Coming down

 

In front of our house once stood two (on their way to being giant) oak trees. The landlord had it set in his mind that these oaks were the cause of $4000 worth of foundation trouble. It is possible. So while he was here to check on our broken A/C he contracted for the trees to be removed.

 

 The hispanics doing the work wasted no time. They got the whole thing done in about an hour. Farewell acorns. Farewell leaf piles. Farewell shade. Farewell birds and squirrels.

 I don't have a front shot on this camera. I think Dan took it on his phone instead. But here is our front yard now bare.
Which also brings us to two boys on their first day of school!

 The usual picture with Dad before school. Dan walked them to school and to their classrooms. I didn't ask if Dan was the only parent in 4th grade.

 Alex is sitting to the left with Mr Forte at the front.

 Ryan is a big first grader this year.

Looking sharp in Mrs Ziegler's class. Oh boy, I hope she isn't too hard on him for forgetting everything he learned last year. Love this kid!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

 Our Macey girl has turned 3! And she loves Thomas the Tank engine. Good morning, sunshine.

 Playing with new track with big brothers.

 Having a birthday chat with Grandma June.

 Playing with Hello Kitty building blocks (with brothers again. Are you seeing a theme here?)

 Macey's new porceline doll from Grandma K and Rick.

 I had plans for a Thomas pool party with her two best friends, but due to many circumstances I won't relate here, we eneded up meeting with friends at Chuck E Cheese instead.

 I thought an August birthday called for a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. Turns out the kids were just as happy with the homemade cupcakes. So much for being 'cool'.

 Yummy!

 The DeLucias, Sumners and Contreras played with us.

 Macey would not get in the BFF picture. She was getting a little tired by the end.

We took home the presents (and the D's) for opening. The kids (ie the boys) had a fantastic time with Macey's new toys. A happy and wonderful day for our little girl.

August news

 This month we went to pick up Ryan's artwork. These are the 2 finished pieces. First, a plate.

 Second, glass fusion. He glued pieces of colored glass to a clear glass square. The pieces 'fuse' into art once it comes out of the kiln. Very cool.

 Ryan is very proud of his artwork. He has 3 more items going into the kiln. There were clay pieces that had to fired before they could be painted. He painted them on this trip, but next trip he'll get to take them home.

 I was bored waiting for the kids somewhere and was checking out some photos on my phone that I never downloaded. Most of you have seen my vintage phone, so you can understand the poor quality of these pictures. Above are Julianne and Alex holding the 'Go Team Goodyear' banner we used at the Triathlon many moons ago!

 This is a more recent pictue of Ryan holding a shark specimen.

 Yes, it was stinky!

Lastly this picture are the two best friends. We showed up the park with matching girls one day. Such cuties.
News for the month: I had high hopes of doing nothing the last 2 weeks before school started. Alas, we have games and practices, and a birthday party, and shopping, so it isn't relaxing. But I have let the boys drop their mom-work for the most part and Alex isn't having piano lessons (although I am encouraging him to practice for his Sept recital).
Friday Alex went to play at a friends, Dan and Macey had a date, and I took Ryan and his friend to a water park. All had a good time. I like having my kids around. I'll miss having them all the time after school starts, but I know that they will be in good hands learning a good deal more about the world than I can teach them.