Pride Rock

It was so good to hear from Brent and Ashley. I have to ask though, was that picture of the ocean just to make us jealous? It worked Brent dear.

I wanted to record the game that is being played out at our house as of late. It goes something like this:

Luke stacks all the couch cushions on the love seat and then climbs to the top and announces that this is Pride Rock and that he is Mufasa. He then barks out orders for the hyenas (me) and baby Simba (Noah).

Here he is letting us know what our jobs are. Mainly, I am supposed to listen to him call me names and tell me not to take over the pride lands.

Noah's job is to climb to the top of pride rock and take "his rightful place" as king.

Noah always does his best. Unfortunately, he has no sense of balance. This results in the hyenas (yes, I have to play multiple characters) having to pick him up and comfort him after he falls on the ascent.

The game usually ends when Luke, I mean Mufasa, captures me in the milk crate cage behind him.

The funny thing about this game is that it has probably been a year since Luke has seen Lion King. We have seen many, and I mean many variations on this game since that time though. I hope you are all engaged in similar adventures at your house.

The Crandal's

Hi Everybody!

Ashley and I wanted to check in, let everyone know how we're doing and that we miss the Donaldson family! The pictures are from a camping trip Ashley and I took with some friends to Big Sur, on the central coast of California last week. My brother Tyler also came.

As far as an update, Ashley has a few more courses with her Nursing program here in San Diego and should be an R.N. in October. When she finishes, she'd like to work in labor and delivery. She's a little baby crazy but we're trying to hold off a little longer (to be honest I'm pretty anxious to be a dad too).

I just finished my second year in my Clinical Psych program and there are 3 years left of mainly internship and dissertation work. In the Fall, I'll start my second internship through Children's Hospital here in San Diego. I'm really excited to finally work with families/kids again.

Hope you're all doing well! It's nice to see your faces on the blog. You all look so healthy and happy. I sure do miss the Sunday afternoons at the Donaldson home. I would imagine I'm not the only one, with the family somewhat spread out these days. Thanks for letting Ashley and I keep in touch with you all through the blog. It's nice to be able to check in every now and then, read about what's going on, and see how active Luke is. Congratulations with your graduation Meg!

Me miss you all,

Brent & Ashley

handsome

Saturday morning snapshots

Is there anything cuter than Saturday morning boys in their p.j.'s wrestling in mom and dad's bed?

p.s. don't you just adore the round little checks on that baby?

seven months and proud of it

You have to be careful with these little ones. You blink and they are already seven months old.

close calls

It has been a week of close calls for us. Here is how things went down:

Monday: We are on a walk with a friend at lunch time. My children are "safely" buckled into the stroller. I hear rustling in the branches above my head. I look up and see about seven squirrels fighting and screaming at each other. One falls out of the trees a few feet in front of the stroller and my babies. I didn't know squirrels could fall. Let me tell you, the sound of a large rodent hitting the asphalt is not a pleasant one.
Tuesday: I am sitting inside with the boys reading books before nap time. The porch door was open and I hear a splitting and crashing sound. I look out back and this is what I see.
I had noticed about a week ago that this limb was looking dead and scary. I told Nat about it and he and Doug tried to get it down in Saturday before Luke's party. They were unable to get it down but assured me that it wasn't going anywhere.
Wednesday: Luke was invited to join a play group at one of the area schools. We arrive and start playing with the other children. After about five minutes the principal comes running to the door and informs us that she is locking down the school and that we need to take a walk off school property for at least a half and hour. It all turned out okay. There had been a suspicious man in one of the bathrooms and the police came and took care of it. The leader of the playgroup kept telling me that this never happens. I should have told her it was just the way that our week was going.
Thursday morning: I am with my running partner on our way to the gym. We run underneath a patch of trees on the bike path, hear rustling in the tree and she looks up to see a squirrel falling out of the tree and aimed right at her head. We both jump out of the way and hear that splat of a rodent hitting the pavement again. Creepy.
Thursday afternoon: The porch door was open again and the boys and I are enjoying a really nice cross breeze. Then I hear a crash and the sound of breaking glass. I look out on the porch and see that three of our votive holders have fallen and broken in the wind-- glass is everywhere. This is my child's play space.

Do we believe in guardian angels?

at the park

Blowin' Bubbles

Naptime Reflections

I almost always blog at naptime. It's the one time in the day that things are calm, I can sit for a few minutes, check my email, and look at pictures. It's refreshing.

Today Noah is helping me and the refreshment factor is not as present because I have a baby pulling himself up on me. That's right, standing on my lap as I type this. Where does time go?

Farmer Luke's Party

Luke's second birthday party was a circus theme. He had requested a lion cake and we took it from there and had a cute birthday circus. At last year's party he told me that he wanted a cow cake for this year-- where does a two year old get the idea to ask for a cow cake? This request gave birth to this year's farm theme.

Here's the cow. I was pleased with the way that it turned out.

Pushing the wagon around the yard turned out to be one of the favorite games.

We made cute little necklaces with farm animal beads and their names.

Ivy especially loved the necklace making. She has quite an attention span for anything crafty-- Whitney's girl for sure. (When I first looked at this picture I did a double take because it looked a little like Justin wasn't wearing a shirt-- he is, rest assured.)

Sticker farm scenes

Luke ate half the watermelon himself.

This is what Hank did during the party.

We dressed Noah up as a horse (remember his Halloween costume?) he was a-dor-a-ble, crawling around eating grass.

We had a great day for the party. Perfect weather, good food, and wonderful company. Thanks to everyone for coming. A special thanks to Justin, Whitney, Ivy and sweet little Hank for making the long trek. A HUGE thank you to Grandma Barb and Grandpa Doug for all your help-- we absolutely couldn't have done it without you.

watching the diggers

There was excitement on our street yesterday morning while I was gone. The city came and dug up our neighbor's front yard to do something to the water line. The three boys parked themselves out front and watched the diggers. I was sad to miss such a thrill but glad that Nat took the boys out to watch and, like a good blogging husband, took pictures. I love being the mother (and wife) of young (and old) boys who find this type of thing thrilling.