Saturday Morning

Here's the essence of Saturday morning:











Ok, so that was the essence of Saturday morning. Now for what really happened this morning. Scared the crap out of me. I couldn't figure out where this really loud hissing sound was coming from. It sounded like the neighbor's air conditioner unit just outside my window was having serious problems. Then I looked up.



Those things are loud!!



It went right over our house, pretty close to the ground.

Emmett smiles!

He's such a content, laid-back baby. He doesn't care what kind of paci he gets, will take any kind of bottle, will put himself to sleep, and spends lots of time staring at me until I catch his eye and then he chuckles.

Little Einsteins

For those of you in the know, can you guess which one is which?

Kyra just started drawing outlines and coloring in. She learned it at school.

 

Kindergarten Camp

Kyra had her first day of Kindergarten camp today. When she got home, she wanted to make this sign so that everyone would know she went to school today.



Kyra's there in the middle of the hovering family members. It was harder on the parents than it was on the kids.



She liked it quite a bit. I don't think going to school will be a problem for her.



She was bounding the whole way home.

"Uh... Kip... we have a problem..."

Can you guess what this is?



Same object, a different view.



I'll give you a clue.



It has to do with this two year old,



and some curious fingers.



If you guessed doorknob, you're right!

I went to put Jack to bed last night and found that he had locked himself in his room. He was frustrated and crying - not because he was locked in his room, but because he couldn't get his jack-in-the-box toy to go back in the box. I sat there on the floor, talking under the door, trying for half an hour to lure him over to unlock it. The stubborn little guy would have no part in it - not even for a cookie. I'd do just about anything for a chocolate chip cookie, I don't know what his problem was.

I was fortunate, Kip was around to help me out. We tried picking the lock to no avail. Then he thought he'd try climbing on the roof and see if he could get in the window. It's a narrow, steep roof to get to the window and my mind was instantly swarmed by images of him tumbling to the driveway below. Within seconds I had planned out who I'd have watch the kids so that I could go to the hospital with him. Thankfully, he thought twice about that.

The only other option was to break in. I pictured Kip putting on his heavy boots, shouting "CLEAR" and sending splinters of door and molding flying through the air. Luckily, his operation was much more precise. It's nice to know that if a firefighter has to break into the house, he's trained to do so with as little damage as possible.

A pry bar, a hammer, and a skilled firefighter later, the door was opened. The door survived unscathed.





The doorknob, however...

Mmt

It's amazing to me how much Kyra loves learning and just does it naturally. I don't initiate much of it. For example, I didn't say 'Kyra, here's a piece of paper. Draw boxes and see if you can write everyone's names in them.' In fact, my only involvement in this was to say yes when she asked if she could get a piece of paper. Fifteen minutes later, she came to me with this. I've never told her how to spell Emmett's name, so she sounded it out on her own:

 

Mother's Day

While I was taking care of Emmett yesterday, Kyra made herself a name tag. Kyra Mom. Have I mentioned how much Kyra likes taking care of Emmett?

For lovers of non-contrived photos everywhere...

I do take formal pictures on occasion, but usually only when there's no other option or I need to consolidate people into one shot. (For example, pictures for the Christmas card - waiting for a random moment with the whole family isn't going to happen, unless it's a contrived moment of randomness.) However, I am one who prefers good photos that aren't contrived. But sometimes you get all of the wrong pictures for all of the right reasons. You may see this photo, and as a fellow lover of candid shots, may pass over this picture as being cutesy. I would not fault you for thinking that someone stuck a baby in a basket to get a cute shot. However, that was not how the photograph originated.

In my existence, with 3 young children 4 years old and under, I find that I need a way to keep at least two of them happy so that I can help the third. My day tends to be a never-ending cycle of making one happy, then the next, then the next. Feed Emmett... get Jack a corn dog... set up Kyra's computer game... change Emmett's diaper... change Jack's diaper... get Kyra some food... and on (and on and on and on). Today, I needed to set Emmett down. He likes to be snuggled in a little ball, so he's not too fond of flat surfaces. He's also not too fond of Jack, but that's another story. (You'd be scared too if Jack were twice your size and screaming "Baby Emot" in your face while trying to force feed you a pacifier.) Then I saw this basket someone gave to us and thought it is just the right size to mimic being held in someone's lap. I put Emmett in there and he loved it:



Woohoo, a quiet baby!



I love these little toes.



The basket has no longer been banished and will stay downstairs as a surrogate mom while I work out who's turn it is to ride on the motorcycle. It served it's purpose well. However, like most moments of silence, all good things must eventually come to an end:

Some recent pictures for a Tuesday evening...

Mount Emmett (Eruption not pictured)



A formal picture. Hey, I just realized Kyra and I both have random hair curls.

Kyra wants you to come visit.

She talks about guests staying in the guest room all the time. :) So come visit!



We can offer you our movie collection and your very own bathroom. You can also enjoy our extensive book collection. But wait! There's more! We'll throw in the viewing of our photo albums too, plus dinner, absolutely free. And if you act now, you too can see not one cute child, not two children, but THREE adorable children, all for the low low price of finding your way to our doorstep.

Easter

Hospital food

The hospital food was so good, I had to take a picture. It was run like room service; I could order whatever I wanted off the extensive menu, whenever, and it was prepared fresh for me. Chocolate shakes and french toast on demand - now that's my kind of hospital food!