My superheroes

It is very important for ninjas and Captain Americas to eat lots of snacks to keep up their strength.

Super Zane in his super b-day present.

Just before Zane fell on his head...

Theo and Zane

Zane's birthday

Zane 's birthday is today. He is a big three year old. We had a multi-birthday celebration on Saturday evening, as Theo and Jerome both have birthdays around the same time.

Zane had a great time and loved all his presents.

A boy and his bear

I need to wake up Karsten from his nap so we can walk over one block to the fair to join Gunnar and his kindergarten class. Kinda hard to disturb such a cutie, all cuddled up next to Buhner the Bear that he got for his birthday.

The carrot

Have I mentioned I hate potty training? Signe was a drawn-out nightmare. Gunnar was somewhat better. But this remains, for me, a dreaded parenting task. I am a wimp. And if you have any notion of the mushy horrors that Zane produces, you might also live in fear of any accidents he might have. But I take a deep breath and step forward boldly, hoping I can use his sweet tooth to my advantage. He watched with great interest while I made this chart this morning. Let's hope it works.

Big brother, lil brother.

Camping out

Gunnar, Signe and Zane are snoozing together outside right now in the fort on this chilly 47 degree Labor Day eve. They are surrounded by blanketed walls to feel cozy (our yard can be a scary place in the dark, you know). This is after we dined in our neighbor's backyard on roasted hot dogs and marshmallows warmed in their fire pit. It isn't camping, exactly, but sadly is as close as we're going to get this summer. Which is waning all to quickly. The colder evenings attest to fall's imminent arrival. I need lots and lots of hot weather in the summer to psychologically carry me though months of Idaho's subfreezing winters.