A fun June

For Jo's birthday this year Tracy n Martha gave her a creative pancake making kit.  We finally had a wonderful down time day at home so Jo and I decided to see what we could do with pancake batter.

The goal?  A monkey!

First: Cooking all the parts.

Second: Assembly.

And voilá!  A Monkey!!!

Cole and Oma wanted eggs and bacon for dinner so Jo and I made them all out of pancake batter.

Both were quite surprised at this. (yes, all pancakes)

The book also showed an awesome lion pancake so we made that too.

What a fun evening we had.

We also learned that eating a meal this way does take quite a long time but well worth the fun.

What do you do with waffles that have been left in the oven for, oh...one week?  Ok, maybe it was two weeks? (The oven wasn't on)

Jo maked bird feeders out of them!

And then she was hoping that if she sat very still a bird might come and eat out of her hands.

Well, if we didn't have all the outside activity, and then there is Doug...ok, it's not going to happen.  However, her dreaming is a wonderful thing to watch.

Backyard baseball.

Summer looks bright!

Baseball

Cole's team has done a fair job this season ending the regular season with a loss but it was a very close game against the #1 team.

Oma became the hitting coach and worked with the boys before every game.

Cole became quiet a bit more serious this season wanting his team to be more serious as well.  He is always cheering his team mates at bat and watching the game when others are visiting and catching bugs.  He is much more focused.

I had the pleasure of making the team trading cards again this year.

I sure enjoy doing graphics.

Cole & Piano

He is learning to play the piano this summer as the kids now have back to back lessons.  Cole Strings class this past school year has taught him quite a lot about music so he has been able to jump right into some of the music.

Watching him concentrate on playing is interesting.  His whole body moves about like his brain is having an argument with his body to sit still and play.  I think piano is going to be a great thing for him.  He is having to sit and concentrate, play the pieces over and over and slow down reading each note.  Quite opposite of how he does his school work. Fast, once and moving onto recess/PE or another social activity.  Yes, I think piano may just help him in school.