Because He's Just That Good

I know that girl in the top row, far right was trying to out-sing AJ, but I think we can all agree that he was TOTALLY CARRYING THE WHOLE PERFORMANCE.

Just a forewarning: The last part of "Happy Birthday Jesus" was....enhanced by the teacher suggesting that they "sing loudly for the people"....and by enhanced I mean: IT MIGHT MAKE YOUR EARS BLEED.

First, Pause the music player on the right, and then enjoy a little bit of
The Candy Cane Song and Happy Birthday Jesus:



With a final performance of Jingle Bells:

Tropical Storm Fay = Big Puddles

Yesterday we got hammered with rain all day (as local readers already know-duh) but it let up and was a pleasant deluge every now and then. Here's AJ whoop'n it up in the puddle between our house and the neighbor's house - there's a low spot there and it always FILLS with water and washes into the street every time it rains. Makes for lovely splashing. :)

{as always, click to enlarge}

I think he looks like such a big kid in this photo...

Cooper got in on the action as well

One of the things I love about rainy days is the excuse to stay in. I've come to realize that, over the last few years, (and especially with kids) I've become more of a homebody. Not that I like to SIT around my house and do nothing...because I like to stay busy - but that I like to be home. And rainy days are cozy, and warm, and give me good excuse to just stay in our house and read books, or watch t.v., or bake. And it's even better when it's a weekend and Steve-o is home too.

Here's a snapshot I stole this morning of Steve-o and Tyler on the couch.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

A Bit of Miscellany

Am I talking about my kids too much lately?? Well, I don't care. Because here's a few things I have to say.

First of all....

where did this kid COME from? I mean, come ON - have you seen his eyes?? They are a piercing blue. Not to mention his fair skin and very blond hair (although that's starting to darken up). Coming from two parents with brown eyes and a mother with olive-toned skin...well, he's an anomaly I guess.
Click to enlarge and check out his baby blues...to which I have done NO photo enhancing, save for a slight curves adjustment and to sharpen for web. Which I know means nothing to most of you, but...well, just in case.
You can even see the bits of food around his mouth from the PB&J he just ate.




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And HIM.
Well, it's Mister Personality himself.
He keeps things lively around here.

(click to enlarge)

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And speaking of him, he just happened to have his first ever dentist appointment today. A cleaning and he did a GREAT job....check him out. And if you live in Albany and need a good dentist, head over to Dr. Larry Perkins and his staff because they did such a great job and were excellent with Owen, showing him all the tools and letting him ride the chair up and down and letting him play with "Mr. Thirsty" (the water sucker thingy).

Ahh...the indignities of good oral hygiene.

Bright 'n Shiny!

Later peeps.

On the Loose

Yesterday the boys had a lot of fun catching lizards in the back yard. I think with the temperature cooling that they're a little slower so the boys caught about 4 of them.
I gave them a jar to put one in and they kept it in there for awhile. By the time I remembered the lizard, it was dark out and I didn't want to put it outside because I was afraid it was too cold for it to find a warm place to hide and that it would die, so I left the jar on the counter and planned on letting it go this morning. Plus I wanted to get out my macro lens and try to take a few pictures of it....

Last night 3 am....AJ is at my side of the bed...in my sleep stupor I could make out something about the lizard, and couldn't find it, and where is it, yada yada yada....
I shook myself awake and got out of bed to follow him to whatever this distressing deal was that he felt the need to wake me at 3 am for.
He leads me to Tyler's bedroom, where the lizard jar is on the floor, open and the lizard is no where to be found.

He points to the closet.
"My lizard is GONE!" he says.

Awesome.

Hopefully I'll find it today.

To be continued.....

A Day Out With Thomas

Yesterday we surprised the boys and took them to Day Out With Thomas....which is like crack for little boys. There's an actual full-size Thomas the Tank engine, that pulls about 5 passenger cars. After you break out the chain saw and remove your arm and leg you can take your kids for a ride.

The boys were SOOooooo excited, and I thought Owen's head might explode when he saw the actual Thomas the Tank Engine. He was screaming, "HI THOMAS!! WE'RE COMIN'! WE'RE COMIN' TO RIDE YOU!"
When it was our turn to have picture with Thomas, Owen didn't want to get down. He said, "I gotta give Thomas a kiss"

Well, he couldn't get close enough to give him a kiss, but he DID get to enter the merchandise tent....or the "break-out-your-wallets-and-just-open-it-up-for-us-to-empty" tent. It was a Mecca of Thomas the Tank Engine Merchandise.

Seriously though, we had a GREAT time with the kids.....It's so fun to enjoy life through your children's first experiences. Here's some pictures from our day.

They had an entire tent set up with various train tables. I had to leave Steve here with the boys while I left for about 20 minutes to nurse Tyler. He said it was like a page out of Dante's Inferno...about 50 little boys, all of them trying to play at about 10 train tables. And since all those OTHER little boys weren't very good at sharing or playing nice, well.....it got old after about 1.7 minutes.

Legos AND trains?? It's little boy heaven.

They had inflatable get-your-own-concussion jumpy-things:

And putt-putt golf.
I had to grab AJ's "goff cwub" driver before he hauled out and hit that ball like he was teeing off the first hole of the Master's.
"Just a little tap" I said.
OH, RIGHT.
How boring.

Owen was all about using the one-handed method.

A little cotton candy....

A train tattoo on the face...

Tyler and me on the train...

The creepy conductor guy.....he volunteered to pose for a picture with the boys.

Sir Topam Hatt with A.J.
Owen wouldn't have anything to do with him.

Aydenismism

AJ has been up until almost 11:30 for the past 2 nights, thanks to a marathon family nap on Sunday afternoon that has permanently jacked up the boys' schedule. Nap during day, stay up late at night, drive mom and dad crazy, end of story.

We got Owen back in the swing of things, but AJ is up bouncing around tonight about 9:30 p.m. and we're settling in to watch Season 3 of House on Dvd. I don't consider forceful human vomiting or emergency colon surgery something that I care for our 3 year old to see on t.v., so we tell AJ to scoot off to his room so we can watch some of our movie.

"casey, wiw you pway wif me?" AJ asks of Casey.
"No, I'm going to watch the movie" he replies.
Being smartest mom ever, I suggest the most intelligent of ideas: "AJ, why don't you take Cooper to your room and he'll play with you?"
"OH! OK mama! C'Mon Cooper, wet's go pway C'mon cooper!"
After much cajoling, Cooper (reluctantly follows).

Steve-o starts up the movie, we get comfortable....and not 2 minutes later, AJ walks out. Steve smartly pauses the scene where the greasy teenager begins to have a grand maul seizure.
"Whatcha doin'?" I ask.
"Cooper's no wanna pway" he says, but then he catches sight of Nala (the cat) on the back of the sofa.
"Maybe Nala's wanna pway wif me!!?"
"yeah, ok. grab her."
He grabs Nala in a death grip around her belly and drags her to his room and shuts the door.
Not 2 minutes later, he's back....

"Doggies no pway, kitties no wanna pway mama. PEOPLES play" he says, waving his hands emphatically. "YOU wanna pway wif me mama?? PUH--leeasse??

Who could say no to that?