New Rules, New Tomatoes!

Baseball in the yard has a new play-- hide behind stuff and then suddenly erupt in shrieks while sprinting madly towards home plate. Huh.

In other new news, we have tomatoes! Here's the baby, after asking if she can touch them. 

She's started asking permission for really random stuff-- like halfway through a meal, she'll pick up a bite of food and say "Can I eat this?" and she seriously won't eat it until you tell her it's ok. She's so weird. (On the other hand, she'll take off down the stairs without asking at all! Please don't think she's some kind of super-obedient robot.)

Wii!

Eric and the little guy played with the Wii all morning. They bowled, played baseball, the little dude played tennis against himself (it was hilariously awful), and then they played more baseball. The baby had an empty wiimote cover that she happily swung around.

The only less than awesome part of this is that the little guy kept creeping up on the tv while swinging his arm around. I don't want to end up with a shattered flatscreen (it would be such an obsolete accident...).

Balloon Dance

The baby got a balloon at the end of Sunday School (her genius teacher blew one up for every kid and it got them all to sit quietly). It's still in pretty good shape, and the kids are having a blast playing with it.

I'll have to buy a bag next time we're by the party store.

Indoor Picnic?

I made pizza for dinner over the weekend, and we ate it in the living room while watching television. That's a big night!

Their tv-faces kill me-- total lack of any cognition!

More Playground!

We went to the playground *again* today-- it was great! Eric got this hilarious picture of our various swing styles on Saturday.

We thoroughly enjoyed having a quiet, lazy, three-day weekend.

Bike!

We put training wheels on the little guy's bike: best. decision. ever. He's happily figuring out pedaling.

This means the baby is now the proud rider of the balance bike!

She's getting to be so big!

Perfect day for a picnic!

I packed our lunch and we walked it to the playground down the street-- it was a gorgeous day, and it was really fun to eat outside! We even brought Puppy (she sat very nicely on the stroller the entire time).

Because it was such a beautiful evening, we actually went back to the playground after dinner. The kids couldn't believe their luck! We'll have to do this more often through the summer.

Homework!

We had to do a "memory collage" for the little guy's "senior week" at Pre-K. I'm a little skeptical of this whole situation, and I procrastinated for way too long on the collage. BUT-- I got it done on time. Here it is!

Only say nice things-- there's no time for any changes.

The Wall Won

Imagine this song, but with the lyrics "I fought the wall, and the wall won."

The poor little dude ran face-first into the corner of a wall tonight. It's going to leave QUITE the mark. Eric checked on the wall to try and make the little guy feel better-- and when Eric asked him how he thought the wall was doing, the little dude said "Well, the wall isn't crying." Poor thing.

Anyway, we gave him a frozen sponge to put on his face, but then the baby wanted ice for her face, too! Here they are:

Do you see his poor cheek? I'll try to take another picture of it tomorrow.

How does your garden grow?

Ours is doing quite nicely! The kids and I checked on it tonight and pruned the tomatoes a bit. We have a little green tomato already. The baby managed to dig up one of the cantaloupe plants, but I replanted it. I hope it's a tough one!

Because it's important to dress appropriately, the little dude and I both wore our galoshes. The baby wore her snow boots! I guess we need to get her a pair of galoshes, too...

Stair Ball?

The little guy recently figured out that he could throw a ball up the stairs and catch it on its way back down. I'm a HUGE fan of this, because it means he can play catch by himself (I'm a terrible mother, I know). He was on a roll today!

He just started catching the ball not too long ago, and the first time he caught it today he'd run over and say "I caught it! I've only caught 10 balls my entire life!" The second time he ran over and said "I caught it! I've only caught 21 balls my entire life!" By the third time, he was up to 27. This kid.

Playground!

The weather was beautiful today, and I am exhausted. (I ran six miles, volunteered at a 5k, and mowed the lawn-- my poor legs!) I did manage to wander to the playground with the kids after dinner, though. We had the place to ourselves, and it was lovely.

The little guy took this video-- try to ignore his heavy breathing. We had a great time!

Emotions!

The little one likes to tell us to express specific emotions:

      Her: Mommy! Be sad!
      Me: Fake crying
      Her: Aw, it's ok mommy. (She'll often pat my back at this point)

It's kind of sweet, but sometimes I worry that we're raising a little psychopath. Anyway, tonight Eric was running through feelings and I started taking pictures. It was amazing. The collage below (starting with the big picture, then moving clockwise) contains: happy, happy, mean, angry, surprised, and scary.

This one (same ordering) has: fish face, sad, surprised, confused, happy/confused/not sure, and surprised.

This was definitely one of our more entertaining dinners!

Modern Kids

The baby was outside blowing bubbles, and the little dude was outside doing this:

Enjoying a beautiful day!

Pride of Ownership?

I bought the little one an adorable summer dress yesterday, and she hates it. (I'm hoping she changes her mind.) Even though she refused to put it on, she insisted on carrying the dress and bag with her all day... even to the playground.

It felt ridiculous to be at the swings holding this stupid little boutique bag, but she was happy.

How does your garden grow?

The kids and I checked on the garden today-- things seem to be going well so far. Both tomato plants have gotten a lot taller, and the cucumbers are leaning towards the trellis.

In sad news, Eric's paternal grandmother passed away this morning. Our kids have been so fortunate to have spent time with so many of their great-grandparents. Here's a picture from the last time we all saw Mammaw together.

Late to bed and early to rise...

... makes a kid grumpy, whiny, and something-that-rhymes-with-rise. I'll take suggestions in the comments.

The kids have been going to bed a bit late recently, so tonight I had them in pjs at 6:40. We watched a short tv show and then headed off to bed. Hopefully they'll fall asleep at some point. They've turned into little chatterboxes in their room.

Learning (and loud voices)

The little guy just finished learning about pollution, littering, and recycling/reducing/reusing at school. Great, right? Sure. Until we're walking along and he points to a piece of trash on the ground and saysyells "Look, Mom! POLLUTION!!"

And now for something completely different, he figured out that he can water the flowers using his squirt gun.

Pretty creative, right?

She'll skin her knees dressed like that

We do our best to give the kids all they need. I want to be a good role model to them spiritually, financially, emotionally, and physically. One thing I know they've gotten is my love of baseball. The boy even has a schedule of games he announces days in advance, though, hilariously, most of the time they end up postponed.

"Dad, my game Saturday is going to be cancelled because it's going to rain."
"Dad, I had a game tonight but it was cancelled because we had to eat dinner."

Jimmy Dugan (A League of Their Own) once said, "Baseball is what gets inside you. It's what lights you up..."

This picture of my little blonde made me think of that movie. I just don't know how they played ball in skirts.

 And somehow my boy made the USA baseball team. Way to go kiddo!

I so glad there's baseball around all the time. But you know, I'd still love them even if they end up playing soccer.


Just not as much. :-)

At the car wash!

We washed the car today... it was filthy, and it looks so much better! It was also a great way to spend an afternoon when it was finally 80+ degrees out and sunny!
The little guy was in charge of washing it.

Everyone helped out. I washed most of the car and supervised/assisted. Eric was in charge of the middle of the roof.

Even the baby helped!

Really, she just played in the soapy water bucket.

Smile!

The kids are practically incapable of smiling when I say "smile!" and take a picture. It's absurd.

Seriously, they can be giggling/smiling/acting like normal human beings but as soon as they see the camera...

... these faces happen.