Outtakes

I shouldn't be surprised, but this is the best I could get. :) Jack, Emma, and Sam with their cousin and second cousins (I think that's what they're called. Not really sure.)

And the Outtakes: 

6 kids, 4 and under. This is about as good as it gets, folks.

Is Summer Here?

We had a sprinkler playdate at Tiff's this week. Homemade popsicles, bathing suits, and fun. Sammy couldn't participate, so he sat on the porch and played with a dead branch. That's a good play toy, right?

Musical and Artistic Jack

The little man is growing up. The other day while I was on the phone he assembled his own water xylophone, complete with straw and snot-sucker. Ingenious. 

He's also been enjoying artistic endeavors. Here is the most realistic "person" I've seen him make yet.

It's supposed to be a self portrait. When he was done he said, "That sure is a silly looking Jack!"

Lunch conversations

My kids like to pretend that they're adults and they play conversation at the breakfast and lunch table. Today I decided to sit at my computer and just start typing what I heard for posterity's sake.

E: What did you get at Home Depot today?
J: A Ladder. It was grey.
E: And where did you go after Home Depot?
J: I went to the flower shop and I saw Miss Noelle.
E: I saw Ms. Rachael, my friend, not my sister (referring to Mom's friend, not sister)
[Pause]
J: Time out, time out! Emma, will you miss me when I got to college?
E: I'm gonna go to my college.
J: But Emma, will you miss me when I got to college?
E: Um, yes. But I will go to your college with you.
[Pause]
J: Emma? I ate outside and when I went to the flower shop I brought some...
E: Apples?
J: No, a froggy water fountain, it didn't spray up.
E: It just sprayed to you or me?
J: No one. It just stopped. Next,, I went home.
E: To our house to visit us?
J: I brought some eggs and donuts.
E: You brought this many (gesturing for a lot).
J: Yes, a lot. Aaaaaand, I brought some raisins too.
E: And cereal?
J: Yes.
E: What about watter and applesauce?
J: Yes, and oranges....(this went on for a while)
E: Where did you go next after college?
J: I went home. And theeeeen,
E: Andy has his own house.
J: And theeeen...
E: Which color is Andy's house (referring to Toy Story)
J: Andy's house is blue.
(Meanwhile Mommy hears a spashing sound which alerts her to Sam's hand in the toilet--toilet Jack just peed in.)
[Pause]
E: I bought yellow pancakes at the grocery store.
J: Yeah, they were about seven dollars.
E: Did Sammy open the ottoman? Who closed the ottoman?
J: No one.
S: (crying)
E: Hurt his self?
[Pause]
E: Ah, it's a ghost light! That's what Mater says.
J: I gotta go poop.

Kris and my conversation must sound this random to them.

Since I didn't take pictures of today's lunch, here are a few from their somewhat recent hangout times together.

Easter 2011

Sam is 8 Months Old

He's crawling, climbing, bumping his head, nibbling finger foods with his two top and two bottom teeth, saying "Dadda", laughing often at his brother and sister, and finally sleeping through the night! Here are some pics from today, his 8-month birthday.

Sammy's New Buddy

Kris and I enjoyed a lovely overnight together a few weekends ago. We split up the kids and Sammy got to spend the time with our friends, the Granges. Well, the youngest Grange took a liking to our boy and made him feel right at home, showing him wrestling moves, giving lots of hugs, even letting him slime his football. Gavin Buddy, thanks for being a stand-in big brother. I know it helped our boy a lot. And thank you, Janie for all the ways you cared for Sam as a stand-in mother!

The Abnormally Messy Day

Today I did a load of laundry. Nothing odd about that. But this was a special load because this was a special day. This load included a shirt of Jack's that was peed on, pajama pants of Emma's that her diaper exploded onto, an entire outfit of Sammy's that he barfed on (twice)--I'm talking real barf, not cutesie spit up. And then best of all, four full-sized towels I used to clean up my bathroom from a toilet that overflowed. I won't tell you what was in that, but it wasn't pretty. Suffice it to say, my bathroom floor is cleaner than it has been in months and thank God for a "sanitize" cycle on my washing machine. Good night!

Our Budding Artist

Black-Eyed Jack

A chair arm ran into him about a week ago.

Between the black eye and missing tooth, you'd think he played for the Caps!

Sammy is Half Way to One Year!

He's starting to rock on his hands and knees, so crawling should soon follow. He no longer requires me to feed him at night, and he has finally learned to put himself to sleep (with the Nuk of course). Here are some pics of our happy lil' man.

When Daddy's Sick...

It's movie time! Toy Story 2 to the rescue!

Life Around the House

Not too much time to write these days, but here are some shots from "life around the house". Sam is nearing 6 months. His eyes sparkle, his waste expands, and his toothless smile is contagious. (We won't take too much time to mention that he is still waking up often--like 3 to7 times @ night--and not nursing well.) He's perfectly content to just lay on the floor and play with his feet, or gnaw on something for an extended time. He's currently recovering from his eighth cold since he was born, and I hope with the arrival of warmer weather and more time outdoors that he'll kick the habit of 2 weeks sick/2 weeks well. His cuteness makes up for a lot of the long nights though.

Emma's vocabulary is booming, her hair is still a frequent topic of conversation, and her "girlie-ness" shines. Since I was never really a girlie-girl I'm fascinated by her love for all things dolls. But she's also taken to her brother's love for puzzles. To see them working on them together as a team makes me smile every time.

Jack has been a "workin' man" a lot recently. He fixes little things around the house for me. Today he spent about 30 minutes stuffing different tools into his bike to fix it. He's still a big fan of Curious George, Word World, and Cat in the Hat, but asks more to play computer games now before he asks for cartoons. He's a couple months away from 4 and I really see a "big boy" side of him that I haven't seen before. His tantrums are less frequent, his "yes mom's" are more frequent, and by God's grace I am enjoying his company much more. :)

All in all, life is pretty darn good.