Apple Picking Again

It was a beautiful day today. We spent all morning with Luke at a Kick-a-thon at his martial arts school. But this afternoon we got out to take advantage of the weather. We took Nan to Lynd's today to pick Fuji apples. Can you believe Nan has never picked apples before? Luckily, Luke spent two weeks of school talking about proper apple picking procedure in preparation for his field trip two weeks ago, so he filled Nan in on how to do it!

Old Italian Man

Luke has been cultivating the Old Italian Man look. Next time I'll get him to wear boxers and black knee socks and he'll look just like my Great Grandpa Roberto Basile!

Chub a Dub--In the Tub

Nan is here!

Nan got here on Wednesday and we've been keeping her busy. Today we went to get Justin's portraits done. I'd been keeping this really cute outfit Alyssa gave me aside for the pictures. It's a 9M and Justin barely squeezed into it today. I didn't put it on him until right before we were ready to leave and then I put a bib on him in case he spit up. I took this picture just before we left. As I was putting him in his carseat, I felt something damp. Sure enough, he had pooped as he sat playing with Nan and the poop had gone up the back, over the diaper, onto his pants and shirt (and onto the carpet as I would later discover). So much for the cute outfit.

After portraits and shopping, we stopped at Steak n Shake. It was really crowded and slow and Justin was way past naptime, but he was good once we gave him a fry and let him maw on a teething biscuit. And we bought Michael off with a soda--which he chose over a shake!

Back home, Michael snuggled in to watch a video with Nan. No, he doesn't have a rash on his face. That is a day's worth of Nan-treat-schmuck (frosting, chocolate and spaghetti sauce).

Time to put Nan to bed! It's another full day tomorrow!

School Picture Day

Luke got to be out of uniform today for his school picture. I love his sweater. He wasn't too excited about posing at 7:30am, so he'd only do a pout with Scooby Doo.

COSI

We haven't been to COSI in over a year! Michael has been asking to go and, with Justin able to sit up now, I figured it was time to renew our membership. Michael had such a good time. He was obsessed with racing the balls, which is the only thing I managed to get a picture of before the battery died. While we there, Michael and Justin participated in a study for the development of an ear infection vaccine. They both got mouth and nasal swabs and were paid $10 each for their trouble. Michael made quick work of the cash at the gift shop and we are the proud owners of a marble run.

What's this?

No, Mommy, I just woke up. I'm much too tired to play.

What? You say, this is an oldie but goodie from Poppy? Well, maybe just a nibble.

Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Where have you been all my life, strange wooden-ball-and-string-thing?

Luke at school

Here are a few pictures of Luke at school. The first two are from an author visit on Friday. The last one is from Luke's first field trip. They took the bus to Lynd's Fruit Farm (where we do our apple picking) with their 4th grade buddies. They learned all about apples and Luke brought home a small bag of apples that he picked himself. I got these photos off of the class website. Between working part time and taking care of Michael and Justin, I'm not really going to be able to spend much time helping out with Luke's class. Oh well, at least some of the other moms take lots of pictures.

Another Same Outfit Pic

Since I posted a same outfit pic of Luke and Justin the other day, I thought I'd post one of Michael and Justin today (found the camera, btw). I think Michael is about 8 months old in the picture.

Justin is 6 months!

Sorry this picture sucks, I've misplaced my camera somewhere, so I took it with my phone. Here's Justin sitting up and doing a pretty good job of it! 6 month stats to come on Friday!

In It for the Long Haul

Lugging around a giant baby is murder on your back. Justin has outgrown the sling and the front carrier. With plenty of carrying ahead of us, I went on the search for a new carrier. I found this Scootababy hip carrier online and was able to try it on at a local store. It sure wasn't cheap, but it's awesome!

Same but Different

Here is a "same outfit" pic of Luke and Justin. Yep, the jammies are the same. What's different? Well, Luke was 11 months old in this picture and Justin is not quite 6 months.

Half-Yellow Belt

About ten days ago, Luke tested for his half-yellow belt at his martial arts school. It was pretty intense. There was a table with Master Circle and another examiner. Luke tested with two other children and two adults. They each performed their skills individually and recited their terminology. Luke broke his first real board. Matt and I were so proud of him. Tonight was the belt ceremony. It was a bit challenging with Michael and Justin there, but I managed to get a couple snippets of video. Here he is right after Master Circle tied the new belt on.

Michael's Soccer

On Mondays, Michael has started taking a soccer class through Columbus Parks and Rec. It was only $10 for five weeks of class! It's a half hour long (perfect for me and Justin) and is indoors. Michael is the smallest in the class, but he's doing good and he's having so much fun.

Michael's First Day of School

Michael finally started preschool today, even if it was only for an hour. Tomorrow, he'll go for the whole time. He's going Tues/Wed/Thurs afternoons and is in a 3/4 split class, so he'll be with some older kids, which should be fine. His teachers seem nice and one of them said she had already heard good things about Michael from his 2's teacher. Here are the requisite big rock pictures. His backpack is gigantic. Today it held a plastic caterpillar and a stuffed hippo (yes it is standing on 4 feet).

Justin eats.

Please don't call Social Services on us--I'm pretty sure 5-month-olds shouldn't be eating gnocchi.

Apple Picking

On Friday, I took Michael and Justin to Lynd's Fruit Farm to pick Honeycrisp apples. Apparently, Honeycrisps are highly desirable, so I suggested to some of my mommy friends that we should all meet up there. Little did I realize that every person in Ohio would be out picking apples that morning. It was absolutely insane. All I could think of was the episode of the Simpsons where they create Tomacco (a cross between tomatoes and tobacco) and everyone goes crazy trying to get it. Somehow, though, we all found each other. We picked 20lbs of apples and then went to Granville for lunch before dashing back to Clintonville to pick up Luke.

Look at Generation Next of the playgroup: Michael, Justin, Joseph, Charlie and Matthew.

24 Crayons

Luke's first scholastic achievement of the year--we got a note sent home today that Luke can read all of his color words! Therefore, he is now allowed to bring a box of 24 crayons to school to replace his box of 8. It only took him eight days of school to learn them. Pretty cool!

Renaissance Festival 2010

We had a blessedly cool day yesterday with temps in the 60s, so we decided to hit the opening day of the Renaissance Festival. The boys decided to dress up and bring swords this year.
You can see Luke's new bow and arrows in this shot. Michael got the same thing. Then, they were brats on the drive home and had them confiscated! Not sure when they'll actually get to play with them.

Chillin in the Living Room

Here are a few random pics from the last week or so. Luke is very into holding and carrying Justin these days. I think he got the idea from watching Daniela. Justin's certainly not complaining and neither am I, but I'm kind of glad Michael doesn't seem to have the same interest.