It's Back!

Will created a company a year or two ago called Will Factory. Hence his blog, http://www.willfactory.blogspot.com/. Recently he decided to cease Will Factory operations and founded a new company, Flan Company (http://www.flanco.webs.com/). He can be very single-minded when dreaming up ideas and plans for his companies.

One sleepy night, after I read, tucked him in and was walking out, he sat upright in bed. "Mama!"

"Yes?"

"Our slogan is going to be 'The F Is Back'."

"Hmmm... OK, honey. Goodnight."

Evan - 10 months

First Day of School

School started back on August 11. We were all excited to start back! Sophie was particularly excited to start kindergarten and go to school with Will.

Brrr!

The very best time to have your kids in ice-skating lessons is the middle of the hot, hot Tennessee summer. Although it seems a little eccentric to keep snowboots in the back of your car at all times, they feel a lot better than flipflops inside the rink! Here is Sophie at one of her early lessons, back in July.
After renting skating for a while, Sophie's sweet cousin Zoe (with lots of help from her mom, I'm sure!) sent us her outgrown skates. Sophie was just a bit excited to have her own skates:

What a goofball!

We're still continuing the lessons this Fall. Sophie is getting to be a pretty good little skater, and Will has graduated to hockey lessons.

Summer Trip

This summer, we got to spend a few days in Gatlinburg with Uncle Dan, Aunt Katie, Nate and Norah, as well as Uncle Dan's family, who very generously shared their place with us.

An Enticing Path

To encourage Evan to crawl, Will and Sophie set up a path of his very favorite things - remote controls.

Evan - 9 months

Here are some pictures of Evan from July, when he was 9 months old.

It's in the details

Will and Sophie were squabbling on the way to camp today.

Will (very mean, growling voice): "Stop doing that or you're going to be sorry, missy!"

I crack up. "Missy???"

Sophie (to Will - this is a game we play and use to break tension/whininess/faking): Don't smile!

Will: {smiles}

Sophie: You smiled! You smiled!

Will: Yeah, but it was an evil smile!

Bettering the World (While Turning a Tidy Profit)

As we pass our neighborhood "party" store...

Will: When Will Factory becomes a real company, they're going to sell tons and tons of liquor. Then, once they put all the liquor stores out of business, they're going to stop!

Brewer Before

Here are a few pictures of Andy's other new project, Brewer. It is going to get a second story addition!

Will Being Will

This was posted outside Will's classroom at school:

And this is just one of his many, many electrical applications:

Whispering Hills III - Before

Andy is in the midst of our third house on Whispering Hills. Here are some before pictures:

Detecting a Pattern

This is a sweet paper I will always treasure. I would like to think that at the end, the interview suddenly turned into a game of Mad Libs, wherein "sleeping" just happened to be the random verb I was "so good at". However, the fact that almost every sweet adjective is checked in the boxes to the right, EXCEPT "craftsy" (which I must concede) and "energetic" makes it hard to deny his intent.

Underwater Fun

An underwater camera is a lot of fun (although it does require some discretion, and it is generally not terribly flattering, especially to me adults)!

Sophie mid-jump:

Our friend Keagan with Will

Daddy's Other Helper

Here is Sophie on a day that she spent a few hours as Daddy's helper at Whispering Hills 3. What a lucky guy!

Beach

Here are a couple of pictures of Sophie and her friend Ava jumping the waves. We had a great time with two other "friend-families" this year.

Evan - 8 months

Evan continues to excel at babyhood and being adored. He is pretty confident that no one out there is immune to his charms.

As I am writing this (on June 28), he is just a few days shy of 9 months, but he is not very mobile yet. He is pretty content to play wherever you put him, and will gladly eat paper and tape if he has the opportunity. His other hobbies include beating on things, beating things together, being carried around, watching older siblings act the fool, and slurping on pizza crust. It's good to be Evan.

G.O.A.L.

The Nashville Predators sponsor an awesome Intro to Hockey program called G.O.A.L. (Get Out And Learn) that is totally free. We were lucky enough to get Will signed up, and he just finished his four sessions. He shows a natural aptitude for hockey and skating. We think his skiing experience helps.

Kraft

Will is holding a Kraft single.

"Mom, isn't this fake cheese?"

"Well... not really. We call it fake cheese, but it's pretty much real. It's just... processed."

"But isn't Kraft a fake brand?"

"No, they make a lot of real cheese and other stuff."

"Well, why would do they call themselves Kraft? It sounds like they are making things to be like other things."

Will's Kindergarten Graduation

A few pictures from Will's kindergarten graduation...

Will Update

Just a couple of cute pictures of my big boy. I'm very proud of his sweet heart, his smart brain and his passion and intensity.

"How To Plant A Sid (Seed):

You Pot It In The Grond.

You Wotr (Water) It.

You Tac Car (Take Care) Of It.

Vin (Then) You Injoy It."