Haircuts

I don't remember haircuts being quite like this when I was a kid...

Melts my heart

That little face just melts my heart. And makes me ashamed that I don't take more pictures like this to remember it by. He cracks me up with that fake little piranha like smile where he wrinkles his nose. He gets that from me. It's my evil laugh face. I didn't realize it for the longest time, but it's a mirror image.

And the way he laughs - whole heartedly. Deep belly laughs that are contagious. And the two of them together - like this morning. They were eating their second breakfast while I was sitting in the living room and Kevin had wandered off to do something. We heard the laughing. First one, then the other. Some people say you should be worried when it gets quiet. This morning when we heard the laughs we both came running. The deep maniacal laughs from one, followed by real laughter from the other. It is always a sign that they are up to something. And they were. But the laughter was just so contagious we couldn't help but smile and laugh along with them. My cheeks hurt from all the smiles and laughter we have shared today.

POP

Full disclosure and all - technically this photo was taken on Sunday, and not even by me. I of course would have taken a better picture to begin with so it wouldn't have needed, ahem, help. Ha! But I was running around corraling children while taking random snapshots with a borrowed point and shoot thanks to a whole comedy of errors. DH was responsible for the pictures, which if you actually knew us would probably be rather amusing... :)

So here's what I started with:

And for comparison purposes here's the original with no changes other than being cropped.

And thanks to my Photo Editing class and 2 minutes worth of work (seriously - I did a dozen or so trying it all out so I didn't spend a whole lot of time on any one in particular) here's what I learned how to do. Ummm... Yeah. Wow. :)

The very bad no good day

He is an accident looking for a place to happen. And it's been one thing after another today. He jumped off the couch slipped on something in the floor and crashed head first into the moulding around the fireplace. Connor 0, Eggs 1. Then after kissing the wrong spot on his poor little concussed head we took him to a restaurant and let him and his brother run around on the benches where you are supposed to sit. It's a long story and is only half as negligent as it sounds, but it should come as no surprise that he crashed in slow motion face first onto the cold, hard, tile of the restaurant floor probably banging a table on the way down for a double whammy. Connor 0, Eggs 2. So if 2 giant eggs on his head weren't enough for one day we then encouraged him to play soccer in the backyard. All we know of incident 3 is that there was a ball involved, and a big brother. One second everyone was chasing the ball, and the next Daddy was sorting out limbs and calling a medical time out. Connor ended up with a bloody nose. Connor 0, Bad Day 3.

Alligator Tamer

The Alligator Tamer

Meet Alli. Alli was buried in the bottom of an Easter plush bin at Sams. What Alligators and Easter have to do with one another is beyond me, but as soon as I saw Alli I knew I had to have her. I mean the boys had to have her. Yeah that's it. So I plopped her up over the edge of the cart like she was trying to escape and eye level with the 3ft tall set and wheeled her all over the store terrorizing the unsuspecting victims along the way.


And if I am ever lost in the jungle this is the child I want to take with me. The one that jumped on top of the alligator and wrestled it until it stopped fighting back then grabbed hold of it's tail and hauled it away like a sack of potatoes. Not the one that walked right by a 5ft long alligator and never even noticed it was there. And then we he did ran screaming for his life and hid behind his father.

Happy Birthday!

Day 57: Happy Birthday to me!

Or maybe more appropriately titled "I don't need no stinkin fork!" It was the boys' 2nd birthday today. They enjoyed their cow cakes. Connor particularly liked the M&M's and plucked one of the eyes off first. Before long he dug in face first. He eventually did take advantage of the fork, but that wasn't nearly as cute. :)

Heart Attack

Day 37 - Heart Attack

I am fairly certain that my children are trying to do me in. I know they are getting so big. There is no need for them to do death defying stunts like climbing up crazy ladders while I close my eyes and hold my breath to prove it.

Storytime

Day 32 - Storytime

It was a big day for the boys. Today was Connor's 1st day in the big kid class. He was so excited when we put his bag on the hook and took his coat off. He finally got to stay. I didn't realize how badly he wanted to be in the new class until that moment. He was so excited.

When I picked the boys up typical of our 1st day luck Connor had an incident report. Apparently during his first ever trip to the potty he fell into the toilet hitting his cheek on the seat on his way down. Poor kiddo.

The boys also got new bags just like all the other big kids. They are nice backpacks. On the way out of the building I had been carrying Ryan and then put him down to walk. He hadn't quite gotten his balance when I let go and with the weight of the bag tipped backwards off the curb and landed on his rear end out in the drive way. He looked stunned like he had no idea how it happened.

When we got home they were both excited to carry their bags into the house. Just before dinner I read the boys a couple of books and before heading into the kitchen I helped Connor into the reading chair with a book. A minute later Ryan scrambled up with his bus and sat down beside Connor listening as Connor "read" the book aloud. They were so cute sitting there together.

Shopping with Mom

Day 16 - Shopping with Mom

I love spending time with the boys one-on-one even if it's just a trip to the grocery store. And it is a totally different expereince between taking one of them somewhere and taking them both. I really treasure the time I get to spend with them on trips like this. Today I ended up taking Connor to WalMart and then later taking Ryan to Costco to finish up our shopping.

Dinosaurs

Day 15 - Dinosaurs

We got the boys this dinosaur last Christmas. Needless to say they were a little too little for it then, but we recently pulled it back out and Ryan especially loves to prove that he can get on by himself now and ride the dinosaur.

A few minutes later Ryan and Connor played a game of follow the leader and Ryan dove under the dinosaur like a tunnel and Connor followed. They went round and round for several minutes laughing as they went.

And I just had to throw this in as an honorable mention for the day. As I was sitting in the floor snapping away Ryan ran over and pulled out his camera and said "Mama, cheese!" as he took my picture. :)

It's cold out there

Day 8 - "It's cold out there!"

No doubt about it - the cold front came through with a vengence dropping our temperatures from 52 yesterday morning to the low 30's by lunchtime. This morning my car read a chilly 22. And those gusty winds were incredibly cold. So this morning I bundled the kids up in their hats, mittens, and coats before heading out the door to school. I love those hats. :)