Skater boy

The skate board has made it's way out of hiding. When he turned two, Mr. Snack got a super cool skate board for his b-day from super cool cousin Harley. But given the fact that my Snackie was still just a baby (at least in my eyes), I kept it tucked away for a while - only emerging at rare times, only to be used on the carpet...and only in a sitting position! Then we took our annual pilgrimage to Utah again this past August, and again out came the Long Boards and of course Snackie and Harley could never get enough of them! So I resolved that maybe the boy is ready to be...a boy (with the proper safety gear of course!). Suddenly he's not a toddler anymore, he's ready for action all the time now, climbing crazy things, zooming out of control on his big wheel, and wanting to ride his skate board...every day....first thing in the morning...before bathroom visits...before breakfast...before getting dressed...before we're even AWAKE! But dang, ain't he cute.

Snackie demonstrates his best skateboarding "trick"...a head stand...sans skateboard! :)

Pumpkin patch kids

Snackie & Baby O chat about life and pumpkin patches, and the weather (yes it's still dang hot here in Texas!)

I had be pretty quick with the camera to catch these two in such sweet poses...pumpkin patches are just too much fun to be slowed down by taking pictures!

Snack & his buddies had a blast together bouncing and running and wrestling and laughing.

(we only had one kid fall off the 4 foot high hay bales...I'd say that's not too shabby!)

Mama had some fun too, it's always nice to get out and about with the kids (and the moms!). Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to work on my back flips this year...sorry to disappoint you all.

To Kill a Fish

When I was growing up our cats would often show their love for us by leaving lovely little treasures of dead mice or birds on our doorstep. And although we were entirely repulsed by the sight of these gifts, they brought a certain degree of happiness with them in knowing that we really were appreciated. This pretty much describes the way I felt when this beauty showed up on my doorstep, courtesy of a neighbor we do adore. My reaction was a sore sight, according to Bryce, because my son now believes that fish are the cause of all that is evil in the world. And it may well be true! What you're looking at is a real, live, genuine, bottom feeding Texas Catfish -sitting on (what used to be) my lovely cutting board. And I do mean live. Not only was I disgusted by a fish about to be gutted in my kitchen, but I was entirely distressed by the fact that it was still moving...and suffering...however small it's brain is. I begged Bryce to put it out of it's misery quickly - which is the only reason I didn't take the time to set up a gutting station OUTSIDE. I removed Snackie from the room (the tasks of "hunting and gathering" will likely not exist in the LaughAtme household...we simply enjoy our weekly grocery store outings too much, so seeing daddy kill a fish at age 3 would probably only instill fear in the boy), and poor Bryce set to the awful task of killing and gutting the fish. And of course...then eating the fish. I am certain that it will disappoint many of you (ahem...Chewy) to know that I do not enjoy eating fish, but the first and last time I tried catfish I found it similar to slurping pond scum through a straw - something I generally try to avoid doing. So, no, I did not partake. Nor did I partake of the lovely soup our friends offered when they invited us over for dinner later that evening. And just watching as everyone "fished" tiny little bones out of their mouths as they ate, reinforced my decision.

So...just in case y'all were feeling a desire to share some love, just know that I do prefer Chocolate & Toffee cookies over catfish any day.

a little smooch anyone?