Couch Potatoes

What do you do when your 17 month old wants to be held all day long?  That's what has been going on around here.  Little Miss has not let me put her down these last few weeks.  And she won't go to anyone else.  After Christmas, J went to a session of school, and then he was gone for a conference with our church.  Needless to say, my back has been killing me (that girl is HEAVY...and can't walk!!) and the proof is not in my biceps.

But I figured it out!  T.V.  She has never really watched it before, but this day it worked.  I turned on a movie, plopped her on the couch, and washed dishes.  Of course, I had to take pictures of the 3 kids lined up on the couch, losing brain cells.  It was cute.

Relief!

Middle Man couldn't stand to not sit by his sister.  They are really forming a sweet bond.

I really like B&W.  :)

Can I Still Call It "Pig Tails" If There Is Only One Tail??

I know that I've written a lot about Olivia lately, but she's at such a fun stage and so darn cute.  :)

Well, her hair is starting to grow out, so tonight I decided it was time to see if it would go into a pig tail.  It did!  What a great day for a mom of two boys and three brothers!!!  I only had one hairband in my bathroom with me, so she just got part of of the hairdo.  :)  And...it was pretty messy.  But, hey, it was my first attempt!

Here she is sucking her cheeks in.  She's always making some kind of face. 

...Like this one!  I love it when she sticks her top teeth out (especially when it's a toothy kiss).

She's watching the water in the shower as she waits for her brothers to hop into it.  Oh, those cheeks!

I've been messing around with Photoshop, so that would be why the photo colors keep changing...no, nothing is wrong with your computer, I just can't decide what I like. :)

Yo voy al mercado.

Instead of teaching Olivia Spanish, we decided that she might learn it by pushing it around in a shopping cart.

I love this coloring, because it makes me think of pictures of me as a little girl.

Alright, we weren't hoping for Liv to learn another language at 16 months.  The Spanish dictionary served as a weight in the shopping cart.  She kept falling down while pushing the cart because it was going too fast for her.  But as you can see by the last picture, she still had a rough time with it.  (And check out those torture devices coming through her gums!!)  Walk baby, walk!!

Tagged

Here are the tag rules:



1. Go to where you store your digital photos & open the 4th folder.



2. Go to the 4th picture and post it.



3. Explain the picture.



4. Tag an additional 4 people.

I just got a new computer, so my 4th folder just happens to be from today.  And the 4th picture just happens to be a little more modest than all of the others.  :)

In this picture, Olivia is waiting for Jay to come home with a diaper for her.  We had run out of diapers, so we just put her in the bath while Jay ran to the store.  She got a tired of soaking her feet, so I let her crawl around and this is where she ended up.  She had been standing up, looking out the little window in a cute hiney-thigh-belly shot.  But the squat is pretty darn cute, too!

Oh yes, and I must tag.  So, I tag Mom, Marcy, Lindsey, and Tamra

Delivering Neighborly Notes

My kids love to go out to the mailbox and get the mail.  They especially love looking to see if their magazine is in the mail.  They both have a subscription to a kids' magazine and receive it monthly.  Well, today Isaac's magazine came in.  Josiah was a little jealous, so I handed him some junk mail and he was a happy camper.  

After awhile, the boys decided to grab a pen and go out on our front porch and "sell some mail".  I didn't know what that meant, but came to find out that it meant they wrote on the tear-out cards from the magazine, and delivered the cards to the neighbors' porches.  (Sometimes my boys remind me of The Little Rascals.)  I felt bad, but I had to make them go to each porch and pick the "mail" up off of the ground.  They were pretty bummed, so I told them to come into the house and we'd make some "real mail" for the neighbors.  I pulled out scrapbook paper, markers, ribbon and tags, and they got to work.  They made 4 different cards, and we went and tied them to 4 different doorknobs.  

I told them to be quiet (and told Josiah to quit looking in all of the windows) so that they wouldn't open the door as I was tying on the note.  They were HILARIOUS!  They were sneaking around, covering their mouths, and giggling so much.  

After our little adventure, we went back in the house and they watched out the window as each neighbor came home.  I didn't stop them, because it was so funny to watch.  But they would throw open the door and run outside and announce to each neighbor that they had something on the front door.  

One couple was so funny.  They are a little grouchy and probably think that our kids are annoying.  But they went and untied the note, said "thank you", and shut their garage door.  Haha!  The other 3 neighbors smiled so big and had funny conversations with the boys...especially Josiah.

I love having outgoing kids.  I would be a recluse if not for them (okay, and if not for Jay).  

I wonder if my boys will remember sneaking around attaching notes to doors when they grow older, or if this is just a fun memory that I will always have.

Heather's Story

There is a blog that I really like to read called This is Reverb.  The guy that writes the blog is a pastor in Cincinnati and is very interesting to read.  Today he posted a blog with a link to the story of a lady in his church.  The story takes about 40 minutes to listen to, but it is totally worth your time.  Click here and it should take you directly to the page.  If you listen to it, let me know what you think.

Isaac, The Photographer/Videographer

Isaac got his own camera for Christmas.  Below is some of what he captured today.  Enjoy!

I think that the wings really bring out her eyes. :)

Yes, there is a kid on top of Jay.

Isaac was really taking in the entire inaugurashun.  Haha...I asked Jay how to spell "inauguration", and this is the way he told me to spell it.  He loves that he's my dictionary.

Isaac always looks "tough" when he takes his own pictures.  This reminds me of some of the photos of teenagers on MySpace...you know, the self-portraits.

Again, really taking it all in.

I love that it looks like his teeth are missing.  

Silly kid.

Perfect shot, Isaac!!

Too cute to be a pirate

I've seen Jay make this exact same face.

Why did I post this picture??  I did take a shower today...after the inaugurashun.  :)

oops

Haha, this is my favorite.

Warning, I haven't cleaned my house for about 5 days, so it looks like a really messy daycare.  I hope it makes you feel better about your housekeeping abilities.

The first video is of Olivia making a really funny face...it's kind of hard to tell because of the lighting.

The second video is of O giving me a sweet kiss.

The third video is of Isaac singing like Mum-Z.