Tea

I had a tea party with Paul, Pete, and Jude yesterday.

The service was...

Exceptional.

The food?

Marvelous. 

Pete, wait! Wait! pretend to bite it. Pretend.

This is Pete, thinking, Paul is the smartest big brother ever because...

He discovered that...

 there is no banana inside this banana peel. Shocking.

Later, now you cannot tell(because I had my macro lens on instead of my 35), but this baby is in the middle of his baby toy basket. He climbs in and sits there, quite precariously.

And this mama got behind on her project 52. 2 pics behind. Good thing I did not attempt a 365, I would be, oh, 14 pics behind. Anyhow, here is a little make-up...macro project 52 pics...
Wood(knitting needle tops)

 And, I vow to not only take pics of these needles but to finally knit the kids some fake food with them. Maybe even a banana peel with a banana inside.

Beverage(tea label-focusing on the knot)

And, of course, Valentines Day theme.

A littl recap....

of what we have been up to. Gosh, we are busy. I guess that is no surprise. LOL Pete. Pete is just a little bit crazy. It is our fault. He is so cute. We let him get away with...alot. So, the other night, he empties the entire bottle of baby shampoo into the tub. I sternly asked him, "Pete, is that funny?" Now, why I would ask this, I don't know. It is not smart to ask a kid an open ended question like that. I know this. So, he gives me this smile and says, "Yes, it IS funny." And you know what? It was. 

So, I told him to never ever do that again, after I had to hide my face, cause like I said, it was funny.

Oh Pete. 

Later, Joe comes down from upstairs and asks, "did you know that Pete got into your craft room?" What a funny question. Obviously I did NOT know that Pete had gotten into my craft room. But I do now. 

 I would love to have been a fly on the wall, to see him totally rampage this room. I wish I knew what he was thinking. What he was pretending he was. He pulled all my yarn out and tangled it. Then, he took all my knitting and crochet needles out and stuck them in random balls of yarn. *sigh* 

Okay, I know what you are thinking. Gosh, they don't supervise Pete very well. Nonsense! Pete is crazy. Okay, maybe we are a little laid back. Anyhow, we decided to start enforcing the rules with Pete, again. But, he is so stinkin' cute. It's hard. 

So, I am taking a workshop at clickinmoms.com! 

Which one? Oh, natural light 101! Wooo-hooo!!! I mean, WOO-HOOO!!! I have wanted to take this course for a looong time. :) And, the best part? It is free. Totally free. Beth, the instructor, had a little contest. She wanted us to post a funny self portrait. Oh, I can do funny. Remember that episode of 'Designing Women' when Julia Sugarbaker proudly walks out onto the fashion show stage with her dress in her panties? Right after a big lecture on pride and dignity and such? he he he. That was my inspiration. I call this, 'mother's day out.' Ah yes, mama finally gets a day to herself. She is off to the mall. "Good bye little ones! See you later!"

Joe will tell you that I am not funny. I am! Just ask my sisters. I always make them laugh. When Joe saw how much my sisters laughed with my witty genius, he was shocked, saying "Now I know why you think you are so funny. Your sisters think you are funny...but honest, you are not funny." he he he

Gosh, I really hope you don't find my humorous picture to immodest, I did darken the shadows so you cannot see that booty too well. :) Anyhow, this is a big fear of mine. Someday I am sure this will actually happen to me, and I hope I can just laugh about it then. Or tell everyone it was on purpose for some laughs.

So, I had to practice some window light techniques. I tried to get Jude to help. Cute? Yes. Helpful? No.

So, I turned to Pete. Equally cute, and just a hair more helpful, although I did have to trap him in a highchair for these pics. 

It is Valentines day! For school, the kids need bags to hold all the valentines, so I thought we would paint some muslin for the bags. 

Paul needed help making a heart, so Joey helped him. I loved this part. 

Pete was there, being all cute and crazy. 

You know, I ask the kids to smile, but my favorite pictures are when they just finish a thought, and there is this, this...look. Can't explain it. When Pete just gets done telling me something, usually something funny, here is how he looks at me. 

 And here is the smile, of course.

So, yesterday, Joe went out to the store with Joey and Paul. I was in the kitchen when they came home, and from the kitchen I can see the driveway. Well, Joey gets out of the car, and Joe proceeds to stuff a big heart shaped box of chocolates in his coat, to hide it from me. Joey starts to walk towards the house, and the box starts to slip out, so he turns around and Joe helps him get it secure. He starts to come down the walk again, it slips again, he turns around, Joe helps secure it again. This happened a few times. I pretended not to see. Finally, Joey comes in clutching his belly, runs by me fast, saying "Uhh...I have to go potty." I pretend I don't know a thing, saying, "Okay Honey!" I love these boys. So, this morning, on Valentines day,  they were very excited to get the chocolates out of hiding. Oh yummy. Yeah, I ate most of them already. 

xoxoxoxo :) And, Joey picked out the butterflies. And, Joe, smirking, kept telling me that Joey insisted. That he picked them out "all by himself." Oh, yes, he did. He did indeed. Thank you, Joey. 

:)

 I wrote the boys some love letters to go with the boxes of Chocolates I got them. 

 Happy Valentines Day!

This baby...

Loves his daddy. Actually, he loves his daddy more than any other baby before him. I have never had a baby turn on me this early. ;) If Joe is around, he demands to be held by him and only him. He cries when he goes to work or leaves the room. He toddles over to him, grunting until Joe picks him up.

He shows his baby love by resting his head on him. The other day, Joe was sitting on the floor reading the paper, and Jude crawled over to him and kept resting his head on his leg. When Joe picks him up, he will rest his head on his chest. Now, this is really cute, so when he does it, we all say, "awwwww..." And, this has created a 'cue.' It is really funny. If are holding Jude now, and you say "awwwww," he will rest his head on your chest. And, he knows he is being cute cause he gets this crooked little smile now when he does it. Here is Jude, being cued by me yesterday. 

awwwwwwww

And he loves his brother Pete. So much. Pete can make him laugh by just looking at him. Or not. Sometimes Pete is just being himself, not even meaning to be funny, and Jude is cracking up at him. 

Boys, our gift to you will not be a big college fund or a car when you turn 16, nah, our gift to you are some siblings that make you laugh(laugh at you). Please keep enjoying each other, always. 

Ice storm?

Really? Really!!? You know, snow is okay. Yeah, I do not like the black mud that gets mixed in with the snow, and the everlasting dirty snow banks, but it can be pretty, at least up close.

 

But ice? No thanks. You know, it's funny. When we moved here, we had to give the kids some icicle 101. You know, the rules:

1. Icicles can be dangerous. 

Really  boys, this ain't not joke. If they fall on you, they can knock you out or even kill you. Yes, KILL you. So...

2. Don't stand under them like an idiot. 

Actually, just avoid them. Stay away. Don't glare up at them, don't throw stuff at them. Just leave them alone, okay?

These are the icicles outside the boys room today.

I thought the icicle 101 was a bit extreme until I saw the icicles develop on the industrial buildings behind my house. They are bigger than I am.

This is a machine company behind our house. It has been there since the 1800's. Sometimes I feel like I am stepping back in time when I step out my door and see it. Like I need to call out to the boys, 'Hurry up boys! Don't be late for work,' handing them little tin pails with their lunch and dinner, praying they will not lose their arms at work, watching them totter down the street towards the machine company.

 

But, no, it is not 1868. This company has this loud whistle they use, to mark the beginning of the workday, lunch break, quitting time, etc. We can hear it loud and clear from inside. hooooot! I joke around to others, saying that if I could just get our life on that whistle schedule, we would be the most efficient family ever. Like the kids would  be little robots to the whistle, snapping into action when they hear it. Springing out of bed. Lining up at the table for lunch, and so on. But, no, the whistle just becomes a sound the toddler mimics a few times a day. hooooooot! 

I wanted to snap a few ice storm pics. So I put my rubber shoes on and headed out. A note about these shoes...

I bought these in anticipation of the winter here. What a silly woman. See, in TN, these, with a nice pair of wooly socks, will get you through a winter. Not here. Your toes will freeze off(I may be exaggerating just a teeny bit). Or, you will sink into the snow, it will creep in, getting your feet wet.

 

Like this. See?

 

Joe bought me a great pair of snow boots. I wear them, really, I do. I just slipped these on cause they are easier to get on, and I was just going to be outside for a sec. To document the ice and all. 

I have never lived somewhere this cold. Ever. It has been a real learning experience for me. Sometimes I feel like I am in another world, quite literally on another planet. I have seen things here I have never seen before. Ever. I often wonder what the pilgrims thought. As the New England winter rolled in, and it got colder and colder and yet colder...how terrifying it must have been. To not have known how much colder it would get. To think to yourself...

surely it cannot get any worse...

only to have it get worse. We have it better than them. At least we know what to expect. We may not have experienced it yet, and it is all new in that sense, but at least we know how cold it will be before it gets better. They did not. Not until that first winter came and went. I can relate to them though on a level, to be somewhere new and experience this type of winter for the first time. It's humbling. I am thankful for my warm home, hot water, shelter...

We are out of school for the second day in a row now. I have to find a way to keep these kids occupied. Too much TV. 

Hey Pete turn around real quick and look at mommy!

 

 Thank you Pete. :)

My keeping it real post

I want to be organized. I want to be tidy. I find peace in a clean home. I have a sick obsession with the Hampton Inn because of this. There, the room is clean, bed is made, and you get free coffee in the lobby. I love staying there. This is how I envision my home. Everything is put away. No dust. No clutter. Beds are made. And a big pot of fresh coffee in the kitchen, 24/7. A girl can dream. Yes, this is not my reality. Not even kinda. I am disorganized. Even when I organize, it is a mess. Housekeeping is not second nature to me. I think I have actually googled how to organize and keep a clean home more than I have actually organized and cleaned. Anywho, it is an ongoing battle. I know I have gotten better(trust me. Just ask some of my college/law school roomates, they'll tell ya horror stories). But, it is a constant struggle. But, I won't give up. I will find my inner Martha Stewart and rock the housekeeping thing...someday... But, it's about time. And, no, not that I don't have any. I think about a year ago, I realized that excuse was, well, just an excuse, We all have the time. We all get 24 hours in a day. That is ALOT of hours, right? It is about priorities. I could keep a tidy organized home if I devoted more of my time towards it. But, on my list of priorities, it kinda comes in second to last. I would rather knit or read to my kids, take pics, edit pics, google how to take better pics...you get the point. I know I need more balance, I get that part. So, I will work on it. Now, I gotta tell you...I am not alone in this struggle. I think 99% of moms have a mess on their hands and feel bad about it. I used to feel guilt. Now, I don't. It's not the end of the world. And, I gotta tell you, when I go to a mama pals house, and her house is a big cluttered mess, well I like her even more...I think, 'ah yes, my kinda people.' I don't think you are incompetent, no, I think you have priorities like mine, which probably means we, and our kids, will get along just fine. And, I love you for your imperfection. So, here is how my home really looks, most of the time. ;)

 

The kitchen counters are never clear. Ever. I like it when they are, but that hardly ever happens. 

 

About a year ago, I was reading this home magazine, and I saw the most brilliant spice drawer. Inside the drawer was a raised wooden step like contraption where all the spice bottles(in identical glass bottles with identical labels) rested. It was genius. I thought, 'for sure I am doing this.' Well, I never found those raised wooden contraption things, and well, to make a long story short, this is what I ended up with...sigh...

These are the two most favorite corners in my kitchen. On the left...I don't have a good place to store my camera gear. So, I keep it here. It is kinda messy out in the open like that, but it makes for easy lens changes and grabbing the camera real quick. On the right...wiping up coffee stains is pretty easy, so why it eludes us? I cannot say.

Piles of laundry look better in black and white, no? Okay, so these are clean. I can wash and dry the laundry. And, I do ALOT of laundry. But folding it? Putting it away? Who do you think I am, June Cleaver? Gheesh.

Yes, who has time for cleaning? I would much rather...practice my speedlite skills.

With Paul.

Who was not feeling too well.

And quickly lost his modeling patience.

So, I relied on the most trusty model in the house...Jude...

Now, from the bathroom, I called to Joe, asking him to bring me my camera. He hesitated and told me he was not sure he could help me since I washed his only pair of jeans. See, to make sure his pants stay out of the washer/drier/laundry pile mess(basically lost to the world for a few days), he will hang them up on this hook thingie in our room. I thought I could wash and dry them before he needed them(they needed to be washed). I was wrong. But, he relented and brought me my camera. And I snapped away cause Jude was being extra cute. :)