Family pictures

A few months ago... July?  August?  we had some family pictures done.  Here are some of my favorites.

They were done by Christen Bordenkircher.

Wednesday: rules

Aunt C was babysitting today and Isaac was going on and on about a kiss [s]tealer.  (It's a hard s-blend).  She finally asked for five rules for the game, having no idea what was going on since she wasn't there in the morning and Isaac couldn't say stealer.

Rule #1: Figure out Rule #2.

I was relating this to Ben and Isaac gave us a new set of rules.

Rule #1: Find the kiss stealer.
Rule #2: Chase the kiss stealer.
Rule #3: Catch the kiss stealer.
Rule #4: Recatch the kiss stealer since it escaped.
Rule #5: Trap the kiss stealer.

When the kiss stealer escapes again, because it will, go back to rule #2 and continue down.

Tuesday: looking old

I thought Isaac looked all grown up today.  Wearing khaki shorts, a white shirt, and sunglasses and with slightly tousled hair it seemed as though I might be looking into the future when he's in college.

And then he would shout "La-da-duh-do-do-do-la-da-do" and I'd be reminded that he's really only four.

Monday: Labor Day

Labor Day started out with the truck parade.  The trucks were super late...maybe about a half hour?  For a ten minute parade, that's a decent chunk of time.  However, they were all in the same group this year, instead of two groups of years past.  So that was good.

Isaac and Joshua had fun playing with Ethan and Leah ahead of time, and I talked with Betsy, so the wait wasn't too bad.

Look!  The trucks are coming!

The boys did a really good job.  Joshua cuddled up with me due to the loud horns, but wasn't crying.  Isaac covered his ears.  About half way through we went to the car.  I'm not really sure it was any quieter because I left a door open for air, but having the window there made it feel a lot safer.

We watered the flowers when we got home; Isaac did an awesome job on his bike.  I still wouldn't say we're going fast, but I only had to stop once or twice because he was going so slow.

And I'm sure all of you are wondering whether or not Isaac got FroYo...he did.  He finished cleaning his room about an hour before it was time to go.  Which means he also got his screen time.  Phew.

Sunday: instead of cleaning his room...

It's Sunday, which means Isaac is supposed to clean his room.

He didn't.  Or at least, barely did.

Instead, he did this.  (That's his bed sheet, by the way.)

It inched around on the floor, saying things like, "Mom, what's this big thing on the floor?"  I didn't respond, but it was so hard not to.  He was so cute and it would have been fun.  But he really was supposed to be cleaning his room.

We're going out for FroYo tomorrow afternoon.  If his bedroom isn't clean by then he, and one lucky adult, won't be going.  Stay tuned.

Saturday: Free media day

Today we did something new.  We let the boys have as much screen time as they wanted.  Well, almost.  Quiet time was screen free and we didn't watch TV while eating like normal.

I told Isaac yesterday afternoon, but he was thinking about something else and it must have gone in one ear and out the other.  Ben told him again in the evening and he was super excited...which is what I had been expecting to happen.

The main reason we did it was because of the WoW expansion, and Ben and I wanted to play a bit more.  But it is also fun to do something different.

Joshua only did ok with the whole concept.  He did have several times where he would watch something, but he didn't play the IPad at all.  While I was hoping he'd do a bit more, it didn't really surprise me at all.  And it was probably a good thing.

Isaac wanted to be on his robot quilt.  He took his shirt off mid morning "to be more comfortable" and it never got back on.  To be fair, Joshua didn't get pants on for the whole day either.  Isaac hung out on the laptop and loved it.  Nickjr.com ended up being the best place for him.  We stopped by PBSKids.org for a short time, but the game or two that he looked at didn't catch his interest.  I was a bit surprised that he had such an easy time with the mouse.  I know that he can use it a bit, but he really did a pretty good job with it.  (Nickjr gave good verbal instructions.  So we had to help him a few times, especially when he pushed the wrong mouse button, but for the most part he could navigate himself.)

Thursday: conversations

Isaac, in a sing song voice: I have a surprise for you!  But first you have to lay on the bed.
Ben/Amanda: ok...[and continue talking about something else while going to the bedroom]
Isaac: you have to lay down!
B/A: ok, what is it?
Isaac pulls something out of his pocket.  It's small, yellow, and looks sphericalish.  It looks a little bit like poop from some animal.
I: Look what I have!
A: What is it?
I: I don't know!!!
B: Where did you get it?
I: In the sandbox.
I: Do you want to feel it?
A: No.
I: It won't hurt you.  You can do it!
A: It's probably a seed.
Ben feels it.
B: Yeah, it's probably a seed.
I: Your turn Mom!
Amanda reluctantly feels it.
I: do you want to hold it?!?
A: sure.
I: See, it's not so bad.
I: Dad, do you want to hold it?
B: Sure.
I: And look, I have more in my pockets!
A: You do?
Isaac proceeds to pull out about six more.  He was so excited about them.

****************
Isaac: AAA-choo!!
Joshua: AAA-choo!
Hysterical laughter.
Isaac: AAA-choo!!
Joshua: AAA-choo!
Hysterical laughter.
Isaac: AAA-choo!!
Joshua: AAA-choo!
Hysterical laughter.
Isaac: AAA-choo!!
Joshua: AAA-choo!
Hysterical laughter.
Isaac: AAA-choo!!
Joshua: AAA-choo!
Hysterical laughter.
******************

Joshua sees me put Elephant in his bag for school and starts to cry.
Isaac: It's ok Joshua, it's just for school.  So you can have it there.
Isaac: You get to learn at school!
Isaac: As you get bigger school gets funner and funner.

****************
Joshua is crying.  Something is wrong with his fingers.
Joshua: kiss?
Joshua calms down.
Joshua starts crying.
Joshua: kiss?  here?
Joshua calms down.
Joshua starts crying...
...
Isaac: maybe Joshua would like some of the water I made him to help him calm down.
Ben: yeah, maybe that would help.