Shenanigans

If eating food prepared by Jose Marty could be a full time job, not only would I be amazing at it, but I would probably be the CEO. I got to show thousands of strangers my true devotion to IPro BBQ this weekend by pushing it like crack at the Washington Food & Entertainment Expo this past weekend.

Jessica and I toiled like dogs setting up, being charming & coy, batting our eyelashes and enticing all to try our samples and then - duh - buy the amazing BBQ rubs of IPro. We did really well!...and I rewarded myself by eating roughly 7 lbs of chicken. Hey, you really have to believe in your product in order to sell it properly!

Check out www.iprobbq.com for amazing rubs, smokers and recipes. They're great stocking stuffers and the men in your life will love them!....crap, it's like I'm a record. I cannot stop.

Today, the boys started their solo swim lessons. Dylan took to the water like a champ all the while saying, "water safety is so cool!" He is so safety conscious and cautious though thoroughly enjoys himself.

This lunatic....good Lord. Can you feel his excitement through the picture?

Most of the pool could hear Sawyer screaming at his teacher, "I'MASEALION" roughly 88x in a row. At least we could always locate him.

I also think this could be my new favorite picture of all time.....

H-Ween 2009

Ah, Halloween. That glorious holiday in which my children squeeze their Schmutte noggins and chubby thighs into sweaty polyester and run rampant through our neighborhood banging on doors like Mormons on a mission. We went with Elliana the Cat & Luccas the Chicken (Nicholas & Frankie had dubbed us 'uncool' & split). Pushing a stoller filled with beer - oh, and Lo the Ladybug - a good time was had by all.

After a few years of brotherhood, the boys finally realized a plus side to having a sibling close in age - sharing costumes! Buzz became Batman and Batman became....wait, what were we talking about? I'm currently eating all the kids' candy. Sorry.

Next up: Lo's first Thanksgiving & Christmas! Sawyer will probably want to wear the Buzz Lightyear outfit for those occasions. Could NOT get him out of that thing.

CONGRATULATIONS!

This weekend, Lo & I traveled to the far away land of Florida to see Uncle Brendan graduate from Explosive Ordnance Disposal school. It was quite amazing as this is a feat accomplished by a very small percentage of people in the world.

Meemaw, Bucket, Logan, Amy & myself were in attendance when Brendan received his diploma, and we got to meet many of his fellow classmates.

Your dedication and hard work paid off, Brother, and it was humbling to see you receive the recognition you very much deserve. You are a leader and a patriot, and our pride runneth over.

Parenting....

It's not that hard.

Hmmmm.....

Think any guy is ever going to have even a slim chance of getting close to Lo?

Growing Little Weeds....Uhhh, That Came Out Wrong

We had Back to School night this week, and boy - did we get an earful! Dad attended to represent the family, while Mama stayed at home and made a scrumptious dinner of culinary delights - grilled cheese and mac & cheese (it had been a long day). You can email me your personal, judgemental comments. Not in front of the children, please.

First up was Dylan's classroom. The teachers wanted to walk the parents through the child's day so Dada got to partake in doing the Weather Bear and even managed to bust out some yoga moves (Pat swears he tore his pancreas). We were told that Dylan is very good listener (seriously?) and the teachers rely on him as a class leader. That I can understand as Dylan is already a decorated Colonel in the Jenkins Child & Canine Army. He is also known for being a great independent player and not letting anyone dictate what he can & can not do. Wait, this is a good thing? I am sensing some serious Afterschool Program moments in our future.

This lunatic....well, he has improved so much in the last 2 months. Sawyer has gone from potential Temper Tantrum King to Mr. Social Butterfly. Toss in his ability to be very compassionate with his classmates (his teachers said he is always there to say "good job!" to his pals) & his polite manners (where are those at home?!), and our pride runneth over. We are still not sure where he gets this, but Sawyer adores being loud, crazy and a foaming-at-the-mouth mic-grabbing animal. I hear stories that my Grandma Otto was quite the scene stealer. Other than that, Sawyer's penchant for social domination remains a mystery.

So Pretty Pants didn't get a back to school review at Miss Natalie's but we are proud of her, anyway. She is doing her best to crawl! We've witnessed a few inches of textbook crawling annnnnd some odd butt scooting and a lot of rolling around (which ends up in a dog hair coated child). She is the cuddliest little thing and lights up any room...even her own at 4am when she decides it's Chatting Time. Her likes include: flashy outfits, Cheerios and shoving her fist in her mouth. Dislikes: being ignored & beige clothes.

We are very proud of all of our tots!

Hello, September

We bid adieu to August and welcome September and it's beautiful weather! Aw, who am I kidding? Bring on September because I can tolerate the cooler winds while I sit on my deck and drink beer while my sons dig up my flower beds. Let's keep it real.

We have enjoyed many visits from Elliana and Luccas. Elliana is always the Best Big Sister Ever and likes to feed and hold Logan. I can't wait until Elli is 7 years old because she can babysit then, right? That's legal, right?

The boys have enjoyed their summer program at school and now face a seriously hard academic year filled with yoga, pinecone birdfeeders and letters that start with 'p'. I think we're screwed because I asked Sawyer how old he was this week and he said, "S". Well, hell.

On a financial note, maybe it's best that summer is almost over....as Dylan has worn out the toes of his Croc shoes (oh, Meemaw.....) and Sawyer keeps wearing his Robin belt everywhere (oh, therapy.....).