The needle went in deep

Last fall, Juniper created some sculpey art inspired by James and the Giant Peach.

The giant peach being speared by the spire of the Empire State Building. She came up with the toothpick idea all on her own.

The biggest nerd I know

This evening while Aaron was putting the girls to bed, Juniper came out in tears that she wasn't getting to do her Bedtime Math problem. As Juniper explained it, she and Aaron had a "misunderstanding" about whether Juniper was helping Hazel with her problem, or doing Hazel's problem for her. I was predisposed to be sympathetic to Juniper because Aaron and I had just finished a conversation about how this year's new school schedule leaves her with appallingly little free time during the week.

Juniper (tearfully pleading): Maybe tomorrow, if we have some extra time, I can do my problem from today?

Sally: If you get ready quickly in the morning, you can absolutely do your bedtime math problem in the morning.

Juniper (still crying, but now somewhat hopeful): I know, maybe on Saturday, when I don't have to get ready, I'll have time to catch up! I can do all my problems on Saturday.

Sally: Honey, Dad and I were just talking about plans for Saturday. You can do whatever you want on Saturday. If you want to do math problems, you can do lots of math problems. If you want to go to Fernbank [the science museum], we can go to Fernbank. If you want to do both, we can do both. You're going to get to pick what we do on Saturday.

Juniper (post-cry whimpering): I wanna do both. I wanna do math problems and go to Fernbank on Saturday.

On the way out of the room, she spotted a new game Aaron's company is developing and added board games to her plan for the weekend.

Lake Jackson

Last month, we spent a day at a co-worker's lake house. Both girls had a great time.

 Juniper was especially enthusiastic about getting to jump off the dock--over and over and over...

Tired Henry

In case you aren't sure, he did actually fall asleep like that.

And was not happy to be awakened.

Happy Birthday, Aaron

Juniper wanted to get Aaron a crown-decorating kit for his birthday, but she settled for party hats and decorating supplies. Hazel's gift: chocolate. 

First day of school

Today was the girls' first day of the new school year.

Juniper is now in first grade.

 No big changes for Hazel. She is at the same preschool, which has a mixed-age class. Same teachers, same room, (mostly) same kids. But an exciting new playground with a slide that dumps into a sand pit.

If you would like to engage in the nostalgic ritual of observing how big they've gotten, you can start here. 

Silly picture...with cherry tomatoes!

Ladybugs!

I think perhaps we should make the container of 1,500 ladybugs an annual tradition, even if we don't have an aphid problem next summer.

We're back!

It's been a fun and busy summer. We went swimming in the Clarkston pool (lots) and at Lake Jackson (once), took a Honeycutt family vacation to Chattanooga, celebrated birthdays (Aaron and Sally), slept late, read good books, hung out with friends, got mosquito bites, marveled at lightning bugs, ate cherry tomatoes from our own garden and ice cream from just about every establishment anywhere nearby, played board games, got fed up with one another, built giant block towers, made up and snuggled with one another, ran in the sprinkler, went for hikes, hid in the house because it was too darn hot (or rainy), participated in the library summer reading program, argued about the application of sunscreen (but avoided sunburn), and enjoyed lots of lazy days together.

You'll see photos of some of these things in future blog posts, but much of what made our summer so fun were the low-key days that no one thought to photograph. Hope you enjoyed your summer too.