Made With Love

 Zane is learning the art of estimation. :-)

 His hands are freezing from the cold sausage and hamburger.

Just a reminder that there is love in doing things for those we love.

Ness was a bullfrog. A very good friend of mine.

Vanessa caught us a bullfrog tadpole on a recent visit to Battelle Darby Creek. We played in the creek for so long, finding our way out on one of the islands and tucked away from everyone else. It was awesome. So much wildlife and perfect weather for creekin. Since Vanessa caught the bullfrog for us, she named him Ness, after her. 

We decided he is a male, unless we discover otherwise. Based our determination of size (males are smaller and heads are narrower), coloring (males tend to be lighter in color with a yellow throat) and size of eyes in relationship to his tympanums (his tympanums are larger than his eyes) all things seem to point to male.

We'll attempt to raise him until he has legs. He likes spinach, and flaked hard boiled yolks, and pellets we got from the aquarium store. When we release him, we'll try not to do what we did with tadpoles we raised when Vanessa was a preschooler -- we dumped them into a pond full of Koi fish, which swooped right up and swallowed them all! Good lesson in the life cycle . . . I suppose . . . :-)

See the black dragonfly? They were everywhere!

As we were wrapping up and talking about heading back up, Hendrix said "We lost from the city. We find our way back to city."

 And when all was said and done, down at the creek, Vanessa and Zane were so kind to fix the swing a teen wrapped around the top bar . . .

Raise the Roof

We're anxiously awaiting for the roof to be raised. We were hoping to have it finished already, but with any construction . . . :-) As we've cleaned things out, it's hard to believe that is was 9 years ago, while Daddy was in Canada, that Vanessa and I tackled painting this room for Zane. Where has the time gone?! And when I think about it like that, I'm impressed at how well the carpet and wall paint has held up with a busy and creative boy.

Fishin' for Memories

We were all blessed to spend an afternoon with Grandpa Jim, just after his 93rd birthday and on Father's Day weekend. Thanks to Aunt Jenni's dad and Sandy for sharing his space for us all to gather. And to Uncle Andy and Aunt Jenni for helping to host while including fun rides on the Gator and paddle boat. Grandpa and Grandma brought special treats. And Aunts Sally and Angie brought the star of the show. What a perfect day of memories you all will remember forever.

Slipping In

The weather is not ideal lately, but we're finding our moments. Some days are crazier than others but other days are slower and calmer. Hendrix is much more guarded this year -- almost too! But this makes the days better and easier to take him along every chance we get. He still asks a lot about the big slides but accepts after much reassurance that he's not tall enough yet. 

He's only had one meltdown at the pool but calmed down pretty quickly. I sort of asked for it when giving the kids and their friends longer and longer time there and with him not napping these days. At the end of last summer he swam the full width of the pool, trying to get to the slide and with his swim vest on. He's working back up to that again, and I'll encourage it when the temp and water are warmer and I can brave following him into deeper water. Baby steps, even for the kid that's not really a baby anymore.

Hendrix Gab and Finding Connections

Hendrix has been given the gift of gab. His stories go on and on and are often fast paced which sometimes makes it hard to catch all he's saying, especially when his smile is so out of control that he's just smiling and talking a hundred miles an hour. 

Interestingly we happened to run into an old friend in the most random spot last week. She was so out of place (not in Florida like she's supposed to be) that I was so confused and wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I was secretly pregnant with Hendrix last time we saw her. Even so, you would think Hendrix has known her forever. He gabbed and gabbed and gabbed that I suggested if she was tired of trying to understand and keep up, it was okay for her to disengage. :-) 

Around the same time Hendrix painted the following picture and ran over to me to tell me all about it. Here's a basic documentation of the story, although I couldn't type fast enough and didn't get it all.

"See spaceship. 3, 2, 1, blastoff and it goes way up, up and high in sky, goes in tree...breaks and falls and Pato comes out. Push red button and blocks make house. Tell him bye bye, Pato. And a big big snake...sssss...now make him blue and give him black...and a BIG snake...AWWWWwwww...watch out Pato!"

Hendrix "wrote" the below after church on Sunday. While he was writing I suggested he practice writing his name. It's rotated one way and then he rotated it the other way. This way he said "It's Hank and here Hendrix. Me Hendrix." I see both! Do you? [Hint: In this orientation, "Hank" is right side up at top, and "Hendrix" is upside down.] :-)

And when we went to visit his Pappaw's grave, we pulled in and he looked around and asked "Oh. Roblox. We play Roblox?" Not sure what Roblox game reminds him of a cemetery and rows of headstones, but he often calls Minecraft Roblox too, and anything that has blocked letter and lots of pixel art. He loves to build in Minescraft and has created some very impressive structures.

I also loved that even though I missed taking a picture yesterday, he chose a dress up shirt for church and said it is blue like Daddy's. When I repeated it back to him, while I buttoned him, he said "No. This is Hendrix's shirt, not Daddy's."

Wrap It Up Already

Final kickball game with outgoing 5th graders. They've always included Zane in their group. He's a fierce player and catches the kicked ball to get an out. I witnessed him pitch and catch several in just the time I was there. He gets it from me. ;-)

What a busy wrap up! From showing up for class parties and Lunch on the Lawn when Zane asks, but remaining invisible while girls chase him and he runs off to play with his buddies, to Vanessa having swim parties, class BBQs and final 6th grade band concerts, we were exhausted. Vanessa was ready for summer but emotionally drained by the end of the last day. Zane and I went back to Avery at the end of the day, just so he could give Mrs. Boyden a more proper goodbye. 

And then after a few of Vanessa's friends asked her to go hang out and get ice cream, she changed her mind to just decompress at home. Her friends don't always get why she craves and needs alone time, but I'm thankful Vanessa is figuring out how to check out to take care of herself.

Mollohans Celebrating Rachel!

This was our 5th Mollohan high school graduate of this generation. It's always a special time to get together to celebrate our loved ones. Hard to believe Rachel graduated. I remember her arrival like it was yesterday. Proud of her! Thanks to Diane for helping us prioritize pictures of the kids in attendance. We always miss the ones that can't be with us but know our lives are getting busier and fuller.

Zane's Nerf War

This is Zane's idea of an awesome time. We're still finding Nerf bullets in bushes and under things. :-) I think we ended up losing a couple to the mower too. No mercy was shown to Mom. And Hendrix decided he could take us all out. Zane had good strategy and took me out a few times. What a fun time!

And when it was all over. We chomped down some yummy ice cream cones.