mowing.

One of Linc's favorite activites is helping dad mow the lawn. He sees Matt get his "mowing shoes" on and gets all excited. I finally snapped a picture of him with his mower. We got the mower for $3 at a garage sale last year and it's easily the most used toy in our house. Linc loves it. Note that he mows the sidewalk as it's much easier to push the mower on the sidewalk than on the grass.

I will surely bring this picture out when Lincoln is old enough to use the real mower to ensure that his love of mowing stays alive. I can see it now...Matt sitting on the patio with a beer and a smile while he watches Linc mow the lawn.

the pee pee park.

Here goes a story on the funny-while-at-the-same-time-frustrating side of parenting. When you finish reading, you'll be thankful that this post is not accompanied by pics.

Football season has begun so Sundays in our house consist of Matt & Mark shouting at the Lions and making all sorts of comments at the tv. I enjoy this tradition (don’t tell the guys that), but I also like to get out of the house as I can only take so much football. So, on Sunday Yia Yia and I took the kids to the park for a little escape and energy release. Things went well at park #1. Cassie got to swing which always makes her happy. Linc played on every available piece of equipment, aside from the spinny merry-go-round thing that was packed with kids. As an adult, I can’t stand those things though I do recall thoroughly enjoying them as a kid. I will let Linc enjoy it when he’s big enough to do it on his own. I can’t throw him on it now and spin him around because the act of having to watch the thing spin makes me want to puke.

I digress…

We had used all of the equipment at park #1 and decided to go to another park since we had some time on our hands. I knew in my mind that it was time for a potty break and told Linc as much on the drive to park #2. As soon as we got to the park, though, he ran over to the first climber he could find. He proceeded to climb on a monkey bar-like thing, I look over and what do I see? A drizzle of pee streaming down his leg and down to the ground like a waterfall. My mom can see my blood boiling and tells me not to yell at him. "He's just a little boy", she says. Yes, but this little boy has been doing so great with potty stuff since he was 2 1/2. He's now over 3 and has regressed in the last month. I'm sure there's some psychological thing that's going on that I should know about. I'm sure I'm reacting all wrong to any accidents. A parent never seems to handle things properly. I need Supernany to give me some advice or something. Anyway, I got Linc changed as he was very worried that I didn't have extra clothes for him. Ultimately, everyone played and all was fine, but mom was disappointed in her little boy because she knows he has the potty thing down pat in his mind. Me thinks he is just too headstrong sometimes.

I have even started a sticker chart for him at home and he gets to put a smiley on it for every accident-free day. Five stickers in a row = a new book or a special treat! So far, we have no new books or special treats in the house. Boo hoo.

To sum this story up, park #2 has been dubbed the "pee pee park". Linc called it that this morning. It cracked me up, though I didn't let him see that because all I need is for my kid to say he wants to go to the "pee pee park" to play. Really, I'm trying to remember that this is small stuff and not to sweat it.

Speaking of sweating it...I pick the kids up from school today and immediately Linc starts disobeying me by running into the parking lot. He knows that he's not supposed to be in the parking lot or street without an adult. This kid is obstinate I tell you! We have a big talk about his behavior as soon as we get home. I think the majority of our talk went over his head though as his main concern was getting dinosaur fruit snacks before dinner! Then while I was making dinner, Linc was sitting on the couch and Cassie was standing up holding on to the couch practicing her standing skills. Somehow Linc "accidentally" kicked Cassie in the face and knocked her down. Linc goes straight to time out, I sweep Cassie up to make sure she's ok, which, of course, she is because she seems to be pretty tough unlike her big brother. Meanwhile the spaghetti is boiling over, Cassie starts to fuss because she's hungry, and Linc is still crying in timeout. At this point, I had only been home from work for an hour. Happy Monday to me. By bedtime, though, this stuff all became small stuff when Linc gave me the best bedtime hug I've ever received. This kid isn't a super big huggy person, but the bigger he gets, the better his hugs get. He wrapped his little arms around me so tightly that my eyes welled up with tears. A beautiful close to this Monday.

mitchell family day.

After planning for more than a year -- my pregnancy got in the way last year --we finally had a professional family photo taken of the entire Mitchell clan. We are all done having kids (at least that's the plan) and thought it appropriate to do a family pic. This way Yia Yia & Papou can replace the pic from 1992 that hangs above their couch - phew! Our family has changed so much and we're all looking forward to seeing the photo proofs. With 7 kids in the pic, it'll surely be interesting to see how they came out. I shall keep you all posted.

In the meantime, here is a scan of the old family photo for reference. What I remember most about this photo is that the day after this I was rushed to the hospital with a ruptured appendix and spent a week in the hospital! Glad we were all smiles before that happened...

We all got some individual family photos while we were there as well. While Jeff's family got their pics done, I took some pics of Riley, Sam, Zoe, and Lincoln. Here's one of 'em.

And then to pass the time, I got them started playing Simon Says as you can see in the pic below Simon told everyone to stand on one leg.

And this is one of Linc just looking free as a bird.

After the photo shoot, we headed back to Yia Yia & Papou's house for pizza and family fun. The September weather was gorgeous so we got to play outside. Below is a shot of Linc playing ladder golf for the first time.

And finally, here's one of Linc looking very natural with a nice smile. Toward the end of the family picture thang, I fear that his smiles were forced. A mom can only hope that he looks cute and natural like this in the big family pic!

preschool!

Linc had his first official day of Preschool on Sept. 8. Since he's been in daycare since he was a wee one this doesn't represent much of a change in his daily routine, but he did get to move up to a new room -- in the big kid hallway! And he is happy to be back with his friends Jake & Isabel after they returned from summer vacation (their parents are teachers). This week he is getting to know his new teachers, some new friends, and the classroom rules, which, hopefully, he will follow. Here are his first day mug shots...

'09 summer rewind

Really...it's September already? I am trying to consciously stop to smell the roses on a daily basis yet the time still gets away from me. Below are some pics of August/early Sept. happenings with the munchkins.

Here we have me doing one of my photo shoots on the front lawn. I like to pretend that I have a good camera and that I know how to take cool pics. I know, dream on. Anyway, I thought this one of Linc kissing Cass turned out kinda cute.

Next up is Linc riding his Radio Flyer bike. Like any kid, he loves going on bike rides. We're still at the point where we walk while he rides but it won't be long before we'll need to get our bikes in working order so that we can ride along with our little speed demon. Well, ok, he's really not a speed demon. He's more of a "let's stop and watch the lawnmower/dog/person/bird/airplane kind of bike rider".

And where do we ride bikes you may ask? To the playground, of course, so we can play on the green climber! The climber that everyone spent tons of $$ on for his birthday isn't good enough because it's just in our backyard - booring. It's so much better when it's at the park/old school in our neighborhood. Below are some playground pics.

Climbing the rock wall...

Staring into space...

Dad zipping down the zip line...

Posing with dad...

Cassie can't get enough of being on a swing. It makes her so happy.

A favorite summertime activity for us is swimming in Uncle John's pool. Linc took his first swim class this summer and did pretty well. Next summer we'll aim for him to be swimming on par with Michael Phelps. For now, he's doing pretty well with the water wings, well, as long as you don't pressure him to get in the water. He likes to do things on his own terms. Can you say stubborn redhead with a 6/6/06 bday?

Cassie loves the water. Here she is chillin on the deck after being in the pool.

As if we don't spend enough time in the pool at Uncle John's or at the Rec Center, Linc decided it'd be a good idea to run through the sprinklers at our neighbors house...while fully clothed, of course. Good times.

As the summer winds down and fall approaches, we decided that Labor Day weekend would be a good time to head to the cider mill.

These pics crack me up. Why we make our kids stick their heads through these cut-outs is beyond me, but it's funny as heck to me to see those little faces poking through (especially Cassie's since she has no idea what we're making her do!).

Linc on the big, wooden tractor.

Daddy and daughter at the mill.

And finally, we took a nice walk through Mill Race Village in Northville.

I just love how kids always feel the urge to jump off of steps. Here's Linc in action.