Is it Friday yet?

My kids were supposed to sleep over at Grandma's house last weekend. The kids think it is because I am a super cool mom who lets them do super fun stuff. Really it's because I wanted to paint my bedroom and wanted them to be out of the way. But a nasty little thing called strep throat came into our home and ruined the weekend. So now sleepover, and no bedroom painting.

So this week we are trying again, and the Aunt Natalie made the mistake of telling my kids that they were going to sleep over as soon as it was Friday.

So yesterday the 4 year old is walking around with his toy cell phone calling Aunt Natalie. "Hi, Aunt Natalie? It's Adam. I'm going to sleep over on Friday. Is today Friday yet?"

The oldest child syndrome

I love when my oldest tries to enforce rules that he himself doesn't even follow.

I abhor it when I ask Adam to do something that I know he is perfectly capable of and he tells me "I can't" So it is a rule that we don't say can't at our house. You can say you don't want to or that you need somebody to teach you how or help you out, but we don't say can't.

So this morning I hear Adam and Zoey upstairs and Zoey is getting lectured by her older brother. "Zoey, we do not say can't at our house! MOM! ZOEY SAID CAN'T" Lovely.

Who needs a dog?

I'm not an animal person. (it was in the prenup that there would be no pets in our marriage) But my brother is always trying to tell me that a dog is great for eating all the food that inevitably falls on the floor when kids are eating.

But Zoey has taken to sitting under the table and picking up all the food that has fallen and eating it herself.

So I ask you, who needs a dog when you've got a Zoey?

a 50/50 shot

Theoretically kids have a 50/50 shot of getting their shoes on the right foot, right? So, theoretically they should get them on the right foot about half the time, right? So why is it that the princess gets hers on the wrong foot 100% of the time?



I can only figure she is actually putting them on the wrong foot on purpose.

And because I was taking pictures of the princess feet Lightening McQueen thought I should take a picture of his feet, too.



feet, feet, feet....they're nifty neat.

Is this clean?

Every morning and every night when Adam is changing from jammies to clothes or from clothes to jammies he yells at me "MOM, IS MY UNDERWEAR CLEAN OR DIRTY?" I give him an answer and he yells back at me "DOES THAT MEAN CHANGE IT OR LEAVE IT ON?"

So this morning Zoey runs into her room to pick something to wear and I hear her little voice from her bedroom "MOMMY, IS MY DIAPER CLEAN OR DIRTY?"

I guess if it's true what they say, that imitation is the best form of flattery, that Zoey has just proved her adoration of her big brother.

Why flickr has ruined me

Notice there is no picture on this post? There is a good reason for that. I'm trying to wean myself from pictures. A hard thing to do for this die hard "have a picture of everything" girl. I think I took 100 pictures just the first week I had my first digital camera. (okay, it's still the ONLY digital camera I've ever had....but I'm looking to upgrade. But I digress) I have 7,636 pictures on my flickr photostream. (and that doesn't even count all the pictures of Adam's first year of life, which aren't on flickr yet because I didn't join flickr until well into his second year.) The point is, I have a TON of pictures. I LOVE pictures. I love sitting and watching when my screen saver comes on and I get to watch as all my thousands of pictures flip randomly in front of my eyes. It's like watching my kids grow up all over again. And it makes my ovaries hurt.

As of late I've really started exploring flickr more. Before I mostly just posted my pictures there, looked at pictures of other family members and then moved on. But I've been finding a lot of great photographers lately whose pictures I ADORE and I spend way too much time staring at their photostreams. I am particularly drawn to child photographers, probably because there are so many kids running around our house these days and I long to take better pictures of my kids (because I can't afford to have any of these awesome child photographers take pictures of them for me.)

So, let me tell you, there are some absolutely amazing photographers on flickr. And some absolutely amazing pictures of kids. And it encouraged me to try to take better pictures of my kids in their natural enviroment. Pictures of them just being kids, because those are my favorites on flickr. But the harder I try the more I wonder if these photographers that I stalk on flickr have their cameras surgically attached to their faces. How else could they get such great "candid" shots all the time?

Here's how things usually go down at our house. The kids start doing something really cute. I think "hum, this would make a great picture. where's the camera" I look on my dresser. it's not there. I look on the desk, also not there. I look on top of the entertainment center. not there. kitchen counter. not there. where is the camera? i'm missing the moment!!! Why can't I find the camera? Oh there it is, on the dresser. (where I looked in the first place!) By the time I come rushing back the moment is over.

So then you try to "recreate" the moment. "Hey kids, do that again. Adam, sit here. Zoey you where there. Make her laugh again. It was really cute. Do it one more time so I can get a picture." (admit, you've all tried to do it! I know you have) But they never really do it again, and if they do it's only a half attempt and then they are off to do something else. And not only did I miss the picture but I missed the moment, too. (because I was looking for the camera, remember?) Yes, in pursuit of the perfect picture I have missed out on a memery. The kids were cute while I was out of the room and it's lost forever and I didn't even see.

And so, I'm trying harder to worry less about grabbing the camera and worry more about just being in the moment and enjoying the moment, and perhaps writing about it later so I remember it later even though I don't have a picture. Because the picture in my mind can be just as cute (and probably in better focus) than the picture from my camera.

This is not to say that I'm going to stop taking pictures, because dagum, I'd addicted to those cute pictures. But I am going to stop trying to hard to take a picture of EVERYTHING.

And to prove it....we went to Discovery Gateway last week and I left the camera home, on purpose! And you know what, it was great to not have to worry about it. I think I actually enjoyed the day more without it.

And on my weekend up the Sunvalley this past weekend, didn't pull the camera out once. (of course it helped that my mom and Anne were clicking away and I knew I could just get copies of their pictures.)

So I send this out as a challenge for all you camera freaks (like me!) Go somewhere this week and leave the camera home. Try it, just once. You might like it. (or you may hate it, but at least you won't be posting super cute pictures of flickr thus making me relapse into my old shutterhappy self.)

Snakes and Sails and Puppy Dog Tails

Harrison is ALL BOY. No doubt about it. He throws things on the floor just to watch them fall. He squishes food between his fingers just to feel it squish. He likes slimy stuff. He giggles when he pees on me. He plays in his own spit up if I don't clean it up quick enough. He already pulls his sister's hair and wants to play with daddy's power tools. He squeaks, squeals and squirms at Lowes. And I may be crazy but I swear he has already started making car noises. He is a little boy to the core.