Here are a few more pictures from the beach, thanks to mom!

We got a new camera this weekend. Here are some random pics we took. Rowan took the one of Jen and Holland at the zoo and the one of John and Jen together. Enjoy!

Rowan had a day off school today. Much to our surprise, he was a little bummed out. You see, we have been battling with him each and every day, trying, pleading, begging him to be happy at school. We were getting nowhere. He's 4. He attends school 5 days a week for 3 hours every morning. Likes his teacher. Likes his classmates. Making progress. So, what's the problem? Well, he was having a tough time with his handwriting. Now, you may be wondering what in the world a 4 year old is doing with handwriting. I had to remind myself that many/most of the other children in his class will be attending all day kindergarten next year. John and I have decided to do 1/2 day kindergarten and then do all day kind. the next year at the public schools. At least that's what we're thinking. Anyway, the poor child had NEVER even known how to hold a pencil correctly, let alone draw straight lines and make letters with it. When I say he had little interest in drawing/writing/coloring, that would be an understatement. Whenever I would suggest such an activity over the summer, he would scoff and turn-up his nose. He complained that it took him FOREVER to finish his letters and that he just couldn't keep his pencil in the lines provided, etc. etc etc. and that he never got to play b/c it took him so long to complete his work. Yikes, he's 4 I say to myself. But I decided to give it awhile before I intervened. THEN one day his class had a pajama party. He was thrilled to go to school that day. He couldn't believe his ears when I told him the night before. He had to clarify and clarify and clarify that he would indeed wear his baseball pajamas to school AND play in them on the playground. Yes, it was true we told him. And THAT was all it took. Ever since that day, school's not so bad. Little to no complaining-practicing his letters at home-taking pride in writing his own name-drawing pictures that "he sees in his mind"-coloring in the lines "with small strokes mommy, not scribbles". What? Who is this? I attribute much of it to his wonderful teacher who had been teaching for somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 years...which is why I waited to intervene-and now I'm glad I did. She knows these kids and ways to get to them. God bless teachers!

So, back to today. Rowan had a day off. We went to the ZOO with his friend Evan and we had a great time!

Funny story

So, we've had several funny things happen to us that we haven't posted because we haven't had a camera to document them. However, we finally bought a new camera this weekend and have tried it out. We're still working with it and learning it, but I think we're pretty happy with it.

Okay, about a month ago I was making dinner. Nothing fancy-grilled chicken, au gratin potatoes, and green beans. I put the potatoes in a pyrex dish according to instructions and took the children outside to play while the chicken was on the grill. We had a few cooler days back then and it was so pleasant to be outside. Upon returning to the kitchen to take the potatoes out, I was smacked in the face with a horrible burning smell. I knew immediately something had gone terribly wrong. I turned on the oven light and to my shock and awe, the pyrex dish had exploded and burnt cheesy potatoes were EVERYWHERE. I instantly turned off the oven, opened the doors to the house to air it out and reread my recipe instructions. I had done everything right. Hmmmmmm. Well, the only thing I could reconcile in my mind was that the pyrex had been compromised prior to putting it into the oven. I mean, those things are supposed to withstand severe heat and can go from freezer to oven without a hitch. Not so this night. The plot thickened as we realized the pyrex had shattered and put the oven in a state that was unusable. Not a happy moment for a mama. To make matters thicker, our beloved oven was the original when our home was built in 1964. Not only was it the lovely avocado green, but it was so small no oven is made that size any longer. Being the original, all the cabinetry around the oven was built specifically to fit THAT oven. Hmmmmmmmmm. Well, it looked like we needed a small kitchen remodel. Not exactly what I had in mind when I started dinner the night before. Sure enough I had a carpenter come take a look and yes, he would indeed have to cut through my countertops and cabinetry to make way for a free standing range. The plan was to also cover up the hole from the old oven to make it a new cabinet. The final result was spectacular and made us wonder why we hadn't done it a long time ago. Ahhhh yes, the money. What's done is done. At this point we had no choice. And now we have the nicest thing in our home in our kitchen cooking and baking every day!!! Take a look.