The Backyard Gang

Last Sunday after church, Bob and I attempted to take some pictures of the kids for an address change card.  Let's just say the photo shoot was less than inspired and full of crying.  I was unable to procure a picture in the Klein/Gabriel school - in the box wearing job/location appropriate attire.  Oh well, maybe for our next move.

James consented to sit in the box but only with an English Muffin in hand.  A boy has his priorities, and toast is a BIG player in this house.

 Michael contemplates closing James inside the box...

...but decides to just steal the box instead.

Ryan refuses to get inside the box at all, & don't even think about making him wear a hat that is not a Rangers hat.

Since it's been pretty rainy here this month, we've had to find several indoor activities that are not watching TV (primarily the Lion King or PBSkids).  James and Michael really liked painting.  They did several pictures each.  Thanks to Tawnya & Courtney, we have lots of cool paints to use.

James is a very intense painter.  I'm pretty sure he is gonna be more famous than Van Gogh (hopefully he will retain both his ears, though).

Michael is also a great painter, but he prefers to paint his hands and face.  Maybe he's going to be a mime or a clown.  Either way, he's going to be brilliant.  He can say all the letters in his name without any prompting with the exception of H which he says is an L.  He's always reading and can identify all of the basic colors - we are currently working on gray.  His favorite color is yellow, and he likes to read "yellow books."  

Ryan is still obsessed with this stool and with washing his hands.  While his brothers painted, he watched the Lion King (shocking, I know) and ate some "corns."  He must have his corns in a bowl, place them on the tall end table, and pull his stool up for optimum popcorn pleasure.

When it's not raining, we spend a lot of time outside.  The boys love all of the outdoor wonders of Florida.  The other day, we found a small green frog outside.  I didn't have a proper jar to keep him in, so I grabbed a juicy juice container.  James carried his frog around repeating "how cute, how cute" every time it jumped.  Then he "hopped" around like the frog.  

James knows that frogs like to be entertained.  Here he is preparing to take his new friend on the slide.  Sadly, the frog hopped out of his container as he and James slid headfirst down the slide.  Oh well, I'm sure we'll find another new friend soon.

Ryan is telling us all about those acorns he found.  They are seeds from that tree over there.  Thanks Cat in the Hat for teaching us about seeds.

Michael tries to hang up his old swing.  The boys love the new swing set, but they do miss their old swings.  I'm trying to figure out if we can find a cheap A-frame to hang them from so that they can all swing at the same time again.  Hello craigslist, remember me?

Ryan attempts to play both golf and fly through the air on his swing.  

Michael (after splashing around in the water collected in various receptacles around the yard) takes his turn on the swing.

James sporting his swinging skills.  He can't get much height, but he sure does spend LOTS of time soaring through the air both semi-upright and prone.

My sweet little Michael likes to put all kinds of crazy disgusting things in his mouth.  He routinely eats sand and here he is pretending (thankfully) to drink rainwater out of his splash table.  After he would put his face near the water, he would stand up and say...

"tasty delicious!!"  He also likes to pretend he's the cookie monster and eat his food like a maniac.

Ryan rides his bike.  Recently, this bike made it into the house, and Ryan rode it everywhere.  Lately, he has been making me put his train in the bed with him at nap time.  I guess he's a man who needs to be close to his motor vehicles.

James is working on his "golf swing."

This is Michael's "ta da" pose.  I can't remember what exactly he had accomplished, but I'm sure that it was amazing.

Ryan relaxing on the couch after a long day of playing outside.  Now that we're Floridians, the bug spray is a staple of outdoor fun (there are several cases of West Nile around here - one of Bob's former co-workers thinks she might have had West Nile - she's still waiting on test results to let her know officially).  The kids love to get a spray.  They laugh and say "it tickles."  I'm hoping this bodes well for spray on sunscreen which they tend to freak out when I attempt to apply it.  I guess next time we go to the beach, I'll pull it out and see what happens.