earthworks

I was reading an article yesterday when I was interrupted by the sound of chopping coming from the backyard.

"Look, Mommy!" Ibra gleefully shouted, "I am cutting the grass for you! We are making a house - for me and Suma - and I am doing it!"

Something about the way he was wielding his wiffle-bat, combined with the chopping noise from a moment ago, raised a small flag....so I went to investigate.

Here's what I found:

Ibra: See how I cut the grass for you? I cut it good!
Me: Um. Yes. If you were in Uganda and were helping to cut the grass, I'd say you did a great job. But at our house in America, we should probably not use the bat to cut grass anymore.
Ibra: Why?
Me: Well, it's a little short...and you know, Daddy's job is to cut the grass for us. With the lawn mower. Remember like Uncle Charles used the tractor to cut grass? Like that, only smaller (*as you can tell, the lack of rain - and therefore, lack of grass growth - has made us forget a few things), and he pushes it.
Ibra: Ohhh, ok.... well, I guess we should just build the house this way then!

country life

This summer has been a crazy one for us, with the loss of two grandmothers and daddy out of town for a few weeks (SO glad he's back!) - but in the midst of all of that, we were able to go to Plano to visit my aunt and uncle while Andrew attended a conference. One of the days that we were there, we went out to their land. The kids had so much fun!

When we first got there, we walked around the property to check on their pecan trees. There is a dog out there who liked to walk around with us as well, and the kids did really well with him around. I'm always amazed to see the growth in them in this area - from crawling on top of our heads at the sight of a dog to standing/walking calmly beside one...great job, kiddos!

After that, Uncle Charles needed to do some mowing around the lake, and the kids were eager to help. Ibra was content to sit with his hands on the wheel while Suma tried driving the tractor herself. (When Uncle Charles told me that, I thought, "Yep...that sounds about right...")

After the work was done, we spent the rest of the morning fishing. The kids had been looking forward to going fishing for weeks, so they could hardly wait when we finally got out the poles and baited the hooks. They both did really well, and it held their attention for a good 60 - 90 minutes. Ibra learned to cast the line and loved it. He cast and reeled in, cast and reeled in, cast and reeled in, cast and reeled in.... sounds like we have a bass fisherman on our hands. He could have stayed out there all day, regardless of the sun or the heat or a growling tummy. Suma was content to look at the water and do tricky things like "fish with one hand". When that was done, she showed us how she could fish with no hands. Funny girl. :)

Aunt Shirley and I cheered from the sidelines. (And that is Suma fishing with no hands.)

After we picked up the rods, we took a quick walk to say hi to the family up the way. In some ways, I think it reminded the kids a lot of Uganda - they had turkeys and chickens roaming around the back yard, and some pigs, dogs and even a donkey penned around the house! Their little girl is about Suma's age, and she loved showing us around. We learned the names of the animals and get to pet some of them. The kids weren't sure what to make of the donkey when they heard him making noise, but when they found out that they could ride him - well! They wanted to take him at a full gallop down the road and maybe get one for our house as well.

Thank you, Aunt Shirley and Uncle Charles! We had lots of fun and loved getting to see you!

kitchen fun

Cookies? What you are doing in there? You are ready?

Tough guy faces (after sustaining their first bicycle injuries)

Shall we take it from the top?

Drum session casualty...followed shortly thereafter by the red bowl and a wooden spoon

Mommy, I need a chair so I can drum more!