A real life mothra

Check out this moth Ethan found in our backyard the other day. Five inches across.


Our backyard is a wild and woolly place these days, with mice, snakes, frogs, rabbits, deer, and now five inch wide moths. If we didn't constantly mow the grass and keep the animals at bay, nature would probably reclaim our house in a few short weeks.

Backwards

Emma likes to dress herself these days. If we put her clothes on her, she'll take them all off and redress herself (in the same outfit), just to show us how independent she is. So she often wears her clothes backwards as a result:

(At least she got the pants on right in this photo!)

Happy birthday to Andrew

Excuse the belated posting--it's been a busy week.

Andrew had a very happy birthday. Although the cake failed to fatten him up, he continues to grow vertically. Shirts that were too big for him just a few weeks ago now fit just right. (The boys are shirtless in this photo because they had been eating their shirt collars--it's a weird genetic disorder that unfortunately was passed from both sides of the family.) He is looking forward to his official birthday party with friends in the coming weeks. Happy birthday dude!

Hide and Seek

Emma, where are you hiding?

14 year old pianist

Check out this video of an amazing 14 year old pianist at the TED conference. The video is long--if you don't watch the whole thing, fast forward to 16:40 where she improvises. Amazing.

The end is near

The enormous box of "Flavor Ice" we bought a few months ago is almost empty, which must mean summer is about to end.

Watch out Chuck Norris

Andrew posted a video of himself breaking a board. Check out the blog entry here.

Shakers

An interesting article about the last four remaining Shakers.

For Grandma

Emma still likes lunch. This version is much better than the last.

Indiana State Fair

After the boys got back from school today we went to the 150th Annual Indiana State Fair. We saw lots of animals, we ate ice cream and cotton candy, and we went on fun rides.

We have a vanilla kid, a chocolate kid, and a strawberry kid. What will Sophie be?

Emma petting a baby pig. Does she look excited? She was very excited.

Ethan petting a horse.

Emma on her favorite ride, the carousel (for her second time).

Parker Farm. We raise dorset sheep.

We also posted a video of the slide ride here.

Our kindergartner

Ethan started school today, and all of a sudden looks a lot older. He even rides the bus!

Everybody was kung fu fighting

Earning their keep

We had them paint in their skivvies so they wouldn't ruin any of their clothes. They actually did a pretty good job, and it was a lot more fun than painting with water!

My name is Superman and I'm here to help.

En pointe

"En pointe" is French for "that's gotta hurt." I've put photos of Emma walking like a ballerina on the blog before, but they never seem to convey the skill involved. So here's a video.

Fish genes

Pink faces and sweaty heads. The photo doesn't do it justice, but the looks on their faces say it all.

A free trip anywhere in the world

This couple won a trip anywhere in the world. Anywhere. They chose to stay at a hotel four miles from their home, in their hometown of Birmingham, because that's the place where they stayed on their honeymoon in 1952. Sappy.

I think I would have chosen something else.

Death from above

Ginger: 2
Me: 5

The pointed shovel, it turns out, works better than the flat one.

Our yard is being taken over by field mice. We would let them stay if they didn't like to tear up the grass so much.

The next phase in our war against the rodents is poison. The store has all types of interesting tools for killing yard rodents. If the poison doesn't work, I want to try the smoke bombs. Battle of the Somme right in our backyard, complete with trenches and poison gas.

EVERYONE PANIC.

Our Homeowners Association sends out some pretty funny emails. This one is the best in a while, though. I love that it's all in caps:

ATTENTION ALL VILLAGE RESIDENTS:

THERE IS A TYPE OF AFRICAN SERVAL CAT ON THE LOOSE IN THE VILLAGE. IT IS A SAVANNAH CAT, THO DOMESTIC, IT IS VERY SCARY LOOKING.

IT LOOKS LIKE A BOBCAT, WE HAVE ATTACHED A PICTURE THAT WE RETRIEVED OFF OF THE INTERNET. THIS CAT WAS SPOTTED YESTERDAY IN THE WOODS NEXT TO THE TENNIS COURTS AT XXXX AND AGAIN THIS MORNING IN THE XXXX AREA.

WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THIS CAT’S NAME IS SHEEBA. SHE IS DECLAWED AND HARMELSS, JUST VERY SCARED. SHEEBA’S OWNER LIVES IN XXXX. IF YOU SEE THE CAT, PLEASE CALL US HERE AT THE OWNER’S ASSOCIATION XXX-XXXX OR ANIMAL CONTROL AT XXX-XXXX.

Little League World Series

An interesting article about a Utah Little League team in the western regional tournament that is refusing to play on Sunday.

By popular demand

Emma likes lunch. If you or someone you love likes Barbie and the Magic Pegasus, you may recognize this.