Fun Times with the Eggs

There are some things that happen every day at our house. Like, for example, Matthew snacking on cheerios (in the morning) or goldfish (in the afternoon) while standing next to the couch:


A significant amount of Matthew's playtime is spent in front of our front window. Either sitting on the windowsill:


Looking out the window, removing pictures off the table, getting handprints on the window:


Or standing on the windowsill:






He also loves spending time looking at books. His latest obsession involves taking all the Little Golden Books, along with a couple dozen other books, off the shelf in his room. Then he'll read among the huge pile of books. He is not satisfied unless the floor is covered with books.


Occasionally he branches out and clears out other bookshelves around the house. Last night, we went to Barnes & Noble and I had to restrain him from doing this in the childrens' book section of the store.

We celebrated Scott's birthday a week ago. He requested a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.


We had a dinner for him on his birthday with his parents and my sister and her family.








After the party, Matthew was playing with some of the gift cards Scott received. We later discovered them here:




Normally the trash can is just on the other side of the gate. Luckily, the gift cards didn't land in the trash can. I've since moved the trash can further away from the baby gate, and its a good thing because Matthew now regularly throws toys, blankets, socks, shoes, books, etc. over that gate.

Last weekend, the Elders' Quorum in our ward held a pinewood derby. Here's Scott with his car.


It didn't win any prizes for speed, but it was loaded with style!

Yesterday, Matthew had loads of fun running around the backyard with his friends Jeremiah and Daniel:


And, finally, my favorite thing that Matthew has learned lately is how to do all the actions to "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" - although he often freezes up when I try to video him. Here's the best video I've captured so far:

The Latest

Well actually, "the latest" encompasses a lot since we've had so much going on lately. I hardly know where to start. Maybe I'll work my way backwards.

This past weekend we had our house painted. It has needed it at least since we moved in 18 months ago. Here's what it looked like then:


On Thursday, the painters came and did the prep work on the house - it looked pretty sad after that:


Matthew and I enjoyed watching Scott taking pictures of the house through the back windows:


On Saturday, the painting commenced and - about nine hours later - it looked like this:




We are so happy with how it turned out. It's weird not to drive up and see all the old paint chipping away (weird in an awesome way).

Two weeks ago, we had a family reunion with Scott's family, which was a lot of fun. Matthew got to spend some quality time with his cousin, Grace. We took them to visit Grandma Egg at work:


And they went for a swim in the pool:






It was a little tricky for Grace, since she hasn't mastered sitting up on her own yet. She managed to stay in place for a few pictures, but she was not very happy after getting "dunked" in the water.

We left the kids with Scott's parents one night and went to an A's game with Marc and Katie:




We also had my parents in town during the time Scott's family was here, so we had plenty of fun things to do that week. My parents were watching my sister's kids so we went over to their house a lot and went to the library and played games. Unfortunately, I don't think I took any pictures of their stay except this picture of Matthew one day after we visited them:


At the beginning of August, we went to the zoo with Matthew's cousins. They were, as usual, very sweet with him.






I couldn't resist including this picture of Nick. I can't help smiling when I see it!


So those are some of the major events that have made August a fun month around here. Our church responsibilities have also made our lives interesting. In the past month, both Scott and I have received new callings. I was asked to be one of the early-morning seminary teachers for our ward and Scott was called as Elders Quorum president. It took a few weeks for the shock to wear off. :) Seminary started today, but the other teacher is teaching today and tomorrow so my first day is Wednesday.

And I saved the best for last:

Swimming!

Today we had a fun day swimming at Grandma's house. She bought a fun little pool just Matthew's size, a hat to match his swimsuit, and some cool sunglasses. He was all ready for some fun in the water!

A Few Pictures from our Family Campout

Grandpa Egg's wish to have a fellow gardener in the family may come true. Yesterday I took Matthew in the backyard, and he immediately gravitated to the flowers. He stood there touching them for several minutes.


Matthew is learning new things all the time. Here he is practicing the "S" sound:

Both our computer and Matthew caught a virus about a week ago, and I think we have finally gotten things back to normal. Actually, things were pretty much normal by Tuesday, but it took me a few extra days to figure out how to get the Internet up and running again.

Look how sick this little face looks:


Before the illness struck, Matthew had fun playing with some of the toys he inherited from his cousin Nick


and he also got a hold of my copy of the Master Tax Guide:


If he ends up becoming an accountant like his parents than this picture will be gold!

Last Saturday we had a fun outing to see our cousin Matt play in the CCS championship baseball game and WIN! Our little Matthew got ready for the game by trying on his dad's baseball cap:





We also had a mini "Lane Day" celebration yesterday. Lane is my oldest nephew - almost 15. We heard that his friends at school decided to have Lane Day by dressing like him - plaid shorts and long socks. Here was our attempt to join in:


I love Matthew's expression here:



We're glad to be back on the Internet! Hopefully no more viruses come our way!

Bathtime and Peek-A-Boo

Matthew and Scott find out what life would be like with facial hair:



And Matthew thinks peek-a-boo is SO hilarious:



I like how he picks out a book to read: