new blogger interface ISSUES

Okay, I need help. Blogger has been toying with this "new blogger interface" which looks really nice, but isn't as functional as it could be. I have having a very frustrating time getting my pictures to stay where I want them when I post. I also can't seem to get my text to stay in it's place either... If any of this makes sense to you, please tell me how to do this! Blogger announced that they are changing the interface to this new way PERMANENTLY in the next month. Right now I am cheating by using the "old interface" while I stall can... Help. Please.

windy day

Grandma and the kiddies on the fortress. It was windy, so Lullaby preferred to be held and wrapped up. :)  Hawken was up to his usual car hoarding techniques, and Matix was busy sending things - usually cars - down the slide.

story time

This was a nightly occurrence. The boys begged Grandma to tell them a story (and another and another) each night before bed. She told them The 3 Little Pigs, Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood and others like that. The boys hung on every sentence and repeated the details (in case Grandma forgot) like "then Goldilocks fell and baby bear's chair broke all to pieces", rather than "and the chair broke."

Pure heaven. The boys miss you telling them stories face to face, Skype just doesn't cut it sometimes. :)

group shot

Attempt at getting a sibling picture on a day with all kids looking cute #1:

Hmmm... attempt #2:

Okay, let's try doing one with Grandma Stacy:

There were a few more with Stacy but I think that one turned out pretty cute. There are none with all three kids looking at the camera. There are none with everyone smiling either. So this will have to do. :)

day at the park

This day was full of fun, ordinary fun. After naps, we were off to the park. The kids all had a blast, even though it was crazy busy this day. Playground + large grass area to run + Grandma + sticks = perfect day.

When you tuck a stick into your pants it means it becomes a sword to fight bad guys. The boys used to call them "ships" instead of swords because a part in The Little Mermaid" where one sailor gestures using his sword, he says something about the ship. They didn't know what a sword was and figured that must be what they were talking about... Clever, but wrong. :) They called swords ships (and still do on occasion) for quite a while - months.

Water bottle heaven for Lullaby and Hawken. Lullaby always wants to get Hawken's water bottle, and Hawken was always trying to get grandma's BIG one.

The day finished with a backyard picnic. The boys got McDonald's and Lullaby got baby food peaches. Yum.

sweet boy

Close ups of the big boy. That sweet little Matix man...

He is so busy and so wild and so wonderful all at the same time. He is sensitive and caring and feisty and goofy. He always has food on his face and dirt under his nails. He always has a plan.

Matix, I love you BIG.

purple flowers

One of the trees that hangs over into our back yard is covered in vines. In the winter, when we moved here, we assumed the tree had probably been chocked out by the vines and was dead. The vines didn't look very good either. To our surprise, the vines started flowering. Brilliant purple flowers were growing in little clusters everywhere. It was so beautiful.

They blossomed and fell, leaving tiny green leaves all in a matter of weeks. While they were in full bloom, Hawken was obsessed with picking them, even though most of them grew just out of his reach. As you can see by this picture of him climbing the fence, he was very determined.

After the flowers all fell, not only the vines grew leaves, but the tree began to put on it's leaves too. It isn't dead at all. Hooray! Our yard is perfectly shaded 90% of the day. I love it here. I love it here. I love it here... Have it said it enough?

inchworms

Some of the trees here dropped these little green worms... Weird, I know. It only happened for a week or two, but Hawken was amazed, and in love, and sooooo excited to go outside each day. They hung down from spiderweb-like strings and inch wormed their way around on the ground. Hawk could spot them a mile away, hanging in midair still.

Stone Mountain

When I was little we had visited Stone Mountain on a vacation and I really loved it. We live only a few minutes from there so I thought the boys might like it too. When we got there, it was even cooler than I had remembered. There was a little town with glass blowing demonstrations, and other fun things. The boys mostly liked running around in the open spaces.

The trees were flowering and the grounds were gorgeous.

Matix found a little caterpillar and loved holding it and talking to it.

Brother's picture, probably my favorite ever.

Exploring in the woods, always a favorite.

Showing off his muscles... Hawken man.

I love this picture of Matix. Dirty fingernails, crazy hair, crooked smile growl at the camera...

Lullaby spent most of the time chewing on things... teething, of course.

Stacy bought us a parking pass so we can go there anytime we want. There is another pass that you can get to do some of the additional activities there, which we don't have yet, but we really love it there, so maybe we will get that... Either way, we are super thankful for our parking pass so we can go whenever we want. Hooray!