The Morning Shift {Friday Photo}

In the first morning moments, I access multiple forms of technology while waiting for the coffee to brew.
All the while, this little guy makes a few connections of his own.    

Summer Forecast: Sunny with a Chance of Getting Wet {Friday Photo}

Here at Wallyworld, we have a zip line, swimming pool, batting cage, basketball goal, pond, and a long long driveway for scooters, bikes, and skates.  However, hands down the most popular activity every summer is the slip 'n slide (with a squirt of dish soap for better acceleration).   It's how we Floridians get in a little sledding, without the snow, bulky clothes, and hot chocolate.  C'mon over- the water's fine!

Congratulations, Papa-Bear Style {Friday Photo}

Ahhh, this moment, this moment.  Inside I cried from the tenderness and laughed from the surprise all at the same time.  David shook all the kindergarten graduates' hands as they crossed the stage this week, but when his little boy came across, he held out his hand then instead swept Reid into a big bear hug high off the ground.

This father stays up until the very wee hours checking math homework, enthusiastically recites Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii (we few, we happy few, we band of brothers!) alongside his child at the dinner table, voluntarily pours over school budget details at his office desk, conjugates Latin derivatives, adeptly sorting out genitive, nominative, and dative cases, and takes great joy in surprise bear hugs to say congratulations.  Papa Bear hugs are in fact just a small outward sign of the steady stream of his fatherly love.  Thankful.

And the Medal Goes To...{Friday Photo}

We finally did it!  A real live birthday party for the most easygoing, cheerful kid in history, who also happens to be as sports-obsessed as his big brother, hence the theme.  Athletic endeavors, a dozen dodgeballs, water balloons, messy cake, root beer floats, lots of giggly kindergarten friends, and one happy six year old boy.  Life is good.

A Little Monkey Business {Friday Photo}

The bruise is a by-product of my monkey-boy's busy baby business, which involves all manner of climbing, throwing, swinging, and slinging. Time to take a deep breath, fetch some more coffee, and pull out the mop!

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World {Friday Photo}

Number One has recruited Number Five to assist with her science fair project.
With all his experiments in blending and otherwise manipulating the selections on his high chair tray, data subsets tallied on the contents of any and all lower cabinets, comparing and contrasting food and non-food items with the dog, and dissecting the trash, I'd say the role of mad scientist suits him.

TGIF.....I think? {Friday photo}

Great news!  At the library today, I found some fantastic books to read this weekend.
That is, AFTER some of us finish FOUR baseball/softball practices, volunteer for one 5K at the crack of dawn, build a to-scale replica of Chateau de Chenonceau, work on a science fair project, attend church and one confirmation class, and head to a play on Sunday afternoon.   TGIF, anyone? 

UPDATE:  all I had to do was prop Biography of Pi up on my kitchen shelf.  Someone noticed it and devoured every page before bedtime tonight. Who knew pi was mentioned not once, but twice, in the Bible?

3 Words Every Roberts Must Know {Friday Photos}

One.

Two.

Three.

Good luck to my secondborn as he works some heftier numbers
in a math competition this Saturday.

Just Monkeying Around {Friday Photo}

There are some moments you happen upon as a parent and you wonder
"Hmmmm, what exactly is going on here? And what clown-loving colorblind pilgrim is supervising your wardrobe?" 

 

Childhood is for... {Friday Photo}

That's Close Enough {Friday Photo}

"Joshua, where is your belly button?"

Fly High {Friday Photo}

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.
Aim at earth and you get neither.
-C.S. Lewis

The Busy Days of December {Friday Photo}

Nothing like a good book to keep the honey-do requests, unanswered texts, blinking voicemail, and child-chores at bay.
Weekend, you can't get here quickly enough.

Final TD of the season (aka, how to extend Dad's coaching career) {Friday photos}

 

Reid gets the handoff...

 He cuts back... 

 Finds a hole and hits the gas...

 The red shirts fall in a wake of peewee devastation...

Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown!

Music of Her Own {Friday Photo (AND Audio!)}

Madeleine's been tinkering a bit on the composing side and above is a sampling of the results.

I posted an imperfect version to remind myself

that she's just a kid in a house full of noisy distractions. 

And still....

 

The Swing {Friday Photo}



How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do! 

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Well, I Do Declare {Friday Photo}

I do declare these books are bigger than bricks. 959 page bricks. 
Hers 'n hers copies for M and me to read and discuss together.
Spoon included for scale and 'cause she will have a fresh appreciation for the family sterling.
And for her great-great-great-great-great grandfather, former Governor of Alabama and
Attorney General of the Confereracy.  Fiddle-de-dee!

Thursday Night Bath Awards {Friday Photo}

Nah, we're not competitive around here. 
Wait a second....that means I'm in last. 
Nooooooooooo!!!
(Somebody call the grammar police stat)


PS Someone just emailed and asked if they only bathe once a week. 
Answer: Ick! Heck, no!

Portrait of a Boy {Friday Photo}

'"So medicine, law, business, engineering...
these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.
But poetry, beauty, romance, love...
these are what we stay alive for."
Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society