I have so much to tell you

• Ruth knocked somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 seconds off her backstroke at her meet on Saturday, and received a nice time improvement ribbon at practice yesterday, which thrilled her to no end.
• Max has a new tooth and isn't shy about using it. He bit me on the shoulder yesterday and left a bruise.
• Weston is officially 3 1/2, as of yesterday. We celebrated with donuts for breakfast and McDonald's for lunch, and a few little items off his wish list: gumballs, a brown lollipop and, of course, eyeballs. We are still waiting for his custom-made giraffe t-shirt with a red "W" on the back to arrive.
• Max has learned how to climb out of his crib and has been moved into his pack-and-play until he figures out how to scale that one, which won't be long. He is also working on perfecting his climbing of other things. He has been found, in the last few days, standing on his dresser, sitting on the patio table, in the sink in his bathroom, up on the counter-height dining table, jumping on his brother's tall cargo bed, and up on the playscape--both at our house and the park.
• I have been buying and using coffee implements like a crazy woman. First, a variety of flavored coffees. Then, a new (cutie red) coffee maker to replace the (boring white) one I broke. And, finally, a coffee grinder. Today, I even went so far as to make my own frozen coffee drink--not even to be sociable, but just because I wanted it.
• We were able to get our van into the mechanic yesterday and also bring it home fixed on the very same day.
• The story time lady at the library somehow got the impression that a video can count as a story if it is loosely based on a well-known children's story. (Don't get me started on the completely ridiculous message of said video).
• We will be finishing up our first year of homeschool tomorrow.
• Ruth is turning 7 on Friday.
• Both sides of the family (including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and even a great-aunt and uncle) will be here over the weekend to celebrate Ruth's birthday and to watch her swim.