First days
Well, it finally happened. We drove to school yesterday morning and left BOTH boys there. Wow. They were so excited with their lunch boxes and back packs. In fact, Evan was so excited packing his lunch Tuesday morning, that he pretty much packed his lunch as well as Ben’s and Grayson’s! Wednesday morning, Grayson packed his own, thank you very much. 
They came home clamboring to be the first to tell me about their day. Evan said, “This was the best day of school ever!” Grayson couldn’t really tell me much about what they did, but he was feeling good and ready to go again the next day.
They decided on matching shirts at the last minute.
All loaded down and feeling good!
We tried to catch the expression, but couldn’t quite. Here we are almost to Grayson’s classroom and he was so excited!
Crepe Myrtle
The boys and I have been noticing the blossoming crepe myrtle trees around town and the different colors they display. After seeing some in a parking lot that were a beautiful shade of red, I said, “I think the dark red ones are my favorites!”
Grayson: I know which ones you should like the best.
Andrea: Which ones?
Grayson: The ones growing in your yard!
Andrea: You are so right.
A green lawn mower
About a month ago, I got a new lawn mower. I hadn’t really thought much about electric mowers, perhaps believing they wouldn’t have enough power or a long battery life. But really, I just didn’t know much about them. But I got interested, and checked models available online. I read that an Earthwise model has a strong 24Volt battery (lasts an hour), and so does a WORX model. It takes me about an hour to mow the yard, so it began to seem plausible that an electric mower could work for me.
I didn’t want to get something like this online if possible; I wanted to find someone who would sell it from their shop and, more importantly, would stand behind it with service if I needed that later. I called through a list of W-S and Triad garden centers, then I called Sedgefield Lawn & Garden Center in Jamestown (map). They do sell electric mowers. They had models in their shop for me to look at, from Earthwise and from WORX. They have a local distributor for both brands. I chose the WORX mower because it is lighter and I felt better about its quality and the ease of getting it serviced as needed. They kept the mower to assemble it and charged the battery, and the boys and I picked it up the following Saturday. Sedgefield even mailed me a card that week thanking me for my business!
Now for the best part: in the past, I generally had headaches, burning eyes and sneezing fits whenever I mowed, no matter the season. Maybe it’s not so surprising. But since using this mower which doesn’t spew exhaust in front of me for the hour it takes to mow the yard, I haven’t had any of those symptoms and it’s also much much quieter. And it has plenty of power and more than enough charge to last for my yard-mowing. The removable battery charges easily overnight. It makes mowing a pleasure!
Blueberries!
This past weekend, we drove up to Ashe County to our favorite patch to pick blueberries. It is a good drive from Winston, but also a good excuse to visit with family. My granny lives about five minutes away and we picnic with her after getting the berries and before driving home.
First picks
This year, we set up three square foot gardens. Two are 4X4 and one is 3X3. We planted some early seeds about a month ago: spinach, lettuce, carrots, chard and peas. This past Sunday night, we harvested our first baby spinach!!
Grayson has been keeping a close watch on these leaves and was convinced it was time to bring some in. We showed him how to pinch off the leaves, and he went right to work.
I was very excited that we would have such fresh leaves for our green breakfast smoothie the next morning.
Aren’t they beautiful? 
Five already?
It just doesn’t seem possible, but Grayson turned five a couple of weeks ago. He’ll be in kindergarten this fall! It seems like he has always been a part of our family. Here are some current highlights on our littlest one:
Favorite color: red
Favorite snack: apple slices with peanut butter
Spends time: building with legos, kapla blocks, Lincoln Logs, exploring EVERYTHING outside, gardening (even dries his own seeds and keeps them to plant!)
Favorite books: Franklin books and The Berenstein Bears
Often walks/skips when out and about. Likes to talk when Evan is trying to fall asleep at night and drive his older brother to distraction. Still shy enough to hide behind me when people we meet speak to him. Speaks in similies “I’m as full as a mouse!” Greets almost every breakfast smoothie with “This is the yummiest yummiest smoothie in the whole whole world!!”
Makes us smile…
Grayson always asks for a birthday cake and then doesn’t eat it. This go-around, he has a strawberry “cake” and he ate every single bite!
Grandma and Grandpa Robert got Grayson a lego pirate ship for his birthday! He was practically jumping off the walls in excitement. He has put more than half of it together himself, but now he is ready for some of his dad’s help.
My dad came with his family to visit us and to celebrate Grayson’s birthday! Here we are with his other grandsons Josh on the left and Brandon on the right. It was nice for everyone to have time to visit.
One gift that arrived in the mail and caused a lot of excitement was Grayson’s very own cookbook from his Aunt Katie. It is called Pretend Soup and is just right for a preschooler, with simple pictures showing each step. Our first choice was the oatmeal recipe. Yummy!
Hippie Day
The elementary school has been having spirit Fridays this month. Today is hippie day!
Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger
The Three Weissmanns of Westport
Beatrice and Virgil
Making the Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat
Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2)
The Ambiguity Advantage: What Great Leaders Are Great At
The Complete Book of Pilates for Men: The Lifetime Plan for Strength, Power & Peak Performance
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
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