I forgot to post this one earlier. This is Riley's drawing from church. OBVIOUSLY it is Indiana Jones, his favorite character ever. Every kid's favorite right now. So he is very deliberate with everything (the hate, the names), so I couldn't figure out why he would scribble on the bottom. I asked him what the scribbles were. He said, "Those are the snakes, Mommy." I apparently should have known this.

Critter and Kitchen pages have been updated. There are so many things I want to learn and do with this site. It has been a lot of fun to play with it...what a great way to learn! (And I have fantastic material, too.)

The kids and I were making lunch. Not sure who spotted this first, but there are a couple odd things here. First, the fence is broken (actually in three spots--Travis, get out your zip-ties). Next, the deer is INSIDE the fence! We have only seen them on the backside before, so this was funny. We wondered if they were afraid of the water in the pond because of the gators. Finally, the creature behind the deer appears to be an owl. I'm not an aviary expert, but I did see the Harry Potter movies.

So we were all sick since Tuesday...yuck. Travis brought home Pedialyte and I groaned. We have tossed out more Pedialyte than I ever expected to purchase, and I feel awful about it. So I woke up with an idea...Slushies! I grinned and pretended to be doing something fun, whipped it up in the blender with ice, and served it in fun cups with straws. VOILA...3 out of 4 drank it!!! Even Tal, who doesn't even eat hamburgers gave it a delicious! Needless to say, I thought I was a genius for the rest of the day. And little Cam sucked down TWO servings and felt better right away.

I had my first Homeschool mom meeting of the year last night, and it was better than expected. Sometimes the meetings aren't really fun, and a lot of moms end up leaving feeling badly about themselves. Funny that we go for support and end up competing, and that we HS to be flexible and end up critiquing. I met up with an old friend and was grateful, the director is a very laid-back mom who isn't pushy at all, and our evaluator is awesome. There are 2M homeschoolers in the US (I have to check that stat every time--it is true!) and we're all just figuring out how to make it work.

On that note, Riley did his first little lesson today and loved it. He is old enough for the Reading Club--Five Little Monkeys, here we come!

So we made it to church on Sunday (hence the colds). Tal sang with his friends from SummerSing (which required odd times and two cars).

Reagan took this fantastic picture of Camden! I PS'd it, but I'll give him all the credit.

Now the boys play computer on KidZui, a great browser for kids. It gives them recommendations for videos, games, etc., and lets Mom know (via email) what they're doing.

And what they are doing is dancing to a very silly Mario video.

Our dog Tanner died last night. We are so, so sad. He had a tumor recently and the cancer spread quickly. He was jumping and happy a week ago, and this last week he was just tired and went quickly. And as Tal said to Gramma, "We still have the cat, but he doesn't love me as much."

Here is a picture of Tanner when we first got him. (Critter Page for more recent.) He went from 11 pounds to 120 pounds in a blink. As in, more than one pound per day. They said he would be 65 pounds. NOT! He was six years old and shared a birthday with Tal. This is one of the very few pictures we have of him that came out well--most are too blurry because he was never still for very long. One more little-known fact is that he is named after the Director of Operations at MI-6 in the Bond movies.

Our neighbors asked what kind of dog he was--Tal was four at the time. Tal said, "He's a wewwow wab, but Mommy calls him Damn Dog." When he shot up to about 80 pounds, I took him for a walk (picture me pregnant and Tal in a stroller) and he decided to stop about a mile from the house. It took nearly an hour to get home. Tanner stopped at EVERY SINGLE HOUSE and rested. I laughed to tears all the way.

We certainly won't forget him digesting his dishes (the move to metal bowls was smart), chewing everything including bricks and an entire hammock, and escaping through our fence and galloping happily through the neighborhood. He did a stint at the elder Bonds, where he assumed the gator-filled lake was a pool (Norman lovingly somehow pulled him out every time--no steps), scratched the roadsters (oops), and knocked over a ten-gallon can of black paint. He just never figured out that he wasn't still this puppy in his 120-pound body. Norman and Brenda made the ultimate sacrifice this morning by rushing to our sides and taking care of all the funeral arrangements.

He was the nicest dog we had ever seen. Even when he was sick and Camden was a bit too excited around him, he was still happy to have us around and wagged his tail, and we always trusted him completely. We loved him so much, in spite of allergies, crazy business, and babies. He was the best and wewill miss him.

Cam's 18 months was actually two weeks ago, but this picture seems perfect for a little milestone. Also, this is one of my favorite outfits from all four kids, and he was about to burst out of it--obviously the last change to wear it. So sweet.

Some Camden Dexter highlights: First word was not go, but Go-Go-GO! Always three times. Next word was "Look at THAT!" Now all the animals say "Baaaaaaaa." All of them, in every book, and every one he sees.

He is a terrific snuggler and hugger, constantly on the go, and still amazingly compliant. A very strange bundle. The only complaint we have is the piercing scream when he is happy, frustrated, excited, mad...you get the idea. It's terrific.

It was a long day. Long enough for multiple posts.

Riley was silly at bedtime, which is always a good thing. He put on the Mickey hat (I still don't know why we have a Mickey Sorcerer hat--this was a Travis/Tal impulse buy, and everyone seems to love it).

So Reagan sees Riley in the hat and says, "Mommy, take a camera." He is the photographer in the family for sure. He swipes my camera all the time and takes pictures of his toys, the computer screens, and lots of floor and ceiling shots. But I love that I'm not the only one racing for the camera anymore. I seem to have little things in common with each of the kids, and that is beyond endearing.

Tal read to them without being prompted...that is also very endearing to me. It was a long day, but I started to see a bit of woodgrain peeking out at the top of the desk. How is it that we sell paperless software, and yet I can't manage to have a paperless study in my own house? It is my new goal. I truly hate how paper clutters my home.

Is anyone into the Amazon Kindle? I mean, it seems to be that everyone is. I still feel like I want to hold a real book in my hands, but it seems pretty great.

For those of you who have been listening to me moan and complain about my KitchenAid debacle for a YEAR...the new microwave is finally in! Before I give them too bad a name, I will say that they did give me about a 75% credit toward a new microwave, even though mine was out of warranty, and my Whirlpool Gold appliances at the old house were fantastic (Whirlpool owns KitchenAid and the Sears Kenmore line).

If you weren't in the know about my year of microwave terror, the thing was going off (usually in the night) on its own. It would just start beeping and beeping, then it would actually turn on...as in, start cooking. We had repair after repair after repair...I won't bore you with the details, but we ended up with bills that were going to be more than the thing initially cost. Hence, the battle with KitchenAid. More of a fight for principal, right? We spent a year using a backup microwave in the laundry room, off & on. It died last week.

KitchenAid came out to install the new one a few weeks ago. The new model is 3/4" taller than the old one. This means that we are responsible to cut that ugly piece of granite backsplash. Travis actually did it last night, and the nice guy at MacFarland came right out and installed it.

The kids immediately made popcorn! I can heat up coffee! Chicken nuggets! Easy Mac will be easy again!

Solar S'mores are fun, but they (shockingly) don't toast up well. We had to improvise with the toaster oven. But it was a good time. We made them with a pizza box and aluminum foil. Each kid was responsible for an ingredient. Riley was on chocolate--I handed him a square, and he shoved it in his mouth, as if there was never a thought to put it on the graham.

Jim & Debbie came up for the weekend, which was great! We love having such a wonderful extended family. The kids had a blast making a slumber party in our room. Sometimes messes are totally worth it.

Quote of the week (possibly the year) from Tal: "When I grow up, will I get a sister?"
Um, the answer is NO.

Camden has learned to say Thank You. One less thing to screech about.

Two (opposable) thumbs up for Space Monkeys. Very funny and cute.

On our August watermelon icon...did you know that watermelon is a vegetable? It is a squash! I'm all over that!