This just cracks me up

So, we got this damage to our roof and siding from a storm in August. Ever since, we've had the joy of working with insurance companies, mortgage companies, and contractors. Our on-again-off-again contractors have been working on our siding off and on (and on and off) for the past week. I decided to document the stripping of my house with pictures. As I headed to the backyard to take a picture, I spied something that didn't belong on the back of my house:

I don't have a lovely telephoto lens (I am limited to the point-and-shoot variety of camera), but I'm sure you can try to make out what has been etched into the walls of my house by some wise-cracking worker from long ago...just look near the peak of the roof...yes, it says: DRUGS! The guys told me maybe I wouldn't want a picture of that...but it just cracked me up! They told me that they would cover it up and soon as they could, because we wouldn't want the neighbors to get the wrong idea...or ring the doorbell looking for me to hook them up.

The Perfect Autumn Evening

Tonight we had so much fun raking up the leaves and sliding down into them. It was such a beautiful night. I know evenings like this will be very few and far between in the coming weeks. Robert says they are forecasting snow this week!

Our beautiful maple shed most of its leaves this morning. It's been getting down to freezing the past few nights. This morning the leaves just fell one after another!

Kevin was so funny tonight. He was trying so hard to climb up the slide (like his brothers), and when that didn't work, he worked and worked at going up the ladder and then going back down the ladder. And don't you dare try to stop him or help him! He has quite the stubborn streak. Makes me wonder what we are in for as he gets older!

Visit to the Apple Orchard

We visited a local apple orchard last Saturday...it was a beautiful day! You can't see it in the pictures, but we were being attacked by lady bugs (or maybe Japanese beetles...not sure how to tell which is which). We've since eaten all of our apples and made several loaves of apple bread. I love autumn! And I love apples.

The Soundstairs at the Science Museum

I'm trying out posting video. Unfortunately, I don't have any way to edit video on my archaic computer, so sorry if it's too long or boring...you don't have to watch it! (I'm thinking I need a Mac now...but those old PC habits die hard!)

This is at the Science Museum...the boys were having a blast going up and down these stairs that play a note each time you step on them. We spent almost the entire day at the museum and saw tons of exhibits, but Ethan kept saying, "Can we go back to the Soundstairs now?" (Translation: "I'm done with learning about refracting light...I want to run around and make noise!") We tried making harmonies, but couldn't coordinate it well enough. Guess we'll have to figure out a way to install these at our house so we can practice.

An Evening at the Children's Museum

We had a great time at the Children's Museum with some friends. The kids have been off school all week so we have been taking advantage of all the great museums around here. It's been very "Seattle-esque" this week...lots of clouds and sporadic, and sometimes torrential, rain showers. The downside is that they couldn't work on re-siding our house (we got some wind damage from a storm the end of August), so we have to wait until we get a nice dry day. I'll post pictures of what is sure to be a very exciting ordeal once they start.
We finally heard from my parents in Australia...it had been almost 3 weeks since we had heard from them. I was ready to post "Have you seen these people?" on my blog. Now we know that they are doing well and working hard. We're so proud of them!

Build-a-Bear for Kevin

Trevor and Ethan made a Build-a-Bear for Kevin for his birthday. They picked it out and put two little hearts inside (with a kiss and wish from each of them) and helped fill it with stuffing. Kevin loves his bear and gives it hugs all of the time! We decided that he can name it later on.

Kevin's 1st Birthday

Here is a slide show with pictures from Kevin's 1st birthday. I made a bathtub cake because one of Kevin's favorite things to do is take a bath! He gets very excited whenever he hears the water running. The other day he nearly climbed in with all of his clothes still on! We had a fun time and he really enjoyed the cake. He also got into opening his presents. Can't believe he's 1 already!

Guilt Blogging

Someone has added me to their blog list (Thanks a lot, Stacey), and since I'm quite sure her blog is well-trafficked, I am now compelled to finally add something to my blog.

I've hit a few road bumps in my effort to blog, or to "exist" in cyberspace, but I am determined to fight my way through it. I apologize early for the crudeness of my layout...I'm sure it will become more e-sophisticated as I learn the ropes. Sadly, my computer lacks the necessary software to make beautiful headers and things of that nature. Maybe when we buy our new computer...we are having the age-old Mac vs. PC debate. Where do you fall in that debate? I'd love to hear.

Here are some recent pics of the kids:
That's Kevin in a big box of big Legos,
Trevor with brownies that he baked all by himself (very tasty!),
Kevin on his airplane that he got for his 1st birthday (Robert is training him early),
and Ethan on his last day of soccer (so proud of his purple jersey)