids, snacks and a minivan

 (as well as some much-needed gumption)

and headed out early to cheer.

like, 6am early.

which, as you'll note in the 2nd and 3rd pictures,

is not my son's favorite hour :)

he found his own gumption, though,

and perked up for our Cross-Cleveland

Do-You-Think-This-Street-Goes-Through? 

adventure right quick. 

my apologies for the lack of photos...

i plead preoccupation.

i'll see if i can't rustle some up from other cameras.

check back.

in a week or two :)

uh, madison is ready...

noah, steve & the shu needed another 15-20 minutes :)

wagon, posters, celeste, steve, noah. PULL, MAD! PULL!

kristen, finding madison at mile 3.

mark, rounding mile 6.

noah and steve, watching for jeff.

poster children.

celeste helped madison cheer on her dad.

and there he is at mile 11 (in the sunglasses).

while i was in target...

someone else was keeping busy.




(thanks, aunt mo. it was a delight to shop minus 1.)

seeds, seeds, seeds

remember those st patty day's peas?

turns out martha knows her peas. did we really doubt?

today, m & n helped drop more seeds in our freshly tilled ground.

• another round of peas
• 2 rows of spinach
• 2 rows of mixed greens

here, the boys.

gymnastics

m & n tried to teach shua how to cartwheel.

here are two resulting videos:

upon further review, we had to add a third...

the bean turns 5

beaner turned five this week...and we celebrated
beaner-style.

(aka: applebee's for a hot dog, fries and presents.)

joshua was more interested in my iced tea, his fancy green truck and developing a true love-hate relationship with balloons. the last picture says it all.

(aunt amy, we'll need to stage a thanksgiving week Balloon Intervention.)