Wordless Wedensday

One Saturday afternoon I declared it to be electronic free, no video games, no computer, {{{gulp}}} no Facebook.  We did allow Pandora to keep playing, somethings you need to allow. 

Guess what happened:

A board game broke out.  I love it when this happens.

For more great pictures, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom. 

Wordless Wednesday: Pay to Disobey

Tag Line:  All money collected with be used towards a family treat, or military school, depending on the amount raised, and the need for more punishment.

Wordless Wednesday: The Colors of Fall

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday - Inked

This summer my boys joined the local summer swim league.


So, while the boys were busy doing this:



EM was doing this:



And, though this is common at meets:



This might draw some second glances:



Click here for more Wordless Wednesday fun.

Look Ma ... No Training Wheels

EM was not pleased when she saw her bike, without the training wheels, for the first time.
The whole neighborhood heard her dissatisfaction.

A little encouragement, and a gentle touch from Dad, makes it all better.

Maybe not. This is my favorite picture.
You can't see it, but she is kicking the bike.
By the time I repositioned myself to take a picture of the kicking,
Dad had laid down the law, there would be no more kicking!

Wordless Wednesday

A Little Romance

While visiting my parent's one weekend the boys enjoyed a Nerf sword duel with my parent's neighbor. The setting for the duel became The Chronicles of Narnia (guess what we've been listening to recently), however the dialogue sounded more like Monty Python.

"I'm not dead yet."

"I can still fight you, with out a leg and an arm, and a ..."

My sister-in-law and I were hysterically laughing, the kids did not understand the humor.

Then, there was the part where JT asked for the neighbor's daughter's hand in marriage. He verified that his asking was just pretend, that it was part of the story.

At least part of his story. I'm thinking we need to work on when it is acceptable to ask for his future wife's hand in marriage, and during a sword duel with the father would not be the perfect time.

---------------------
Then there is this comment he made:

"Ah, I got a little romance in the picture."

After taking this picture:


If this is JT's idea of romance then Hubby and I need to turn it up a notch.

***An apology to Hubby: Sorry! This picture is far from pretty, it is far from flattering. However, the comment JT made, while looking at the picture he just took cracked me up.

For more Tiny Talk Tuesday head over to Mary's at Not Before 7.

Equal Opportunity

We believe in a diverse dress-up box. We believe it opens little minds to the larger world.



What every fashionable Storm Trooper Clone Dude (I'm not up on my Star Wars characters) are wearing this season, pink boas. If this trend caught on, The Empire may just be a happier, more just dictatorship.



All I can say is "Please Don't Tell His Father!"


Enjoy more Wordless Wednesday fun over at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday

My question is, why did we buy a desk?

When we purchased it I was thinking they would SIT at it, and use the actual desk; not go under it to complete their homework.

When Life Hands You Snow ...

Protest!

Wait a minute, what are we protesting?


For more Wordless Wednesday head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

... Still Digging

1.) No, we are not still digging out. Thankfully, we received very little of last Tuesday/Wednesday's Snowpalloza 2. Considering where we live, had we received another storm like that the whole valley would have come to a screeching stand still till April. With that said, there is still a lot of snow out there. The boys went out last Friday and it was funny watching them wade in it, 1 week after the snow storm. Around here snow lasts a couple days, at most.

2.) In fact, this picture was taken 4 days before last week's picture.

3.) Yes, EM is using a garden shovel to move snow. We only have 3 snow shovels, and when there are 4 of us the youngest is granted immunity. When all 5 of us are home the girls are able to stay inside while the men shovel.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Afternoon Nap:




Sunday was a full day. First, church, then friends invited us over for lunch. We made it home around 3:30, enough time to check emails (me), play in the snow (the boys), and take a nap (above) before leaving for small group that night.

As I organized the boys to head outside I heard Hubby reading EM a story. Five minutes later there was silence, these two had fallen asleep.

For more Wordless Wednesday (OK, there are always a few words) head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Before and After

When the snow arrived:




When (most) of the snow melted:



***The pile of snow they are playing with is from the snow girl, guess who made the snow girl? And though you can't see it in the picture, they were smashing at the snow with croquet mallets. Not sure why I added that last bit of information, but it struck (no pun intended) me as funny.

This picture of the lone snow pile reminds me of these shots taken a few years ago:





For more Wordless Wednesday fun visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

You Say Potato, ...

This is a hair clip:


To my 6 year-old, he sees a fish:




We were at a school carnival and ED picked this at one of the games as his prize. I asked him why he picked a hair clip, and he responded by snapping it, like a fish. Do fish snap? Maybe a shark, which ever, he didn't see a hair clip, he saw an imaginary pet.

Wordless Wednesday

My Latte Girl:

For more wordless fun, and great pictures, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday

1 Cold Spring Day +
1 Hyper 3-Year-Old +
1 Sleep Deprived Mom =

Wordless Wednesday

It's a summer afternoon. Two of my children are sleeping. I'm hanging out on the sofa completing some work when I hear "Mommy."

And there is my then-2-year-old. He had climbed to the top of these shelves; oh, about 6+ feet high.

Like any good mother, I grabbed my camera. Well, before I grabbed the camera I calculated the weight of my chow hound of a then-2-year-old (check out those chubby legs. I love chubby legs on little kids.) to the weight limit of those shelves, and instructed him NOT TO MOVE.

Amazingly, that was his first and only climb. Soon after that incident I made a point of storing something, anything, on those top shelves.

Wordless Wednesday

Sorry for all the words, but the story must accompany the picture:

If I do say so myself, I don't think MacGuyver could have done a better job.

Um, yes. That would be a pillow case, kept up with an ace bandage, on my then 2 year-old. We were traveling, had been on vacation for 2 weeks at this point (I always begin the story with this little tidbit. It seems to explain my state of mind and why we went out to lunch without extra diapers, but I had a pillowcase and an ace bandage in the car.)

We were at the tail end of a 2 week vacation, the second week without Hubby and had arrived at my parents the night before. The next morning EM had eaten blueberries. Lots of blueberries. In hindsight, a few too many blueberries.

My Dad took us out for lunch, where we meet my Mom. Thankfully they had outdoor seating, and that is where we were when we noticed bluish goop lying in puddles near EM, 'Nough said.

My Dad, poor guy, went inside for napkins and paper towels, he was inside for a long time (by this time my Mom had returned to work, lucky gal.) Since this was a short trip out of the house I had no extra diapers. Something about the third child makes you forget the diaper bag from time to time.

Like any good mother, after cleaning up as well as we could with baby wipes and napkins (I had baby wipes in the car, just no diapers) I took pictures of this little girl. Needless to say a few people stared quizzically at us. That's OK because soon after the photo shoot with left. We returned home, to where extra absorbent diapers awaited us. And, more blueberries.

For more Wordless Wednesday head to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday

Any ideas? Anyone?

While walking around Philly the other week we would see these characters embedded at different crosswalks. Some with writing, like this one, others with just the figure, and in different colors.

Of course, I could Google these silly characters, but what fun is that. I would rather ask you. So, any ideas? Anyone? Anyone?

Wordless Wednesday

First Swim Meet

*****Edited to add: Some have asked how he finished. Well, in his specific heat he came in 4th out of 6, not bad for one's first race who tends to swim mostly doggy paddle. However, there were two other heats in this particular race, and he came in 15th out of 18 swimmers. Actually James came in 15th and they had JT down as a NS (no show). He was substituted into a different lane when "James" did not show and the timers did not verify his name. No problems. He still received a ribbon for participating and was very proud of himself, as are we of him.

Wordless Wednesday

The Art of a Dive

For more great pictures head over to 5 Minutes for Mom for Wordless Wednesday.